Looks like we can use on open thread. Surely my posting this will bring Cole’s evening post out of the woodwork!
Happy to hear about all the events people went to today.
Jackie found a good car magnet that I am going to order tomorrow. Just slightly disappointed that it doesn’t say:
NO fucking KINGS in America!
Oh well, can’t have everything.
I think this cartoon is awesome, so I wanted to share it.
Open thread.
War for Ukraine Day 1,150: Putin’s Non-Easter Truce Non-Truce
WaterGirl
I am in my PJs, about to turn off the laptop.
Everybody behave.See you in the am.geg6
I’m really enjoying the new Matlock. Which I find shocking because you would never have caught me dead watching the original. Kathy Bates is a delight.
WaterGirl
@geg6: I am saving the last three episodes of the season so I can watch them all at once. Did it get renewed? Did they resolve the main issue?
geg6
@WaterGirl:
Nothing is completely settled. We know who removed the file but that person is not the person at the head of the coverup. It definitely got renewed. It has been a ratings and critical hit.
Elizabelle
@geg6: Kathy Bates elevates everything she is associated with. Love her. Have not seen new Matlock yet, but what a great way to refresh it.
Jackie
@geg6:
I’ve recorded, but haven’t watched any episodes yet. I like to wait so I can semi-binge watching episodes, so…. NO SPOILERS!!! LOL
eta I may have to skip this thread…
zhena gogolia
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND LUDWIG ON BRITBOX
UncleEbeneezer
Got my first shingles vaccine today and now just chilling to wait and see if it hits me hard. So far so good. To celebrate this holy weekend properly we just watched Jesus Christ Superstar which my wife had never seen. She got a kick out of the 70’s outfits and choreography. I was playing “air bass” the whole time since that soundtrack has some seriously sick and funky basslines. It snowed here in Taos today so we are making Tteok-bok-ki (Korean rice cakes in spicy sauce with mushrooms and pork belly). Trader Joe’s frozen package is surprisingly solid and every bit as good, imo, as the ones you get at H-mart or other Asian grocery stores.
Pauline
@zhena gogolia: I second that! Just watched the last episode today and really enjoyed the series.
zhena gogolia
@UncleEbeneezer: It’s the second shot that gets you.
Although I adore JCS, I haven’t seen the movie since it was in theaters! I know the concept album by heart (great bass on that), and I love the John Legend version (don’t hate me), but I’ve never rewatched the movie. I wasn’t crazy about the Jesus. Ted Neeley — he’s no Ian Gillan.
ETA: Of course, John Legend isn’t Ian Gillan either, but Brandon Victor Dixon kills it! And Sara Bareilles.
zhena gogolia
@Pauline: The last episode really kicked it up a notch!
Matt McIrvin
@UncleEbeneezer: The only Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical I love. I don’t know why it hits so much harder than anything else they ever did. Maybe it’s just the source material.
geg6
@Jackie:
I would never give anything major away. You’re safe from me.
Michael Bersin
Today at noon, in downtown Warrensburg, Missouri, between rain showers:
Due Process – Warrensburg, Missouri – April 19, 2025
The presence is continuing and will continue. There was a lot of horn honking in support. There were a few scowls from the occupants of passing high profit margin pick-up trucks.
There was also a large demonstration at Mill Creek Park near the Plaza in Kansas City attended by local friends who made the drive into the city.
Miss Bianca
@geg6:
There’s a new “Matlock”? Is Kathy Bates the new Matlock?
(My dad loved the original, but I never watched it much on my own.)
UncleEbeneezer
@Matt McIrvin: Everything’s Alright is truly one of the greatest songs ever written in 5/4. It’s up there with the Halloween theme and River Man by Nick Drake. All far superior to Take Five. It’s pretty impressive how funky ALW managed to compose in JCS.
UncleEbeneezer
@zhena gogolia: Corey Glover of rock band Living Colour played Judas on Broadway not too long ago. Wish I could find that somewhere because he is an absolutely incredible vocalist.
Miss Bianca
@Matt McIrvin: True, it’s the only one of ALW’s works I really love. Maybe because of the source material, maybe because it sounds truly original and not (to my ears anyway) a watered-down version of Puccini
geg6
@Miss Bianca:
Yes! And yes! It’s fun and Kathy Bates is wonderful as Maddie Matlock.
Gary K
WaterGirl, a question: A month or so ago you were compiling lists of reliable alternate media. Did you say you were going to add a link to your lists somewhere in the right sidebar?
