Here’s an open thread. I pulled the other one; those of you following along, know why.
ETA: A must-read just because: Snarky Post Title That Some Will Laugh But Offend Others, by Soonergrunt
by TaMara| 127 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Assholes
Here’s an open thread. I pulled the other one; those of you following along, know why.
ETA: A must-read just because: Snarky Post Title That Some Will Laugh But Offend Others, by Soonergrunt
Comments are closed.
Mr. Bemused Senior
Nobody expects… I’ll come in again.
zhena gogolia
Oh, I was going to watch the videos later when I’m done working.
Elizabelle
I miss all the good stuff.
RedDirtGirl
???
Scout211
@RedDirtGirl: It was explained at the end of the thread downstairs.
TaMara
@zhena gogolia: LInks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXmpcTF5jAw
https://youtu.be/bIOZ6_lShmA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXusaBNctC8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRUtyCzfuI0
❤️😘
patrick II
I just watched the national anthem sung at the NFC playoff game. With due respect to Whitney, Marvin, Jimmi, and Jose, most of the time I prefer my national anthem straight so the crowd can sing along. The sound of 60,000 people has more resonance than someone who isn’t quite Whitney et al. trying to make the national anthem “their own”.
zhena gogolia
@TaMara: Thanks!
zhena gogolia
@patrick II: You left out Roseanne.
Nukular Biskits
I thought I was going crazy when I came back later and refreshed the page.
Omnes Omnibus
Anodyne comment designed to express no disagreement with anything or contain any facts that might bother someone.
David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch
It’s always sunny in Philadelphia 🦅
Layer8Problem
Sounds like there were doin’s a-transpirin’. Sorry TaMara.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Omnes Omnibus: innocuous response.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
Passive-aggressive snark based on misunderstanding of original comment.
Mo MacArbie
Dang. I finally get up to the moment in my lurking and even summon the gumption to comment. Then poof, vaporized. I guess I’ll meditate on impermanence.
(Just kidding. Do what you gotta do.)
So, how ’bout them, uh, who’s playing, anyway?
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
This bothers me.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: We had one of these meta threads before, didn’t we?
Layer8Problem
@Omnes Omnibus: It’s the Balloon Juice Way. They don’t call us the Chinchillas for nothing.
Cameron
@Omnes Omnibus: I resent that!
TaMara
@Omnes Omnibus:
@Mr. Bemused Senior:
@Steeplejack:
Some days it’s like herding rabid cats and I wasn’t in the mood. 😏
Gin & Tonic
@Baud: As it should.
Baud
@TaMara:
Those are the good days.
Heidi Mom
Yesterday, as I was loading bags of groceries into the trunk of my car, a nearby shopper (male, White, 60ish) said “I really appreciate your [Biden] bumper sticker.” I said ” And I appreciate you saying that. We really made the right choice, didn’t we?” He said “We dodged a bullet!” For the record, this is in central PA, often derided by political commentators as “Alabama,” but specifically a college town (actually college/law school/US Army War College) and outer suburb of Harrisburg, the state capital. Meeting a kindred soul always makes the day better.
JPL
@Heidi Mom: Sweet!
Baud
@Heidi Mom:
👍
Lapassionara
Did anyone besides me see some headlines last night about mysterious explosions in Iran? Did I just imagine that, or did it really happen?
PJ
Don’t know if it was mentioned earlier, but one of the greatest all-time rock guitarists, Tom Verlaine, died yesterday. RIP Tom. “The Cadillac, it pulled out of that graveyard . . .”
https://youtu.be/jlbunmCbTBA
Mr. Bemused Senior
@TaMara: thanks for your efforts and the links.
Omnes Omnibus
@PJ:
It’s been mentioned a couple of times. RIP
TaMara
@Lapassionara: Check Adam’s post – I just gave it a quick glance, it was busy last night, but I think he addressed it.
Lapassionara
@TaMara: thanks
zhena gogolia
@Heidi Mom: That is nice. I always wonder if tailgaters are more aggressive because of my bumper stickers that go back to Kerry-Edwards and continue through every Dem presidential ticket since.
