I didn’t sleep worth a damn, so it’s going to be an extra long day. Spent the long hours of dark reading, mostly. First news, and when that got too depressing, short stories from one of Bill’s sci-fi anthologies.
Now that the sun is up, I spotted my first flamingo of the day — the plastic one that lives on a windowsill.
Bill got it for me at Rural King, which is a kind of a redneck Walmart. It commemorates my mostly unsuccessful stint as a flamingo chaser a couple of falls ago, when I drove all over the western coast of Florida looking for flamingos that had been blown off course by hurricanes.
Here’s another type of pink bird that I see often around here for real:
I’ve always admired the way they use their feet for rudders in flight. When I was a kid, we almost never saw Roseate Spoonbills this far north, but now we do.
Someday, I firmly believe a flamingo will land in our lagoon, but today is probably not that day.
Open thread!
On The Road – ema – Zito Ellada!
Baud
That’s fascinating and disturbing.
Professor Bigfoot
@Baud: They also have a subdivision called “RK Guns.”
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
When I can’t sleep due to worry or stress retreating into the wonderful fantasy world of PG Wodehouse always makes me feel better. The setting is often some idyllic English estate or jazz age London or New York, and most of the problems people have are pretty trivial and even when they’re more than that the characters are well suited to overcome them with the help of an omniscient valet, or kindly uncle etc.
Princess
I saw flamingoes in a nature preserve in Mallorca this winter and it was magical.
MagdaInBlack
Dawn in Chicagoland was a stunning shade of flamingo hot pink. Made being up so damned early worth it.
Good Morning
p.s. I have a big pink flamingo somewhere, I may have to find it.
Betty Cracker
Are any of y’all going to the No Kings protests on 6/14? I am going; there’s even one planned for my little town, but I may attend one of the Tampa Bay area ones with friends.
I need sign ideas. (I always get stuck making all the signs because my handwriting is mostly legible and I own a lot of Sharpies.)
geg6
@Baud:
We have one nearby. My John loves that place and we get good prices for dog food there. Also a good place to get heavy duty work clothes. Plus you can get free popcorn!
Baud
@geg6:
Hell, that sounds much better than Walmart.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
I want to be a king someday, so no.
Professor Bigfoot
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: For me it’s been Harry Turtledove– I just finished his “VIdessos” series (hoping there’s a third on the way) and am now into “Agent of Byzantium,” about a secret agent/troubleshooter in what would be the 15th century here on our Earth; but in that world Islam never grew and in fact Mohammed became a devout Christian saint (St. Mouamet).
Takes me far away from here, for sure.
(A few months ago I dived into his latest, “Twice as Dead,” set in a Los Angeles that also has vampires and werewolves and Jewish refugees from the European war… ripped through it and then skeeted at him to hurry up and get the next volume done!)
They Call Me Noni
@geg6: We have a Tractor Supply and it sounds just like Rural King. Bought most of my herbs there this year. They had really good basil.
Nukular Biskits
Good mornin’, y’all.
Took the day off so I could have a four -day weekend. I needed the break.
@BettyC; Never heard of a “Rural King”. Is that a FL thing?
Nukular Biskits
@Baud:
As a native of the American South, I wholeheartedly concur.
Matt McIrvin
@Betty Cracker: There’s one planned for my town. We didn’t have one on May 1 so I went to a much smaller demonstration in a much smaller neighboring town.
But we’d gotten around 1000 people back in April. I wonder if this one’s going to be as big–I’m feeling a bit deflated, myself, and maybe people are just getting used to the shit world we’re in–Trump’s poll numbers are a little better than they were. But I also thought the April one might just be a few people standing on the corner, and it favorably surprised me.
Nukular Biskits
@Betty Cracker:
Planning on it here … supposed to be one in Gulfport, which is where I live.
Suzanne
So there is this hilarious store about a mile away from me that sells very little except for concrete lawn statuary. You know, eagles and lions and stuff. But, in 2020, they were selling concrete Trumps, about 4′ tall. CAN. YOU. IMAGINE.
