Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Not all heroes wear capes.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

In my day, never was longer.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

This blog will pay for itself.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Monday Morning Open Thread: Sometimes We’re All Clowns Together

Monday Morning Open Thread: Sometimes We’re All Clowns Together

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Monday Morning Open Thread: When We're All Clowns Together on This Spinning Globe

(BC via GoComics.com)

 

It’s Monday, there’s no doubt gonna be another non-stop shower of bad news and stupidity, so let’s start the week with something goofy and inspirational instead. Kudos to shelter volunteer / photographer Adrian Budnick! Per the Associated Press, “Viral videos of dogs called a ‘Himalayan fur goblin’ and ‘teacup werewolf’ boost adoptions”:

For over a decade, Adrian Budnick has taken adoption photos of the dogs at Nashville’s county animal shelter, but it wasn’t until the COVID pandemic that an idea came to her.

As one of only a few people allowed to visit in-person, she could take videos of dogs, inventing humorous nicknames and capturing their individual personalities, for an audience of potential adopters.

First came her TikToks playing the persona of Anita Walker, a fast-talking, cowboy boot-wearing purveyor of certified pre-owned pets. Then she struck gold with the “What’s this then?” series — short videos featuring goofy dog names that drew in viewers and boosted adoptions.

“It was kind of just on a whim,” Budnick said. “We had this — I’m assuming it was like a poodle-doodle situation, and he was really big and lanky.”

People often assume the shelter doesn’t have fluffy dogs, so Budnick adopted what she calls her “Karen” voice — slightly bored and complaining — when she looked into the camera to say: “The shelter only has pit bulls.”

“And then I held up this giant curly dog with legs and the tongue hanging out. And I was like, ‘What’s this then?’”

She called it a “Himalayan fur goblin.”

The video “exploded over night,” Budnick said. So much so that she went back the next day to make another one “because I’m like, I can’t let this go.”

Since then she has promoted the adoption of such imaginative dog breeds as the “Teacup werewolf” and the “Speckled freckled cuddle calf.” Then there’s the “French baguette long lady” and the “Creamsicle push-up pup.”

The shelter does get its share of pit bull mixes. A December video featuring several of them in festive costumes with Budnick singing “I Want a Pitt-o-potomous for Christmas” has been viewed more than 5 million times.

Adoptions got a boost
While it is gratifying to gain visibility, Budnick said, the real payoff is in the adoptions. Data provided by the shelter shows dog adoptions increased by just over 25% between 2021 and 2024.

“We’ll get calls from all over. And it’s not just local here to Tennessee even,” said Metro Animal Care and Control Director Ashley Harrington. “We’ve had an adopter from Canada. We’ve had ones from states all over.”…

The popularity of Budnick’s videos have also led to donations of both money and supplies. Letters to the shelter referencing her videos are taped to a wall in the volunteer room…

Budnick started taking photos as a kid. While on camping trips, she’d take nature pictures with a 35 mm Canon AE-1. In high school she took photography classes and learned to make her own prints in a darkroom. But eventually she stopped taking pictures.

That changed when she adopted a dog.

“When I got Ruby, my 13-year-old, she was five weeks old, and I started taking pictures of her,” she said. A few months later, Budnick adopted Ruby’s sister, and a few months after that she began as a volunteer photographer at the shelter. “So really, my dogs got me back into it.”

With her photos and videos, Budnick fights against the stigma that the shelter is a sad place with dogs no one would want. In many of the videos, she holds even the large dogs in her arms and gets her face licked.

“You see them running around in the videos when they’re in playgroup, and you see them cuddling, and you see their goofy smiles when I’m holding them, and it just really showcases them,” she said…

So… anybody got some happy plans for today, or this week?

Reader Interactions

183Comments

  2. 2.

    Hildebrand

    Heading to Aachen and Avignon to do research.  The two essentially bookend the full sweep of my field – from the Carolingians to the end of the Papal schism.

  4. 4.

    Professor Bigfoot

    Got no plans as such, but thanks to this post I do have a goofy smile on my face. Thank you, AL.

  5. 5.

    Jeffro

    this is absolutely great, AL, thank you!

    reminds me of a book I got for Mrs. Fro this past Christmas: “The Field Guide to the Dumb Birds of North America“, which replaces bird species’ real names with much more memorable (and R-rated) ones such as the White-Breasted Butt Nugget and the Goddamned Canada Goose (or White-Breasted Nuthatch and Canada Goose for the layperson).  Now she can’t get the profane names out of her head.  =)

    Happy Monday, peeps!

  8. 8.

    Suzanne

    I’ve read that good phototography/video is especially helpful getting the adorable black puppers and kittehs adopted. Good lighting shows off their cuteness better. Love this.

  11. 11.