BlueGuitarist
Stumbled across a 3 minute YouTube video with some protest signs from today, same person separately has signs from 4/5.
https://youtu.be/NJLvbHk4Gn0?si=GfoKnsOHFcENiX56
M31
got my shingles vaccines earlier this year, was glad to read this:
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/03/shingles-vaccination-dementia.html
BlueGuitarist
@zhena gogolia:
Thanks. Going to check it out soon!
Nukular Biskits
@WaterGirl:
Wait a damned minute. Isn’t it against the rules to kick off an open thread and then leave?
Jackie
@Miss Bianca:
Same. Along with all the murder/mystery series popular at the time. Watched a bit of Colombo, the New Perry Mason, Matlock, Murder She Wrote etc, but never was invested in any.
Nukular Biskits
@M31:
Interesting.
I haven’t had my shingles vax. Maybe I should get it.
WaterGirl
@Jackie: i’ve watched all but three episodes and what Greg said didn’t didn’t give anything away. Nothing you won’t know by the end of episode one anyway.
WaterGirl
@Gary K: yes, I need to get back to that. I am probably 2/3 done.
M31
@Nukular Biskits: ask someone who had actual shingles what it was like
narya
@Nukular Biskits: find the picture of Tony LaRussa w shingles in his eye. You will take the first available appointment.
Jay
@Jackie:
While the new Matlock series is a lawyer series, it’s nothing like the old Matlock, and Kathy Bates and others are stellar.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: What’s the premise?
WaterGirl
@Nukular Biskits on: I checked the rulebook and it says that if you are in bed in your jammies about to watch a show and you get out of bed because the blog needs a new thread, then you are her allowed to post the thread and not stay. :-)
WaterGirl
@Nukular Biskits: you should get it anyway, as soon as you are old enough!!!
And before the idiots make it illegal to get a vaccination. :-)
Nukular Biskits
@M31:
Oh, I’ve had them. I just didn’t realize what they were.
About 30 years ago, I had a very painful rash break out from roughly the center of my abdomen around to my right side, about an inch wide.
On a later visit to my (then) rheumatologist, I described it to her and mentioned that I thought it was a weird reaction to some medication she had put me on. She looked at me like I was an idiot and told me, “You had a case of shingles.”
I’m just glad it was a very mild, small case.
Jay
@WaterGirl:
Kathy infiltrates a Major Law Firm that did a major dirty that affected her family, personally, to find out who did the dirty. Along the arc, there is a different law case every episode.
Martin
@Nukular Biskits: Had shingles 3 times. Get it.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: A brilliant puzzle constructor is recruited by his sister-in-law to impersonate his twin brother, a homicide detective who’s disappeared. He’s trying to solve the mystery surrounding his brother, but meanwhile he can’t help but solve every murder case that comes his way. It’s a season of 6 episodes, so you get the overarching story concerning his brother, but also a separate murder case in each episode. It’s very funny and clever.
ETA: His name is John but his pen name is Ludwig because he loves Beethoven, and the score is very cleverly made up of Beethoven motifs.
ETA: For those who care, it’s David Mitchell, Anna Maxwell Martin, Dorothy Atkinson, and a lot of other nice actors.
Danielx
@Nukular Biskits:
Got both mine, and I’m told you do not want shingles.
zhena gogolia
@zhena gogolia: Derek Jacobi is one of the guest stars.
Nukular Biskits
@WaterGirl:
I stand corrected.
tam1MI
Same thing happened to me, except it was so itchy it drove me insane.
Trust me, I got the shingles vaccine as soon as I could.
Nukular Biskits
@Danielx:
Based on my very limited experience and what others told me, I concur.
Sounds like something to add to my sked next couple of weeks.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@UncleEbeneezer: @zhena gogolia: @M31:
My only symptom from the shot was 3 days of a sore arm. That shot hurts. In the past I’ve had a minor outbreak on my chin, so no question I wanted the vaccine.
Nukular Biskits
Ref the shingles and the vaccination, I’m curious as to how many Jackals had chicken pox.
According to my mother, I had mine when I was about 6 months old (so I don’t remember it) but I do carry a scar around my left eye and one on my left arm.
My brother and sister, however, both came down with it when they were 18 and I saw how miserable they were.
My two sons had it when the oldest one was about 6 years old and the youngest caught it from him. About a year later, they came out with the chicken pox vaccine.
