Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

The way to stop violence is to stop manufacturing the hatred that fuels it.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

Also, are you sure you want people to rate your comments?

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

The National Guard is not Batman.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Come on, man.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Petty moves from a petty man.

This really is a full service blog.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

A fool as well as an oath-breaker.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Saturday Night Open Thread

Saturday Night Open Thread

by | 131 Comments

This post is in: 

A lovely day sunwise and in the mid 60’s for most of the day, so my lungs really feel good and the shoulders were feeling about as good as they ever do, and I got some nice sun, so my mood is dramatically improved. Joelle and I slept in, then got showered and went to her colleague’s place in Gilbert for their son’s birthday. Joelle gave him this really fancy plush stuffed Shiba Inu with adoption paper from F.A.O. Schwartz (that is how you spell it, right?) and he loved it and carried it around everywhere with him the whole time we were there.

After that we went to some place to pick up a free pizza Joelle had somehow scored- some fancy place named Grimaldi’s. I have no idea how she does it but she always has this free shit coming from everywhere, and then we went to Handel’s to pick up a quart of their holiday ice cream. I sat outside on the bench in the sun because I like to- usually I am the one running in while Joelle sits in the car, but her knee apparently feels a lot better and she volunteered to go in.

I like sitting on public benches, and this one was great for the moment- the trees were blocking the sun from my eyes but the rays were hitting my body and legs and it just felt really good. I sat there for a while and these two kids on bikes came up and one held up a penny and asked if I had anything to trade for it. I checked my pockets and all I had was a piece of nicotine gun I carry with me for when I get anxious in public and told him he was under 18 and could not have it. I figured it was some sort of game they were playing for tiktok or something else so I tried to think of something else but couldn’t They both agreed about the gum and started to bike off when I remembered I had a two dollar bill remaining in my wallet and said “wait!” and I gave it to them. Like it would have made no sense to trade any other denomination, but a two dollar bill is so rare that that is worth a trade and maybe they can trade it up for something else. So I gave them that and they asked if I wanted some of whatever they trade it for and I told them no, but to hold out for something special because two dollar bills are good luck.

While I am talking about public benches, if you really want to see me lose my shit in public watch me come across a bench in public in a park or near trees that has taken the hostile architecture approach just to be a fucking asshole to homeless people. If you do not know what hostile architecture is, it’s basically designing shit to be uncomfortable so you do not want to sit on it a long time or can not sleep on it- bars down the middle of benches, etc. Fucking infuriating.

So we parted ways and then Joelle finally came out with way more than a quart of ice cream and I practiced my “we listen but we don’t judge” approach to relationships and made a mental note that it was up to her to find room in the freezer. We then meandered off towards home but had to stop at Fry’s because we needed milk for her latte in the morning, mint so I could make her a mojito, and litter because cats. I just took Baseline Road the whole way instead of the highway because it was pretty and traffic was light.

Got to Fry’s and saw this really short looking lady on a bench looking really distressed and I said hi, went in, got my stuff, and the same lady was there looking even more distressed and frustrated and fidgeting with her phone. So I asked her if she was ok or needed a ride, and she said “Yes, please, to the emergency room” and all I could think was “WTF?” Why would no one take her to the emergency room?

So we got in and the emergency room is only two miles up Mill, so we headed off and apparently she had been there for two hours, having gone to the urgent care to (she overshared) have a cyst on her breast lanced but they would not do it and told her to go to the emergency room. Because this is fucking America no one can afford an ambulance and all the ride shares kept cancelling on her. Nice lady from Brooklyn named Nadeline. Dropped her off, and headed on our way.

We were driving along 13th street and were in the same damned place pulling up to the Farmer Ave intersection after the rail track (people in Tempe know what I am talking about) which is a real awkward stop and where we found that Aussie cattledog named Cowboy running free two years ago. Right as I was pulling up to it a gorgeous long haired black cat started to cross the street so I slammed on the brakes and honked the horn and yelled at it “jackass you shouldn’t cross here” and he stopped and went back and I honked again and yelled “no if you’re going to fucking cross here do it now while I am protecting you” so it turned around and crossed. I got to the intersection and Joelle said “Did that really just happen? Did you just honk at a cat and tell it what to do and it did it?” and I suppose I did but it is the same shit with groundhogs and deer on all the roads I drive every day. Animals are probably just shocked someone noticed them.

