It’s Friday night, and Joelle and I decided that in order to watch our eating habits, we would have a dinner and date every Friday and then stick to the diet the rest of the time. Tonight we got a gut bomb pizza, and now we are getting ready to go to a comedy club. We both love standup, and I haven’t been in years because West Virginia, so we are going to start going pretty regularly.
Tonight we are seeing this hilariously bitchy gay guy named Matteo Lane. I know nothing about him other than a few clips I have seen here and there, so if he is canceled I don’t want to fucking hear about it. I am super excited to see Craig Ferguson in a couple months.
You guys unwind and snap out of the doom cycle a lot of us are in. You can’t be the loyal opposition if your head isn’t on straight, and taking some time to unwind and have fun is vital for that. Even the military gets that and does three day passes and hands out R&R.
So do something fun this weekend. You have your marching orders.
Nix Besser
We’re on it. Trombone Shorty at Wind Creek in Bethlehem PA. Is that fun enough?
Harrison Wesley
Glad y’all are going out for good times. Did that yesterday and the day before, and oddly enough, enjoying life lets us enjoy life.
Jackie
I’ll dance in the rain! Or jump in puddles! Our desert area has received almost an inch of rain in 12 hrs – with more on the way.
dmsilev
Not “fun”, but an update on this morning. Dad’s surgery went well, and even more miraculously I was able to change my plane ticket at the last minute so I can get out there before Tuesday. Of course, given the limited availability of “last minute tickets the weekend before Thanksgiving” that means flying an LA->Boston redeye tomorrow night, arriving at 5 AM Sunday morning, so I’ll be a wee bit of a dribbling idiot when I arrive, but still.
Off now to a work dinner event.
Lyrebird
@dmsilev: oh that is GOOD NEWS for sure! Good thoughts for safe travels. Bet yer dad will be super glad to see you!
trollhattan
[Snappy salute] Yes sir, blogfather sir!
I’m genuinely uninterested in postmortem dissections of roadkill 2024. It was a sub-optimal run in a sub-optimal year. We have 1.5 years to decide the path forward to the midterms, which are yugely important.
Energies are aimed at thwarting Trump, the Republican congress, the fucking Supreme Court.
Enjoy the night out. We’re bunkered on account of the current monsoon.
trollhattan
@Jackie:
Does all that rain run off or does the desert open up like a happy, happy sponge and say “aaaah”?
One thing’s for sure, no frickin’ dust here again until next summer. Will not miss that.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@dmsilev: wishing you safe travels and best outcome for your dad
Kristine
@dmsilev: Glad to hear good surgery news and that you got a flight that’s doable if not optimal.
Enzymer
@Nix Besser: very cool. I remember when Trombone Shorty was the very young kid playing a trombone that was as about tall as him. Glad to hear he’s still making the rounds
Kristine
I remember Craig Ferguson from his stint as the Late Late Show host. I always thought he was funny. I would like to see him live.
Hope you and Joelle have a great time. .
Martin
@trollhattan: Every desert area I’ve camped in flash floods were a huge concern when it rains. I guess it depends on the rate of rainfall.
eclare
@dmsilev:
So glad to hear about your Dad!
Stacy
Matteo Lane is hilarious. Look up his bit about Oprah and her horcruxes.
Scamp Dog
Just got back from a brew pub where I met a couple of friends. Now it’s time to walk the dog, make dinner and the spend a half hour practicing the piano.
mrmoshpotato
Tell us more.
Jackie
@trollhattan:
To a point, yes, but it can only absorb so much. The main problem now is storm drains clogged with leaves from the wind storm earlier this week. Intersections are lakes.
Mike in Oly
Matteo is awesome! Such a funny guy. Super cute too. I could use some laughs. It has been a rough week and we found out yesterday our dear neighbor passed away from an aggressive cancer. She was so young (50s) and such a bright light in the world. She will be so missed.
SpaceUnit
I choose to remain pissy and miserable for a while longer.
beckya57
@Nix Besser: Trombone Shorty!!!! Have a great time!
Jackie
@dmsilev: So happy for you and your dad! He’ll be thrilled to see you soonest! Sleep as much as possible on your flight.
mrmoshpotato
@Stacy: Whorecruises?
Suzanne
@dmsilev: Good news! Happy to hear you’ll be able to get out there soon. Wishing you safe and not-too-terrible travels.