Anyway, I took one of the Spawns to an event yesterday, and I drove by there….. and they are selling concrete flamingo statues! I am wary of putting any flamingos in the front yard, as I am not a swinger….. so maybe it could go in the back?!?!
Gloria DryGarden
@Princess: you live in Mallorca? How is it to be in Spain these days?
Princess
I’m rereading a lot of Charles de Lint right now as comfort reads (urban fantasy before it was cool).
Lapassionara
@Betty Cracker: good morning. As for signs, I like “They’re eating the checks, they’re eating the balances.”
Or, get some phrases from the Declaration of Independence. Some of them are particularly apt.
Or, how about “They’re stealing from the poor to give to the rich. Where is Robin Hood when we need him?”
Princess
@Gloria DryGarden: I was there for a conference in February and stayed for a bit of a holiday.
Nukular Biskits
@Suzanne:
Uh, exposing my ignorance/naivety here but is THAT what that’s supposed to mean? And how do you know? 🤔
MagdaInBlack
@Suzanne: Wait..what? Swinger?
Maybe I wont dig mine out.
@They Call Me Noni: We have “Farm and Fleet” or as my FIL called it ” Fleece and Cheat.” Unfair because they’re a decent store, but funny.
Timill
@Nukular Biskits: We have both of them here in Tennessee. Mostly we use them for needles and syringes when we need them in a hurry (for cat medications) but you can get your ivermectin there if you need it.
Suzanne
@Nukular Biskits: It might be a bit of an urban legend, LOL. I heard it came from cruises! Put a pink flamingo on your door to let others know you’re down for fun. Also pineapples, apparently, which is a riot because they used to be the symbol of welcome.
Gloria DryGarden
@Suzanne: you could get a concrete gargoyle to repel evil spirits, or a kwan yin concrete statue to invoke mercy. I’m sure there are other ideas, a frog, a garden gnome….I really did get the first three.
if I had a statue of that guy, I’d also need a sledgehammer, and now it’s getting pricey..
and then the yard inspectors get mad because of a broken looking statue.. not that it wasn’t an eyesore before..
speaking of yard inspectors and eyesores, maybe I need to find me some pink flamingos to put out front. Just to be sayin’
Suzanne
@MagdaInBlack: Here’s a story about pink flamingos in RV parks, LOL.
Of course, it’s from Florida.
NotMax
@They Call Me Noni
So much better than … faulty basil.
;)
Gloria DryGarden
@Princess: how delightful that must have been. Ocean warm enough to swim, in February? Great beaches? I never made it to Spain, but I speak a version of their language.
HeleninEire
Good morning. I’m headed to Dublin tonight for a 1-week visit. Perhaps I’ll run into Satby! :)
MagdaInBlack
@Gloria DryGarden: In this house, I have 4 Quan Yin, 2 Buddha, 1 Kali, 1 Ganesha, and a gargoyle.
All kinds of energy bouncing around here =-)
Nukular Biskits
@Suzanne:
<cackles evilly to self>
I now have a great joke to play on Ms. Biskits …
Obligatory and relevant meme:
Know Your Meme: “That’s the Evilest Thing I Can Imagine” GIF
NotMax
Repeated from last evening.
TCM is mostly martial this weekend.
Saturday (9:45 p.m. Eastern?): one of the very best WW2 movies, A Walk in the Sun.
Check your local listings. TCM times are messed up for those accessing the schedule from Hawaii
Gloria DryGarden
@Lapassionara: I’m thinking of “Hungry Children”
or a quote from the Statue of Liberty poem, about give me your tired, your poor. Or some bible quote about, I was hungry and you fed me, I was naked and you clothed me… even if it is from the Bible, the point is clear..
Princess
@Gloria DryGarden: Not that warm but pleasant. We were at one beach which was almost empty because too cold, but it was lovely.
Nukular Biskits
@Timill:
This got me curious enough to look up their locations on a map … the nearest one to me is in Saraland, AL, just east of Mobile.
According to Google maps, though, there’s not many stores.
Gloria DryGarden
@MagdaInBlack: I don’t have kali, except in my tarot deck, she’s got her pros and cons, my bigger gargoyle got stolen from my backyard, but we do have kwan yins in numerous places.(don’t leave home without her)
I three-d printed a mini gargoyle at the library, but it’s only 3” tall.