I took a bunch of pictures of trees and bushes while I was in the park and I loved Monkeypod but Suzanne has already warned me off them, but as ground cover I really loved the Mexican petunias are they native? That is what I am gravitating towards as many of you have suggested- just one big main shade tree centerpiece and then fill in with ground cover and cacti. So I need a tree that grows quick, has deeper roots than most trees out here, and double plus good if it is something birds like to eat/nest in.

I’m just rambling and have no intention of talking about politics, so I am just going to go make her a mojito and then we are watching the new Mission Impossible tonight because it is on one of our streaming services for free. All in all, a good relaxing day and had some interesting interactions and saw some new things.

*** Update ***

New SNL tonight with Melissa McCarthy and this is still one of the funniest SNL portrayals ever:

Reader Interactions

131Comments

  2. 2.

    Shinobi42

    Shameless repost from the bottom of the other thread – putting this here because I know how much this amazing community loves animals. A Vet clinic here in St Louis that provides much needed spay and neuter services, including TNR and low cost care was hit by a car. Several vehicles and the building itself were damaged and some animals were impacted as well.

    They have an open fundraiser to help repair the building. They were already needing to replace their industrial laundry equipment.

    I can’t tell you how much this clinic helps the city including low income owners who want to keep their pets.

    (if this breaks rules please delete and sorry!)

  3. 3.

    SiubhanDuinne

    SCHWARZ.  No T.

    ETA: I know this only because I am teaching an online course called “Toys and Games in Music,” and I am using a couple of images of the FAO Schwarz store to illustrate the idea of endless toys. 🧸

  6. 6.

    Hoodie

    @raven:

    That was sweet. Dawgs look pretty primed for the playoffs with that defense, those kids seemed to have grown up a lot from the first Bama game.

  7. 7.

    BretH

    Soft day here in NC. Gray and damp and cloudy – the sort of day that comes and goes without much contrast. Walk the dog, then joined my wife in an exercise class then a soak in the hot tub after a quick shower. Then chilling in the chair with our Golden Rosie having to sprawl on my lap. A couple projects, food shopping then chicken kebab salad and hearty red wine for dinner. Soon a final hot tub dip then reading a John Scalzi book then bed!!

  8. 8.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Got dragged in to work at 1:00 today.  Left after 6:00.  Grr.  Got wings and cheese fries on my way home.

  9. 9.

    Eyeroller

    I rarely go to Costco but today I needed something from there, so I now have two gigantic jugs of oil, olive (at least I hope it’s olive) and avocado.  So I was looking at Amazon for containers to hold smaller portions.  One review of a spray bottle said “I do not use vegetable, canola, or seed oils anymore, just avocado and olive.”  Like where does this person think we get olive or avocado oils?  Avocado oil comes from the pulp, but olive oil is traditionally extracted from a mash of the whole fruit, including the pit.

    “No vegetable oils” is a MAHA thing. I don’t know precisely where it comes from, but I remember about 40 years ago a panic over “hot pressed” seed oils, so all us “health conscious” types were buying “cold pressed” oils.

  10. 10.

    Jackie

     “Did that really just happen? Did you just honk at a cat and tell it what to do and it did it?”

    You should have rescued it, Cole! You’d have a critter who actually obeys you instead of vis versa!

  12. 12.

    JaySinWA

    @Eyeroller:I rarely go to Costco but today I needed something from there, so I now have two gigantic jugs of oil, olive (at least I hope it’s olive) and avocado.  So I was looking at Amazon for containers to hold smaller portions.

    At least some Kirkland olive oils get good reviews and a reputation for honesty. I’m not a connoisseur, but I use Kirkland Italian Extra Virgin olive oil

    I’m currently waiting on a delivery of a pair of oil containers with a spray pour option  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D54S4G84?ref=ppx_pt2_dt_b_prod_image&th=1

  13. 13.

    mrmoshpotato

    While I am talking about public benches, if you really want to see me lose my shit in public watch me come across a bench in public in a park or near trees that has taken the hostile architecture approach just to be a fucking asshole to homeless people.

    Agreed.  It’s absolute bullshit.

  14. 14.

    stinger

    I remember a true story from years back where a guy traded and traded, starting with something like a pen or a single playing card or a paper clip, and eventually got a house.​
    So, Cole, you may have started those boys on a great ride!