BigJimSlade
Insert Obi-wan gif “Now that is a name I haven’t heard in a long time”
Have fun (well, in a couple of months) – seeing him should be great!
beckya57
Hike tomorrow (area reportedly not terribly affected by our recent bomb cyclone), and Gladiator II on Sunday. First ski of the season next week.
zhena gogolia
@SpaceUnit: Me too. Probably for the rest of my life.
trollhattan
@Martin:
Similar, I know that you can get caught in an arroyo flash flood from a thunderstorm fifty miles away. Some desert soils are so sunbaked and impervious they have the absorption qualities of glass.
Suzanne
@Martin:
Phoenix is no different. The ground doesn’t absorb much, due to a thick layer of caliche. And when they get rain, they get a lot in a short amount of time.
I remember when the Mill Avenue bridge in Tempe washed out due to flash flooding.
mrmoshpotato
@dmsilev: Glad his surgery went well.
KatKapCC
I LOVE Matteo. One of my favorites.
kalakal
@dmsilev: glad to hear the surgery went well
mrmoshpotato
@trollhattan: Desert flash flood videos are wild.
mrmoshpotato
Go Blue, and fuck the Bucks.
eclare
@SpaceUnit:
Come sit by me.
Although I am enjoying the current season of GBBS. It’s nice to focus on cakes and cookies for a while rather than current events (aside: how the fuck do you forget to add sugar to a recipe?). No spoilers, I’m only up to episode three, bread.
geg6
My niece gets us tickets to the Broadway series from the Pgh. Cultural Trust every year. We see a half dozen or so. Most recently was the touring companies of Hamilton and Juliet. We also have dinner in town those nights. Tomorrow we’re seeing MJ and having dinner at Meat and Potatoes, a great place in the cultural district. It is also Light Up Night in town, so the streets in the cultural district will be closed down and there will be bands and fireworks. Should be a good time. I know I should cancel anything Michael Jackson but we have the tickets, my birthday is Sunday, the music still kicks ass and I need some light heartedness in my life right now.
eclare
@geg6:
People in the touring company need to eat and pay rent, too. And like you said, the music def kicks ass. Just go and enjoy!
Nukular Biskits
I’m conflicted between “CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!” and “YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!”
eclare
@Nukular Biskits:
Hahaha…
Dan B
Matteo Lane is right up there with Liberal Redneck and a few others.
mrmoshpotato
@Nukular Biskits: How do you feel about Bundlé, Savé?
Sister Golden Bear
Finally got a temporary break in the weather here on the SF Peninsula. We’re getting about about 2 inches of rain today — almost a tenth of our annual rainfall. Not nearly as bad as the North Bay which has gotten 7-8 inches during the past day or two.
SpaceUnit
@eclare:
I’m attempting to keep myself distracted, but there’s a constant sick feeling in the pit of my stomach no matter what I’m doing.
I’m watching sports and documentaries, concert videos on YouTube. But dammit I’m grumpy.
eclare
@SpaceUnit:
Anxious here. Luckily I have a prescription for that. When the dr told me what it was, I blurted out that that was what I used to give a dog for separation anxiety. Dr looked nonplussed.
Kayla Rudbek
Ehh, fun, what even is that anymore? I need some good sleep which hasn’t happened since election night; I was dreaming last night/this morning that I had tried to eat metal staples and then I was spitting out the sharp tangled mess. I may need to get some new flannel sheets as one set is old and not comfortable to sleep on anymore, and that invariably is the one set that Mr. Rudbek will put on the bed.
NotMax
Mowed the wide berm between the street and the retaining wall of the property, which looked as if ready to audition for the part of understudy for a cast member on Scooby-doo. Took three passes to mulch it fine enough. While was at it, also did the same area on next door neighbor’s patch (they give me leave to pick limes from their tree, so consider the mowing as payback).
;)
SpaceUnit
@eclare:
Magic mushrooms and grain alcohol?
eclare
@SpaceUnit:
I would never give those to my dog!
mrmoshpotato
@SpaceUnit: My throat burns just reading that.
Other MJS
@Stacy:
Mission accomplished🤣
KateP
Booked beach vacation for next June. I need something to look forward to. I do a beach week with my daughter, daughter-in-law and grandkids every summer. Usually book around February so I’m a bit early this year, but this is a different time. As long as America still exists next summer, we are beaching it.
