Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

Second rate reporter says what?

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

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

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

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

T R E 4 5 O N

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

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

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

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

This blog will pay for itself.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Let’s finish the job.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Some More Thread

Some More Thread

by | 146 Comments

This post is in: ,

Seems we need a new thread for the halibut.

So as not to flounder further (and to forestall carping from the cheap seats) here are a couple of pictures from an hour or so ago.

It seems that some folks don’t think I should be working this evening:

Some More Thread

When I protested the intrusion, I got this back, the perfect, “Who, us?”:

Some More Thread 1

What can I say to such faces?

Oh, and in the spirit of at least part of the last thread, I’m COVID-confined to Boston, but oh do I wish I were here:

Some More Thread 2

That’s Lassen Peak, seen from most of the way up Mt. Harkness in Lassen National Park.  That wooded triangle in the foreground is Flatiron Ridge, home to some of the finest-for-skinny-dipping bushwhack-only snowmelt lakes in all of creation. I missed my annual trip out there last summer. I’m really, really hoping to make a return in six months or so.

So the thread is open, for glorious pet news, more, picked up from the thread below, of dreams of places to be seen or re-seen soon, or anything else that amuses the hive mind.

Reader Interactions

146Comments

  1. 1.

    West of the Rockies

    I can see Lassen from the edge of town. It’s a beautiful park in which to camp and hike.

  4. 4.

    MisterForkbeard

    Lassen is lovely – I used to date a woman with a summer cabin up there, and we spent more time than was probably wise in the area. Miss it very much.

    Though I suppose I could probably afford one of my own now, but I really don’t want to be a landlord, even on AirBNB. >_<

  6. 6.

    Tom Levenson

    @debbie: Yeah. Champ’s a fighter, not a lover. (Actually, she’s amazingly sweet, and she and Tikka get along. But they do roughhouse and she hasn’t figured out how to sheathe and jab at the same time. Tikka is amazingly long-suffering. He just plays till he’s had enough, then he sits on her to slow her down, then herds her away.

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    In the piscine spirit, used to drive by a large billboard in the Poconos advertising Big Bass Lake.

    Except 75% of the time jokesters would have sneaked in at night with white paint to hide that second “B.”

  8. 8.

    MisterForkbeard

    Stealing from Jay in the previous thread:

    ELECTORAL COLLEGE.?BREAKING: Statement from VP Pence’s Chief of Staff.“The Vice President *WELCOMES* the efforts of members of the House & Senate to use the authority they have under the law to raise *OBJECTIONS* & bring forward *EVIDENCE* … on January 6th.”— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) January 2, 2021

    Wait guys, apparently they have “evidence” this time! Maybe!

    If this is done, the Democrats should call for kicking out the Republican congressmen and Senators from their respective chambers on the basis of sedition and trying to overturn the government. They can cite Mitt Romney and the Republicans with vestigial spines who claimed this was an attack on Democracy, all 5 of them. And once that doesn’t fly they should file for immediate disbarment because those congressfolk don’t believe their own elections were legitimate.

  10. 10.

    Yutsano

    Every time we think we know everything about this planet nature decides to up and surprise us. It’s possible NotMax posted about this a few days ago and I missed it. But it definitely has some awe factor with me.

    Oh and Tikka is obviously disgusted that you ruined his bonding time with the new interloper.

  11. 11.

    Poe Larity

    When I hiked up Lassen, everyone was lined up going back down.

    So we walked out onto the snow and slid downhill on our asses. People were appalled, like it was some sacred snow field. Skinny-dipping in snow melt is for weird people from Green Bay or Novisibirsk. Unless you’re doing it somewhere off the JMT, it’s 100 degrees and there are no mosquitos about.

  12. 12.

    Tom Levenson

    @MisterForkbeard: That’s what we have–a summer cabin. We’re down a road that’s not plowed in winter, so it is strictly a May-October possibility (and we very rarely use it as late as Oct.)

  13. 13.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    I think there was a discussion somewhere around here recently about what’s been happening with theater during the Time of Covid. Maybe it was on the New Year’s zoom call.

    Anyway, here’s something that’s happening with theater: Ratatouille the Musical. It’s a fund-raiser, just up for the weekend, for something called The Actors Fund. It’s just a cute little mini-musical, but it’s Broadway actors, musicians, composers, choreographers and techies. It’s very, very well done. From the intro, it sounds like it was originally pulled together via some sort of TikTok collaboration.

