Start your engines!
It’s time to start going through your pet photos for the 2023 Pets of Balloon Juice Calendar!
Elections are November 8, and we’re either going to be giddy with relief (or the opposite of that). So we want all the pet photos in by Oct 31 before we are distracted by the results. (the reference to being distracted includes me and beth)
Be sure to look for high quality photos – in terms of resolution. The really low resolution photos have to be really small in the calendar, so think big if you have them! Otherwise, low res and small beats not being in the calendar at all. :-)
All you photographers out there, let me know if you want your photo to be in the running for calendar cover(s) this year.
Some time in the next few days, I’ll put up a link where you can upload your photos.
Totally open thread.
Update at 1:30 pm: Really hoping to have the upload link and instructions to all of you by Friday so you can start uploading your pics!
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
Yay! Although…….sorting through aaaaaaaall the pics and then choosing a single one is gonna be tough. But also fun :)
pat
I already have a photo!! I hope I can send it before the end of next week.
eachother
Tap tap… thinking, should I go for something seasonal? Something fabulous? The pet as a pup?
WaterGirl
@eachother: So many possibilities!
WaterGirl
@pat: I have to switch over from the Dropbox I use with my summer client to the Dropbox I use for Balloon Juice. And then I have to dust off the cobwebs and get the photo upload area set up and tested. :-)
cckids
Can I include my grandpups? Promise they are super cute :)
NeenerNeener
Can I send pictures of the doodles that I pet-sit for? I have a lot of “proof of life” pictures on my phone that I have sent to their owners.
WaterGirl
@cckids: Grandpups are welcome!
WaterGirl
@NeenerNeener: Yes! Pet-sitting dogs and cats are welcome!
If you love your sister’s dog, that dog is welcome. We don’t really get to “own” our pets anyway, do we? We just love them and pay the bills. -)
Countervail
Sure you don’t want to update that headline? 🤨
Mike in NC
Brazilian dictator Bolsonaro is now saying if he is not reelected, he will stage an attempted coup like his best buddy Trump.
geg6
That pet bed of Cole’s looks a lot like the one my sister got my Lovey. She loves that thing.
I was looking at my phone’s photos just now and realized that I haven’t taken many of my fur babies lately. I will have to rectify that immediately.
WaterGirl
@Countervail: Are you objecting to “BJ Calendar”?
WaterGirl
@geg6: I have one of those, too, in brown, but Amazon also sells it in that pink color, so I recognized it, too. :-)
WaterGirl
@Mike in NC: He’s actually saying that out loud?
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
@WaterGirl: Essentially, yes. He’s stated that if he doesn’t win a majority in the first round of voting, it would be due solely to voter fraud and he basically implied he wouldn’t accept it as valid
ETA John Oliver’s most recent episode was actually on Bolsonaro, pretty good overview of the man and the situation in Brazil.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Mike in NC:
@WaterGirl:
@Alison Rose 💙🌻💛:
I wonder if he has elements of the state ie police, military, on his side where he could pull some, or at least attempt, a coup if he doesn’t win or is he just trying to bluff?
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): He’s ex-military himself and has a number of others in his administration. So I wouldn’t doubt a military coup is possible…
zhena gogolia
Checking to see if my Madrid goddog Duby wants to be in again this year.
eclare
@Mike in NC: John Oliver’s last show had a good piece on the upcoming election. It was the main story.
ETA> Alison Rose got there first!
C Stars
Maybe I will submit photos of my bun-bun splooting on the blue shag carpet. He loves that monstrosity.
eclare
@Alison Rose 💙🌻💛:
That was my impression, he is threatening a military coup since the military is on his side.
I also wondered how long John had to practice with those nunchucks.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Alison Rose 💙🌻💛:
Well, that’s not good. Hopefully he gets trounced enough that a lot of people will resist him if he tries anything
What’s really been disturbing is the refusal of any Republican senator willing to sign onto a resolution condemning a possible Bolsonaro coup.
C Stars
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): So I guess “Voter Fraud” is Fascist for “I will violently resist my loss in a free and fair election because I don’t believe in democracy.”
And with their sycophant supporters the perennial question is: do they really believe the firehose of BS? Or do they understand the code?
danielx
May have to submit –
tabby love
eclare
@danielx: Kitties in a sunbeam!
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: Does she scratch 3 times for yes, and 2 times for no?
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: He has a handler who’ll answer for him!
zhena gogolia
@danielx: So sweet.
WaterGirl
@danielx: oh, so sweet. tabby love, in the sun!
Bungergrunch
ooh, looking forward to this
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: Ah, he has staff!
WaterGirl
@Bungergrunch: Welcome!
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: Duby says he’s in!
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: Go Duby!
danielx
@WaterGirl:
They are very bent out of shape right now – it was 94 last Wednesday and then all of a sudden fall arrived. Cold and no sunshine and they’re all wtf is going on? Having a streak of gorgeous fall weather right now, but warm it is not.
They’ll be searching for the door into summer in two weeks.
Anonymous At Work
Any other attorneys want to weigh in on the Oath Keepers’ sedition trial? I read that their defense will be that they sincerely believed Trump was going to invoke Insurrection Acts powers to “deputize” the Oath Keepers’ “irregular militia” to use military force to stop the Electoral Vote counting. What strikes me about this weird defense is how they might have to show that they had a connection with Trump through credible AND NAMED sources about the plan to use violence.
How much does that defense rest upon Roger Stone or even Donald Trump being a witness, being credible and testifying about planned violence? What kind of clench-factor would Roger Stone or Donald Trump have about being named in testimony?
