Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

FFS people, this was a good thing. take the win.

If marriage is the equivalent of selling yourself into slavery, women with self respect should reject the offer.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

This fight is for everything.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

The words do not have to be perfect.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Republicans don’t trust women.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

There’s always a light at the end of the frog.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Dead end MAGA boomers crying about Talyor Swift being a Dem is my kind of music. Turn it up.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

The gop couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Donald Trump, welcome to your everything, everywhere, all at once.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

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

I’m just a talker, trying to find a channel!

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sunday Afternoon Open Thread

Sunday Afternoon Open Thread

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Someone mentioned yesterday that they had just received their artwork from Larime and that it had really captured the souls of the dog and kitty who are pictured.

I have already forgotten who it was, so please out yourself in the comments!  (Pika!)

I put the images at the end of pretty much dead thread, so they didn’t get much notice.  So here they are.

Talk about whatever you want!

Reader Interactions

126Comments

  1. 1.

    Alison Rose

    Those paintings are amazing!! What a stunning talent.

    On the not-stunning, not-talented, and hilarious front:

    The political action committee that former President Donald J. Trump is using to pay his legal bills faced such staggering costs this year that it requested a refund on a $60 million contribution it made to another group supporting the Republican front-runner, according to two people familiar with the matter.

    The decision signals a potential money crisis for Mr. Trump, who has so far refused to pay his own voluminous bills directly and has also avoided creating a legal-defense fund for himself and people who have become entangled in the various investigations related to him.

    It comes as Mr. Trump runs a campaign while under indictment in two jurisdictions and, soon, potentially a third, while also paying the legal fees of a number of witnesses who are close to him or who work for him.

    It is unclear how much money was refunded.

    But the refund was sought as the political action committee, Save America, spent more than $40 million in legal fees incurred by Mr. Trump and witnesses in various legal cases related to him this year alone, according to another person familiar with the matter.

    BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

  3. 3.

    Ohio Mom

    This morning we took a very large bag of books and records to the Friends of the Library’s used book warehouse. Then we bought home a half shopping bag of newly purchased used books and records. This downsizing in preparation for eventually moving is not going as smoothly as I had hoped.

  4. 4.

    Alison Rose

    I had commented on a FB post from The Kyiv Independent, and when someone liked my comment, I saw in the notification that he was wearing a red baseball cap with white writing, and I was like WTF? But I clicked through and looked closer and the hat says “Made you look, Black lives matter” which is awesome. Although from a distance people are gonna think something different.

  6. 6.

    JoyceH

    @Alison Rose: Just as an aside, WHY are baseball caps still a thing? They’ve been around forever and they don’t look flattering on anyone. I guess they’re cheap and an easy giveaway to promote your product, but come on folks. How about hats with brims all the way around?

  8. 8.

    Alison Rose

    @JoyceH: They look okay on actual baseball players and toddlers. Otherwise, yeah, it’s a risk.

    Vox had a piece a few days ago about how Oppenheimer is having an impact on fashion and maybe we’ll get a resurgence of that look. Listen, if that movie gets dudes to start wearing three-piece suits and pork pie hats again, I say give it all the Oscars.

  9. 9.

    JoyceH

    @Alison Rose: ​
     

    I got a sort of fishing hat to wear when walking, keeps the sun out of my eyes and the ticks off my head. I call it my adventurer’s hat – when I walk, my shadow looks like a tubby little Indiana Jones.

  10. 10.

    Pika

    Larime did those pieces for me!!! Having met both animals, I can affirm the recipients’ sense that Larime “got” their souls!

  11. 11.

    gwangung

    Huh. Maybe baseball caps are a guy thing?

    I particularly like them in fall and winter when it’s raining and I’m out walking/jogging; keeps the rain out of my eyes.

  13. 13.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Alison Rose: @JoyceH:
    Both of youse are out of your minds. Baseball caps are a practical and useful piece of headwear and when done in the style of an actual baseball cap, say, the Phillies, look damn good as well.

    Listen, if that movie gets dudes to start wearing three-piece suits and pork pie hats again

    As the eternally entertaining Sweet Brown told us — Ain’t nobody got time for that.​

    Plus, what other hats do we refer to as caps?

    Swimming cap? Goofy as hell.

    Shower cap? Even sillier.

    Fat cap? Usually gets trimmed before smoking.

  14. 14.

    Delk

    This Friday I have my yearly ophthalmologist appointment. At last year’s appointment, as I was sitting in the waiting room, the Dobbs decision was released. Maybe this year something good will be announced.