Mr. Bemused Senior
Wanna see muh scar?😁
Cheryl from Maryland
@narya: both of my parents were hanging in there in their late 80s, but shingles put them over the edge. If one had chicken pox before the vaccine, as I and my parents did, GET THE SHINGREX vaccine NOW. I have; Shingles messes with your health in so many ways.
Another Scott
@Nukular Biskits: I hated, hated, hated chicken pox. I had it when I was around 10. So painful, so itchy, so miserable. It hurt to take a bath! I’ve still got a few scars on my face from it.
I got the Shingrix shots as soon as I was allowed. (No issue with the second shot in my case.)
Don’t put it off!
Best wishes,
Scott.
Sxjames
Couldn’t attend today’s protest (other obligations) but I did drive past and saw a sign that made me chuckle
“The reason why prices are so high is that all the chicken are in Congress”
Jay
@Nukular Biskits:
Chicken Pox, Calamine lotion by the gallon. No scars.
Shingrix vax two years ago, side effects not too bad.
brendancalling
@geg6: you’re gonna laugh, but I’ve become addicted to the “Murder, She Wrote” and “Columbo” on Pluto, which is one of those free stations that are also available 24/7 online. MSW is especially kitschy. I was in 8th grade when it first aired.
But I draw the line at OG “Matlock.” The doctor’s still out on “Diagnosis, Murder” w/Dick van Dyke.
lowtechcyclist
I had shingles about 10 years ago. It hit my face, made the left side of my face feel like it was trying to explode. I hope to God I never experience anything that painful ever again. Thank goodness for Dilaudid.
If you’re old enough that they recommend the shingles vaccine for you, GET IT. Both shots, of course.
Each shot gave me a day of fever and chills, but much better to have that than to risk another round of shingles.
Gin & Tonic
Shingrix is the one vaccine that kicked my ass. Had to call out sick from work both times, and I essentially never called out sick. Still worth it, though.
Steve in the ATL
A quiet, largely ignored Saturday night through about Matlock seems the best place to confess that I have in my adult life owned more than one seersucker suit. As a matter of fact, I usually wore one to Easter brunch at the club. Never did the white bucks with it, though—you have to draw a line somewhere!
Nukular Biskits
@Mr. Bemused Senior:
Uh … no thank you. LOL
lowtechcyclist
Chicken pox, early 1960s. Was eight or nine years old. Still have a faint scar on my face.
Martin
@Gin & Tonic: Yeah, I got tetanus and shingrix in the same arm in one visit, and I was a lump the next day and couldn’t lift my arm again until the day after that.
rikyrah
@geg6:
The show within the show has been the best part.
NotMax
@Nukular Biskits
Had chicken pox as child in grade school, also shingles in my late twenties.
Mr. Bemused Senior
BTW I watched the interview by Heather Cox Richardson of Angus King. Well worth it.
Martin
Will note that stress is believed to be a catalyst for shingles outbreaks, and all 3 of my cases coincided with very stressful times for me. Consider the effect of the next 4 years on whether or not you want to get a shot.
rikyrah
Have had pretty much every vaccination out there
My sister and I are 17 years apart.
My sister nearly died at 5 because of the measles. This was before the vaccination.
Because of that, and my mother’s generation’s terror of polio..
She made sure that I was fully vaccinated.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@rikyrah: your mother is wise.
Rusty
Nice day, saw our son run at his track meet, he got a personal best in the 200m which was cool. Fired up the grill for dinner with him, and we ended the evening dying Easter eggs. It was all good. I need to run him back to school early, but tjst is time in the car to talk and then back in time for the Easter service at church. With all the chaos, I appreciate these moments even more.
WaterGirl
@Nukular Biskits: ha!
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: thank you. I recently canceled BritBox, but I could always sign up for it for a month to watch that!
WaterGirl
@Steve in the ATL: it’ll be our secret and you can be sure that we’ll never ever ever tell Omnes!
Melancholy Jaques
@brendancalling:
What’s bad about Matlock? I’ve never seen it, but I have residual affection for Sheriff Andy Taylor from my childhood. Also one my law school buddies was a huge fan, talked about it all the time.
Hilbertsubspace
No Kings!
But, henceforth, Trump supporters shall be know as the people of Sofa Kingdom. (Say it slowly out loud)
Melancholy Jaques
@Nukular Biskits:
Recently confirmed with my siblings, I had chicken pox, measles, and mumps.
WaterGirl
@Rusty: glad you shared that!