OzarkHillbilly
@Heidi Mom: I get the same from time to time, but it’s usually in a whisper.
OzarkHillbilly
@zhena gogolia: Heh, nobody tailgates my beat up piece of shit. They already know I don’t care.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yes! Can’t remember if it was covered in last year’s anniversary threads, but here’s SoonerGrunt’s epic “meta” thread from way back in 2012.
Suzanne
@Heidi Mom: That’s nice. I don’t put bumper stickers on my car because I am scared of getting tailgated or worse. I do yard signs, tho….so maybe I’m dumb?
They are a great way to have those chance encounters which remind us that we are not alone!
Jay
@zhena gogolia:
if they pull up close-ish, but back off after a little bit, they might not be tailgating, per se, but instead, trying to read the bumper stickers.
TaMara
@Steeplejack: OMG, I have no memory of that post, but it is epic, and had I known, I would have just reposted it here. He needs to come back, if only to post new puppy pics.
ETA: Added link to post up top
Geminid
@Lapassionara: The explosions definitely happened in 7 to 14 places (reports vary). Plus there was an earthquake that seems to be a coincindence. Many of the explosions occurred at sites where munitions are stored or manufactured.
There was some discussion of this on last night’s Ukraine thread, and I expect it will be a hot topic tonight. Iran has been sending drones to Russia for use against Ukraine and its drone factories or stockpiles may have been targeted.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Steeplejack: woo hoo. I’m going to read that one through later. Thanks!
Cameron
@Heidi Mom: Carlisle! One my favorite PA small cities (big fan of Market Cross).
Honus
@patrick II: I agree with Jimi. He and Billy Cox were in the 101st Airborne and they considered it their song.
BTW, what was the problem with the last open thread? I was reading about the dogs and refreshed it and it was gone. Seemed pretty innocuous to me.
TaMara
Well, as fun as this has all been 🙄 I have got to get some work done. I’d say play nice, but that seems to just encourage you guys.😘
zhena gogolia
@Jay: I never thought of that! But usually they just keep tailgating. But then I drive the speed limit.
HumboldtBlue
Look at all those recognizable names from Sooner’s thread, names we never see anymore.
David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch
@Layer8Problem: Maybe we can get one of the Senators we elected in Georgia to rename a post office after us – “The BJ post office”
satby
@Steeplejack: weird how that captures how every thread still plays out today.
James E Powell
@Lapassionara:
I did see some headlines, but nothing that explained what was going on.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Ah, the good old days. We are sadder but wiser now.
JPL
@Steeplejack: wow We haven’t changed at all!
James E Powell
The Eagles are going to look pretty bad if they don’t beat the 49ers with their 4th string QB.
ETA – I’ve been hearing Christian McCaffery’s name for years, but never really saw him play until this season. Left coasters don’t get a lot of Carolina Panthers games on the TV. He’s pretty good.
satby
@HumboldtBlue: I was around and sort of remember that, but JustSomeFuckhead kept saying anything I would have first. We lost a lot of smart, witty commenters, for sure.
Nowadays, I want to offer people tapioca pudding reading some of the posts.
NutmegAgain
@Elizabelle: Me too!
satby
@Omnes Omnibus: sadder maybe. Totally dispute wiser.
JPL
@satby: North Carolina Laura would comment a lot also. She was a real sweetheart.
Omnes Omnibus
@satby: The Coleridge reference is worthless without it.
Ohio Mom
@Cameron: Carlisle! We drove through last May on the way to NYC.
Great ice cream at Leo’s. Especially the sugar-free (for diabetic Ohio Dad). We decided right then and there we will always drive through Carlisle in the way to my NYC relatives, or at least as long as Leo is scooping out those cones.
Ruckus
Boy do I like getting up late and missing the entire war……
Kent
Yea, He was pretty damn good at Stanford and I watched him in a lot of Pac-12 games back in the day when Stanford was beating Oregon
But I haven’t seen him much in the pros since here in WA we don’t get Panthers games, like EVER.
CaseyL
It makes me sad and a little mad that a Good News/Respite thread, of all things, had to be pulled because it was derailed into an argument over whether one of the offerings was really “good.”