  15. 15.

    mrmoshpotato

    Got to Fry’s and saw this really short looking lady on a bench looking really distressed and I said hi, went in, got my stuff, and the same lady was there looking even more distressed and frustrated and fidgeting with her phone. So I asked her if she was ok or needed a ride, and she said “Yes, please, to the emergency room” and all I could think was “WTF?” Why would no one take her to the emergency room?

    So we got in and the emergency room is only two miles up Mill, so we headed off and apparently she had been there for two hours, having gone to the urgent care to (she overshared) have a cyst on her breast lanced but they would not do it and told her to go to the emergency room. Because this is fucking America no one can afford an ambulance and all the ride shares kept cancelling on her. Nice lady from Brooklyn named Nadeline. Dropped her off, and headed on our way.

    You are a good man, John Cole.

  16. 16.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Doing audio for an Indian dance show as volunteer crew at my local cable access TV studio. Thought it was going to be an easy show because it’s all pre-recorded music and a single mic for the MC between acts—but the audio board decided to misbehave.

    Could hear the MC mic in the control booth, but it wasn’t going back out to the stage monitor. Troubleshooting endures. Everything looks correct, but it’s not working. Neither the paid studio tech nor I can figure it out. Call the other studio tech who’s off today. Nothing works. We decide to go to Plan B. But just before we switch set ups, suddenly things work properly again. Whew!

    Then of course we find out from the show director that she wasn’t planning to use MC’s intros anyway—they were just for the for in-studio audience. So we didn’t need a working mic for the MC anyway.  <sigh> Definitely going home and having an edible once the show finishes

    But the dances are pretty.

  18. 18.

    WaterGirl

    @Omnes Omnibus: Not your plan for Saturday!  You deserve a treat.

    Wings and cheese fries from the same place, or two stops?  Also do cheese fries have some sort of squirt cheese stuff on them, or real cheese?  (Guessing / hoping it’s the latter!)

  19. 19.

    Eyeroller

    @JaySinWA: I got Kirkland Organic.  But it’s supposedly from Italy and I have read that hardly any Italian “olive oil” is from olives.  The Mafia controls it and it’s supposedly mostly fake (cheaper oil with some coloring and perhaps a little actual olive oil).

    I looked at precisely those dispensers that you linked and dithered about them, since the reviews seemed a bit mixed, but finally decided to buy an Oxo set for the larger quantity and a different brand for spraying.  But those did have overally pretty good reviews so I hope will work for you.

  21. 21.

    p.a.

    Do you like pizza?

    Is this pizza?     youtu.be/tUtIZvXWQaU?si=GxJPTIuudwdI9Mlc
    First 5 mins is the info, next 13 is only if you want to make it at home.

    I think people in Philly would recognize it; called tomato pie there.

    I’ve been subjected to this my whole life, and *meh*.  It’s eaten room temp, usually at events where food is secondary; parties, especially kid birthday parties, sportsball watching events, or buying a slice or two at a bakery for a quick nosh.  For me, starvation food only except corner pieces (I’m all about the crust) reheated in a toaster oven.  Not bad then.

    The featured bakery does it well: note how dry it is when finished. “Tomato-jammy” the vid called it.  Other places it’s too wet, yuk.

    One of those local foods everyplace has.

  23. 23.

    Eyeroller

    @mrmoshpotato: Yeah, it is crazy that this is “normal” in this country. She probably didn’t need an ambulance (and likely could not have afforded it because we don’t do universal health care coverage here, people need to “deserve” it) but why did Uber etc. keep cancelling on her?  Strange.

    But good that JC gave her a ride.

  26. 26.

    HinTN

    @raven: Pasted ’em good. I hope the god damned selection committee treats Bama just like they did Vandy over Tennessee only in reverse.

  29. 29.

    Ohio Mom

    Years and years ago, someone stuck a two dollar bill in a birthday card for Ohio Son and he thought it was play money. I had to work hard to convince him it was legal tender.

    Speaking of legal tender, I went to the specialty candy store the other day to buy red and green candy corn for a gift for a friend who loves candy corn (I consider liking that stuff a victimless crime) (and yes, I specialize in token gifts).

    This store mostly sells penny candy by the pound and my purchase came to $3.08. They have a big sign, No credit cards for purchases under $5, so I dug in my purse and came up with three one dollar bills and a dime. I got two pennies back.