Kayla Rudbek
And I have been reading a lot of alternative Tudor history and then kibitzing about the Tudors TV show historical inaccuracies, such as, Catherine of Aragon and her daughter were strawberry blondes, not brunettes; Princess Mary Henry’s sister married the King of France in real life, not the King of Portugal, the costumes show far too much of the women’s hair far too often, etc etc etc. If I wanted historical inaccuracy I would go read the alternative history section of Archive of Our Own, or some Eric Flint or Harry Turtledove.
Kayla Rudbek
@KateP: Mr. Rudbek and I will be out of the country for inauguration.
Jackie
@SpaceUnit:
Along with lots of HGTV and the Food Network but I’m easily distracted due to that sickeningly pit in my stomach.
Wish I could shake it, too, SpaceUnit.
geg6
@Jackie:
I’m in that same boat. I can’t get rid of a sense of dread that threatens to overwhelm me. I have been able to push it back but I know it’s going to break at some point.
trollhattan
@mrmoshpotato:
Right?
“Do you hear that?”
“What?”
“A…I dunno, rumble? Shh, listen.”
“I don’t hear any…wait…RUNNNNNN!”
Water* rises so fast and if you can hear above its roar, you can make out boulders bounding their way down the streambed.
*No resemblance to actual water.
ArchTeryx
@trollhattan: Yeah. I’ve actually seen streambeds very near urban areas that have warning sirens for when flash floods are imminent. That is one siren you best heed if you want to live past that day.
CaseyL
I would love to have a gut bomb pizza. I may treat myself to one over the weekend.
I absolutely *love* the life you lead when in Arizona; it’s just so lively and gregarious. You seem worlds happier there – due, no doubt, to being with Joelle, but also due to being in what seems to be a generally more cheerful community. I think it will be a good thing when you can move there permanently.
In the spirit of healing our spirits, I want to share a terrific vlog by one of my favorite vloggers, Hank Green.
He’s done a moderately deep dive into the crisis of social media and how it’s making us all crazy, and put together a very insightful episode about that. During the 30 minutes he talks about how previous new mass media (the printing press and radio) resulted in social upheavals. In the course of which, he mentions the research he’s done – real research, not noodling around on social media – and recommends a few books. One of them – “High Conflict” by Amanda Ripley, Green recommends as one of the most important books he’s read this year – I’ve already reserved at the library.
It is a balm to a battered spirit: Populism, Media Revolutions, and Our Terrible Moment.
Pensive
I watched Matteo Lane videos on repeat the day after the election and he made me laugh when I thought I could never laugh again. Enjoy the show! I’m going to see him in February!
Redshift
Going to the Finnish Christmas Bazaar tomorrow! We’re going to try to get going quicker than we usually do on a Saturday and get there before all the bread is sold out. (Finnish rye bread is the best!)
SpaceUnit
@Jackie:
We will shake it. But it takes time and everyone’s timeframe is different. I’m simply in shock right now.
That shock will turn to resolve at some point. I haven’t gotten there yet, but I’m pretty sure it will. Hang in there and don’t ever stop being angry.
Torrey
From your lips to the ear of the deity of your choice.
RevRick
I’m contemplating my Glenfiddich Solera and I do believe the bottle needs less liquid.
RevRick
@Nix Besser: What? There not a Grundsau Lecha?
OCD
I think you’re gonna love Mateo. I’ve been watching him for years and he is brilliant.
Jackie
@geg6: Just reading about who TCFG has selected to lead departments in his flurry of tonight’s appointments… I am literally sick. TCFG is determined to destroy the country I love. The country my dad, a WWII veteran, fought to save our country from the likes of wannabe dictators… I’m terrified for my granddaughters. And grandsons. Their futures in America aren’t what we grew up in and they may never grow up in – if TCFG succeeds in his quest to destroy the USA as a democracy.
Planetjanet
I completed my assigment early tonight.
Steak salad. French wine. Balloon ride. Chocolate.
Quinerly
I’m here to contribute some music from an acquaintance. Jim’s son, AJ, just a baby when Jim passed. AJ Croce has consistently been putting out his own, fabulous music for years. Please look him him up. Lots of great original work. Europe loves him when he tours.
Lots of tragedy in his life. Partially blinded by abuse by his mother’s boyfriend after his father, Jim’s death. AJ lost his wife tragically just a few years ago. Young. He did great Covid lockdown videos. Barebones. All right after his wife died. I think they are still up on YouTube.