I probably need a Ganesha
____referring to prev thread, I tried to turn my comment about the emperors new clothes into a poem ish thing. Over on blue sky. Quality not guaranteed.
Suzanne
@Nukular Biskits: LOL! Make sure report back on how it goes!
Gloria DryGarden
@Princess: it sounds beautiful.
Big waves? Sad little tiny ones? In between? Great seashells? I know nothing about the med. can’t remember seashells from the one crowded beach I visited on corfu.
Nukular Biskits
@Suzanne:
I guarantee she will NOT be amused. It’s also possible I may not survive.
But it’ll be worth it!!!!! LOL.
Betty Cracker
Regarding swingers — allegedly in The Villages, gold shoes are the signal.
Princess
@Gloria DryGarden: shells and white sand and a sheltered cove. Some palms but vegetation was lush Mediterranean rather than tropical. Look up Port d’Alcudia on Google maps for photos. And they don’t speak Spanish there — they speak Catalan!
Gloria DryGarden
@Suzanne: on the door, ok
… but surely those yards with pink plastic flamingos aren’t saying….?
oh dear. I just thought they were stupid and kitschy.
Suzanne
@Gloria DryGarden: Hey, give it a try and report back…. maybe you’ll make new friends! ;)
Baud
Out: Green balloons
In: Pink flamingos
Nukular Biskits
@Betty Cracker:
And … how came you by this information?
sab
@Suzanne: There is a concrete Trump statue in front of a house near us, right across from Stan Hywet (our local historic mansion.) Spouse gives it (the Trump statue) the finger every time he drives by.
Professor Bigfoot
@Gloria DryGarden: OOOOOO, a fellow 3D printer!
I doubt I can find a Kuan Yin concrete statue around here because JESUS! but I can sure as heck print one!
Booger
@They Call Me Noni: Rural King is for those who find Tractor Supply too bourgeois.
Betty Cracker
@Nukular Biskits: Bill works at golf courses, so he gets all the interesting gossip.
Booger
@Matt McIrvin: A Rural King?
Gloria DryGarden
@Princess: oh wow.
was Catalan even close? Could you understand? I don’t know a word of Catalan, haven’t been to, is it Barcelona, in the center of Catalonia?
I read part of a book my dad had from the library called “France “ about the history of the uniting, homogenizing of France. There was this cool story of a language transect a priest did, walking from Spain across southern France over to Italy. Every 5 km he’d stop and get someone to retell him the story of the prodigal son. And the book had several samples of the language variations. It was fascinating to read. All Romance language cognates, but the form and conjugations changed. And it wasn’t linear. Not more like spanish, then more like French, then more like Italian. Oh no. Back and forth in such a variety of dialects and languages. Strangely italianish stuff, midway across France, and the next town sort of like French, and then like some other thing.
I only leaned recently about small pockets of other regional languages, lingering on in France. Languedoc for example.
Professor Bigfoot
Well, I’m off to class.
Somehow, though, today, I’m not thinking “ugh, I don’t feel like doing this” it’s more like “ugh, lets get this over with.”
Baby steps.
Nukular Biskits
@Booger:
If Tractor Supply too bourgeois for those folks, I imagine Walmarts (intentional “s” there) must be the redneck equivalent of Saks Fifth Avenue.
Professor Bigfoot
@sab: The missus and I share this… we see Trump ANYTHING and it gets the finger.
Nukular Biskits
@Betty Cracker:
Sounds like a good thread for “Balloon Juice: After Dark”
Geminid
As per this morning’s Politico Playbook, it looks like a sparse lineup on the Sunday pitical shows; maybe that’s because of the holiday.
I noticed two Colorado politicians will show up: Rep. Joe Neguse will be on MSNBC’s This Weekend, and Senator Michael Bennet will appear on CNN’s State of the Union. Bennett is running for Governor next year.
Matt McIrvin
@Gloria DryGarden: Catalan sounds like Spanish to my ears, but a lot of the vocabulary and idioms are closer to French, as you can tell if you see it written. I find it easier to *read* than Spanish sometimes, because I can read French–though it’s more or less unintelligible to me when spoken.