    Trump can decree no more pennies will be minted (well, actually he can’t legally do that but whatever), but that isn’t stopping the Supreme Nut and Candy store from business as usual. It felt a little subversive, taking those pennies.

  30. 30.

    Matt McIrvin

    The hilarious and fun YouTuber Miles in Transit, who has wild adventures making seemingly impossible trips on public transit with his coterie of friends, always notes whether the benches are “hostile” or “non-hostile” when he reviews train and bus stations.

  32. 32.

    HopefullynotCassandra

    Perhaps someone suggested a palo verde tree?  The various kinds are drought resistant and grow quickly.  They provide good shade and are native to Arizona.  The desert museum palo verde is lovely.  It has yellow flowers.

     

    @mrmoshpotato: you are right.

  34. 34.

    Eyeroller

    @mrmoshpotato: I use Uber fairly regularly when my eyes aren’t working so well or the weather is such that I don’t want to risk driving.  Passengers rate drivers, but are also rated by the drivers.  (I have a high rating, probably because I try to tip generously.). I can imagine many reasons a passenger might be low rated.  And drivers can control whether to accept a fare or not. They can cancel if a better fare (longer trip so more money, higher-rated passenger) shows up within a certain time after they agree to a trip.  So the overlords probably didn’t have much or anything to do directly with this particular case.  But it’s still terrible that the woman could not find help when she needed it, until a particularly kind person came along.

  35. 35.

    Eyeroller

    @Ohio Mom: He has done so, so many things that are technically illegal but he just decrees it and everybody just goes along.  It shows what “laws” are worth.

  36. 36.

    thruppence

    I work in retail with a public address system that now goes between Rod Stewart and Jingle Bells. I want to make an advent calendar of Christmas songs I never want to hear again. Suggestions?

  45. 45.

    Captain C

    It was chilly enough here today that I missed a little Arizona this time of year.

    I worked today, and since it was pretty quiet made a BookMatch booklist for a patron that was mostly books about HardCore and Punk and Metal and also a couple about Le Mans.  One of the better parts of being a librarian, for sure.

    And Spudlet the bodega cat was very affectionate today.

  46. 46.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Eyeroller: yeah, I should go check Chemical and Engineering News (American Chemical Society) to see what the latest developments are about this (it’s an analytical chemistry challenge to figure out how to tell the types of oils apart, particularly if you don’t want to actually open the glass bottles)

  47. 47.

    thruppence

    Run Run Rudolph is exempt if it’s Chuck Berry (autocorrect wanted Chuck Schumer, which would be hilarious)

  48. 48.

    Captain C

    @thruppence: I once spent a holiday season at an upscale record/disc/tape store in an Arizona mall whose owner had way overbought the first two Mannheim Steamroller Christmas albums.

    Guess what was all we listened to for a solid month.  I’m pretty sure we all could have committed multiple felonies and gotten away with a temporary insanity plea by January.

    So we could pick a song from each (no, I’m not looking) or just put each album in a day/slot.

  49. 49.

    Ohio Mom

    @HinTN: I know that.

    Trump claimed he was”getting rid of the penny” but actually doing that would be a big effort. Other countries that have gotten rid of pennies established rules for rounding up and down, had campaigns to collect pennies, and so forth.

    It looks like we will have a mish mash instead. The candy store will proudly bring up the rear, and I’ll revel in using pennies in defiance of Trump (I actually don’t care either way about the penny’s future, if it is to be phased out, I want it to be done legally).

  51. 51.

    Sandia Blanca

    @Scott S.:  Yes! I was wondering the same thing–where’s the ice cream as they’re running all these (planned and unplanned) errands?

  54. 54.

    Jay

    @Eyeroller:

    but I remember about 40 years ago a panic over “hot pressed” seed oils, so all us “health conscious” types were buying “cold pressed” oils.

    It was an “Olive Oil Scandal”, not a “panic”.

    Producers learned that they could use poor quality olives, use the “hot press” technique to get a comparable amount of oil, but,

    the oil had to be settled, filtered and refined to get the transparency needed. The process stripped out nutrients and killed flavour.

    The oils were often sold under fraudulent labels, such as “Extra Virgin”, or used to “cut” other oils.

    Producers saw greater margins and profits, but it really hurt the “Italian Olive Oil” brand, and Italy brought in legislation regulating olive oil qualities and an Agency to monitor compliance.

