I was at the garden center this morning when the song came on.
I cannot hear this song without thinking of John Lewis. It’s bittersweet. Such a joyful, passionate man, a shining reminder of how much difference each of us can make, if we choose.
He didn’t get to see us win the two Senate seats in Georgia. He didn’t live to see his friend Joe Biden elected and do all these great things. And he doesn’t get to see the U.S. finally taking on the evils of the past few years, rather than “looking forward, not back.”
I am so proud of our DOJ, proud of Merrick Garland, proud of all the people who are standing up for the rule of law.
I still have a little catching up to do, but it’s getting to be time for us to get back to work.
Open thread.
H.E.Wolf
John Lewis is now on a postage stamp which has just been issued. First-class stamp, for a first-class human being.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I loved him crowd surfing on Colbert.
cope
I clicked on the Happy Dance video and it made me smile broadly and get goosebumps on my arms.
Thanks, that’s one of my favorite sensory/emotional combinations.
Manyakitty
@Dorothy A. Winsor: this was glorious 😍🥰
Ryan
He also didn’t get to see the war on trans and wokism, although now that I write this, I imagine he’d relish the anticipation for the fight.
Old School
From last week:
Dangerman
Ok, dumb question, but MD says Decaf or Die. So, decaf it is (shit should be illegal). Take pity on me.
So, Trump can no doubt run from Prison. But what happens if the fucker wins (besides pardoning himself at 12:01 on 1/20/2025)?
Eunicecycle
@Dangerman: I don’t know, but I had a nightmare last night that he was elected again. I was crying in the dream, and when I woke up I was still crying. It took me a few moments to realize it wasn’t real.
Dangerman
I hear ya. I think he could win. Especially with all the Rodentia Copulation (not yet BJ after dark) I expect.
Old School
@Dangerman: My sympathies. Here’s hoping you find some good decaf options.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Dangerman: I use a french roast decaf that tastes ok, but I miss the rush of caffeine. I have six ounces of strong real French roast in the morning, diluted with boiling water in a big cup so it feels like more. That seems to hold me.
Betty Cracker
The Third Lady is peddling NFTs again, this time to mark the 54th anniversary of the moon landing:
So she’d make $37.5K, less expenses? It’s all so mind-bogglingly tacky, especially for someone who’s married to a so-called billionaire ex-POTUS.
NotMax
@Dangerman
First thing yours truly would do is shop around for a change of M.D.
;)
Old School
@Betty Cracker:
Not “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky!“?
WaterGirl
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Why / how is coffee / caffeine bad for the heart?
NotMax
OT.
Just limped to the finish line of Let’s Throw Every Freaking Caricature We Can Against the Wall in Hopes Something Will Stick — pardon me, the finish line of Babylon on Prime.
188 minutes with nothing to show for it save a massive waste of talent.
rikyrah
In a way, yes, he was gone too soon.
But, compared to his contemporaries, he got to become an old man..
Something Martin, Malcolm, Medgar and countless others who died in their prime during the Civil Rights Movement were denied.
Geminid
The late Representative Elijah Cummings is also missed. He passed away October, 2019, 8 months before John Lewis.
I remember his advice to Michael Cohen when Trump’s former attorney appeared before the Oversight Commitee. Cummings was Committee Chair, and I think he was a good role model for fellow Maryland Rep. Jaime Raskin and the other freshman Democrats on the Committe..
rikyrah
@Dangerman:
As a former, at least 4 days a week drinker, I feel you.
It’s just best to give it up cold turkey.
And, when you get that random craving that lasts more than 2 days, go get the decaf.
If you told me when I was 30 that I could stop drinking my daily coffee, I would have called you a liar.
But, I turned 40 and my body said ‘ No More’.
Old School
@WaterGirl:
Too much caffeine can cause arrhythmia. I had it when I used to spend all day drinking coffee. Since I cut down to a cup or two per day, I haven’t had any issues.
Elizabelle
Way OT, but the hype for this new Barbie movie is just off the walls. [Even] the FTF NY Times has been writing about it daily.