My greatest accomplishment in Catalan was managing to order an ice-cream cone at the PortAventura amusement park near Tarragona.
Gloria DryGarden
@Professor Bigfoot: your nearest metaphysical bookstore will have kwan yin, too. Some of them glow in the dark.
I sent Pollyanna all around Rome, looking for herb apothecaries, trying to find any sort of new thought church, and he did go into some metaphysical book shop of sorts. It’s perhaps the democratic stronghold in MTG territory…I think I just wanted him to get citronella oil and a spray bottle, so he could repel mosquitos..
Im just saying, even in Jesus land and smallish towns there are pockets, tiny shops with tarot cards and crystals, woo woo thingies, and eastern spiritual statuary.
I think he might have tractor supply though, in his tiny town outside of Rome…I’ll inquire.
and I need to read a book where Mohammed becomes a Christian saint….cool reading ideas.
YY_Sima Qian
Another day, another act of seppuku:
Betty Cracker
@Nukular Biskits: There was a review of Dollar General once where an enthusiastic patron declared she preferred it to Walmarts because she didn’t have to dress up for DG.
frosty
So you were chasing flamingos blown off course a couple of years ago? I suspect that’s when a pair landed in PA and stuck around for awhile.
I didn’t go to get a look at them even though they would be a Life Bird because it was a 65 mile drive. I’m still kicking myself. For a comparison, the Purple Gallinule was 75 miles away. I guess I changed!
Ben Cisco
This scans as ‘salty salt’ or ‘ATM Machine’.
Guess I’d have to see it.
Gloria DryGarden
@Matt McIrvin: you got that ice cream cone, that’s the important thing..
portuguese is like that, I can sort of read it because it’s like spanish, but listening to it, it’s hopeless gibberish. Their pronunciation rules are so so different
Nukular Biskits
@Betty Cracker:
I grew up with and still know people like that.
It would be an interesting exercise for someone to rank the “rural” retailers by … uh … level of sophistication.
Having been in Dollar General, Family Dollar, Tractor Supply and Walmart, and with my requisite “expertise”, I’d rank them as follows:
Walmart
Tractor Supply
Dollar General
Family Dollar
This list leaves out a lot of other offerings and isn’t really a fair comparison, given the merch selections offered by each.
I’m old enough to remember other “dollar store”/retailers like Gaylords, Howards, Fred’s, Bill’s, etc, most of which were put under by Walmarts.
ETA: Maybe I’m weird (maybe?) but Watergirl should put up a thread to discuss “dollar stores”/retailers long gone. As I was writing this, I thought of another one: Wilson’s which became Service Merchandise before it went out of business.
ETA2: Dammit. I forgot editing a post screws up the formatting and had to renumber the list.
ETA3: Oh, nevermind. You get the idea.
Gloria DryGarden
@Suzanne: lol…
Gloria DryGarden
@sab: when you walk by carrying an open can of paint or spaghetti sauce I hope you don’t stumble and accidentally have a bunch of interesting color fly up all over that statue…
maybe the birds will hang out on it, and, you know…
Nukular Biskits
@Gloria DryGarden:
Sounds like a great reason to be neighborly and throw some bird seed at the foot of the statue …
Suzanne
@Professor Bigfoot: On a trip to DC a few years back, I found myself in front of the Trump hotel that’s in the old Post Office, so I posed for a picture in front of it with my middle finger up. There were police there, and I got the impression that they had observed this before. LOL.
lowtechcyclist
@Gloria DryGarden:
But do you kinda like the music?
@Gloria DryGarden:
Yeah, that was my thought too. When I was growing up, you’d see pink flamingos in yards of all sorts of people who almost certainly weren’t trying to send any interesting signals.
I don’t think this has worked its way up from Florida to as far as Maryland yet. My wife has a pink flamingo with a solar-powered light inside that she’s had in the yard in past summers, and nobody’s knocked on our door to ask if we’d like to, um, party with them. Thank goodness.