    Hildebrand

    We went to listen to Susie Dent (she’s the lexicographer from the British Countdown shows) – and one of the many fascinating things she talked about was that she has been unable to find the origin of the word ‘dog’.  It’s neither Germanic nor Romantic – and just appeared sometime in England in the 15th c (or thereabouts).

  13. 13.

    Hildebrand

    @p.a.: Part of the research is to update photos for my lectures, so I hope to get some decent ones that I’d love to share if folks are interested.

  16. 16.

    narya

    Work. Go to a symphony dress rehearsal with Downstairs Neighbor. Hope that the spots in my brother’s lungs that appeared in the past six weeks can be treated (he starts chemo for the colon cancer this week). Hope my mom’s agonizing knee pain goes away (she’s not a complainer, so it must be awful; no idea what’s causing it). More work. Read BJ.

  21. 21.

    geg6

    Finally got news from my John’s doctor that he does not have Altzheimers.  The dementia stems from what they called severe vascular damage in his brain, partially from aging (he just turned 78), which is normal at his age and mostly from the stroke he had just before the pandemic and, they think, a series of mini strokes that they said were probably not very discernible to me or him at the time they happened.  There is not much to be done other than trying some new meds, which are making him nauseous.  Hopefully, he gets used to it quickly and that will end.  Not great news, but at least we know what the problem is.

  32. 32.

    raven

    @geg6: I’m sorry about  John’s diagnosis. I was a bit relieved when I got the MS diagnosis after trying to figure out what was wrong with me for five years. I had a mini stroke about 7 years ago and when I asked the doc if I was doing everything I should be to prevent a recurrence she said “if you hadn’t had it where you did you would have never known you had it”. My mini stroke was a lacunar stroke and it impacted my vision.

  38. 38.

    jowriter

    @raven:  I have always been a cat person but Bodhi is a beautiful dog who still lives in your heart, I am sure.  Such a wonderful face.

  41. 41.

    HinTN

    It was yesterday evening, but surely it was today somewhere! I realized it was going to rain so I ran out with my wildflower seeds and tossed a metric shit ton of them on the patch. Earlier in the winter I had followed Ozark’s advice for tending his wildflowers, “mow it in December.” Looking forward to year two.

    Today I’ll work on the language for the deed that will separate off much of the mountain land so it can go into a conservation easement.

  43. 43.

    Almost Retired

    @schrodingers_cat: ​
      I’m sure there will be a “MAGA Jeopardy” soon enough.

    Answer: This child-molesting emporium masquerading as a pizza parlor is located in Washington’s Chevy Chase neighborhood.

    or

    These freedom-loving brothers were wrongfully imprisoned by the woke government of Romania for arranging educational tours across borders for attractive young women.

  45. 45.

    Mustang Bobby

    In a fit of shameless self-promotion, I am here to tell BJ’ers in New York and environs that my short play “Ask Me Anything” will be presented as part of the Fresh Fruit LGBTQ 10-Minute Play Contest on Thursday, March 26 at 7:00 p.m. at Theater for the New City, 155 1st Avenue, New York.  If it wins, it will be a finalist on Sunday, March 30.

    If you’re in San Diego, my play “Swimming Off the Big Dock” will get its premiere reading at Trinity Theatre Company on April 23.

    In other SSP news, I’m taking my play “Watercolors” to the Valdez Theatre Conference in Valdez, Alaska (future birthplace of Cmdr. William Riker) in June.  You can follow my writing and other news at my website http://www.pmwplaywright.com.

    Now back to writing.

  47. 47.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Hildebrand: Jess Zafarris and RobWords’ “Words Unraveled” podcast was talking about that a while back. Romance languages generally use some variant of “canis” and Germanic ones, some cognate of “hound”, and those actually come from the same Proto-Indo-European root, but “dog” is unrelated to either of them.

  53. 53.

    Soprano2

    @geg6: That’s the same thing my hubby was diagnosed with, although I think his is more from damage due to poorly-controlled diabetes than a stroke. The doc did say he had two small strokes, one in each side of the cerebellum. We had no idea, they must not have had any discernible symptoms. If I may ask, what meds did the doctor prescribe for him? It does feel better to at least know what you’re facing and somewhat how to deal with it.

    As for the week, same old same old, work and home, rinse and repeat. I cleaned out two cabinets this weekend, so I’m making slow progress. One of them was our big corner cabinet with a bunch of food in it. I threw out a bunch of old stuff – there was stuff marked “best used by 2009”! Some of it was sad, there were packets of chocolate graham cracker cookies that went bad because I forgot they were up there. That corner cabinet is where things go to die. My one regret from when we remodeled is that we didn’t get built-in turntables in those cabinets. I also cleaned out underneath the sink, because it had become a pit under there. I grouped the stuff that goes together in the same place. Now I can find stuff, yay!

  54. 54.

    Scout211

    @geg6: Not great news, but at least we know what the problem is.