    There’s been a lot of great Zoom-based theater coming out of the theatrical community. We got the heads-up about this one from a musical friend who is in the orchestra.

    Edit: Here’s the Playbill.

    Edit 2: I used the word “Zoom-based” but what I really need is a word for the medium consisting of video with little boxes on screen shot by people in their homes at separate times. Whether it’s done via Zoom or not. Whatever we want to call this medium, artistic types are starting to use it in very interesting and effective ways.

  15. 15.

    Van Buren

    I had 3 dogs. One passed away in September. Of the remaining 2, the one who seemed closest to Jackson (December of calendar A) seems unaffected. The other dog has lost. Her. Mind. Constantly seems distraught and seeks attention. Much to my surprise, the vet says this is not unusual. Anyone else have experience with this situation?

  16. 16.

    Tom Levenson

    @Poe Larity: By mid July at the latest the top 6 inches to a foot of the lake is nice and warm.

    Just don’t tread water. By three feet down, the water remembers its origins.

  19. 19.

    Tom Levenson

    @RandomMonster: Not the sole reason, though I felt the site was going a little flat.

    You should thank me though: I did resist the temptation to decorate the post with one from this guy.

  31. 31.

    Soprano2

    Just found out the choir director I had in my evening choir for over 20 years died of COVID complications.  He retired in 2014, and was probably in his late 80’s, he would never tell us how old he was. His wife has it but is asymptomatic. They’ve been married 65 years. Fuck COVID.

  33. 33.

    frosty

    @MisterForkbeard: I think they should just refuse to seat R Reps from states they’re contesting. Goodbye Scott Perry!!!

    (Sadly, I understand this can’t be done. Pout.)

  34. 34.

    Jay

    @Van Buren:

    Grief in dogs is not uncommon.

    The key trick is acknowledging their grief, provide comfort, but balance that off with routine, as not to create an attention seeking loop.

  37. 37.

    Jay

    Ron Johnson *told* a former GOP county party chair that he knew Biden won. He’s knowingly, deliberately voting against democracy and the Constitution. This is disqualifying for any office that requires taking the oath. https://t.co/HLLlDqRIiZ— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) January 2, 2021

  38. 38.

    debbie

    @Jay:

    When it’s over, there should be a vote of censure. Disallow the participants to have a vote, and I think the vote would carry.

  40. 40.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Tom Levenson: The summer cabin we went to was part of the Lake Almanor Country Club, I think. Good for people like us that mostly don’t want to be involved with home maintenance, as most of that could be done by the local HOA and country club if you let them. Also has lots of easy access to the lake for kayaking and lots of other amenities like right there. And it’s on a peninsula, so reasonably protected from fire.

    This isn’t too bad, actually: https://www.almanor.com/sales/1159_Lake_Ridge_Rd.html

    Expensive, but I’m already in the Bay Area so this isn’t much, comparatively speaking. Can almost guarantee I wouldn’t buy one, but it’s nice to fantasize.

  43. 43.

    burnspbesq

    Now that it’s only five hours away, I’m running out of excuses for not visiting Big Bend National Park. After I get vaccinated ( which should be by the end of February), it’ll be time to hit the road, Jack.

  45. 45.

    Elie

    I read the comment upthread from Pence as saying ” glad you guys picked up the ball cause all I’m gonna do is read the totals — so thanks”.

    Dude aint got no balls and this just works out fine for him cause he takes no risk and emerges unscathed from this show (or so he thinks anyway).

    Anyone have other thoughts?  Obviously, none of these fools think something bad could happen to them when THEY run for office and THEIR votes have to be counted by these corrupt state voting organizations.  All the bad stuff just happens when Democrats win, right?

  46. 46.

    patrick II

    Here is a YouTube video of a 17 year-old girl Tina S playing  Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6rBK0BqL2w  You may want to put on flame-proof clothing before you watch. She is a genius guitarist, here playing a classic but in heavy metal guitar style.
    This was the last video she posted to the internet, two years ago. She was chased off of the internet after receiving internet messages from various sources accusing her of cheating. That somehow what she was doing wasn’t possible, and therefore she must be using tricks to create the sounds she did.
    I find this so discouraging in a broader sense, because she is but a microcosm of too much of what is happening on the internet — decent, talented, and even exceptional people being subjected to threats and insults, damaging the best of us — from Dr. Fauci to this young woman.
    Anyhow, take a listen and hope she comes back.