  15. 15.

    cmorenc

    @JoyceH: You will need to pry my Carter’s Vintage Guitars (nashville Tn) and Alta Ski Area baseball-style caps from my cold, dead hands and head.  Wearing the Carter’s one right now out on the beach.

    The answer to your question is – cause we like it.

  16. 16.

    Alison Rose

    @HumboldtBlue: I guess I’m impacted by both the MAGA crowd and the certain type of backwards-baseball-hat wearing douchebags I’ve encountered many times in my life. Also, they look way better once broken in, when they’re brand new, they always look like you’re wearing someone else’s hat who has a very different shaped head than yours.

    And there is always time for fashion!! Three-piece suits with hats = hot.

  19. 19.

    Tony Jay

    Love those paintings.

    I tried to find myself a wide brimmed hat yesterday to protect my Irish-skinned head and neck from the powerful Sicilian sun, but no luck. It’s a bother because, while I know I look like a tiny-skulled humanoid potato in any headwear, at least with a wider brim I can pull the sides down and tie it under my chin should the occasion demand.

    The Boy, of course, looks fantastic in any hat. Natural fashion model, my lad is. Doesn’t get from me.

  20. 20.

    dmsilev

    @Alison Rose: There was one scene in the film where Oppenheimer put on the hat and picked up his pipe, and I swear it was shot like something from one of Nolan’s Batman films, gearing up for battle in the Batcave, that sort of thing.

  22. 22.

    Yarrow

    @Alison Rose:  Depends where you live. In a lot of the world, even a lot of the US, it’s really too hot in winter most of the time for that.

  23. 23.

    NotMax

    @JoyceH

    And what’s with guys wearing hats (baseball or otherwise) or caps (knit or otherwise) indoors?

    Fashion faux pas (not to mention discourteous) to da max.

    Exception granted, of course, for any undergoing medical treatment.

  25. 25.

    cain

    Not sure if y’all are aware – but India has limited exports of non-basmati rice because of the torrential monsoon season.

    Rice especially sona masoori is super important to us in south India. There is panick buying going on because nobody is sure how long this ban is going to last. I’ll say that if hte future is that these bans become common place – the pressure is going to be on especially by Indians and asians to put pressure on working on the climate problem.

    As stated, climate change is going to have a big impact on our food supply, and that means our culture as well.. Shit like a Georgia peach festival is goign to go down in flames because there wont be any peaches.

    Climate change should be the biggest issue for conservatism – but these folks are just doing late stage capitalism.

    By the time they get it, they either won’t give a shit because they are going home to Jesus, want to accelerate it because they think Jesus is coming or be happy because minorities are gonna get it in the shorts.

  26. 26.

    GBinChicago

    Seeing this fantastic artwork from Larime, I realize I must have missed the initial post about helping out by commissioning a pet portrait. Is he still accepting commissions?

  27. 27.

    HumboldtBlue

    @NotMax:

    And what’s with guys wearing hats (baseball or otherwise) or caps (knit or otherwise) indoors?

    Grandma, is that you?

  31. 31.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Alison Rose:

    But I clicked through and looked closer and the hat says “Made you look, Black lives matter” which is awesome.

    A dear friend, sadly now deceased, had custom hats made in 2015/2016…red with white letters “Make America Grateful Dead Again”.

  32. 32.

    Nukular Biskits

    Recuperating today, after being outside nearly all day yesterday.

    Seeing the artwork reminded me of a stuffed toy company that specialized in making reproductions of pets as memorials.  We wanted one for our kitty Charybdis. Unfortunately, the proprietor kept making excuses as to why they were running so far behind and I had to dispute the deposit with my credit card company to get my money back.

  33. 33.

    Jay

    @JoyceH:

    There are baseball caps, and then there are “trucker caps”.

    A good baseball cap is cotton, has a formable bill, some times a duckbill, ( extra long bill).

    I hate trucker caps, I wear a proper baseball cap 300 days out of the year, but in winter, I wear a Western Felt Fedora. It’s warmer and sheds snow and light rain better. The baseball cap shields my eyes from the sun, wind from my face, rain from my face, and allows me to pull the hood of my GorTex coat overtop for even better weather protection.

    In summer, it protects against sunburn, and being a fairly heavy cotton, and all the blood vessels around the brain, can be wetted and will provide evaporative cooling for about two hors, longer if cold water is used, even longer if wetted and thrown into the freezer for an hour.

    For women or men with long hair, the adjustment strap and the real hole formed by the strap can be used to secure a pony tail.