    I’m so sorry that the two of you are going through this.  But yes, it is a relief to have a diagnosis and at least know what you and John are facing right now.

    I keep reading books that are designed to help the caretaker of a person with dementia and they all say the same thing:

    Let yourself feel your feelings, even if they are frustration and irritation.  Try to find someone in your life to share those feelings with or find a support group or therapist.

    Try to enjoy the good moments you have together.

    Make sure you take good care of yourself both physically and emotionally.

    Adjust your life to be the caretaker, but let yourself grieve the losses and then try to live in the moment and take things one day at a time.

    It’s a journey no one asked for but lots of us are on at this stage of our lives.  Sigh.

    Please take care of yourself.

  56. 56.

    geg6

    Thanks to all for good wishes.  The diagnosis sucks but it’s amazing how just getting an actual diagnosis is such a relief.  Talked to the nurse practitioner at his doctor’s office and she advised trying to change up from once a day for the meds to every other day to see if he can get past the nausea ( this is a common side effect of this medication) and go back to every day.  We’ll see.

  57. 57.

    Soprano2

    @Scout211: I echo all of this. It’s easy to lose yourself in this if you aren’t careful. I keep it in the front of my mind that I have to take care of myself because he needs me to take care of him. I shudder to think what would happen to him if I wasn’t there.

    I joined the FB group “Alzheimer’s Spouse Journal and Support Group”. I’ve gotten a lot of good information from that group, because anything you’re facing someone there has already gone through it. Plus, there’s no judgment of anything you might ask, they’ve pretty much heard it all. I felt I could ask them questions I might even hesitate to ask his doctor, because there are some things only those with experience can help you with. Plus, if you want to preserve John’s dignity there are just some things you can only tell people you only know online.

    I’m so sorry you’re on this journey with us. Welcome to the club no one wants to be a member of. I’m sure you’ve known for a couple of years that you were a member of it. He’s lucky to have you, I think sometimes about people who are in this condition and don’t have anyone to care for them.

  58. 58.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @geg6: Totally different med, I’m sure, but Mrs. B was on Versenio twice a day. They started at 50mg twice a day; she was a bit nauseous at first but got past that; so she was raised to 100mg twice a day and absolutely could not handle that.

    No point in taking an anti-cancer med that makes you want to die from the nausea and the diarrhea and the fatigue and the general misery, after all.

    She got cranked back down to 50 mg twice a day and is doing well; I hope your John is able to get past those side-effects, too.

  60. 60.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Soprano2: “Put your mask on first before assisting others.”

    ”If you don’t take care of YOU, you CAN’T take care of anyone else.”

    🙏🏾

  62. 62.

    JerseyBeard

    Love this story, thank you so much for sharing.

    We adopted our 5 year old pit mix from a shelter and boy is it the best thing ever for our family. Tanner is a very good boy. Bit chunkier than when he arrived but that’s just more of him to love.

  63. 63.

    bluefoot

    @geg6: i hope he gets used to the meds quickly. Is there some occupational therapy type stuff that would help?

  64. 64.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I got invited to do a live stream on tiktok with some guys calling themselves Booktok Bros. It’s Thursday do I have to figure out how to do it. They want to talk about two books series I’ve been reviewing on tiktok. For reasons unfathomable, I’m getting lots of comments on them from people calling me granny and saying how much they enjoy them.

  65. 65.

    Soprano2

    @Professor Bigfoot: That’s so true. It’s said that caregivers sometimes die before the person they’re caring for because of all the stress and the fact that they don’t take care of themselves. I’m lucky that I can afford help and have a job where it’s easy for me to take off work when I need to do things for him, like go to doctor’s appointments.

  66. 66.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Matt McIrvin: Modern Greek for “dog” is σκυλί, “skeeli(?)”

    Don’t sound nothin’ like “dawg,” neither.

    I’ve always had a minor interest in etymology; and it kinda tickles me that no one can find a parent for “dog.”

    They’re part of the magic of life as a human, and that’s just that.

  68. 68.

    Cliosfanboy

    @geg6:

      I am so sorry. medicine that makes you nauseous is so frustrating. it’s supposed to make you better, not sick in a different way.

  70. 70.

    karen gail

    My last three dogs were rescues; though the one have noq is a rescue that was given to someone else then given to me. Never went through shelter so no real idea of how many times he has been given to someone because he is big white shepherd.

    It is really great when someone gets the answers to questions; I spent two years being passed from doctor to doctor and specialist to specialist without answers for what was happening. Being a female often means the symptoms are different as well as the doctors are looking for obvious things. I have/had shingles; no rash, no blisters, no outward signs that doctors all look for; this was back in 2002 and they kept running tests and telling me what it wasn’t. Now if you look up symptoms for females there are many things listed that weren’t at the time; it was very frustrating.
    One of the problems I see is that doctors don’t listen, or don’t have time to listen, or ignore female complaints as “all in your head.” Doesn’t matter if the doctor is either male or female they have been trained to not listen to most patients. They are in business, with appointments backing up if they spend a few more minutes than planned for; long gone are the days when doctors came to your house if you were sick rather than expose others to what you have.