Barbenheimer. Barbiecore. Give it up. Am a fan of Greta Gerwig, but how much of this is Big Toy (Mattel) pulling out all the stops
ETA: The only thing I have not seen is a Pepto Bismol tie-in, but maybe that is next week.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@WaterGirl: Speaking for myself, it increases my blood pressure. It’s temporary, but marked.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Elizabelle: I’m very excited because my DIL got tickets for a 9:30 am Barbie showing on Friday. I’ll let you know how that goes.
NotMax
@Elizabelle
Coming soon: Kenan the Barbierian, followed by A Fistful of Dolls.
//
Elizabelle
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Have fun.
Not saying I won’t see it, but the promotion has been on steroids.
Next up: Barbie Girl Dinner! ie. lunchables in bright pink packaging, with a few extra olives and dried cranberries.
WaterGirl
@Dorothy A. Winsor: @Old School: Wow. thanks for the info.
FastEdD
When in times of trouble, religious people fall back on Bible quotes. I’m not religious but I’ve found that when rotten things happen and I don’t know how to cope, song lyrics come to mind. They help me describe things when I’m at a loss for words and I’m sure they do for others as well.
Dangerman
This.
I loved my coffee (the real stuff), especially in Seattle (jet fuel blend; I didn’t fuck around). My Father consumed all day. In my DNA.
But, I also had/have a world class Afib (arrhythmia). Third ablation in 3 years coming up in September. 2nd was ER and in patient (at one of the top hospitals in SoCal) and I’m only partially kidding when I’m saying the Doctors and Nurses looked at my EKG, looked at me, and went “Dude, WTF?”
First, they said no caffeine, and, when I broke down in tears, they said, ok, decaf (which still has caffeine, BTW, just not as much, obviously).
Same thing with my occasional glass of wine; MD’s said, ok, a little (no tears this time), but my Pharmacist said NFW. Pharmacist won.
narya
@Dangerman: I get my coffee from Colectivo. They started in Milwaukee, and are now also in Chicago and Madison. I like the Velo–and I like that there’s a decaf and regular version, because when I make my cold brew, I go half and half.
Josie
@Dangerman: You might try half-caf. There is a world of difference in the flavor of a good half-caf and any decaf.
Miss Bianca
@rikyrah: True. A very sobering reminder.
NotMax
@FastEdD
Some lyrics easier to coax from spotty memory than others.
:)
Dangerman
BTW, don’t care about Barbie, but I’m so seeing Oppenheimer (he was a study from way back in Undergrad).
Miss Bianca
@FastEdD: Damn. After the Barbie mentions upthread I thought “Bible quotes” was “Barbie quotes” and for a second there my head went to some very weird spaces…
Steve in the ATL
@Betty Cracker: seems appropriate since Slovenian escorts played such a large role in the US space program.
Martin
@Dangerman: I cut caffeine when I was maybe 40? Maybe a bit earlier? It’s fine – it’ll take about 2-3 weeks to get used to it. I still look forward to my coffee every morning.
I should add – when I do accidentally get slipped a caffeinated coffee now, it’s like taking meth. It’s seriously unsettling.
Citizen Alan
@Elizabelle: I am just amused that the GQP is pre-hating it because something something a map of China. And I assume Desantis et al will soon start attacking it as woke because Ken appears to be an absolute buffoon and sexist to boot while (presumably) Barbie learns important lessons about how women shouldn’t act like, well, Barbie.
Betty Cracker
@Dangerman: I’ll wait for the mashup: Barbenheimer. Or Oppenbarbie.
@Steve in the ATL: LOL!
Citizen Alan
@Citizen Alan: OMG! I just read the wiki synopsis and I basically nailed it. The anti-SJW assholes are going to flip the hell out! And even more amusingly, Mattel has put out a movie in which Mattel itself is effectively the bad guy!
Dangerman
That’s me and energy drinks (when I was still consuming). I think it’s the Taurine (sp?) but I tried Celsius at a convention I went to in San Diego and same thing (and I don’t think it had taurine; don’t remember right now). Nasty shakes.
Martin
@Elizabelle: Yeah, I think it’s fine – daughter is excited to see it – but I see the larger campaign of half of movie dollars going into Mattel toys movies and am not liking this dystopia we are gleefully entering.