You can do that with anything. You can always find something to complain about, get outraged about, puff up your “I’m More Enlightened/Caring/Aware Than You Are” credentials.
(Yes, that includes me. I watch those slide shows on YouTube of animals doing funny things, and worry about whether the animals were coerced or otherwise harmed by the funny things. But I’m aware of the tendency, and try to suppress it.
I do hate seeing it here on BJ, and hate even more that it happened to one of TaMara’s threads.
dmsilev
Since I somehow snagged the first comment in that epic thread, I feel I should repeat it:
Sure Lurkalot
Hey a couple of youse commenters posted some Letters Live YouTubes on the deleted thread that I was looking forward to watching so I hope you repost!
Dorothy A. Winsor
@CaseyL: I went away to live my life for a while and come back to find there’s been drama on the internet. Imagine my surprise
HumboldtBlue
TOUCHDOWN EAGLES!
E-A-G-L-E-S
EAGLES!!!!!
dmsilev
@Dorothy A. Winsor: A classic: Duty Calls.
sab
@zhena gogolia: Wow. I didn’t know that anybody else in America still drives the speed limit except me. I gave up speeding for Lent one year, and discovered that it saved me about 25% in fuel, and I hadn’t been a fast speeder.
zhena gogolia
@sab: I do mostly in-town driving, and I’m not fond of hitting animals or bicyclists or children.
HumboldtBlue
Niners defense is excellent. Thank you for the repeated defensive penalties.
TOUCHDOWN EAGLES!!!
E-A-G-L-E-S
EAGLES!!!!!
My brother from Dago and my Jersey nephew are at the game.
They are singing.
A lot.
Starfish
@CaseyL: You are right. All positivity threads should be toxic positivity threads. If someone posts something problematic, the correct thing to do is to clap louder.
JPL
@HumboldtBlue: No kidding.
Omnes Omnibus
@Sure Lurkalot: This is a different one, but I feel it is more appropriate to the circumstances.
And because I am decent person, despite agreeing that woman’s figure skating is abusive to 15 y/o bodies, here is the original I posted.
Van Buren
@Ohio Mom: Try the Hamilton Diner sometime.
CaseyL
@Starfish:
I’m So Much More Aware of Injustice Than You Are, I’m Going To Ruin the Entire Thread… will definitely make the thing you’re complaining about get all better.
Starfish
@Omnes Omnibus: That first one really captured the essence of the original thread.
Starfish
@CaseyL: Have you considered that people actually care about an issue and are not being performative in their awareness of injustice? It seems like a pretty cynical take to assume that people are being performative in caring about an issue.
Geminid
@dmsilev: Magdi Jacobs, who tweets as Mangy Jay, had a comment on how the spirit of “one-upsmanship” was a blight on that medium. People aren’t willing, Jacobs complained, to use inferential reasoning and other language skills without which all normal conversation would grind to a halt.
Her new gripe was people quibbling over modal verbs- “can,” “will,” “could” etc. She gave as an example:
The Up and Up
@CaseyL:
People are just way more mean these days. They don’t hold back. That snide comment? Say it. Someone whom you dislike is online? Fight them! What social fabric? Do unto others before they do it to you.
Martin
You guys always do your drama on EDT. It’s not fair. I needed to fix my garage door opener and missed the fun.
Cameron
@CaseyL: I believe the expression is “my strength is as the strength of ten because my farts endure” or something similar.
CaseyL
@Starfish: No.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Omnes Omnibus:
Your ambiguous statement lacking any facts offends my sensibilities.
Michael Bersin
Josh Hawley (r), the third Senator from Virginia, just tries way too hard.
When he was Missouri Attorney General he had difficulty coping with being required to reside in Jefferson City (in the statuatory job description). Two years after Josh (r) ladder climbed, In 2021, the right wingnut Missouri General Assembly repealed that requirement. Any wonder why?
Meanwhile, one of the running gags in Missouri politics is that Josh Hawley (r) doesn’t live in the state – apparently he has a nice house in Virginia. Josh (r) definitely doesn’t hold any open public town halls when he’s in Missouri.