But getting away from people having sex like rabbits, yesterday morning as we were leaving the neighborhood, we had to stop for two bunny rabbits that were hopping across the street in front of us. Before they got all the way across, one of them got on top of the other one and…we were finally able to make enough noise to get them to move their amorous activities onto someone’s lawn so we could get by without crushing a couple of rabbits in mid-coitus. Our son caught some of their action on video with his phone!
Trivia Man
@MagdaInBlack: the official bird of madison is the flamingo. Specifically it is the pink lawn flamingo. IIRC there was a prank in the early 70s where somebody put an enormous flock up overnight. So entertaining that they eventually voted it as the city bird.
Trivia Man
@Trivia Man: research shows it was 1979. Tge new soccer club chose flamingos as the mascot.
https://www.visitmadison.com/blog/stories/post/madisons-quirky-love-for-flamingos/
Gloria DryGarden
@lowtechcyclist: I do adore that music.
Flamenco guitar. And lute, too. I have a pandora station called Pepe Romero.
listening more to my lisa Gerrard station, lately. Or the lute station, which I call greensleeves. YouTube is starting to give me wonderful lute videos. Can’t get enough.
Suzanne
@lowtechcyclist:
Yet.
Manyakitty
@Gloria DryGarden: I wonder if he noted the differences between “cheese.”
Queso, kaese, cheese, fromage, formaggio, etc.
Manyakitty
@Professor Bigfoot: also another reason I don’t carry. I’d be tempted to blast all that shit to bits.
Trivia Man
@Gloria DryGarden: if i were brave, id put a relevant verse on a sign and walk around MAGA rallies. No words, just the book and chapter and verse. Anyone who knows the verse on sight is extra evil because they KNOW the teachings. The hope is someone will get excited they found a new way to make libs cry and will look it up… and maybe feel some shame.
Gloria DryGarden
@lowtechcyclist: I’ve seen a bunny hiding her babies in my mulch pile once. I’ve seen a bunny eat my tulips, too. lucky you to see them in their special activities
my friend in Provence had (goats and) bunnies. But they were in separate hutches, so she’d hold a male in with a female, when they wanted more bunnies. She said they’d fight each other if she didn’t do it that way.. what do I know? I’ve never raised bunnies, I only got to take the goats to pasture and do the milking and cheese making. And watch how they did things.
I wasn’t there when they let the billy goat visit the girls, I’m not sure how they orchestrated that. He was a piece of work, scary. The lady goats were great. My friend taught me what to do.
Betty Cracker
@Nukular Biskits: Ranking looks about right.
Gloria DryGarden
@Manyakitty: now I’m wondering too. What a really great question. Kaese, which language is that?
is there cheese in the story of the prodigal son? I thought it was a fatted calf. Oh dear, my reading tends to be in other directions.
cheese, queso, that’s up there in importance next to cerveza, and bread..and vino.
Gloria DryGarden
@Trivia Man: that’s a cool idea. Would require some research to know the verse numbers though..
Manyakitty
@Gloria DryGarden: “kaese” is German and possibly Danish.
Trivia Man
@Nukular Biskits: I boycotted WM for decades but recently have had occasion to make some purchases there. It started when i was buying groceries for my son across the country. I believe that easy availability saved his life.
My impression is that their customer service is fantastic. Very helpful, they will go above and beyond to help me find what i am looking for. But i still go there as the last resort. And 0% chance i order from amazon. Wife does but im not the boss of her.
Trivia Man
@Nukular Biskits: that next meetup about to get spicy?
Trivia Man
@frosty: we had an escaped flamingo on the great salt lake for several years. I never saw floyd but friends did.
Trivia Man
@Nukular Biskits: Once upon a time we had the 5 and dime stores. Im not quite old enough to remember those prices but i am old enough to remember when they were still called that. Woolworths as the most notable.
Key marker to nail down my age: the first candy bar i personally bought was 5 cents.
Trivia Man
@Gloria DryGarden: have you been to Oklahoma?
Portly Neighbor
Apologies if previously mentioned, but to paraphrase a bygone slogan “Hey, Hey RFK, How many kids have you killed today?” Could leave out ‘kids’ I suppose, and/or substitute harmed for killed.