  73. 73.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Professor Bigfoot: There are just speculations–I was just looking it up. One is that it comes from a Germanic root for “good” or “useful”, that is, someone was calling the dog a good boy/girl.

    “Dog” seems to have first been used to describe common mutts as opposed to well-bred “hundes”, then got applied to mastiff and bulldog breeds, then gradually became the general term while “hound” became a more specific one.

  74. 74.

    Another Scott

    @Hildebrand: Made me look.

    OED.com – Dog:

    The history of man’s relationship with the domesticated carnivorous mammal Canis familiaris is a long and complex one, and is reflected in the language used across the centuries to describe the dog and its world. The word dog first occurs in Old English, but is less well-attested than the synonymous (and probably more formal and literary) hound, although it may have been common in non-literary and spoken contexts. Unlike hound, which has its origin in early Germanic languages and hence has many cognates in other European languages—German hund, Dutch hond etc.— dog is one of a number of English words for animals (all ending in –g) of obscure origin and without cognates in other European languages (see ‘etymology’); they include hog, stag, pig, and the second element of earwig.

    […]

    Hmm…

    There’s probably an obscure poet somewhere that gets the blame?

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  76. 76.

    Soprano2

    @karen gail: Honestly I’ve found that I prefer the doctor’s physician assistant over the doctor. They spend more time with you and seem to actually listen. I love the nephrologist’s PA and the endocrinologist’s PA. In fact, I don’t think we’ve seen the actual doctor at the endocrinologist since October 2023, which is fine with me. I quit seeing their nutritionist too, she was telling us the same stuff I already knew so I thought it was a waste of time. I’m learning not to be afraid to speak up and insist on things, but it’s hard sometimes.

  77. 77.

    Soprano2

    @Another Scott: My theory is that it started as a curse word…..LOL

    ETA – don’t get me wrong, I love dogs, but sometimes they drive me crazy too! Ours likes to go in and out about 15 times a day, sometimes for only 15 seconds at a time. I think he’s looking for his old buddy out there, our dog who died in February 2023.

  83. 83.

    Almost Retired

    @Soprano2: Totally agree on preferring the PA.  I’m on my way home from checking in on my 91 year old mother in Kansas, which included checking in with the medical team about some challenges she’s facing.  The doctor’s attitude was sort of like “she’s 91, what are you going to do.”  But the PA listened and made some constructive suggestions (including about how to get the doctors attention).

  84. 84.

    Matt McIrvin

    (And, curiously, while “hound” today refers to breeds developed for hunting, and obviously the relation between dogs and hunting goes back all the way, “hound” and “hunt” are etymologically not related.)

  86. 86.

    Deputinize America

    @Baud:

    I’m old enough to remember that there was a time when they couldn’t advertise.

    It seems that prices went through the roof once they got to allocate oversized budgets to advertising so that people could beg their docs for touted meds.

  87. 87.

    BC in Illinois

    A thread about dogs reminds me of Vivaldi’s “Winter.”

    A while back, I was at my daughter’s house. Everybody else — Mrs. BC, daughter, g’kids — was gone on some outing, and I was left alone in the living room with two sleeping dogs.

    Until Vivaldi’s “Winter” came on. The dogs had slept through all of the other seasons, but the opening of this movement, they perked up, stood up, looked around. Play the first 45 seconds or so — (turn up the volume a bit) — and you can see why it might get their attention.

  88. 88.

    Geminid

    I will continue my study of the Turkish language this week. New words I’ve learned recently include “grüp” (group), “faşist” (fascist) and “tröllük” (trolling). I find I can learn a lot of Turkish from “sosyal medya.”

  89. 89.

    Deputinize America

    @Soprano2:

    My dermatologist’s PA is awesome.  She gets me, and understands what a complete fuckup I am with regard to sunscreen, general skin care and not reporting things I should report.

    Wife had a PFO in her heart closed the Friday after Valentine’s Day, and the cardio and anesthesia PAs were amazing, with a lot more personality and attentiveness than the docs.

  90. 90.

    lowtechcyclist

    @geg6:

    Thanks to all for good wishes.  The diagnosis sucks but it’s amazing how just getting an actual diagnosis is such a relief.  Talked to the nurse practitioner at his doctor’s office and she advised trying to change up from once a day for the meds to every other day to see if he can get past the nausea ( this is a common side effect of this medication) and go back to every day.  We’ll see.

    Prayers and good wishes going out to you both.