  48. 48.

    George

    @Van Buren: Three years ago the oldest of my two dogs died.  Even though I adopted another dog last year, the dog who lost his buddy three years ago continues to whine and seek attention more than he did prior to the oldest dog’s death.

    Perhaps coincidentally he started having indigestion/belching issues three years ago that have not abated as I have tried different sensitive-stomach food every few months.  Maybe that is caused by missing his buddy and not being able to connect with the newer dog, maybe not.  They get along just fine, but the dog that died was the alpha of the two and perhaps provided guidance.

  49. 49.

    frosty

    @burnspbesq:  Do it! We spent 4 days there, without going on any long hikes or water rafting. There’s a lot to see, and it’s one of the underappreciated parks.

  53. 53.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Tom Levenson: I just ran this thought past my dad (who I’d want to spend time with up there) and who immediately says “Doesn’t that half of the state catch on fire every six months now?”

    Sigh. Screw you, climate change.

    @Tom Levenson:  Nice! That’s a lovely area. I think I’d want to be near the water, though – both for Fire reasons and because I would want to go kayaking all the time. And being able to avoid some of the responsibility of home-ownership by having an HOA sounds like a good idea. Apparently the club will also take care of AirBNBing (and cleaning/maintenance) on your home for a fee, which is theoretically nice.

  54. 54.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Yutsano: Sassè, Murkowski and Romney are just the warm up act. When Susan Collins is ready, you are going to see the effect thirty years of troubled and concern brow furrowing can have in defense of the Constitution. Jemmy Madison will plotz with excitement in the Great Beyond.

  58. 58.

    HinTN

    @Tom Levenson: Spud Lake at 8800 feet around Durango applied an icepick to the forehead when I went in. Beautiful sunny day in early October. I levitated right out of that water. Maybe it would be different in August…

  61. 61.

    Achrachno

    I just read that a state representative in PA has died of COVID, this morning I read that a state senator in VA had died, and a few days ago there was news that relatively young congressmen from LA died.   This disease is cutting a wide swath and it should be obvious by now to even the dimmest among us that it’s dangerous and we all should take precautions — it can strike anywhere and in fact has struck everywhere.  What will it take to get everyone to take this seriously?

    Did I mention that all three dead politicos were were guys and Rs?  Do they still think it’s just the flu?

  62. 62.

    MisterForkbeard

    New potential thread topic! LGM has an article up about how it might just end up being the right thing to do to open vaccines for everybody on a first-come-first-serve basis after the initial first responders and elderly are ‘done’.

    The argument is that we’re doing an awful job at handing out the vaccine on average – only a few states have it figured out. And that due to Orange Fascist In Chief, we have a large amount of people who will not trust the vaccine and might not get vaccinated for a long time. We’re doing badly enough in some states that the vaccine might actually expire from non-use if it keeps up.

    So the proposal is to just let people sign up in every state. Treat it like voting – you get marked off when you get vaccinated, so they know who else to bug when all the people who want to get vaccinated have been vaccinated. And in the meantime you can reduce a lot of logistical problems if people will come to you, so the states and feds can just set up a few centers for now. It has a lot of problems (like, how do the poor get to a vaccination center?) but it’s an interesting idea

    EDIT: Article link here: https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2021/01/just-vaccinate-whoever-wants-it

  63. 63.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Tom Levenson: I’m going to see if I can talk my wife into trying a vrbo or airbnb up there this summer. If so, I’ll lean into the idea of purchasing a house up there and letting the local folks actually deal with it for the 30 weeks of the year we wouldn’t be there.

    It’s a fantastic area. Have always loved it.

  65. 65.

    debbie

    @MisterForkbeard:

    I can’t remember which state it was, but they’re thinking about focusing on getting as many people as possible vaccinated with at least the first shot. What if they’re unable to provide the second shot on time? Will partial immunity be enough, especially with a more contagious virus floating around?

  67. 67.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Mary G: Larry King has to be in his upper 80s if not 90s with some serious underlying crap. Best of luck to him. I didn’t like his teevee show but his radio show was pretty good way back.

  68. 68.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @Mary G:

    Overton Park, Kansas – Hello!

    King of Prussia, Pennsylvania – Hello!

    Cascade, Idaho – Hello!