    Because of the ongoing drought, a lot of “Italian” Olive Oil is pressed from Greek and Turkish olives, to Italian regulations, in Italy.

    As with any “premium” product, there is a lot of opportunity, for Organized Crime, but they can’t “dominate” the market with out destroying the market.

    There is a small criminal grift that’s current. Bartenders stash empty high end Voldka Brand bottles. They get cleaned, filled with filtered cheap voldka, a fake “tax stamp” is slapped on and cheap vodka is sold to flash high end punters at a premium.

    It can only remain a small grift, as a large grift would destroy demand for high end Vodka.

  59. 59.

    Scout211

    @thruppence: I want to make an advent calendar of Christmas songs I never want to hear again. Suggestions?

    Mariah Carey, All I Want for Christmas is You.

    Blech!

  60. 60.

    Eyeroller

    @Jay: The “cold pressed” was about oils that were definitely seed oils (specifically safflower, but also sunflower and a few others that were popular back then).  Nothing to do with olive oils.  As I recall, the heat from conventional pressing supposedly created toxic chemicals.

    I don’t recall whether we had “canola” (rapeseed) oil at all in the States, or if we did it was not as popular as it is today.  Rapeseed does contain chemicals that heat may have made more toxic, so perhaps that was the source of the panic, but “canola” (Canadian oil) rapeseed has had those toxins almost completely bred out of them.

    Edit: But olive oils as premium oils may have started from this, and of course anything expensive is a target for grift.

  61. 61.

    WaterGirl

    @Eyeroller: I cannot eat canola oil.  Let’s just say that it doesn’t agree with me, and I had better be in close proximity to a bathroom if I have eaten something with canola oil in it.

  63. 63.

    Melancholy Jaques

    The Enshittification of Everything means that the combination of Netflix & HBO MAX will cost more and show fewer things than the two separately.

  67. 67.

    Eyeroller

    @Melancholy Jaques: I am at least relieved that Skydance didn’t get it.  But the consolidations in many industries are a bad indicator.

    It seems like it takes about one or one and a half (typical) human lifetimes for everybody to forget why we needed regulations and laws, such as antitrust laws.

  70. 70.

    persistentillusion

    @Jackie: All of them.  I was in every choir in the church as a kid.  We performed starting in early November, so practice commenced in August.  “Sleigh Bells Ring” makes me so stabby.

  71. 71.

    thruppence

    Check out David Harbour as Angry Santa in “Violent Night”. Not one of the many Xmas slasher movies, more Santa vs. the bad guys

  72. 72.

    Scout211

    @mrmoshpotato: Well, that was something.

    Definitely a better version than Mariah Carey’s, but the bar is low at “zero stars, would not recommend” for Mariah’s version

    The blue balls were a nice touch, I must say.

  74. 74.

    Eyeroller

    @Jay: There are concerns about the balance of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids in various oils, but that debate has also been raging for 40 or so years now and hasn’t really been settled. Seed oils should not be blamed for “ultraprocessed foods,” however, since that’s a separate issue.

    “Most seed oils are utilized in the form of packaged foods, fast foods and eating out,” Zumpano says, “and that’s where most of the danger lies.”

    That has little to do with what happens if one buys canola oil or corn oil for use in cooking at home.

    This article does not seem to present facts very well at all. It conflates different issues and barely discusses the one issue that may be a factor, the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, and then they don’t really explain why the ratio is so high for most Americans (hint: restaurant/fast food).  Also it says “use olive oil for low-heat cooking” well guess what, oilve oil has a low smoke temperature so if you cook it at high temperture, it can catch fire.  So we use seed oils if we want to cook at high temperature (e.g. deep frying) and deep frying is itself bad.

    Avocado oil has one of the highest smoke temperatuers and that’s one of the reasons I much prefer it over olive oil.  Plus it is pretty much tasteless.  But it could be that heating it to very high temperatures may be bad as well; it could just be less studied.

  75. 75.

    Professor Bigfoot

    I’ve done that for squirrels— the outdoor cats here seem to have more “street sense.”

    Old neighborhood, mature trees, lots of squirrels.

  77. 77.

    TS

    @thruppence:

    I want to make an advent calendar of Christmas songs I never want to hear again. Suggestions?