    And I know what you mean about the relief of having a diagnosis.  My dad started having weird symptoms shortly after he turned 80, and it took about three years for him to finally get diagnosed with Parkinson’s.  Once he knew what he was up against, he fought it with intelligence and persistence, and lived to celebrate his 90th birthday.

  93. 93.

    eclare

    @geg6:

    So glad you got a diagnosis, the unknown is worse.  I hope John can get to where the medications aren’t so bad.

  94. 94.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Soprano2:

    I love dogs, but sometimes they drive me crazy too! Ours likes to go in and out about 15 times a day, sometimes for only 15 seconds at a time.

    Are you sure he’s not a cat in disguise? They always believe they’re on the wrong side of a door.

  96. 96.

    eclare

    @Soprano2:

    Perfect example:  Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa.  She died (hantavirus) before he did, and I’m guessing she didn’t get medical help for herself because she didn’t want to leave him alone.

  99. 99.

    BellyCat

    @raven: My father had MS. As does a friend now. The good news is that treatments have come a loooong  way in the past 50 years. Sending good mobility your way, virtually!

  100. 100.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I am pretty good at trivia or general knowledge, as its called in India. Which sound better than trivia IMHO. Except when it comes to sports other than cricket. Other than the names of some baseball greats and soccer greats and phenoms like Phelps in swimming or Bolt in track and field, my sports knowledge is pretty limited.

  104. 104.

    Soprano2

    @eclare: Oh, there was a discussion of that in my FB support group. This is a caretaker’s worst fear, that something will happen to them and then their spouse will die due to neglect. At this point my husband would still know enough to call 911 if something happened to me, but when they get to where they don’t understand how to do that it gets kind of scary.

  111. 111.

    geg6

    @Scout211:

    It’s more than a bit ironic that I have avoided any caretaking roles in my life up to now.  Never wanted kids, never wanted to marry because I cherished my independence more than either of those things.  I don’t have that maternal, caretaking gene.  And now this in my mid-60s when I thought I’d gotten past all that.  The worst thing is seeing this vital, hilarious, super smart and quick guy diminished.  Neither of us ever saw this thing coming.

    As for taking care of myself, I am doing that.  Getting out and spending time by myself when I can.  He’s not so bad that I can’t leave him alone for a while.  What I’m really being tested on is my patience.  I find I am not very good at hiding my irritation at answering questions that I’ve already answered 20 times that day.  But I haven’t lost it, but I can’t tamp the impatience down every time.

  112. 112.

    Scout211

    @eclare: Yes, Gene Hackman’s and his wife’s deaths sent a chill through me for sure. That could be us.

    We live rural and our closest adult kid is almost two hours away but one of our neighbors has a key to our house and other neighbors know our situation and do check up on us.  We walk twice a day and if we don’t, I get a text from one of them asking why.  Our middle daughter lives the closest and now has our neighbor (who has the key) in her contact list.

    It’s a very isolating experience being a caretaker of a spouse with dementia, but it really helps to have family and nearby neighbors who care.

  115. 115.

    Scout211

    @eclare: For what it’s worth, Emma Hemming, Bruce Willis’ wife, has a book coming out this year about being a caretaker.

    She is a wonderful spokesperson for caregivers.  The thing I love about her is she isn’t afraid to talk about how hard it is and encourages caregivers (the majority being women) not to put on a brave face all the time and go ahead and talk about how hard it is.

  116. 116.

    eclare

    @narya:

    Best wishes for your mother and your brother.  Having two family members sick at the same time must be grueling.

  117. 117.

    BC in Illinois

    @Deputinize America:

    I’m going to Venice in late April and we’re going to a performance of The Four Seasons at Eglesi San Vidal one evening!

    That sounds wonderful.  All of it — Venice, April, Vivaldi.

  118. 118.

    Soprano2

    @Scout211: We have neighbors who would notice something was wrong after a couple of days. Our family would have no idea anything even happened. My work would know, too.

  119. 119.

    Miss Bianca

    @Baud: I dunno – did we actually ban cigarettes and alcohol after we banned ads for them on TV? (wait, did we ban alcohol advertising, after all? I know beer still advertises.)

    I am afraid this is actually one of my “stopped clock” issues. I happen to think pharmaceuticals *shouldn’t* be hawked on TV, but maybe that’s just because those ads drive me completely mental when I see them.

  121. 121.

    Baud

    @Miss Bianca:

    did we actually ban cigarettes and alcohol after we banned ads for them on TV? (wait, did we ban alcohol advertising, after all? I know beer still advertises.)

     

    This isn’t about “we.” This is about RFK’s agenda. Who knows what he’ll do?

  122. 122.

    Deputinize America

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Thanks for the referral, but I’m in KY, not VA.  Depending on where in VA, I might be able to grab a referral from a cousin who lives there.

  123. 123.