Barbie movie to me is like being invited to an orgy. Would it be fun? Maybe. But that’s a door I just don’t want to open or encourage. Y’all have fun though.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Citizen Alan: I saw an early trailer which started off by saying there have always been dolls but they’ve always been baby dolls. There were pics of little girls looking dreary. Then Barbie appears and the little girls are awestruck and proceed to smash their baby dolls. That’s a fairly complex message about training for a girl’s role!
Glidwrith
@Martin: I take my black tea (has the sustainable version of caffeine) in the morning and save the caffeine for when I need Exedrin for headaches.
NotMax
@Martin
Brings to mind a pithy quote.
“It would appear that I have tried everything except incest and folkdancing.”
– Hermione Gingold
.
rikyrah
@Elizabelle:
Their marketing department has been running gangbusters for the last 18 months.
I want it to live up to the hype.
dmsilev
@Elizabelle:
One of my students told me a few days ago that he’s all-in on doing the Barbenheimer thing. I’m pretty sure he was serious and not just pulling my leg.
Baud
@NotMax:
My initial thought was “I don’t recall that line in the Harry Potter books.”
rikyrah
@Martin:
Barbie is like Disney to me. If you aren’t accepting the capitalism/ consumerism part of it…do you really like it? The reason I think everyone should go to DisneyWorld at least once…it’s surreal…the marketing of Disney in everything you see is like.. ‘ wow…damn.’
I mean, I had or tried to have, everything Barbie when I was growing up. People criticize that she was bad for ‘ body image’. That didn’t matter.
Barbie was everything. She had 10 different jobs. And, I believed that she did all of them. Ken never had a job. He was her appendage. I thought that was radical even back when I was growing up.
Martin
@Baud: That was my first thought, too. What episode of Harry Potter After Dark did I miss?
The Thin Black Duke
I’m beginning to think of Barbie as a Trojan Horse type of movie, where maybe the studio guys are unaware of the subversive message hiding beneath. Gerwig is a gifted filmmaker, so she deserves the benefit of the doubt.
rikyrah
@The Thin Black Duke:
How is it hiding?
Ken has always been her appendage.
Barbie had all the jobs and the costumes to go along with the jobs.
Ken’s job was to look good on Barbie’s arm. He was there to do what Barbie wanted him to do….and, that was back even when I was kid decades ago.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
Interesting note about “Oppenheimer” – there are only thirty 70mm Imax screens in the world.
19 in the US. 6 in Canada. 3 in England. 1 in mainland Europe. I in Australia.
Of the 30 screens, 7 are in California (3 in Northern California, 4 in Southern California).
It’s an interesting statistical distribution. Not sure what it means.
Martin
@rikyrah: See, I would be 100% on board if this was what the Mattel Cinematic Universe was aiming to do, but we’ve had 3 GI Joe movies with no subversive messaging at all. I’m not expecting JJ Abrams ‘Hot Wheels’ to either.
The Thin Black Duke
@rikyrah: I originally thought that Barbie was going to be a shallow, inoffensive and meaningless One Trick Pony of a movie trafficking in false nostalgia. However, the reviews I’m reading from critics I respect are telling me a different story, so I’m intrigued.
Uncle Cosmo
@Old School: Funny about that – at my last few offices I was in charge of the coffee maker & company-subsidized grounds, & normally sucked down 5-6 cups per day. But having to buy my own java since my surprise retirement 11 years ago I rarely have more than 2. Arrhythmia? Cosa vuol’ dir’, “arrythmia”??!?
Uncle Cosmo
They’re saving it for the sequel, Barbie Has an Upper GI…
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@Dangerman:
Have you seen “Day One“? It has to be the be all and end all on the subject, with a perfect cast of actors.
Leto
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
PA has two 70mm theaters (King of Prussia and Philly); we used to be about 15 mins from the KoP one but we’re a bit further out now.
Martin
@The Thin Black Duke: The studio guys are aware. I mean, I’ve been banging the drum for a while that advertisers are straight up trolling the right because there is now so much money from people like us who are either in marginalized communities that markets historically ignored or who seek to be allies of those people, that they can afford to actively piss of conservatives and still come out ahead. Because it’s not possible to appease both groups – you have to pick.