    Any song that isn’t a “real” Christmas Carol. I hate going to Carol events & listening to Christmas songs that have nothing to do with the real meaning of Christmas. I love the songs we sung in church at Christmas, learnt them all as a child & still remember most, although long time since I saw the inside of a church.

  78. 78.

    Another Scott

    Speaking of fates worse than death (bad Christmas music on repeat), … Science.org:

    The Black Death is the single most deadly documented pandemic in human history. In 1347 C.E., it spread from a few Italian port cities to nearly every corner of Europe, killing tens of millions of people within a decade and eliminating more than half the continent’s population.

    In a paper published today in Communications Earth & Environment, researchers argue that cool weather spurred by previously unidentified volcanic eruptions [ open access ] set into motion a deadly chain of events. “It’s adding a piece to the puzzle we did not previously have,” says Hannah Barker, a historian at Arizona State University who was not involved with the new study. “People hadn’t looked at climate before when it came to the Black Death.”

    Although research has explored the origins of Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for the Black Death, the reasons the pathogen suddenly arrived in Europe when it did have remained unclear. The authors of the new paper suggest volcanic eruptions a few years before the plague’s rapid spread played a role, by pushing plumes of sulfur high into the atmosphere that cooled parts of Europe and caused harvests to fail around the Mediterranean. These failures, in turn, forced Italian cities to import large quantities of grain from the plague-wracked Black Sea region—along with infected fleas, capable of subsisting on grain dust in the cargo holds.

    “These results make the Black Death seem like even more of an anomaly,” says Timothy Newfield, a historical epidemiologist at Georgetown University. “It really demonstrates how many variables had to line up for the Black Death to start.”

    The first clues of volcanoes’ influence came from tree rings, whose size and consistency often capture information on temperature and moisture that researchers can assign to precise calendar years. Study co-author Ulf Büntgen, a dendrochronologist at the University of Cambridge, noticed that trees high in the Pyrenees mountains of Spain appeared to have trouble forming new layers of wood during the summers of 1345 and 1346 C.E.—as if the trees had suffered a cold spell during their growing season.

    Eight more tree ring chronologies from around Europe backed up his initial finding: Just before the Black Death’s arrival in Italy in 1347, Europe experienced its most severe cold spell in nearly a century. Büntgen also discovered some potential culprits. The cold spell aligned with spikes in atmospheric sulfur trapped in the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, indicative of Sun-blocking sulfur particles from volcanic eruptions somewhere on Earth. (It’s unclear where.) “The summer temperature isn’t extreme, but it’s cold—and it’s 2 years in a row,” he says. “That’s likely the result of a cluster of sulfur-rich volcanic eruptions.”

    Historical evidence filled in further blanks. From Japan to France, record keepers chronicled unusually cloudy conditions between 1345 and 1347. Poor harvests in and around Italy in the summers of 1345 and 1346, meanwhile, sent grain prices surging to their highest level in 80 years. As food supplies dwindled in the early months of 1347, there was the threat of political unrest and rumbles of rebellion in major Italian cities. “In the sources you can see governments panicking and trying to figure out what to do,” Barker says.

    […]

    We’ve come a long way in 675+ years, but Nature and Mother Earth still hold a lot of trump cards in the game that we still don’t fully understand. Leaders and their minions declaring war on truth and evidence and science is really, really dangerous…

    Grr…

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  80. 80.

    eclare

    @Shinobi42:

    Chipped in a small amount.  I swear if I were queen I would tax motherfuckers like Musk to infinity and use the money to help people and animals that need it.

    Grrr.  I hope the clinic gets back to normal ASAP.

  82. 82.

    Jay

    @Eyeroller:

    We, on the other hand, don’t do a lot of frying. A touch of pan frying or searing, mostly either olive oil, or butter.

    We do, do oven fries, (yams, sweet potatoes, Russets parsnips) with a spritz of olive oil and a coat of seasonings.

    When I get a deep fry crave, it’s White Spot Halibut and Kennebec Chips, with their coleslaw.

    T’s swapped out butter or canola oil for avocado oil for baking.

  83. 83.

    Eyeroller

    @eclare: That could well be a factor but if it’s just a matter of the distance being too short, they shouldn’t accept it in the first place. It makes me think that, as others have mentioned, she didn’t tip and when the drivers found that out, they cancelled since they’d need a tip to compensate for the shorter trip.  But Uber is very opaque, at least to riders, so I couldn’t say what is going on.