    Yes, I am top bald, and of the generations before sunscreen, and so my top bald area, has several recurring skin cancers that started back in the day, when I did have a lush head of hair, but that was no protection from sunburn.

    I also have a Tilly hat, (an uprated version of the Military “Slouch” hat, but I only wear that when lake fishing from a boat.

  39. 39.

    Professor Bigfoot

    I wear one when I’m driving the roadster I’m restoring.

    I have a killer “Porsche Motorsport” red hat that only saw the light of day once.😉

  41. 41.

    Jay

    @NotMax:

    At my last two places of employment, I wore a branded baseball cap, to signify that I was an employee. The first place required at the time, a branded orange apron for all employee’s, but I got to opt out, because I could not leave my area to get parts, or anything else, with out being accosted in the isles by customers for hours. At the other place, they had branded mechanic’s coats, which were a PITA to try to actually work in, so I wore a branded baseball cap.

  45. 45.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @JoyceH:
    @Alison Rose:

    I have been wearing hats and bandannas of one kind or another all my life. Different strokes and all that but also the old baseball hat is a hell of a lot cheaper than any fedora. In fact, most of my billed caps were free, given to me for spending a ton of money at a lumberyard or autoparts store. We aren’t wearing them to be stylish, we’re wearing them to keep the sun out of our eyes and off our balding heads.

  47. 47.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Jay:

    For years, I wore a ball cap.  One day, though, I had an epiphany:  Ball caps do absolutely nothing to keep your ears or the back of your neck from getting fried.

    Today, when doing outside activities, I wear what I guess they call a “bucket hat” with the neck flap (I call it a “floppy hat” but, according to teh google, that is an entirely different kind of hat).  I wear a ball cap only when I need to make a quick trip to the store and my hair is a rat’s nest.

  53. 53.

    NotMax

    @Jay

    That’s not a fashion choice or statement, that’s a uniform. Equine of an alternate hue.
    ;)

  54. 54.

    Tony Jay

    @FelonyGovt:

    Cheers. It’s going great, apart from the atrocity of a self-inflicted hangover (that was a LOT of cheap white wine) but I’ve learnt my lesson and will be a good boy from now on.

    Probably. Definitely. Absolutely.

  55. 55.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @raven: ​“dude, no one gives a fuck what an old man like you looks like”!

    Good thing because I stopped caring what I looked like about 15 years ago.

  57. 57.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Nukular Biskits: ​Ball caps do absolutely nothing to keep your ears or the back of your neck from getting fried.

    But how do you can’t keep your neck red then?

  58. 58.

    jonas

    @HinTN: Caps, not so much, although they come off when at table.

    Reminds me of the epic scene from The Sopranos where Tony is eating at a nice restaurant and he sees this young man at a table across from him eating with his hat on and confronts him over it only the way a mob boss and a stickler for etiquette can…

  59. 59.

    Jay

    @Nukular Biskits:

    I use sunscreen for the neck and ears, also the bald part of my head under the baseball cap.

    I used to have a baseball cap that had a skirt that covered the back and sides of the neck and the ears, but it was annoying if there was even a little breeze.

    There are some “specialty” baseball caps out there from specialty shops, such as extra UV protection for Flats Fishermen, and Mark’s Work Warehouse has tick, flea, blackfly, horsefly and mosquito repellent baseball caps and breathable long sleeve shirts. No pants yet.

  60. 60.

    Butch

    On the subject of the artwork, I just got a tattoo of my two pups.  The artist, Eddie (a woman, pronounced with a long E to begin), did a fantastic job of catching their gentle spirits.

  61. 61.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​ edit fail, 2nd or 3rd time the past few days where I open the edit window, make the correction, post it and…. nothing.

    “But how do you keep your neck red then?”

  62. 62.

    NotMax

    @Jay

    “Sir, while they are surprisingly becoming on you, I don’t think you understand the concept behind fishnet stockings.”
    :)

  65. 65.

    Alison Rose

    @HumboldtBlue: Either dude is making up the call (for clickz) or that CSR was a dumbass. Shaking the kernels out is a bonus, but the openings are to act as vents so the bag doesn’t burst. Also, I’d bet if you try that, there’s still gonna be a lot of kernels, because the popped ones will block some of them from coming out.

    I know. I’m no fun. I’ve made peace with that.

  68. 68.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @JoyceH: I’ll tell you my theory why…car seat head rests. When they were introduced is when hats with brims started going out of fashion and I’m convinced it was because, if you’re wearing a hat with a brim all around, you can’t rest your head on the head rest because the brim gets in the way. With a ball cap that’s not an issue.