It’s inevitable that studios will find themselves going down the same route. My daughter is an interesting case here – she’s 22, and she’s really excited to see it. It hits her metamodernism nerve very hard – serious concepts wrapped in fun packaging. But she’s also a pretty vocal anti-capitalist, which you know, it’s fucking Barbie who is both textually and subtextually very romantically capitalist – like case study so. Like, this is a contradiction that her father doesn’t yet understand, and I’m not sure she does either.
But the point is that it’s working. It’s capturing this demographic – which is not small. And in that sense I think the whole exercise is pretty fucking brilliant – in an evil volcano lair covered in confetti kind of way. I admire the skill with which they’ve threaded this needle here. I don’t think it’s a trojan horse but a tentpole under which they can shove a bunch of stuff under – and my expectation is that most of the stuff being shoved under is going to be pretty fucking awful until they need to tip up the next tentpole.
*This* should be the topic of a Medium Cool, because I think a LOT is happening here once you scratch the surface.
Suzanne
@NotMax: SuzGrandfather used to say, “I’ll try anything once, except incest and square dancing”.
Elizabelle
@The Thin Black Duke: I am hoping that is what we are going to see. Subversive, and maybe some wickedly funny social satire.
I won’t read any reviews until after I see it (in the next week or so). Will just pick up the vibe via osmosis.
@rikyrah: LOL. We never had any Ken dolls in our house, and most of my friends did not have them, either. I do remember when a 1990s Ken became a collector’s item. It was wearing a necklace (disco era — Earring Magic Ken) and became known as Cock Ring Ken.
That said, I do remember us making clothes for the dolls. Albeit without much skill. So that was kind of useful.
Frankly, the trolls were far easier to dress. Those short little arms and legs. Took no fabric at all. Their hair was more fun. They could live in a repurposed Kleenex box. They were pretty indestructible.
I love trolls (dolls). And, sigh, they have already had their movies, no?
Suzanne
@Elizabelle:
Spawn the Elder is unbelievably excited for Barbie. One thing to note is that Gen Z grew up with these direct-to-DVD animated Barbie movies (like Barbie the Island Princess) and it is a major axis of nostalgia for them.
He has been planning his outfit for weeks, and he is going as Earring Magic Ken.
Subsole
Funny enough, I think the only part of my childhood years these folks haven’t tried to resell me is…He-Man.
That actually surprises me. They’ve done how many Transformers movies. Three-ish GI Joe ones…where’s the He-Man?
Baud
@Subsole:
He-Man was definitely gay. Right wingers would freak out.
Kayla Rudbek
@rikyrah: yeah, I only had one Ken doll and a lot of Barbies, so only one of my Barbies had to get married and the rest of them had careers.
Elizabelle
@Suzanne: So fun.
This Halloween should be lit.
Martin
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: One of those is biking distance from me in a flourishing outdoor mall and where I would see it. Saw Avatar on that screen and some other stuff.
It means the theater is relatively new and we have the kind of discretionary wealth to drop $30/ticket on a movie and bring the kids – median income here is $115K. That would also be true of the Bay Area.
Ken
@Subsole: There was the 1987 movie, but I think it bombed. “A Golan-Globus Production” is a hard hill to climb. Also, the public wasn’t ready for a Masters of the Universe movie with fifteen minutes set on Eternia and the rest in a southern California suburb.
Subsole
Also, this is the kind of stuff that always makes me chuckle about the Right and its obsession with ‘declining Western masculinity’.
Like, my dude, we 80s kids ALLLLLLL played with dolls. Especially the boys. It’s just our dolls’ didn’t accessorize with shoes: they used assault rifles and battle axes. GI Joe? The Turtles? He-Man? Thundercats?
“Action figures.”
Yeah. Sure.
Old School
@Subsole:
Netflix just canceled it yesterday.
Ruckus
@Dangerman:
As someone who does very little caffeine and has still had an HA (which I didn’t know I’d had, and the cardiologist had to show to my primary doc, on the cardiogram), if they tell you to stop, do it. The shock of being told that I had an HA was almost enough to give me another one. The deal is that most heart attacks kill you. So I ask the question, is coffee worth that?