  84. 84.

    Geoduck

    My petty rant for the day: Every December in my town there’s a mass motorcycle “toy run” through town. I realize it collects toys, I realize it’s just for an hour once a year, but if you’re trying to get across town on the bus while it’s happening it’s ANNOYING. And loud.

  85. 85.

    Eyeroller

    @Jay: I use canola oil for baking since i don’t see anything wrong with that.  I even use “plant-based butter” aka margarine for baking.  (And I am amused that people seem to think now that there is a difference.).  But overall I generally prefer avocado oil.  But the avocado plantations in Mexico are controlled by the cartels so whatyagonna do?

    “Not frying” is beneficial on its own.

    The biochemistry and nutritional aspects of various fats is quite murky.  Nutrition science as a whole is very iffy, with a lot of contradictions and uncertainties for many reasons, even though most studies are in good faith.  Also using assumptions about “ancestral” diets to draw conclusions is very problematic.  If one takes chimps as the standard, we should eat mostly fruit and termites and occasionally other mammals (particularly colobus monkeys).

  87. 87.

    narya

    @thruppence: All of them, Katie.

    when I worked at the bakery, the started day after thanksgiving and…by the second year there I put on headphones while I worked.

  88. 88.

    Jay

    @Eyeroller:

    Many meats, render enough oils during cooking, to do the job. They just need enough oil at the start to not stick.

    Thus, with bacon, the old adage to put it in a warm pan, swirl it around to grease the pan, then lay the rest in and start frying.

    (yes, you can nuke bacon with paper towels, but our microwave has cold spots).

    Chicken thighs, beef, pork, I always trim off the extra fat and use that to grease the warm pan.

    I sort of understand the “butter basted” steak, the reverse sear, but no.

    But I can’t give up butter.

  91. 91.

    Jackie

    @Ohio Mom:

    Grandma got run over by a reindeer.

    It was funny the first few times but no joke stays funny on repeat.

    My family’s biggest joke is my mom hitting and killing a deer just after Gramma Got Run-over by a Reindeer came out. We reversed it to Reindeer Got Run-over by Grandma. But, again, it was only funny for a season or two.

  93. 93.

    Jackie

    @Scout211:

    Mariah Carey, All I Want for Christmas is You.

    Blech!

    I SOOO agree! I much prefer Vince Vance and the Valiants song by the same name – but different song completely!

  95. 95.

    Kayla Rudbek

    First world problems: Mr. Rudbek put up our Christmas tree and the lights are out in the top section.  I think I bought a light tester last year but now I have to dig through the decoration boxes to find it and then I have to test the lights. I’m halfway tempted to go buy one with LED lights so I don’t have to go through this nonsense again. Or else buy a tree without lights and go get some LED lights.

  96. 96.

    Peale

    @thruppence: Dominick the Donkey. I first heard it on the Dr Demento show when I was 14. That was fine. That’s where a song like that belongs. Why it is in the rotation of songs that I hear in the stores when I am trying to shop I don’t know.  Apparently I’m supposed to blame the Brits in the 2010s for bringing it back.

  97. 97.

    Joelle

    All the pints made it home.  No melting 🫠 JG is wonderfully efficient at the grocery… even when he’s offering up rides to damsels in distress.  Hospital emergency room was on the way home so we just dropped our Brooklynite out at the front door.  I like to think the universe did us a solid and kept that ice cream cool while we did something nice for someone.

  98. 98.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Kayla Rudbek: I’m trying to remember whether the lights being wired in parallel or in series is what messes things up if one bulb on the string goes out, and I think it’s in series that causes the problem.

    Of course if I am wrong, you other jackals will correct me (and once upon a time I did take various E&M and electronics classes so I should know this, but it’s Saturday night and I am feeling too lazy to go look it up).

  99. 99.

    JCJ

    @raven: How ’bout them Hoosiers!  I was in Bloomington when they won the hoops championship in ’87.  Huge crowd of people at Showalter Fountain that night.  I imagine the crowds are already there tonight.  As a 3rd generation Purdue grad I am happy for them, but it is painful

  102. 102.

    Trivia Man

    John is the Samuel Pepys of today. But ill go out on a limb and speculate jc  is much less prolific.

  103. 103.

    frosty

    @Kayla Rudbek: Series is the problem so they made them in parallel years and years ago and somehow some are in series again. I tried to find the bad bulb once. Give it up and buy another string.