Knowing the state you’re supposed to represent used to be a requirement. Used to be.
Today, true to form, Josh Hawley (r) used social media to expound on his bet with JD Vance (r) over the outcome of the sportsball playoff game this evening. JD Vance (r) wagered ribs from somewhere in Ohio. Josh Hawley (r) countered with barbecue from…Kansas.
There was much hilarity in the comments.
It all looks the same from Virginia
Omnes Omnibus
@CaseyL: @The Up and Up: Did either of you read the deleted thread? If not, maybe you should refrain from making judgments about what was said.
The Up and Up
@Omnes Omnibus: Dance for me, dance for me, dance for me, oh-oh I’ve never seen anybody do that thing you do before
Jay
@sab:
@zhena gogolia:
since the late 1980’s, the rule of thumb of driving in Vancouver, is you will get there, when you get there. Put on CBC Jazz, cruise the speed limit, keep your distance, don’t freak out when the road/bridge you are on gets shut down and you spend 8 hours parked.
zhena gogolia
@Omnes Omnibus: I read it. The commenter who was being responded to is in a delicate state right now for numerous reasons. The commenters who responded to them didn’t necessarily know about it. But their tone was combative and (for a respite thread) abusive. There are ways of conveying information without being snotty and aggressive, especially in a space that was supposed to be soothing. We have plenty of threads on which we can throw brickbats at each other. It was also disrespectful of TaMara’s efforts.
brendancalling
@Mo MacArbie: E! A! G! L! E! S! IGGLES!!!!!
zhena gogolia
@Jay: Maybe I should move there.
Omnes Omnibus
Holy fuck, the ’49ers are kind of fucked.
Mo MacArbie
Ah, Eagles. So, how ’bout them Eagles?
James E Powell
@Kent:
Down here in Los Angeles, we would likely only see them if they were playing the Rams, Charges, or sometimes the Raiders. The Raiders are still the most popular team in Los Angeles.
Starfish
An art installation where cans of Spam respond to 1984
James E Powell
@CaseyL:
I agree with you. I wish that we would all be less eager to get hostile with each other, but forget it Jake, it’s the internet.
Michael Bersin
@sab:
I gave up speeding after I had to pay a $300 fine – driving at 6000 feet altitude, ascending, on a two lane highway in a national forest at 6:30 a.m., with no one else (besides me and the county sheriff’s deputy) on the road. I had been driving the road for 40 years. The slaloms were fun, now they’re just sedate…
Strictly the speed limit for me.
David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch
@Michael Bersin:
my maserati does one-eighty-five, I lost my license, now I don’t drive
Omnes Omnibus
@zhena gogolia:
I clearly am in the minority here. I will leave it there.
David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch
49ers are down to John Brodie at quarterback
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
I looked up Verlaine’s (somewhat brief) obit in the Times and saw that Terry Hall of the Specials and Fun Boy Three died on December 18. Somehow I missed that. Detailed obit here (gift link).
Sure Lurkalot
@Omnes Omnibus: Thanks. I don’t YouTube often so wasn’t familiar with Letters Live. Very witty and I’ll visit often.
Michael Bersin
@David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch:
It was in a 2015 sport utility vehicle with a 3.6 liter engine. Not exactly a super car. My clocked speed came in just under a much higher fine and possible detention.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack:
As I said on the bird site, I was a little too young to discover Verlaine directly, but almost every band I loved in college cited him as an influence. So I learned. Hall, however, was more contemporary. That one was hard.
HumboldtBlue
This game has really become a damp squib, what with the Niner injuries.
TD on the drive may just seal the win.
#7 on the Niners is playing great.
But the Niners can keep giving Eagles breaks with the penalties.
Niners have melted down.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Reminds me of an old Car Talk call during a previous spike in gas prices. A guy called in wanting to know how he could get better mileage, and the brothers responded in unison, Slow Down! and the caller chuckled and said, yeah, yeah, but seriously, is there anything I can do Slow Down! That went on for a couple more exchanges and they got a little more detailed in their explanation, but clearly all the guy wanted was some magic additive or secret strategy, but… drive a little bit slower? Never!
