Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

This chaos was totally avoidable.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

This fight is for everything.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

So many bastards, so little time.

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

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

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

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Giving up is unforgivable.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / I Don’t Know How To Go About This

I Don’t Know How To Go About This

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Some of you may have heard that Zandar of well, here and the eponymous Zandar Versus The Stupid, has passed. The only thing I know is a comment on his own blog from someone who states he is his father. Other than that, I know nothing. I don’t know what to say because I have no real confirmation, but I know you all have been talking about it in the comments. I asked over twitter and got no real info. So hopefully we will know more soon and hopefully be proven wrong or give them a proper sendoff.

Reader Interactions

34Comments

  1. 1.

    Ohio Mom

    I didn’t go over to Zander’s place all that often but I did on occasion. I felt a connection because we both live in/around Cincinnati and it’s a punch to the gut to hear he died.

    He was good at keeping himself anonymous, that’s for sure.

  6. 6.

    satby

    Sent this reply to his dad on his blog, hope you hear something back:

    Hi Zanderdad. Deepest condolences, this is shocking news for his family and all who loved Zandar.
    Please contact John Cole of Balloon Juice blog to let the community there know about any arrangements. Zander blogged at Balloon Juice for a while and is remembered fondly by readers there. He will be greatly missed.

  7. 7.

    Adam L Silverman

    Zandar and I used to chat via email until we fell out of touch about four or five years ago. He just stopped responding.

    I’ve sent a test message through to that email to verify the comment as well as to convey my condolences if it is accurate. If I get a response I’ll update everyone.

  9. 9.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @satby:

    Thank you, Satby. I really hope that this is wrong but it probably isn’t. Speaking of missing people, I’ve been thinking of Amir and have seen others ask about him without result. He was getting into learning guitar and I enjoyed reading his comments as he was learning.

  14. 14.

    dp

    What terrible news.  Really enjoyed his thoughts, both here and on Twitter (may its memory be a blessing).

  16. 16.

    Tony Jay

    Bugger. Rubbish news. R.I.P. Zandar.

    I’m also a lot concerned about fellow LFC supporter Amir. It’s been a big old while.

  17. 17.

    Origuy

    Amir said he’d been a journalist and had worked in the USA at one time. There can’t be many retired Malaysian journalists who had worked in the USA buying guitars in Kuala Lumpur. Probably need someone who speaks Malay to get in touch with the Malaysian Press Association or whatever they’re called. Then try calling the guitar stores in KL.

    I’m assuming no one knows his real name, of course.

  18. 18.

    something fabulous

    Oh no; and he can’t have been very old– so sad. I am slowly getting over COVID, not too bad a case but taking its time. I “ran out of internet to read” just the other day and came to our blogroll to look up other blogs I’d stopped following for whatever reason. Anyway, just a few days ago read him again in forever: just as detailed and action-oriented as always. What a loss! And our fellow jackal Emerald. Seems odd to say, but it’s looking important in our final arrangements to add asking our next of kin to let BJ (among others, I’d imagine) know. Though am mostly a lurker, will let Brother Fabulous know; others might want to with their people, as well? Strange sad days.

  19. 19.

    satby

    @Tony Jay: @Origuy: I think if he could let us know he already would have. Amir is/was in his 70s and had been hospitalized twice in recent years with a heart condition. I’m afraid if we could get news it’s not the news we would want to hear. 

  21. 21.

    PaulWartenberg

    I visited Zandar’s blog when I saw John on Twitter wondering his status, and saw Zandardad’s comments. It looks like nobody has Zandar’s login info to administer the blog and post a notice.

    Oh gods. In his sleep? How old was Zandar?

    Bloggers need to start planning for our retirements or something. I’ve been doing this since 2006, and John and most everybody here at Balloon Juice been doing it earlier than that.

  22. 22.

    Betty Cracker

    Such sad news. We were Twitter mutuals but lost touch like so many did when Musk started ruining that platform. Zandar was a good guy who never stopped fighting The Stupid. May he rest in peace while we continue the fight.

  23. 23.

    Another Scott

    @Betty Cracker:

    Zandar was a good guy who never stopped fighting The Stupid. May he rest in peace while we continue the fight.

    +1

    :-(

    Condolences to all who knew and loved him.

    Let’s keep up the good fight.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  24. 24.

    Kathleen

    @WaterGirl: Do you feel free to share his name? If not that’s OK. I was just scrolling through obits on Cincinnati.com (I have subscription) to see if I could glean anything and I’m pretty sure no one matching his description was listed. Thanks.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    @Kathleen: Sorry, just seeing this now.

    I sent John the more complete posting from Zandar’s dad, and it includes his name.  Cole will be putting up a post today and it will be in there.

    The post says Zandar’s obituary would be up later today, but it wasn’t there this morning when I found the other information.

    I imagine Cole’s post will include all the info from Zandar’s dad, which has a link to the place the obituary will be posted

  31. 31.

    Paul in KY

    Wow! I always loved his posts. Knew he was up in the Queen City somewhere. Just a youngun. I’m very sad to hear this. He was so cool.

  32. 32.

    Kathleen Mott

    I am zandarmom. Jon Mott , sadly has passed away and his  obituary can be seen in the hickory daily record online. He was 48 years old. He grew up in Hickory NC. He loved to write Nd loved his blog. A celebration of life will be held at a later date. He was loved and will be missed

  34. 34.

    WaterGirl

    @Kathleen Mott: I am so sad that the world has lost Zandar, who had a passion and a light all his own.  Like TaMara, I am one of the font page posters here.  Writing 3 days late because I had family visiting, and I am only just seeing this now.

    I want to be sure that you know you can find all of Zandar’s writing here on Balloon Juice.  This is a direct link: Zandar’s Posts

    If you ever want to read his posts on Balloon Juice, you can find the “View by Past Author” in the sidebar on Balloon juice, just click on that and then click on Zandar from that page. I have also copied it below for your convenience.

    View by Past Author

    So sad for all who loved him; he was a force of nature, in the best possible way. You all must be so proud of the son you raised.

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