  69. 69.

    WaterGirl

    @Van Buren: I have had two dogs go through something like that.

    First, my cocker spaniel, who developed bad skin that would not respond to treatment, and a limp that the vet could not identify the source of, as everything seemed fine.

    The limp went away the day I brought home another dog, and the skin condition cleared up within days.

    Second, another dog was very mopey and lethargic after losing his cocker spaniel buddy, and nothing worked.  Until I signed us up for doggie agility training.  He perked right up.  It was something we did together, just us, that was special.  He got to be around other people and dogs.  He was part border collie and they seem to take to that exceedingly well.  Which of those things made the difference?  I don’t know, but it did bring him out of his, for lack of a better word, depression.

    Maybe after COVID is under control you can try agility training?  Or something similar?

  70. 70.

    Chris T.

    Surely you don’t wish you were there right now. Lassen in winter?!

    (Though I admit my old annual trip to Yosemite in Feb was so nice. Had to ditch that tradition for a while and when I went back a few years ago it was super-crowded as everyone now knew about the intermittent Horsetail Falls. But now I’m well to the north and ready for new adventures … once Covid and personal health permit, anyway!)

  71. 71.

    lamh36

    Evening BJ.

    Only 2 damn days into the year and we already got GOP acting like azzes…smh.

    Woosah…I’m trying to at least enjoy the new year before it all goes to shit…jeezus.

    Anyhoo.  I’m trying my darndest to keep the political shit in my periphery…so I’ve been bingeing  shows and movies on my streaming stuff.

    Right now I’m getting into Season 3 of CobraKai on Netflix. I legit binged the first 2 seasons on NYE.  Where has this show been all this time?  I’ve become obsessed…LOL.

    On paper, there is no reason for a show about what’s going on in the lives of folks from the damn Karate Kid movies as adults  to make any sense, or to be any damn good.  But my gawd…it’s wow.

    Anyhoo, if ya liked the old movies, you’ll love the show I think.

  72. 72.

    sab

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I am vaguely curious whether the wildly courageous Senator from Ohio Rob Portman will pull his head out of whatever chipmunk hole he has been investigating and squeak up in support of those furrowed brows.

  75. 75.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    I’m feeling really jazzed because the final kitten from my last foster litter just got adopted today.  He was 10 weeks old, so it was really time. They had been up for adoption since Dec. 23, when 3 of the 5 kittens were adopted before the shelter closed on Christmas Eve.  One of the two remaining was adopted on New Year’s Eve Eve, and I was supposed to bring this last guy back to the Animal Shelter today. (I take them home when the shelter is closed on Sun-Mon so they aren’t locked in a cage when there is no opportunity to be adopted). But yesterday I connected with a lady who takes rescue kittens down to a pet store in Cloverdale which has a waiting list (!), and shortly after she took him there, he was adopted.  So yay kitten!

    My husband and I have been fostering for 5 years now, averaging  4 litters a year, so, a lot of kittens :-)

  77. 77.

    patrick II

    @Another Scott:

    Nice one. I just found her last week. I hope that she has just decided to take a couple of years and finish school, and come back stronger.

    Here is her YouTube home page where there are about 17 solos.. They are all great.

  78. 78.

    sab

    @debbie: Have you heard anything about how to sign up in Ohio? Our county health department has a sign up sheet where you tell them what group you are in ( old, teacher, EMS, etc.) I don’t know if it will work, but I figured I might as well try.

  79. 79.

    mrmoshpotato

    @patrick II: 1. Wow!

    2. Here is a YouTube video of a 17 year-old girl Tina S playing  Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6rBK0BqL2w  You may want to put on flame-proof clothing before you watch. She is a genius guitarist, here playing a classic but in heavy metal guitar style.
    This was the last video she posted to the internet, two years ago. She was chased off of the internet after receiving internet messages from various sources accusing her of cheating. That somehow what she was doing wasn’t possible, and therefore she must be using tricks to create the sounds she did.

    I hope a bunch of people slapped the idiots with Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Yngwie Malmsteen, etc.

  80. 80.

    frosty

    @patrick II: OMG, she’s great! She has a video of learning to play for the last 8 years, and yeah, it’s clear she’s playing and knows what she’s doing. I’m sorry to hear she was chased off but she’s got a future in guitar without Youtube.

  83. 83.