(as soon as he was nominated that phrase popped into my head).
Trivia Man
@Gloria DryGarden: 1 john 3:17
Matthew 25:41-45
Romans 12:9-13
Leviticus 19:34
Bonus: the filthiest verse in the bible, to be used at book banning demonstrations:
Ezekiel 23:20
Portly Neighbor
@Trivia Man: It was heartbreaking when candy bars went from a nickel to a dime.
frosty
@Betty Cracker:
I’m planning on going to one, although the choices are slim around here. Mulling over sign ideas. After this morning’s news:
—–
Congress: I told you many times to take back your Constitutional power from the Executive. You just did the opposite and surrendered more! Fools!!!
NO KINGS!!!
frosty
@Suzanne:
We have a couple of pink flamingos “sculpted” out of PVC which we occasionally put out at our campsite. I consider it a tribute to John Waters, but … swingers? Oh, my, wrong message!!
frosty
@NotMax: Go to your room and contemplate your life!
Gloria DryGarden
@Trivia Man: I don’t think I have. A friend moved down to Tulsa a tear or so ago. Another friend says she’s from there, and that she loves it when I slip into my southern accent, it makes her feel at home..
I think I armchair travelled to OK during the bean trees, and pigs in heaven books by b kingsolver.
why?
thx for the Bible verses. I bet some people might enjoy using those on their signs…especially if they live in Jesus biblebelt land.
frosty
@HeleninEire:
Safe travels! And moreso, safe return!
Another Scott
@YY_Sima Qian:
Harvard’s lawsuit against Noem, Bondi, Rubio, etc (72 page .pdf) dated today.
Harvard will win, is my guess.
But 47 and his minions will keep trying to cow every institution to make them obey. Giving in won’t save any institution – they have to fight like Harvard and all the other institutions that are refusing to give up their rights and responsibilities.
Best wishes,
Scott.
geg6
@They Call Me Noni:
We also have a Tractor Supply but it’s minuscule compared to the Rural King. That place is huge. Not to mention all the giant machinery they have for sale outside. I know people with local farms and have never seen some of this stuff.
Trivia Man
@Gloria DryGarden: I was riffing on the Three Dog Night reference above. I cant make the link work, but check out Never Been To Spain. Enjoy!
Professor Bigfoot
@Gloria DryGarden: Harry is GREAT for alternate history.
His “WorldWar” series starts in 1942, when the Axis and the Allies were just about evenly matched… and then the aliens arrive. 😉
He’s the kinda guy that would make a fine Jackal.
Professor Bigfoot
@Nukular Biskits: Oh, man, Service Merchandise was a *go-to* back when I still lived in Nashville. Many a birthday and Mother’s day present came from there. Hadn’t thought about them in decades!
Professor Bigfoot
@Manyakitty: Ja, es ist Deutsch.
Gloria DryGarden
@Trivia Man: thanks! Never been to Spain
striking that they barely get things to rhyme, but the rhythm of the lyrics is perfect. Spain/ music/ use it, England, heaven, Oklahoma/ Arizona. I think I had heard the words but never really absorbed this song. Thanks for catching me up!
Citizen Dave
Funny I was planning to hit a Rural King today on a visit to my dad, but alas, our event has been self-cancelled due to cold northern Indiana weather (sitting outside at a winery tonight). Tractor Supply has a healthy Carhart section, so that elevates it. Rural King has a robust clothing section as well. I go there to buy items such as a wide animal feed bucket-thingy that I use for gardening. Seems like I can only find it at “The King” (not sure if regulars call it that, but I’m going with it)
I still miss Quality Farm N Fleet, which turned into our Tractor Supply
Manyakitty
@Professor Bigfoot: but the split! I suspect that the “kaese” variations are older (Germanic base), but I don’t remember how old French is. Italian is one of the youngest Romance languages.
Nukular Biskits
@Trivia Man: I’m not a big fan of Walmart but I have to admit they generally have just about everything from groceries to clothing to toiletries to … all in one place.
Ms. Biskits shops there a lot and I’m frequently reminded I’m not the boss of her.
Nukular Biskits
@Trivia Man:
Woolworth’s, that’s another.