  70. 70.

    Larime

    I am indeed open for commissions! Pets in color are $100 per pet at 8×10, $150 at 11×14, and $200 at 16×20. I require full payment in advance, and get you the finished art in 1 to 2 weeks. I take PayPal, Zelle and CashApp.

  74. 74.

    p.a.

    My gf grew up in Westchester cty NY and didn’t know the word ‘toque’ for the knit winter hat thingy that I think everyone in New England called… a toque.  I guess it’s… what? a ski hat, knit hat? elsewhere?  Guys wouldn’t wear the ones with the pom on top.  We actually were WWC when the WC was white.  And stupid.

  76. 76.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Jay:

    I guess to each his/her own, then.

    Working for a Navy contractor, I collected (sidenote:  Is it a “collection” if you’re actually using them?) ball caps from just about every ship I’ve ever worked on or supported.  Those were usually of excellent quality and durability, not to mention having some pretty cool emblems/artwork.

    My switchover came when my kids were playing soccer and I was on the fields sometimes all day Saturdays for weeks on end.  Even with sunblock, I still would get burned when wearing a ball cap.  The trick, of course, is to reapply as needed, particularly when it’s hot and you’re sweating like a pig, but that’s a little tough to do when running around on the fields.

    I’ve also found it’s easy to stuff a floppy hat in my backpack for travel.

    I’ll never be making a fashion statement by wearing it.

  78. 78.

    Jay

    @p.a.:

    toque’s in Canada, and guys don’t care about the pom-pom, one way or another.

    I wear a watch cap, as I can wear it under my baseball cap.

  80. 80.

    p.a.

    @Jay: Yes, N.E. has a large Quebeçois population, must have brought the word with them.

     

    I use a polarfleece headband under baseball hat as needed.

  82. 82.

    Trivia Man

    I may have outed a Juicer today, sorry. Yesterday someone mentioned they were driving to Madison with their partner who was giving a talk in church about the driftless Area here. That’s my congregation so I made sure to go in person and say hi.
    I told him i first heard about his talk on Balloon Juice and that seemed a total surprise to him, he couldn’t figure out who I was talking about.

    sorry to out you

  83. 83.

    Jay

    @p.a.:

    I buy ex-British Army wool watch caps in XXL, boil them to turn them into Iron Wool, (which get’s them down to a large), then recoat them with lanolin, to restore the natural waterproofing.

    They cost 2/$5 when you can find them, are only available in Navy Blue, Forest Green and Black, and only last for 20-30 years.

  84. 84.

    eversor

    Boonie hat is the right advice though they get a bad rap as a lot of the people wearing them now are all wannabe operators with the 5.11 pants.

    I like ballcaps though.  They are stiff which helps.  And in times when sunburn isn’t the worry and you are wearing glasses rather than contects they are by far the best way to keep the sun out of your eyes.

    I guess you could get the best of both worlds with a cowboy hat  But those send their own crazy signals to people if you do not actually work with animals.  Speaking of which I’m going to an alpaca farm next weekend up in MD which is owned by a lovely old lady who’s a former Navy Captain.  This is her and her husbands (who last time I was up there I recall also did something government related before retiring) retirement.  They give tours and let you fuss with and feed the animals.  With of course the warning that they do kick and spit.  Also have tiny store for alpaca goods.  Which I knew about, but the socks and watch caps are amazing.

  88. 88.

    Citizen Alan

    @JoyceH:  My favorite baseball cap (and I would wear it if I could find it in real life) was one worn by Early Cuyler on Squidbillies. It says “Free Hat. Limit One.” and nothing else.

  90. 90.

    raven

    @Nukular Biskits: I brought mine home so I keep up with it. I wash showing a friend a picture of me at a rock festival in 1969 I had a leather headband that I still have too!

  93. 93.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Alison Rose:

    He wore a pork pie with precision,
    A fedora with a flair;
    He wore a derby with distinction,
    And a slouch with savoir faire.

    A beanie or a Stetson
    Suited well this dapper chap —
    But you never could persuade him
    To put on a baseball cap!

  95. 95.

    frosty

    @Jay: ​
     I’ve been wearing hats outside ever since I lost most of my hair in my 30s. Recently upgraded to a bucket-style Hiker Hat from Conner Hats, from downunder. Rated UPF 50 by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency. I figure that’s good enough!

  97. 97.

    prostratedragon

    Ski, skull, or watch cap, or beanie. Some also call a ball cap a beanie if the bill is short. The wiki machine tells me “toque” for this kind of hat comes from Canada. I only know it as what a chef wears, if they still do.