WaterGirl
@Melancholy Jaques: I loved Matlick! And Perry Mason.
Nukular Biskits
@Melancholy Jaques:
Didn’t have measles but had mumps. Twice.
And I remember both times.
NotMax
@WaterGirl
E. G. Marshall and Robert Reed in The Defenders?
Bill Arnold
Here’s a CDC list (not yet redacted):
travel vaccines, CDC
I had chickenpox and mumps as a kid, for sure (remember them). (shingles vaccine, recently.)
Argiope
Y’all have probably seen this already but there’s data that shingles vaccines help prevent dementia. I have had shingles and the vaccines and the vaccines are way better. Go on, treat yourself if you’re eligible.
BlueGuitarist
On BlueSky Rachel Maddow is reposting protest photos from around the country.
JoyceH
My sister and I had ALL the ‘childhood ailments’ together in second grade – measles, mumps and chicken pox. We missed a lot of school that year, good thing we were smart. The main thing I remember about it, besides being home a lot is – doctor making house call! Boy, that was a while ago!
But here’s something I’ve never quite understood. Do you have to have previously had chicken pox in order to get shingles? If everyone was vaccinated for chicken pox, would there be no more shingles?
Ruckus
@rikyrah:
The only vaccine when I was born was smallpox. I’ve known/know 3 women with polio. One I went to school with for 12 years, used crutches. Walked into our 10 yr HS reunion without them. One of them is a neighbor who lives in the complex I live in. She lives in a wheelchair, one leg doesn’t work and is noticeably shorter than the other. That’s where her polio mostly affected her. I often push her around, her powered chair needs the control stick replaced. We are the same age.
This world is a lot different than when I was born in the first half of the last century. Many of the humans are not. One of my best friends was a black girl who passed from sickle cell disease some time ago. She had been a partner of my sister. Life can be funny, it can be grand and it can be as shitty as one can imagine.
A lot of diseases that used to be common have had at least a massive lessoning of their occurrence. Life is a hell of a lot different than it was a lot of decades ago. In most ways far better. In some not so much.
Martin
@Argiope: Will note, what I saw was a correlation observation, not even a study. We wouldn’t take that as evidence, but as a promising starting point for a proper study.
Chetan Murthy
Googling, it seems that you have to have had chicken pox, in order to get shingles. BUT BUT you can have an asymptomatic case of chicken pox. So you might have had it without knowing it. And then, even if you’re vaccinated against chicken pox, you could have had an asymptomatic case, b/c the vaccination might not have given you immunity (vaccination doesn’t always work — or your immune system might be weak).
Kayla Rudbek
@UncleEbeneezer: I think that I did my second shingles vaccine at the same time as another vaccine, so I was very low energy afterwards.
Bostondreams
Speaking of murder mystery type shows, The Residence on Netflix is fantastic. A Shondaland production.
Fair Economist
@zhena gogolia: Weirdly, the first shingles shot hurt for several days but the second didn’t bother me at all.
frosty
@Bostondreams: Agreed! We loved The Residence.
Argiope
@Martin: In this case, I’m not sure you’re ever going to get a randomized controlled because it is hard to imagine an IRB allowing researchers to randomize people to not receive a recommended vaccine. I think observational data and case-control is all we’re likely to get. Hopefully we will get a lot more observational data. Meanwhile, very few harms and lots of upside to the vaccine, plus possible protection from dementia.
Kayla Rudbek
@Nukular Biskits: I had chicken pox when I was about 5 years old, and I still have some visible scarring from it. I vaguely remember the horrible itching and the calamine lotion.
Redshift
@Nukular Biskits:
I had it in elementary school, can’t remember exactly what age. It may have been a milder case/strain than some people; it was itchy and unpleasant, lots of calamine lotion, but no scars.
We heard about families who supposedly had chicken pox “parties” rather than waiting for their kids to catch it, but contrary to what you may have heard, that wasn’t common.
Redshift
The Shingrix vaccine didn’t bother me except for a bit of a sore arm, but most vaccines don’t hit me as hard as other people.
Kayla Rudbek
@Argiope: good thing I have had my shingles vaccine, maybe it will reduce my risk of dementia (paternal grandpa had it starting in his 90s, maybe – I will have to check with my sibling and parents. I have noticed that my dad has also slowed down a lot in terms of speaking and recall, although his hearing loss could be contributing to that, and whatever neurological condition he does have, the diagnosis was Parkinson’s but that may have been an error).