Seems like there was a peer to Woolworth’s but I can’t remember the name.
Nukular Biskits
@Professor Bigfoot:
The building which originally housed Wilson’s/Service Merchandise in Meridian (sits right off I-20/59) is still standing, having had a variety of tenants.
I pass by it every time I go “home”.
Miss Bianca
@Betty Cracker: “No Country for Old Kings” is my current sign offering.
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: I just finished George Eliot’s Middlemarch, which I hadn’t assayed since high school. Took me almost a month. Such a fascinating little world, described in such loving yet objective fashion. I feel sorry to have to return to my modern-day reality.
Miss Bianca
@Geminid: That fucker Bennet. I hope to *HELL* that Colorado voters kick that asshole to the curb. So fucking done with him.
Reminder, I need to contribute to Phil Weiser’s campaign…
WTFGhost
Three days from now, Cole gets a ransom demand, with a pink flamingo feather (accidentally!) enclosed, “We have the Cracker! We’ll feed her to Polly, unless you send $1385.73 in small, unmarked bills.”
When he brings a wallet stuffed with cash, he gets pecked – “WE SAID BILLS! NOT PIECES OF PAPER!”
Some of them need a prosthetic beak, and the cost just happened to come to 1385… oh, you guessed that part already? But they wanted the bills *installed*, you see? And they wanted to try *small* bills, after all the big-nose jokes they’ve had to suffer.
WTFGhost
@Nukular Biskits: Wanamakers? They were a department store in Philly.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Miss Bianca:
I’m no Bennet fan, I think all of us here in CO know that.
But I’m trying to get an answer from Weiser supporters as to whether or not he would have vetoed the pro-labor bill that our outgoing, glibertarian techbro governor did. They either won’t answer or don’t have one.
It’s not a line-in-the-sand but how he would have treated that bill will be very telling.
WTFGhost
@Portly Neighbor: I do mourn the death of “penny candy,” where now, even a 5-piece string of Zotz costs over a dollar. A mere two bits bought a candy *feast*.
Orange jellies and spearmint leaves and those ridiculous paper strips with little dots of colored sugar on them, and root beer barrels and small chunks of red (and black, let’s be fair, it did exist) licorice, plus licorice whips, and probably… well, probably a dozen more I don’t remember, but it always felt like thousands.
WTFGhost
@Gloria DryGarden: If it’s a signal, it’s probably like, “oh, thank heavens, we got the right house. See? Flamingos! Remember when we ran into the Bunkers, and Archie got all upset?”
(That’s an old “All In The Family” reference. I suppose there aren’t any *new* All In The Family references….)
I don’t know any swingers, but, everything I’ve heard about them says that everything is supposed to be with informed consent. You (shouldn’t) have to worry about them showing up uninvited, and if they did, they’d be dropping signals that, if you didn’t pick ’em up, they’d decide you just like flamingos.
If gold shoes were the signal, it would be the same thing – it’s a reason to drop a few subtle hints, and see if they’re picked up. Otherwise, hey, just a gold shoe day.
Note: I’m polyamorous, and there was a time, at least, in which the two communities had some serious debate topics (shall we call them). That means I’m reporting second hand info. I was never into swinging, except on actual swing sets, and that, by myself, which ruined at least one swinger’s fantasy.
(I told them that I swung, and learned it from my parents, which caused quite a bit of confusion, especially since one gathers height by thrusting in and out… with one’s legs, but, I figured everyone knew which body parts were involved in using a swing!)
Portly Neighbor
@WTFGhost: Please stop, you’re making me weep. :) “When I think of making America great again . . . .”
MCat
@MagdaInBlack: your collection sounds fabulous. beautiful energy!
MCat
Thanks for the picture of the lovely bird.
NotMax
@Nukular Biskits
S.S. Kresge.
MrKite
NotMax: I think it’s spelled “fawlty” Basil
NotMax
@MrKite
Puntistic license.
Denali5
@HeleninEire:
Have you seen the Book of Kells? I know it is in a museum in Dublin, so when{if) I go there it is on my list.
MagdaInBlack
@MCat: Thank you =-)