Jay
@zhena gogolia:
traffic is generally bad here. I commute counterflow, on transit, to minimize exposure to morons, a-holes and testosteroni’s, but when I drive, I drive like a Grandpaw.
Food is great, most people are nice, rents are insane, it rarely snows, the sky is mostly gray or moist from October to April, the scenery is stunning, ( when you can see it), if you like outdoor activities it is heaven, and the fashion trend is GoreTex jackets, fleece, yoga pants and hiking boots,……….
if that’s your kinda place, come on up,……..
brendancalling
@Mo MacArbie: FLY EAGLES FLY!
brendancalling
@Steeplejack: Terry was hard. The Specials were such a good band.
WaterGirl
I think I’m going to listen to Eve of Destruction again as a respite from the quibbling.
CaseyL
@Omnes Omnibus:
I did. The first time the issue was mentioned was enough. There is nothing any of us can do about the situation that was described. Once “awareness” was made, the subject could have and should have been dropped. Instead, the issue dominated, derailed, and crapped all over the thread.
zhena gogolia
@Jay: I like the rarely snows part.
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus:
That is one of the better channels I’ve seen. It is nice to know that many people have the capacity to write in a manor that informs, and entertains, and hearing their writings spoken is even better. Thank You.
Anyway
@Suzanne:
I don’t put bumper stickers on my car –don’t need my coworkers knowing my politics/ business …
I had a Darwin-fish on my previous car …
Anyway
Go Birds!!!!!
Trollhattan
@James E Powell: We know of him from his Stanford days, then he disappeared to the Panthers on the other coast. Not a Niners fan but he’s hugely entertaining to watch after the trade.
Learning today he’s the #5 QB totally fits.
Trollhattan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Also accepted: Pump them taars to a hunnert pounds.
Omnes Omnibus
Well, that was interesting…
Heidi Mom
@OzarkHillbilly: Beneath my Biden bumper sticker is Pete 2020, and beneath that is Clinton/Kaine. I haven’t encountered any trouble because of them, although an old guy in a pickup did once wave his T**** hat at us. I’ve often wondered if the influence of the original “peace churches” in PA (Quaker/Mennonite/Church of the Brethren) continues to the present day–people just don’t seem to get as excited about things as they do in many other places.
Heidi Mom
@Cameron: Yes indeed!
Heidi Mom
@Ohio Mom: Where others might head to a bar after a rough day, I head to Leo’s, hoping for either butterscotch ripple or peanut butter and jelly. But really their plain vanilla is awesome too. (Never developed a taste for salt caramel, though.)
Other MJS
Lurker misses the show but wants to play anyway.
ian
@Other MJS:
*passes hot potato to lurker*
*runs other direction
HumboldtBlue
@ian:
I can’t find the photo, but a young woman at the Chiefs game last week brought a hot potato to the game and pulled it out of her pocket and ate in the second half.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Philly suburbanite here who was only vaguely aware of the sportsball game today. We started hearing fireworks a few minutes ago and I was grumbling about “who the heck is setting off fireworks in January and for what?”
A few minutes later I mentioned to my wife that earlier I’d seen a very specialized lawn decoration: A huge inflatable Santa wearing an Eagles jersey with one of those oversized #1 hands. Still didn’t make the connection to the fireworks.
Then she said, “aren’t they playing today?” I said yes, I thought so and googled. Still didn’t make the connection. Google told me the score was 7-7 and I thought, “well if it’s not over, then why is somebody…?”
The penny finally dropped when Google updated to the final score a minute later. So the Iggles are going to the Superbowl I guess. Yay!
ian
@HumboldtBlue: New meaning for hot pocket.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@HumboldtBlue: There’s a YouTube of Dolores O’Riordan telling the story of destroying a hotel room. It’s the most Irish story ever, and involves a hot potato. If you need a quick snack, you pop a spud in the microwave, right? Doesn’t everybody?
She is so cute and adorable there. It’s so hard to fathom she’s no longer with us.
villiageidiocy
@Mr. Bemused Senior: The Spanish Inquisition!
different-church-lady
Was it the figure skating?