JoyceH
@Redshift: I always steel myself for the listed side effects but never have anything other than feeling like someone punched me in the shoulder.
BTW, I was just placing a grocery order and I was scrolling through the butter and substitute offerings and saw a description that was new to me. I’m used to seeing margarine or “buttery spread”, but this calls itself “vegetable butter”. I got a kick out of that – it’s not margarine, it’s vegetable butter! (And vegan!)
They Call Me Noni
I had the chicken pox when my daughter did as a toddler. Calamine lotion and baths with baking soda in the water. I put socks on my daughters hands so she wouldn’t scratch her face in her sleep. We were both miserable.
Jay
@JoyceH:
Yeah, it’s a thing. Most margarines are made with grain oils (canola), vegan butters range wildly, from coconut oils, etc.
T can’t have dairy anymore, so I was trying to make sense of the “vegan butters”, and a lovely, tall, formally dressed and coiffed woman walked up to the case, seriously, Jackie O dressed and coiffed, grabbed a “vegan” butter, put it in her cart, and I said “excuse me but”,……………….
Me, old, white male, mostly bald, but for my ears and nose, goatee hidden by mask, baseball cap, Carharts, boots,
She directed me to what she thought was the best “vegan” butter, and preferred, while we talked about vegan butter.
Her partner came racing over, tense, and then utterly relaxed, when she realized we were just talking about “vegan” butter.
Only as they were walking away, did I realize, she was trans.
Soprano2
I had chicken pox when I was 8 or 9. I don’t remember much about it except that it was itchy and unpleasant. I got the vaccine as soon as I knew I was eligible because I’ve known several people who had shingles, and I wanted no part of that. The shot kicked my ass both times, and my arm hurt for a couple of days, but better than shingles
I had the mumps when I was 5, I remember because I didn’t feel bad but my mom wouldn’t let me go outside.
Chetan Murthy
I got it summer after sophomore year. Wasn’t a big deal. High school friend got mumps around the same time. They dropped on him. Oof. Ooooooof. Those childhood diseases ain’t nuthin’ to sniff at.
NotMax
Whooping cough ran through the schools and neighborhood when was a sprat but fortunately never caught it.
IIRC, as a kidlet: chicken pox, measles and German measles yes; mumps no.
Father had small pock marks from scarlet fever on his face, not all that unusual for those of his generation.
2liberal
@narya: My dad went thru horrible pain and lost an eye to shingles. Needless to say I’ve had the vaccine.
Ramalama
@zhena gogolia: yes! It had good twists to the scenes without forcing me to roll my eyes and say How did we get here, again? Clever and excellent and … original.
Also completely unrelated but I also Loved this, despite the suck ass name: Dying for Sex oh Hulu. Nearly pitch perfect. Nothing maudlin…a woman with stage 4 cancer dumps her husband caregiver to explore pleasure before it’s too late. Her best friend gives up her career to take care of her and there’s just the right amount of bitch and bear it, a ton of humor. The ending is … well I wish I’d had that hospice nurse around when my mom was dying. The ending you could see from a mile away and still it was wondrous.
Ramalama
@rikyrah: 17 years’ difference. You’re the baby!
My youngest sister is 14 years younger than me. We suspiciously have the same exact laugh, which makes her husband do double takes.
YY_Sima Qian
Another update from the view in Beijing (as well as the foreign diplomatic circles in Beijing):
YY_Sima Qian
Not a surprise that Trump & MAGA is highlighting the lab leak CT to the COVID-19 origin. When authoritarian regimes feel precarious, fanning xenophobia (as well as fear of domestic “5th columnists” & other “enemies of the state”) is a go to play. When the recession hits (if it has not hit already), & prospects for “beautiful deals” dim (least of all w/ the PRC), Trump will grasp at Sinophobia, just like when it became clear that the Trump 45 Administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was utterly disastrous.
Furthermore, MAGA is also probably planting the seed for exacting “retribution” & “reparations” from the PRC by seizing the latter’s Treasury & agency holdings, not to mention even kookier ideas such as calling in worthless bonds from the late Qing Empire.
Whatever happens, it will be increasingly dangerous to be a Chinese national or Chinese American (or anyone who can be confused for such, thus people of E & SE Asian descent) in American, just like during the COVID-19 pandemic (& since).
rikyrah
@Bostondreams:
You can easily binge it in one sitting. I tried doing an episode every other day after I had watched the first two.
It was so good.
Scott_S
@zhena gogolia: +1