MattF
Every once in a while an analytical chemistry lab has some spare time and issues a report on what’s actually in those dietary supplements that are advertised as the answer to the vague and varied aches, pains, and inadequacies you’ve been feeling lately. Derek Lowe looks at the data from a recent one. Spoiler: what’s in the bottle is not correlated with the words on the label or the words in the advertising.
The Thin Black Duke
@Martin: Excellent analysis. Thank you.
Thing is, I still think there’s something of a disconnect that the studios are struggling with because while there aware there’s money to be made in targeting marginalized communities, there’s still a reluctance in abandoning what used to be a reliable demographic. They’re still rich white guys who thinks they know what their audience of non-rich white guys want. The Little Mermaid made money, but they’re not comfortable knowing that the hordes of non-rich white guys hated that it was successful. Movies like Nope and The Woman King make them nervous. I don’t think it’s an accident that the studios are downsizing their diversity departments or that there’s a resurgent of movies that are emphasizing White Saviors with obedient black token sidekicks (Mission: Impossible). I think we’re still at a tipping point as in which direction the movies are going to go.
Subsole
@Baud:
What? He-Man? The hyper-muscled himbo in the metal bondage harness and the furry boots who lived a double life? Gay????
Nonsense.
Old School
@Elizabelle:
The third movie is coming later this year! My daughter Elementary School loves them.
Steve in the ATL
@Subsole: Big Jim in the seventies! He could throw a football or judo chop you!
Baud
@Subsole:
https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a33446186/gay-he-man/
Subsole
@Ken:
Yeah. I wasn’t either, frankly.
Why in the vast and fathomless multivariate cosmos would I care about Earth when I can watch Eternia?? I ain’t here to see the real world. I’m here to see the one in my head.
Mousebumples
On topic – I love this John Lewis video from when he won a National Book Award (2016) for his graphic novel March.
https://youtu.be/uqmYNOPVyO4
Also recommend the graphic novel. Worth a donation to a local library. 😊
Subsole
@Old School:
Boo!!
Boooooo!!!
Dorothy A. Winsor
According to Aaron Rupar, the House hearing on “whistleblowers” has gone right off the cliff. MTG printed out naked pics of Hunter Biden from his laptop and put them on a posterboard.
stacib
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I’ve never seen that. Fantastic! Thanks.
The Thin Black Duke
@Dorothy A. Winsor: MTG is the Mean Girl in a horror movie that the entire audience is waiting to see get shanked.
Old School
@stacib: A fine example of why I tend to include quotes in my replies. Thanks for the laugh.
zhena gogolia
@Subsole: “By the power of Grayskull!” I only know this from Hot Fuzz.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Old School: Now Rep Garcia is holding up a giant poster board pic of Rudi’s face with hair dye streaming down his temple
Thread reader of Rupar’s thread
zhena gogolia
@Dorothy A. Winsor: OMG
rikyrah
Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) tweeted at 2:56 PM on Wed, Jul 19, 2023:
BREAKING: Florida just approved new Black history standards that includes noting enslaved people developed skills that “could be applied for their personal benefit”
We can’t teach the truth about ROSEWOOD![]()
![]()
![]()
Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) tweeted at 2:57 PM on Wed, Jul 19, 2023:
The standards also advise that in teaching about mob violence against Black residents instructors should also note “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.”
https://t.co/F1c9hpmsep
(https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1681755064254320640?t=T9bGalFyV2mGEqTH6CIM0w&s=03)
Geminid
I might go see Golda if I went to movies. I saw one review, though, that said Helen Mirren was loaded down with so much makeup to make her look like Golda Meir that her expressions were muted.
Golda Meir was born at the turn of the last century in what was then called Kiev. Her earliest memory was of her carpenter father boarding up the house in anticipation of a pogrom. He emigrated to the US a few years later and then brought his family over. Meir grew up in Milwaukee and earned a teaching degree there.
When Golda’s boyfriend proposed marriage to her, she accepted on one condition: that they emigrate to what is now Israel. He agreed, and they “made aliyah” in the late 1920s.
But I don’t think this biopic covers Meir’s early life. It sounds like it centers on her role as Prime Minister during the 1973 October War.
They probably left out an incident I read about last year in the Times of Israel. Thirty-six hours into the war, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan was so dismayed by early setbacks thst he proposed using some of Israel’s small stock of nuclear weapons. Meir was made of sterner stuff, and told him no.