    Oklahomo

    I’m so proud of my mother. Today we were preparing a turkey we had brined, and the phone rang.  The RNC, the gentleman assured her, was calling to remind everyone that Donald Trump had gotten everyone $600 in relief.  Without missing a beat, she said: “Go stick yourself head-first in Trump’s fucking ass.”  The guy went on about 3 or 4 words; then, dead silence before she hung up on him.

  84. 84.

    debbie

    @sab:

    I haven’t heard anything other than DeWine talking about opening up the schedule just to get more people vaccinated (60% of nursing home staff are refusing it, as are 40% of nursing home residents). I think it will be county by county, though.

  85. 85.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Achrachno: IIRC the PA state rep who passed (at age 42) had tested positive for COVID but the cause of death in the announcement I saw was given as a brain aneurysm. Not clear if there’s any connection between the two, but doesn’t seem likely.

  86. 86.

    Chris T.

    @patrick II: HOLY CRAP THAT IS INCREDIBLE!

    I got chills, hair stood on end, and tears in my eyes listening to that, and my computer speakers aren’t even good ones.

  88. 88.

    patrick II

    @mrmoshpotato:

    She had 47k likes on that video — but 11k dislikes, and evidently some got personal.  I have to wonder if that isn’t from the same type of guys who went after women in the Gamergate scandal — they don’t like women who are better at things than they are, especially alledged guy things like computer games and rock star.  Many of those gamergate guys were recruited by Bannon for Trump.

  90. 90.

    No name

    @sab: Just wanted to thank you for your comment on the previous thread about loving your cats.  I learned that the hard way a long time ago.

  93. 93.

    Jay

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    NYS Medical is organized by Counties.

    Counties have been modelling and trialing vaccine roll outs on a regular basis since Sars.

    Cuomo has brought in a State run, top down, vaccine distribution from scratch, bypassing the Counties, that is still trying to find it’s way.

  95. 95.

    Tehanu

    My 7th grade science teacher was a Lassen Park ranger in the summers and he took our class up there for a 1-day field trip in, I guess it must have been October or May. I’ve always remembered how beautiful it was. Hoping to visit again once travel becomes less impossible.

  96. 96.

    something fabulous

    The top picture cracks me up. Tikka could say, “What? Am just performing a therapeutic facial massage!”

    (When I first started volunteering at the rescue– golly, 14 years ago, getting on for?– I had always been a dog person and knew pretty much nothing about cats. So I googled around to learn more, and there was this one video from a British guy with a verrrrrry posh accent, who gave a tutorial on the benefits of therapeutic massage for cats for many conditions, only in his accent it was, repeated several times throughout with deep seriousness, “Therrrrrrape-ew-tic MEH-shazh.” Which to this day I say to my own cats, though it only amuses me, not them. Have never been able to find the video again after all this time. Wonder if it would still crack me up in the same way…)

  97. 97.

    Achrachno

    @Uncle Cosmo: Since COVID attacks all systems, I’d tentatively consider it a contributing factor.  Certainly very possible since we know he had it.  I  suppose we’ll know more in a day or two.

  98. 98.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Uncle Cosmo: blood clots have been seen in COVID patients. I don’t remember the details but I read  some legit scientific piece at  I think the Lancet that there was evidence that the virus attacks the clotting mechanism in some way.

  100. 100.

    Martin

    @Uncle Cosmo: Oh, that seems very likely. Encephalopathy and blood clotting are both well documented symptoms of Covid. There’s a whole new trend of permanent blindness due to Covid that they think is the result of this.

  101. 101.

    Jay

    The researchers identified 10 cases of transient encephalopathies, or temporary brain dysfunction with delirium. There were also 12 cases of brain inflammation, 8 cases of strokes, and 8 others with nerve damage.

    The researchers found evidence that the brain inflammation was likely caused by an immune response to the disease. The researchers say this suggests that some neurological complications of COVID-19 might come from the immune response rather than the virus itself.

    Researchers say this new study confirms previously reported findings of a higher than expected number of stroke patients — conditions that were triggered by the “excessive stickiness” of the blood in COVID-19 patients.

    Still they say that because the disease has only been around for a few months, the long-term damage of COVID-19 remains unclear.

    Additionally, experts are not certain exactly why the virus increases the risk of these neurological challenges.