My personal connection with him was around 1996. He was touring. Met him in St. Louis. My old life. Broadway Oyster Bar. His roadies were MIA and my boyfriend at the time and I stepped in. He travels with a Steinway. Collapsible legs. We broke that down and then we gorged ourselves at White Castles next door. Sliders by the sack! We have kept in touch sporadically since. Not sure he really remembers the show but he does remember the White Castles. He’s now based out of Nashville. WC is there.
Ok…..it’s a cover, this one……written by the late, great Allen Toussaint…..those of us of a certain age only need those first notes…..
Seriously, look up AJ….his catalogue from the past 30 years. Plus, he’s touring. Go for his first 3 albums. Nothing like his daddy. Personally, I think better. But what do I know?
https://m.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEA&search_query=AJ+Croce+Brickyard+blues
eclare
@Planetjanet:
Balloon ride?
The Audacity of Krope
Adele’s Skyfall got played here tonight. I felt it an empowering anthem in our moment.
Ordination loves me tonight 💕
eclare
@Quinerly:
Thanks for the link. I associate his dad’s songs so much with my parents.
Quinerly
@eclare:
Thanks.
Here’s a treat. (This was on a great album. Back in the late 1990’s). He went for years out there on his own. Not embracing his dad’s work. I totally get it. In his own right, he is wonderful. (But I have a thang for pianos and gravelly voices)
https://m.youtube.com/results?search_query=TEXAS+RUBY+AJ+croce&sp=mAEA
NotMax
@Quinerly
Sumthin’ right up that alley.
;)
Soprano2
I did something I never thought I would do – I took half an edible to see if it would take the edge off this prednisone craziness I’m experiencing. It was one that’s supposed to help with sleep. I hope it works. Can’t wait for Monday when I won’t have to take that stuff anymore.
Soprano2
@ArchTeryx: People way underestimate the danger of rising water.
NotMax
@Soprano2
Frank Lloyd Wright’s least successful commission.
“So where’s this marvelous house you wanted to show me?”
“Damnation. It was there yesterday.”
:)
Bruce K in ATH-GR
I’m watching old episodes of Mythbusters on Youtube and playing video games when I’m off work. Except in one game I’m playing, a multiplayer spaceship game, I had an encounter with someone who was asking about Greece’s migrant problem – and it turns out he has fully bought in to the Fox/Murdoch/Musk propaganda storm about illegal aliens, even citing “cities in England on the verge of encoding Sharia law”, and despite him being the one to put a gaming group rule in place that US politics was not to be discussed, he didn’t understand that this would be a divisive topic.
I was nice. I just told him coldly that we should stop discussing politics. It didn’t occur to me until the next morning that I was at the helm of his very expensive starship … with the ability to drop its shields under enemy fire … or to set its self-destruct and then log myself out of the game.
I was civilized. But next time, I might not be so nice. But I will warn him first.
kmax
I saw Ferguson last week. John, you will love him. He is hilarious.
Quinerly
@NotMax:
Cool.
I studied at the school of Dr. John. PHD in Funk.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B2fqUt7KVjA&pp=ygU5aG93IGNvbWUgbXkgZG9nIGRvZXNuJ3QgYmFyayB3aGVuIHlvdSBjb21lIGFyb3VuZCBkciBqb2hu
And somewhat new just before he passed. Great cover.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_87UySpRnqc&pp=ygUWRFIuIEpPSE4gSVRTIEFMTCBSSUdIVA%3D%3D
NotMax
@Quinerly
Also too, Dr. Hook. And Shel Silverstein.
;)
bobbo1
I found Matteo very funny and started following him on Instagram. Now full disclosure I am just a shallow gay, but after seeing his body pics on insta I am his #1 fan. O. M. G.
prostratedragon
Saw Jason Moran’s “From the Dancehall to the Battlefield” multimedia show tonight. It’s a portrait ofJames Reese Europe, focused on his Harlem Hellfighters days. The nonet was joined by the Kenwood Academy High marching band, a fine young outfit with which Mr. Moran has had a relationship for about a decade, standing in for the regimental band. One of the numbers:
“Darktown Strutters Ball,” Sissle, Blake, and Brooks.
sab
@Soprano2: Prednisone used to make one of my dogs nuts. Mild-mannered little shepherd mix used to get into toothy battles with the other dogs.
Ramalama
@bobbo1: ah but you must have some depth being a jackal.
pluky
@eclare: There is enough overlap in interspecific mammalian physiology that many drugs are effective for both us and our pets. The differential factor is the dosage.