    You can recycle the old ones. They go to China where they have no copper mines.

  105. 105.

    Trivia Man

    @Ohio Mom: My dad always carried $2 bills and dollar coins. He loved spending them and having conversations with people. I once read about a grocery store that called police on a (black) customer paying with $2 bills. Not one employee believed it was legal tender. They stalled him until cops arrived. He was not arrested.

  108. 108.

    JCJ

    Congrats to Duke Jackals!  Richard Mayhew, David Anderson, and long ago commenter pbburnsesq or however that was written

  109. 109.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @frosty: yeah, I realized it would be cheaper to pull the bad lights off the tree and just use a proper string of LED lights (now I have to see if I can make sure that the replacement string would be parallel).

  110. 110.

    hueyplong

    @mrmoshpotato: Kind of satisfying to see the death star of cfb lose one. But they’ll need to lose one more in order for the stakes to be driven through their hearts.

  113. 113.

    frosty

    @Jay: ​
     My source was Junkyard Planet, by Adam Minter. The process of getting rid of the insulation and recovering the copper is a toxic nightmare.

  114. 114.

    Marc

    @Kayla Rudbek: LED strings are always parallel (but with much smaller wire) as each LED needs a current limiting resistor.  The are pretty much trouble free in my experience.  You can even get fancy strings (or even full curtains) with individually addressable color LEDs, there’s usually an app to select the patterns(s) used, or you can make you own.​

  115. 115.

    NotMax

    @frosty

    Like that ever bothered recyclers of a valuable commodity.

    Wanna see real toxic deconstruction? Look up shipbreaking yards.

  116. 116.

    Jay

    @frosty:

    We recycle copper wire at work, well, we don’t recycle it, we salvage it, along with the electronics.

    Yeah, all most all of it goes south,

    Boards are burned to recover the gold and the lead solder. Copper wire recovery is toxic and bad.

    Recently our E/A goes to Alberta, where a Company has developed a process. The boards are turned into dust, the dust is processed in a water slurry, and the gold and lead is recovered. The slurry is filtered, the water reused.

  120. 120.

    Quinerly

    @Shinobi42:

    Carol House (“because you like nice things”) on Jefferson! Lafayette Square neighborhood.

    They do great work. Worthy cause.

    I lived not far from there for 38 years. Soulard.

    One of the sofas I bought for this Santa Fe house when I moved in 2022 came from Carol House. They were great about getting it here and got a kick out of my buying from them and not in New Mexico.

  124. 124.

    Chris T.

    @Ohio Mom:

    Other countries that have gotten rid of pennies established rules for rounding up and down, had campaigns to collect pennies, and so forth.

    Yes. We need to do what NZ did, ditch the 1 and 5 cent coins with rounding rules for cash. We also desperately need $1 and $2 coins that don’t look and feel like quarters. (Why is this so hard for the Mint to grasp?)

  125. 125.

    Chris T.

    @Kayla Rudbek:

    and I think it’s in series that causes the problem

    That’s correct, and I am amazed that there are any series-wired light strings in existence at this point.

  126. 126.

    Hannah

    1) I hate the “we don’t want homeless to sit or rest anywhere” devices and mentality.

    2) we too talk/yell at cats that stupidly cross streets at the wrong times.

    3) our health care system sucks, and you are wonderful to help that woman

    4) I now want a mojito

    5) The most recent Mission Impossible movie was great fun. Tom Cruise loves movies and loves to make them for us, and I appreciate that.

    6) Gilbert, AZ reminds me of the great Albert Brooks movie, Lost in America

  128. 128.

    Shinobi42

    @Quinerly: I really need to go get some furniture from there. But yeah it’s a great cause. If only stl drivers were less unhinged!

    @eclare:  I agree. The animals are more human. Thank you!

    @Joy in FL: Thank you! It’s been a tough year here so every bit helps.

  130. 130.

    Paul in KY

    @Ohio Mom: When I’ve gone to the All Inclusives at Cancun/Jamaica, I tip with $2 bills. Take 100 or so. Hopefully the staff remembers you, etc. etc.

  131. 131.

    Paul in KY

    @JCJ: Wonderful achievement! Is win over OSU since 1988, 1st Big 10 Championship since 1967.

    Now they need to keep going.

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