Jackie
@Anonymous At Work: Isn’t the Insurrection Act supposed to be used to PREVENT an insurrection, not start one?
eclare
I got my quilt block for Ukraine today! Just gorgeous. Going to find someone to make it the outside of a tote bag, so everyone can see the beauty!
Benw
Yay! I might send in all three pets this year.
RedDirtGirl
How does one determine the resolution quality of a photo? Asking for a friend ; )
Eunicecycle
@Jackie: yes, I believe you’re right. I guess the electoral vote count WAS the insurrection to them?
WaterGirl
@Benw: You better! Tanga and your beautiful pup have already both contacted me.
WaterGirl
@eclare: Which one did you order?
eclare
@WaterGirl: Kitty headress, #24.
Benw
@WaterGirl: Shelby is being stand-offish then? :D
catclub
@RedDirtGirl:
Check info in a picture viewer.
WaterGirl
@Benw: Shelby has never contacted me, ever. Not once!
Maybe Shelby should get some phone or computer privileges!
WaterGirl
@RedDirtGirl: I am hoping that one of our Balloon Juice photographers or designers will jump in with a better explanation than I can give.
My shorthand quick & dirty check is to look at file size (no less than 750kb).
or
“pixels” or “dimensions”, depending on what your system call is.
Examples: 1988 × 782 is decent, 842 × 177 is not.
Please rescue me with a better explanation, photo and design people!
WaterGirl
@eclare: I love that one!
Paul in KY
@Jackie: It does have ‘Insurrection’ in the name….
kalakal
I’m up for it. May take me a few days to get my act together
trollhattan
@WaterGirl: Pixel density. 300 DPI for a printed project such as the calendar, so think finished size @ 300 dpi density.
e.g., A 5×7 should be 1,500 X 2,100.
Let us leave bit depth and color space for another day.
sab 🐕
Dobby my cat (no longer demon) is apparently not the sharpest tack in the box. Showed him an actual fake mouse with fur and a rattle inside. This was a white mouse with two pink ears and its eyes inside its ears!! And Dobby fell for it!
Of course he might have known he was not supposed to be hunting an actual mouse.
He was thrilled. He has been bored a lot lately.
WaterGirl
@kalakal: You are not alone in that. That’s why I wanted to give everyone a heads up! :-)
eclare
@sab 🐕: As long as the cat is amused…
Anonymous At Work
@Jackie: Yes, but it does so by allowing the President to deputize anyone and everyone, particularly those with guns, to put down “insurrections”. As I understand it, the Oath Keepers will claim (not sure how) that they had a reasonable belief Trump was going to deputize them to put down the “insurrection” in the Capitol. The question I have is how they’ll present this argument, that they had a strong and reasonable belief Trump was going to do this in advance without naming names, who would then need to testify in open court (i.e. “Roger Stone told us.” is fine but you can’t say “Roger Stone told us that Trump told him”, only Roger Stone can say what Trump told Roger Stone).
Hence, the pucker factor of 5 guys trying to avoid life sentences might only have a defense of “naming names” to throw under the bus.
sab
@eclare: I had hoped he was brighter
ETA Assuming he thinks he is hunting. My guess is he knows better. Chasing a cool fake mouse. He always brings it back to me, mewing. Maybe I am the dummy.
The Moar You Know
@Anonymous At Work: I have just finished reading the statute and nowhere does it remotely hint at such a thing. US Armed Forces/National Guard. Period.
I was more than a little surprised to see how often it’s been used in our history.
Anonymous At Work
@The Moar You Know: I think USAToday (locked now but not paying for it) had the specific citation that referenced how Rhodes and his attorney would attempt to claim the Oath Keepers were a militia subject to the Acts despite no state affiliation. I didn’t buy it but am more interested in how they’ll present it without any of the defendants taking the stand (I’d pay money to see that cross-examination) or trying to call Roger Stone or TFG to the stand.
As far as historical use, states don’t have standing militaries, so calling up and assembling and authorizing a state militia can’t response to fast-developing situations. Sadly, those are either natural disasters or “worker unrest”.
Quiltingfool
@eclare: Yay! I just quilted a bazillion Ukraine blocks today! Next step: binding. Then off to the post office!
Quiltingfool
@WaterGirl: I quilted several #24s today. Quilting is more fun when you get to look at cute stuff!
JMG
Got the new covid booster yesterday afternoon. No ill effects (played a round of golf this morning) and a noticeable dip in my stress level.
Odie Hugh Manatee
We have a new addition for the calendar this year. :)
We survived our 36th anniversary yesterday by agreeing to celebrate it this Sunday. Somehow we made it all that time without ever fighting or saying anything we regretted. Never. Our friends say we make them sick…lol
My wife has a cousin in Ft. Meyers and she is not able to contact her yet. We hope everyone comes out of this alive!
WaterGirl
@Quiltingfool: I bet it is!
WaterGirl
@Odie Hugh Manatee: A new addition to the household?
Can’t wait! if there’s a story there, we could always do a furry friends post. :-)
Odie Hugh Manatee
@WaterGirl:
Oh there’s a story as we adopted him at four months old after a two month fail with his original adopting family. It’s a bit long and has some very sad parts to it so I’ll write it for another calendar thread.
He’s an adorable little shit, I can say that! :)
WaterGirl
@Odie Hugh Manatee: We do have a Furry Friends series, you could check it out and if you want to share some pics and stories that way, let me know.
Otherwise you can share it sometime on a regular thread.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@WaterGirl:
Thanks! I will probably do that (pet blog).
WaterGirl
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Okay. Do you know how to reach me by email?