Baud
@rikyrah:
There were good and bad people on both sides!
rikyrah
Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) tweeted at 4:11 PM on Mon, Jul 17, 2023:
Gov. Reeves is against forgiving loans for students. What about for companies?
“A company Reeves is a co-owner of and another that employs his wife benefited greatly from loan forgiveness under the pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program…”
https://t.co/O1lBaiydJ6
(https://twitter.com/maddow/status/1681048951418413064?t=M-loyypvVJxmbyhREGiyIQ&s=03)
Dorothy A. Winsor
@zhena gogolia: Maybe she was ticked off about Biden’s ad using her speech to whatever right-wing gathering that was.
rikyrah
Craig Mauger (@CraigDMauger) tweeted at 11:37 AM on Wed, Jul 19, 2023:
A cyber security expert says in a new lawsuit that Michigan lawyer Stefanie Lambert refused to pay him after he crafted a report for her that didn’t find evidence of election fraud.
Lots of news here.
Story with @robertsnellnews. https://t.co/JiX7kj5OfV
(https://twitter.com/CraigDMauger/status/1681704796527394833?t=N-UPBbM5Vaw4DS3cK6blfA&s=03)
Elizabelle
@MattF: Weeds and houseplants. LOL.
rikyrah
Cheryl Rofer (@CherylRofer) tweeted at 10:49 PM on Tue, Jul 18, 2023:
It’s interesting to think about two mavericks in the Manhattan Project: Teller and Neddermeyer. Teller could have tanked the project if Oppenheimer hadn’t kept him on a short leash. Neddermeyer wandered around in the woods, blowing things up, and saved the project.
(https://twitter.com/CherylRofer/status/1681511487133863937?t=NeOvtCdrehelwHKAPXAK_w&s=03)
zhena gogolia
I’ve been struggling with new Moodle all day. What a drag.
Ruckus
@rikyrah:
I worked on Barbie doll molds when I was a teen. We made them for Mattel and had Elliot Handler, the founder of Mattel, and his wife Ruth in our shop discussing a mold we were making for different toy. My work was machining the cavities for the molds which formed Barbie. This was slightly weird, having made the tools that made Barbie and then a number of years later meeting the woman they were supposedly designed after. I would never had made the connection if I hadn’t been told this long before.
cain
@Subsole: Then there is this – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lshobg1Wt2M
rikyrah
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Why isn’t this revenge porn? She should be arrested
catclub
when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.
JWR
Possible throw down between Sheryl Crow and Jason Aldean. (Spoiler alert! She wins this one hands down.)
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Remember when the Republicans and the media got mad when that one hearing witness made a pun about Barron Trump’s name. Good times.
Manyakitty
@Dorothy A. Winsor: what. What? Naked??? JFTDC.
Elizabelle
@Dorothy A. Winsor: That is so tacky, and so cruel.
Cannot believe there are no naked photos of Mean Girl floating around. Not that I think they should be displayed at a US House hearing.
Democrats. We vote for adults.
JaySinWA
@rikyrah: She’s abusing the “Speech and debate clause” but my guess is it is protected as long as it’s in house.
Baud
The various Institutes of Civility in Politics will certainly be up in arms about this.
Manyakitty
@Elizabelle: pretty sure there are pictures of her three toes somewhere.
Elizabelle
@Baud: Yeah. Am sure they will get right on it.
That stuff will not play well with normies, though.
I feel so badly for Hunter, and for Joe. I think they are trying to get Joe to quit, or Hunter to relapse.
zhena gogolia
@Elizabelle: Hunter won’t relapse over this.
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia: I just wish he could have some peace.
This ugliness. Truly, should be going after the 3 oldest Trump children, and Jared, for corruption. This is the shiny object to divert attention.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Hunter should get a Medal of Freedom.
pat
Sit! Stay! Honor your ancestors! 500 golden retrievers meet in motherland.
Dogs and their humans celebrated the first litter of golden retrievers, born in Scotland 155 years ago. The festival included a tea party and tug-of-war.
Totally OT, but this is a great story in the WaPo. Not a free link that I could find, unfortunately but dog lovers (and cat lovers) will love it.