    Miss Bianca

    @Baud:

    Well, the Powers That Be, then. Somehow I don’t think “Big Pharma” is just going to sit there meekly waiting for Senor Brainworm to ban their products entirely. As an industry, they still have a lot of clout, even if their bought Congress critters are still acting strangely supine under the Trump Regime.

  124. 124.

    Deputinize America

    @Miss Bianca:

    “If you take this medication for the relief of itching from psoriasis, a potential side effect can render you quite mad and will drive you to slaughter your family.  Discontinue this treatment when inchoate, unfocused rages begin…”

  125. 125.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Soprano2: Two of ours go out and come right back and then stand and stare at the treato box, ‘cause Big Papí always gives ‘em one after they go out the first time in the morning…

  127. 127.

    Deputinize America

    @Soprano2:

    That reaffirms my obligation to check on mom and dad every couple of days.  She’s fine, but if something happened to her, he might struggle.

  132. 132.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Miss Bianca:

    I happen to think pharmaceuticals *shouldn’t* be hawked on TV, but maybe that’s just because those ads drive me completely mental when I see them.

    I read that only the US and New Zealand allow pharma advertising. I have long thought it’s a ridiculous ass backward practice that added cost but no value to the price of drugs.

    But anything JFK Jr wants to do is suspicious so half of America fucked around and we’re all going to to find out.

  134. 134.

    Soprano2

    @Deputinize America: It’s good that you do that. My mom used to drive me crazy because I’d call and leave a message and she’d wait two or three days to call me back! I told her not to do that because it made me worry, but she never thought about it like that. She had one of those alert monitors and she always wore it on her wrist, so that eased my mind somewhat.

  135. 135.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Played my first gig in Taos on Sat night.  It was meh.  Small gig at an art gallery and the room had terrible acoustics for that sort of thing (wooden floors, lots of open walls etc.). Guitarist/singer cranked his amp way too loud and was getting all kinds of horrible feedback from his effects pedals.  He was also a bit of a dick towards the bass player who was not the fastest study, during our rehearsals.  The music was actually pretty cool but the vibes in the band and his personality was definitely a big red flag for me.  I’ve been in projects like that before and really have no interest in that shit anymore.  Music is supposed to be my “recess” from school (life), as a former colleague used to put it.  I have enough stress from new job, new town, PTSD etc.  I don’t want music projects where they increase my anxiety.  I want bands where everyone is cool to each other, appreciates/respects each other and understands that we are all a team/family.  So I knew this would probably be the only gig I’d do with these guys.  Also, while I liked the music (from a listening perspective) it wasn’t really the kind of stuff I want to play.  It was indie/alt/punk which I love to listen to, but my playing style and interest is much more in jazz, funk, soul, stuff with a bit more dynamics, feel, backbeat etc. I’m gonna have limited time to put towards bands/projects so I wanna find ones that I’m really into or start ones of my own.

    So fortunately, yesterday I jammed with a bunch of guys who are all the big pro players around town.  Much better players, great attitudes etc., and we got to do stuff that was much more my cup of tea.  We all hit it off great and they seemed to love my playing so I’m sure that we will play together here and there in jams and that they’ll be calling me for gigs when they need somebody.  Exciting stuff!!

  136. 136.

    Baud

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    Random luck means we’ll probably get a handful of good things out of Trump. What will be annoying will be the people who seize on those few things to argue all the bad stuff was worth it.

  139. 139.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Definitely!  And something that had been missing for the last several years even before we moved.  Most of my tennis coaching in LA was during evening/night which made it almost impossible to play music.  Here my tennis work is primarily during the daytime.  So it opens up potential for jamming and gigs etc.

  142. 142.

    trollhattan

    @Almost Retired:

    Folks watching Gemstones will by now have been treated to Uncle Baby Billy’s Bible Bonkers.

    “Isn’t this just Family Feud?”
    “It’s nothing like that.”
    Replied about show pitting two families against one another on Bible trivia.

  144. 144.

    Deputinize America

    @trollhattan:

    That first episode of this season was inspired, brilliant.  Second ep was OK, but felt almost like McBride was desperately reaching in order to keep it going.  Felt tired to me.

  146. 146.

    JML

    @Scout211: Having my mom’s neighbors keeping an eye out was a real help (her husband had dementia and she was very stubborn about keeping him at home as long as possible). The mail carrier was great, would ask about them to other neighbors if they hadn’t picked up their mail, etc. And there was family in town to support (his sister, daughter, his sister’s kids, etc), since my sister and I were much further away. But it’s still really hard and I wish mom had been more willing to get additional help and move out of the house sooner. I understood why she made the choices she did, but they weren’t in her best interest in many ways.