    “Possibilities include direct effects of the virus, the body’s own immune or inflammatory response, the effects of hypoxia (low body oxygen levels), changes to blood vessels, changes in the coagulability (stickiness) of the blood, the effects of severe illness (including prolonged ICU stay in some patients), or a combination of these factors,” Dr. Rachel Brown, a clinical research fellow at University College London and a joint first author of the paper, said by email.

    “We saw neurological effects of COVID-19 in adult patients of all ages, genders, and ethnicities, and in patients both with or without underlying health conditions and with both mild and severe COVID-19 infection. As a retrospective cohort study, we cannot at this stage say why these particular patients were affected but this should be a focus of future study.”

    https://www.healthline.com/health-news/covid-19-linked-to-major-neurological-conditions-including-stroke-brain-swelling#Serious-neurological-complications

  102. 102.

    WaterGirl

    Tom, I’m glad you have Tikka to charm you during these challenging times, and it doesn’t look like Tikka minds having a buddy at all.

  103. 103.

    burnspbesq

    Fifth Circuit gives Louie Gohmert the back of its hand. Affirms district court’s dismissal for lack of standing with a one-page per curiam order. No briefs required.

    The judicial equivalent of “fuck RIGHT off, Louie.”

  104. 104.

    VeniceRiley

    @patrick II: It’s of a piece with the mRNA scientist so disrespected and denied promotions and even demoted… and not funded or supported at UPenn and Temple. (Whose vaccine we are all getting soon from Pfizer, and indirectly Moderna, who piggybacked her work but had better venture capital connections.) AND it is the story of female brilliance.  it’s an (ugly) story about men and boys.

  105. 105.

    Ken

    @Achrachno: Did I mention that all three dead politicos were were guys and Rs? Do they still think it’s just the flu?

    HANNIBAL LECTER. Not any more.

    (Or did you mean what non-dead male Republican politicians think?)

  109. 109.

    mrmoshpotato

    @burnspbesq:

    Fifth Circuit gives Louie Gohmert the back of its hand. Affirms district court’s dismissal for lack of standing with a one-page per curiam order. No briefs required.

    The judicial equivalent of “fuck RIGHT off, Louie.”

    “Gohmert the fuck out of my courtroom!”

  111. 111.

    Martin

    @patrick II: Maybe. I mean, that’s probably some of it. Some of it too is likely disbelief. There are occasionally these individuals that can do things that aren’t incremental improvements over others, but step improvements. You watch Chloe Kim in a  halfpipe and she’s so far better than any of the other women out there that it almost doesn’t seem fair. Sky Brown is likely to do that for skateboarding.  She was the first female to land a 720.  She was 10 when she did it. It was inevitable that a female skater would land one, but 10 doesn’t seem like she could have possibly had enough time to practice to achieve that. Given the 10,000 hour rule for expertise, she was only 20,000 hours old.

    So could Hendrix have done that when he was 28? Maybe. But a 17 year old nobody has ever heard of? It’s hard to believe people can be that gifted, but you can’t fake landing a 1080 at the olympics, and people fake shit on Youtube all the time.

  119. 119.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    In further shocking political news, Josh Hawley (Stanford, ’02, Yale Law ’06) is what we used to call a WATB

    Burgess Everett @burgessev
    New: Hawley just emailed the Senate GOP, responding to Toomey and “shameless personal attacks”
    “We should avoid putting words into each other’s mouths and making unfounded claims about the intentions of our fellow senators”

  123. 123.

    NotMax

    Larry King on the dead to me list since he hooked up with RT. Also Ora TV, source of those annoying auto-play video ads which at one time littered the B-J pages.

  126. 126.

    Oklahomo

    @mrmoshpotato: Had we not been in the middle of trying to put together a new years feast for our 3-person pod (we’ll have soups and pot pies and everything else turkey can be made into for a week) she probably would have just kept venting. It was just flabbergasting they are doing shit like that.  It is truly the party of Trump now.

  129. 129.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Mai Naem mobile: Agreed, but a blood clot (thrombosis) is not the same as an aneurysm (leakage or bursting of a blood vessel), although in the brain the denouement is often the same.** If the cause of death had been “cerebral thrombosis” the connection would be plausible, but I have yet to read that COVID weakens the walls of blood vessels (though I am prepared to be wrong about that).

    ** Same, that is, as the primary symptom of an aortal aneurysm: “sudden death.” Yet an older coworker of mine survived one of those.