Redshift
@Citizen Alan:
Apparently Matt Gaetz’ wife is calling on wingnuts to boycott the movie because of Ken not fitting the conservative standard of toxic masculinity or something. It’s only notable because they were at the premier (and I think only attracted any notice because all the famous actors stayed away because if the strike.)
Elizabelle
@pat: Gift link for the WaPost story on the Golden Retrievers.
Sit! Stay! Honor your ancestors! 500 golden retrievers meet in motherland.
And they are all good boys and girls. Every single one.
They might bark with a brogue, though.
Elizabelle
@Redshift: That’s hilarious, coming from a woman who chose to marry Beavis (or is it Butthead?) incarnate.
Bupalos
@Dangerman: Recommendation for you: Mushroom “coffee.”
I know it sounds weird. And I’m a mushroom grower so maybe I’m biased. But for me Lion’s Mane mushroom does everything coffee does as far as a pick-me-up and the ancillary health benefits are pretty impressive. Lightly toasted ground Lion’s mane smells eerily like cocoa and it’s flavor profile is pretty similar.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Elizabelle:
We definitely have assholes on our side too. It’s just ours seem to be pretty useless or work tirelessly to undermine achieving their own stated goals. If there was anyone with enough ugly misogyny to do a fine job unearthing and revealing the sordid details of MTGs own affairs, it would be the Dirtbag Left. Unfortunately, they are too busy reloading for the circular firing squad.
Jackie
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Here’s a link to the speech MTG gave – scroll down to the end for the video:
https://www.rawstory.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-joe-biden-compliments/
zhena gogolia
@pat: Very cool, thanks!
Redshift
@Elizabelle: Anything about wingnuts and masculinity is hilarious. They never seem to grasp that the only people impressed by their tough-guy wannabe shtick are other tough-guy wannabes.
I mean, any normal person can instantly see that trumpeting “I’m an alpha male!” tells everyone you aren’t.
Baud
@pat:
@Elizabelle:
Thanks.
Jay
@pat:
Mock Paper Scissors has a you tube clip on their 2nd page.
Elizabelle
@Jackie: Maybe there is a method to the madness. Bidens, I will teach you to use my idiotic and ill considered speeches in your campaign ads. Watch this!
cain
@rikyrah: it’s on brand – we must always give in to the job creators.
Redshift
@pat: It is such a great story. And I never knew anything about when and where golden retrievers originated.
The Lodger
@Elizabelle: Butt-Head is Matt Gaetz. Beavis is Jim Jordan. You’re welcome.
Baud
Via Mastodon, John Roberts would be shocked.
Elizabelle
@The Lodger: Thank you. Butthead I can remember. Heh heh heh.
Redshift
@Elizabelle:
Yeah, it’s pure whataboutism. Any bad behavior by anyone connected to a Democrat taints their whole bloodline, but a Republican can surround themself with people who are each and every one cartoonishly corrupt, and “how dare you go after the family?”
Elizabelle
@Redshift: I wish and hope that there is a Jack Smith type prosecutor for public corruption somewhere. The Trumps did so much self-dealing, and it’s hard to believe all of it was legal.
I would love if that prosecutor, or team, was swimming soundlessly below the surface, gathering evidence while attention is focused elsewhere.
Liz Cheney and the January 6th committee made noises about going after the sources of funding for the radical Republicans. I did not take that to mean just those who rented the buses.
And, of course, someone should be looking hard at the Harlan Crows, and the Robert Mercers, and the Leonard Leo types. They have a lot of money and can hire very good lawyers, but there has to be some vulnerability there.
pat
@Redshift:
And it almost makes me think I should get a golden retriever when my old cat Pablo is no longer with us……. Maybe…
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Elizabelle: That was my assumption too
eclare
Such a great video. It’s silly but I always think of the photo with him and his cats. I was so proud to live in his district when I lived in ATL.
https://www.rollcall.com/2016/01/04/john-lewis-plays-with-his-cats/
Ruckus
@pat:
I grew up with a golden and have known a few of them. Good dogs, mostly calm and easy trainable.
Dangerman
Long nap this end.
I probably saw it. I don’t remember it but it fits with what I would have watched at the time.
Kinda like now, I guess.