    Very difficult condition to manage, and the slow incremental changes that happen make it easier for the caregiver to not recognize a level of decline until there’s a more serious triggering event. (for mom it was when her husband fell at church and she couldn’t get him back up…and he took her down with him. No real injury, but could have been bad)

  148. 148.

    trollhattan

    @Deputinize America:

    I’ll probably forgive it all just to see John Goodman as a long-haired fishing rat living in the Keys.

    Also, switching between the Walter Goggins of Gemstones and the Walter Goggins of White Lotus is pretty jarring.

  150. 150.

    Caravelle

    I was wondering when a journalist I had a pre-existing awareness of would be killed in Gaza. RIP Hossam Shabat.

  151. 151.

    eclare

    @trollhattan:

    No spoilers, but in general how is White Lotus this season?  I’m waiting until all of the episodes are available so I can binge it.  When networks started doing that in the pandemic I got spoiled.

  152. 152.

    They Call Me Noni

    The oldest grandson and his wife have invited us to dinner tonight at their new home.  She’s making lasagna soup which I’ve never had but Justice (grandson) raves about so I’m anxious to try it.  They have the 3 year old great granddaughter, two dogs and a cat so it will be chaos.  Beloved chaos.

  153. 153.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Ramalama: Our last remaining pet, a 17-year-old cat, died while we were on vacation. At that point we’d been a cat-only house for something like 10 years. We solemnly agreed we’d take a break from pets for a while.

    Our new cat and dog joined us within a week.

  156. 156.

    eclare

    @They Call Me Noni:

    Sounds like a fun diversion from the chaos.

    My guilty pleasure is The Bachelor.  The season finale is tonight, already got my bag of Smartfood white cheddar popcorn.  Truly mind candy, nothing political.

  158. 158.

    trollhattan

    @eclare:

    Rich people behaving badly continues unabated. Parker Posey shows her comedy chops more than I’ve seen probably since Best in Show.

    Related to Gemstones from previous, does Baby Billy’s Bible Bonkers have a website and merch? As of today I learn of course it does. https://babybillysbiblebonkers.com/

  159. 159.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @laura: Went to the OTHER Baked Potato (on Melrose, no longer there) to see Larry Carlton one time but that’s it.  Always heard great stuff about the Hollywood one, but I don’t think I actually ever attended a show there.  And I def never played there because it was a tough place to book a gig unless you had a huge following or were already a famous musician.  Plus their open jams always started too late at night for my old body to manage.

  160. 160.

    Josie

    Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s new book, Abundance, has quickly become the talk of the wonk class — a sweeping attempt to offer Democrats a new north star after years of defensiveness.

    I just ordered this book, noted by Political Wire. Sounds interesting. I’ll report on it after reading.​

  162. 162.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Geminid: Well these are drums that I only got once we moved here so I have no “before” to judge.  But I don’t think altitude has a major effect on the sound of instruments.  I could see a drum kit that was tuned at sea level then moved to high altitude maybe needing to be tweaked once you get there because of the change in air pressure.  Interesting question I hadn’t even really thought about.  My snare did need to be cranked up yesterday but I think that’s just because I beat the hell out of it with three rehearsals during the week and it’s not the highest quality snare (which everyone warned about in the reviews).

  166. 166.

    frosty

    @UncleEbeneezer: So fortunately, yesterday I jammed with a bunch of guys who are all the big pro players around town.

    That sounds great, but here’s a question. How do you move to a new town, find out who the pro players are, and join them for a jam? The best I’ve done is play open mics. They’re fun but my skills never got me an invitation to join anyone, LOL.

  167. 167.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Scout211: I hope everyone has daily communication with someone who will take action of some sort if even one day is missed. My two sibs and I really regret that we didn’t formalize this with my dad. He lived alone out in the country. We three, his nearest neighbors, and he all had great relationships. He saw his neighbors a couple of times a week or more and met with them for a meal at least once a week. We three “kids” emailed and phoned him all the time, several times per week in total and the kids and neighbors often chatted and emailed separate from my dad. However, when he took a fall and couldn’t get to the phone, it took us, as a group of 3 kids and 4 neighbors, almost 48 hours to realize none of us had heard from him. Once we did, one of the neighbors raced over in the middle of the night, fetched him out and got him to a county road that an ambulance could then get him to an ER. That heroic bit of driving and managing the situation took less than two hours. But, it was too late – he never recovered and passed a couple of days later.

    Sorry to be a downer about this, but it’s not always apparent when someone needs DAILY check-ins, so err on the side of caution. My dad’s death was preventable (at that time). All 7 of us friends and kids still feel bad about how it happened, and how in hindsight a simple schedule would’ve changed everything.

  168. 168.

    eclare

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    Oh I’m so sorry.  The mother of a friend of mine took a nasty fall, and the only thing that saved her was that she didn’t show up for a scheduled bridge game the same day.

    And as we know, our dear friend Steeplejack was only discovered already passed due to a welfare check.