  99. 99.

    Jay

    @raven:

    The Western Fedora has a broader brim, a peaked top, and is treated to be waterproof. I started wearing them when steelheading in the winter. Kept rain, slush and snow from going down my neck while still allowing peripheral vision, which a hood didn’t.

  101. 101.

    raven

    @Jay: My boonie hat is fine for fishing plus it has a drawstring so it doesn’t blow off when the boat is hauling ass!

  102. 102.

    dexwood

    @Nukular Biskits: Your epiphany is what my dermatologist hates about baseball caps. He says he sees way to much early skin cancer on the tops of men’s ears here in the high desert of New Mexico. 3 inch brims he tells his patients.

  104. 104.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Nukular Biskits: Yup.  Had to switch from baseball to floppy hats once I started coaching tennis lessons.  Even with sunscreen, reapplying regularly, I would still get roasted with a b-ball cap.  Even with a floppy hat I struggle at times like now when I’m on court 6+ hours a day.

  105. 105.

    Yarrow

    @dexwood:  I just saw a bit of golf on TV. Pretty much everyone out on the course was wearing baseball style caps. Ears and neck exposed to sun. I remember Greg Norman wore a brimmed hat. Seems like the kind of sport where that would be advisable.

  106. 106.

    Another Scott

    @Alison Rose: Maybe suit jackets and sport coats that actually fully cover the shirt below the button will come back in style.  I understand people who don’t wear such clothes often, but people who wear them all the time should have jackets that don’t look the wearer has put on 20 pounds since the purchase.  Such fashion is broken.

    [/old-man-yells – at-cloud]

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  108. 108.

    prostratedragon

    NotMax@100: Well, I wouldn’t say that … but your comment may be.😏

  109. 109.

    mvr

    @JoyceH: Agee with you about the baseball caps not being as good as a full brim but they’re pretty popular in the flyfishing circles I sometimes run in. I’m a fedora fan myself. They are the best when you are out walking or fishing or whatever and want to keep your ears from getting sunburned.

  110. 110.

    thruppence

    When I turned 66 last year, I bought a Route 66 ball cap to mark the journey, very useful for keeping the sun, snow, and rain out of my eyes. Raven’s ex tenant is right though, nobody cares what all of us non George Clooney old guys look like. My purple batik shirt gets compliments, but it probably looks better without me in it.

  114. 114.

    Jay

    @mvr:

    Ball caps are handy when the rain or snow starts to come in sideways, and you need to pull your hood up. The hood on my GoreTex wading jacket has a small useless brim, a snap over chin flap, and 2 points of hood adjustment, so the only things out in the open are my eyes, eyebrows and the brim of my baseball cap.

    With a fully brimmed hat, under those conditions you either have another thing to carry, or can’t fully button up.

  115. 115.

    MagdaInBlack

    @raven: You look like most of the guys I knew back in my late teens early 20’s, including my husband 😊

  119. 119.

    raven

    @cope: That was my first trip on a boat. It was out of Port Aransas, Texas in about 1973. I remember that a kid was going around and dropping in between people and then moving and he caught a big ass grouper right next to me. I was not amused.

  120. 120.

    SteveinPHX

    @Alison Rose: ​
     I wear baseball hats generally. To & from work, shopping, etc.
    Out in the desert, up in the mountains or serious outdoor work, it’s a Tilley that I can tie down when windy and wash when needed. It’s “old Faithful.”

  122. 122.

    mvr

    @Jay: Makes sense in that scenario. But it isn’t one I’m in all that much. I do agree that I find hoods hard to keep out of my eyes when I have them on, so maybe keeping a ball cap in the pocket of my rain jacket would be a good idea.

  125. 125.

    Jay

    @mvr:

    I flyfish year round. Late March, mid April, (Ice out) to mid-late November in the interior, on lakes, streams and rivers. In the Interior, on a nice July day, storms come up and rip through, you can get 120km/hr winds and 12mm of rain in an hour. You can actually see the storm move in as a curtain appears on the horizon and rips towards you.

    November to March I fish rivers and the ocean on the coast, aka the Wet Coast.

    I pretty much fish through all weather conditions except lightning storms.

  126. 126.

    Ohio Mom

    @Kathleen: Yep, at the very south end of Wyoming.

    It’s like a thrift store for books, you never know what you are going to find. Big children’s section, back in the day, I bought a lot of Ohio Son’s picture books there.

    They do have some limits on what they accept, IIRC, no textbooks for one example: https://www.cincylibraryfriends.org/

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