Nelle
OT – Some Republican PAC has just run two commercials on the local, Des Moines evening news criticizing TFG for criticizing the governor (Kim Reynolds). Iowa Republicans are pissed at TFG for criticizing Reynolds for not endorsing him. She says she is staying neutral, but has been quite buddy, buddy with DeSanctis. The commercials are going straight after TFG. The whole dustup likely means nothing in the long run, but I am enjoying seeing R’s angry at TFG.
Baud
@Nelle:
Good.
eclare
@Elizabelle:
I would love to see a Pepto tie-in!
Dangerman
Interesting. I’ll ask my MD about it. On minimal research and given the blood thinner I am on, I’m taking a guess and saying she will say no. Still, I’m into alternative stuff..
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Elizabelle:
based on the color scheme?
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@Martin: I don’t think its about income because 30 dollars is a lot less than a ticket to a baseball game. A small market team like Kansas City charges $58 for a ticket in the first deck.
Princess
@Nelle: I dunno. I’ve seen internal political feuds like this last decades. We could get lucky this time.
Miss Bianca
@Mr. Bemused Senior: @Elizabelle:
Not just the color scheme, surely?
Actually, I love the idea of a Pepto-Bismol/Barbie crossover. I don’t know what that says about me, honestly.
Dan B
@rikyrah: Ah, the happy negroes of mid eighteen hundreds Dixie. They sang such beautiful songs because of joy in their hearts.
In 1960 Arkansas black people looked terrified if they were anywhere near downtown. Such happy terror!!
We would benefit greatly by strong pushback against these thugs and bullies of the new White Citizens Councils.
Miss Bianca
@rikyrah:
@Dan B: This is absolutely heartbreaking and infuriating. And I’m seeing the pernicious effect of White-wingers on our local school board as well – they recently voted, at the behest of one of the wackiest of the wackadoodles – to deep-six our school’s social-emotional learning curriculum on the grounds that it promotes Critical Race Theory,
I shit you not. As one of the teachers, recently resigned/fired*, told me, “The index says it teaches Critical Thinking. Maybe she got confused.”
Jesus wept.
Old Dan and Little Ann
I blame Barbie for adding to Body Dysmorphia disorder. And GI Joe for a lot of boys becoming MAGA assholes.
RaflW
So I see that Squeaker McCarthy is now talking publicly about impeaching Merrick Garland. What that tells me is, Quevin is getting nervous that the new Jack Smith turn on Jan 6th / Trump is getting high-level GOPs worried that the legal stink will rise up to engulf them, too. As it should.
Thankful that the Senate won’t do shit with any sham paperwork the House (possibly) manages to push their way.
RaflW
@Old Dan and Little Ann: I played with first gen GI Joes a lot. They were the size of Barbie and had bristly crew cut hair that was tactile and not just more molded plastic. I built a 3 story cardboard condo with red shag carpet for the guys to hang out in.
My favorite had a brown beard! Those were the post-Vietnam days. I’m pretty sure my taste for bearded brunette men comes from those days.
Maybe the later era ‘posable action figure’/smaller scale GI Joes had different effects on boys??
Elizabelle
@RaflW: the prototype bear!
geg6
@Leto:
Nope. There are three. There’s one at the Waterfront here in the Pittsburgh area in Homestead. I’m thinking of driving there to see Oppenheimer. Plus Kennywood is just down the road from there. If you ever saw the movie Adventureland, it was filmed at Kennywood. Maybe I’ll make it a day.
Elizabelle
Maybe they can brand some of those woke OTR birth control pills for Barbie. That would make me happy. Barbie would approve. Pink and magenta. Stay free!
RaflW
@Elizabelle: Their gay icon cousin, The Otter. GI Joes were very fit (maybe abs, can’t quite remember)
And yes, my partner is bearded, 6’3 and 175 lbs, why do you ask? ;)
Matt McIrvin
@Ken: I still think of Skeletor as Frank Langella’s signature role.
Betsy
@Dangerman: I briefly tried this stuff called CrioBru (it’s ground cacao, the raw ingredient for chocolate). It gives you a gentle lift and if brewed strongly enough is pretty tasty. It’s not coffee though. But has the mood-enhancers of chocolate — mainly theobromine I think — maybe your doc says that’s OK?