  131. 131.

    patrick II

    @Martin:

    Her talent at 17 is nearly unbelievable, and that may be the greater part of the negative reaction. But that in its own way is not good.  The best of us being dragged down by the skepticism of the average.

  132. 132.

    Ruckus

    @Achrachno:

    I don’t think their protests actually have anything to do with the virus, it is political. People are telling them that they have to temporarily give up being snotty assholes. And as that’s all they know, it pisses them off. They can’t be themselves. And yes, they’d rather die than give up their rights to be snotty assholes.

  133. 133.

    Tom Levenson

    @Martin: Found it. Longer conversation to come, but it looks like you got one sweet ride. More money than I can contemplate just now, but I’m not making any transport purchases for months, at least.

  134. 134.

    Another Scott

    @patrick II: It’s only unbelievable if taken in isolation.  As you point out, she has lots of pieces on YT and her Eruption cover was from 3 years earlier.  It’s clear she’s not faking it, and it’s clear she’s very talented.

    One would have thought that the idea that “only guys can be great guitarists” would have died when Nancy Wilson rose to fame in the ’70s in Heart, at the latest.

    Grr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  135. 135.

    Ruckus

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    When I was told that I have an aneurysm and I asked if it could be fixed, the very deadpan looks and silence I got told me very likely not. Turns out I’ve had it for possibly a long time, It’s in an MRI from over 3 yrs ago and unchanged as the one last yr. I’ve often wondered if people actually can have them for decades but when something happens, like your BP goes up, as it often can when you get older, that’s when it goes.

    It’s nice knowing you have a time bomb in your head.

  137. 137.

    Martin

    @patrick II: Oh, yeah, no it’s not good. But it’s not uncommon either.

    Kodi Lee is a year older than my son and they went to the same elementary school (my city has each elementary school specialize in certain populations outside of the mainstream kids, and his school had all of the autistic kids in the area) and we remember hearing this 2nd grader playing piano and singing and just being blown away. And then you meet him, and he’s blind, and almost completely non-communicative in any other way and your brain just can’t process how this kid can be so incredibly gifted and so challenged at the same time.

    But we assume that everyone has to grind out abilities the same way, and that just ain’t the case. And sometimes it feels very unfair. Not so much when you see the costs that came with it for Kodi, but for Tina or Sky or young Tiger Woods, or Shaun White or whoever you see that just shatters whatever sense of ‘best in their class’ you might have had, it’s hard. In a lot of these cases, it’s that they started at such a young age, that their brain is literally wired to do that thing, and nobody jumping into that activity in their teens is likely to ever match them. There’s just not enough runway, no matter how hard you work at it.

  138. 138.

    Martin

    @Tom Levenson: Sounds good. I was aiming for about ⅔ that price or a bit less. But when I did the math on what I’d save from simply owning one less car, it became very easy to talk my way up into something much nicer.

    So yeah, it depends a lot on the role you’re looking for it to play. It’s my car now.

  139. 139.

    BigJimSlade

    @Tom Levenson: Every time I think about going up there in summer, it seems like it’s 100 degrees. Is it possible to visit and not fry? I can’t take the heat nowadays (and all my wife and I do is hike when we’re on vacation).

  140. 140.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Uncle Cosmo: you’re right ofcourse. I should have looked further into it. It sure seems like there’s a lot of people dying in their 40s. This guy leaves behind 3 kids which is just really sad.

  142. 142.

    Tom Levenson

    @BigJimSlade: Almost never gets that hot up in the park. Our place is at a smidge over 5,000 feet, and the pattern is dry and comfortable low 80s by day and a pretty sharp temperature drop as the sun goes down. Every now and then it ticks up from there, but not often.

    Chester/Lake Almanor is a little hotter, but the heat really hasn’t been an issue.

  144. 144.

    Chris T.

    @BigJimSlade: Yes, stick with elevation. Also, go in spring (still very snowy—though this looks like a dry winter) or fall (watch out for sudden weather, which happens any time in the mountains there but can be a deadly trap as autumn stretches into winter).

  145. 145.

    namekarB

    Mount Lassen can be seen (on a clear day) from my home 70 miles south (and a little west) in Lincoln CA (a little north and east of Sacramento). I luvs me some Lassen

  146. 146.

    pluky

    @patrick II: The next time some “16 going on 80” type whines “why do I have to study classical technique? I want to play rock.” play this for them.

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