  169. 169.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Melancholy Jaques: Not true!!  I purposely bought a 12-watt amp just recently so I can play at low volume.  But that’s because I’m also a drummer and have spent years being yelled at by hotel/bar owners to play quieter. So I’ve gotten pretty good at managing volume on all my instruments.

    Okay, but what you said is pretty much true, in general, lol

  170. 170.

    Miss Bianca

    @Josie:

    I’m afraid Ezra Klein is one person whose opinion on “where the Democratic Party ought to be going” I have zero interest in. No, make that less than zero. He and all the other “We gotta dump Joe Biden cuz he’s so old” too-cool-for-school types can all just sit down and shut up for a while, far as I’m concerned.

  171. 171.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @frosty: I got real lucky that the guy I already knew in town (whose partner found me the tennis job) is a drummer who knows everyone.  Through him I met another guy who also knows everybody and it went from there.  It’s a very small town so networking is fairly easy.  Most people do the open mics/jams but I got lucky to not have to yet, though I will for a jazz group that I just connected with.

  173. 173.

    frosty

    @UncleEbeneezer: ​
     Thanks! The first open mics I played at had performers from first timers to pros. Some of the pros had been in local bands since I was in high school, so it was nice to meet them and start feeling like I might actually be a musician too.

  175. 175.

    Betty

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I was about to comment that it seems to require extra strength from wives who become caretakers. Your husband with Parkinson’s, at least three I am aware of that have husbands with various stages of dementia. I’ll add myself to make that four. And no, it is not easy as we are not spring chickens either as one doctor reminded my, at times, demanding husband.

  176. 176.

    AnnaC

    While I’m more of a cat person (we have 5), what the lady in Nashville is doing is a bit like what Colbert does on his show occasionally where he and a guest show dogs from a NY shelter and tell funny lies about them.  Anything that finds these fur babies their forever homes is a very good thing!

  177. 177.

    Betty

    @Josie: Since it is being talked about so much, it would be good to have a front page post by someone who has read it to allow for discussion.

  179. 179.

    emjayay

    @narya: “Agonizing knee pain” in older people is usually because of worn out/torn knee cartilage. There are a couple kinds of injections that in most cases fixes the problem at least for a few years. Knee scoping, also known as knee arthroscopy, a minimally invasive surgical procedure that allows the surgeon to examine and treat the inside of the knee joint, may be called for.  After that, knee replacement.

    Why hasn’t your mother seen an appropriate specialist for this knee pain?

  180. 180.

    WTFGhost

    @geg6: Here’s hoping recovery continues and good answers continue to be found. CBD, a non-intoxicating component of hemp, might be legal in your state, and might help with nausea, even if marijuana is outlawed.

    If meds make you nauseous, but are important enough, doctors might consider prescription anti-nausea meds, which are surprisingly effective. There are quick-dissolve tablets, that get absorbed by your mouth, which are a bit less embarrassing than suppositories, which are the other option, if swallowing isn’t easy. Still: if you know you’ll (well, John will) get nauseous at 2pm, when the meds are taken, you can get the anti-nausea meds online at 1 or 1:30, so they’re ready to rip when the nausea-cause hits. So, hopefully, that’s enough warning to swallow an upper-gi-tract med, if the dissolving ones aren’t covered.

    Regardless, I’ve suffered nausea, and thought longingly of *anything* that would relieve my nausea. It’s not something that’s good to suffer through, if you can get help.

  182. 182.

    sab

    @Deputinize America: Thanks to schrodinger’s cat. We also got a referral from someone thru Watergirl. Probably too late to help. We knew the actual legal parents of the adult deceased were brain damaged meth heads, but the deceased child’s stepmother spent (in retrospect wasted) a week trying to defer to them and respect their feelings and all they did was lie, manipulate and act on delusions. Too late to get the right people to hire a lawyer. Because the birth mother has been so nuts but aggressive while lying and not following thru on any promise, the hospital is fed up and also afraid to talk to anyone but the actual parents.

    Now the best we are hoping for is to somehow convince the hospital not to turn the deceased back to police and county authorities and cremate her and put her in a potters field grave as a Jane Doe. With twenty not quite her closest next-of-kin kin clamoring to just let us bring her home to Ohio. That includes ten half-siblings and some step-parents. And yet two drug addled meth-heads seem to be able to block it without following thru on any promises or suggestions.

    I am much less impressed with Virginia than I was a month ago.

  183. 183.

    sab

    @Soprano2: AlertOne and Life Alert have services where they call daily and alert named  friends or relatives or the authorities if you don’t answer. We used it for my dad early on, and for the next few years I did get a couple of timely calls. Eventually I had to move in with him, then put him in a nursing home. But it bought us a few more sort of normal years.

    But Dad could afford around the clock in home care, which is unusual. His principal caretaker has become my best friend, but that is probably also unusual. She really loved my dad like her own grandfather.

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