Today is Opening Day in Major League Baseball. My team is stinking it up, a harbinger of things to come. But at least fans can pee in an official MLB toilet bowl at the crappy Trop.
At Wrigley Field yesterday, people had to pee in cups because there was a 45-minute wait for a toilet due to renovations. The cup-peeing was likely done by men because if there was a 45-minute wait at the men’s room, the ladies’ room wait was upwards of an hour and a half, and hopefully the women had the good sense to leave and go watch the rest of the game at a pub rather than squatting over a plastic cup.
Buzzfeed has a picture of pee-filled cups in a men’s bathroom. They look (and very likely taste) exactly like $8 servings of Coors Light.
I think there’s some basketball game on tonight too.
justawriter
Too late. My Twins already lost.
rea
@justawriter: On the other hand, my Tigers already won!
JCJ
Let’s go Bucky!!!!!!!!
Turgidson
On the bright side (from the male perspective), peeing into cups is only slightly more disgusting than Wrigley’s urinal trenches were towards the end.
Roger Moore
Reportedly not; this was apparently the rare case where the ladies’ rooms were less of a problem than the men’s rooms.
ETA: And the Rockies shellacked the Brewers, which is an auspicious beginning to the season.
BillinGlendaleCA
Heard fighter jets flying over about a hour ago, I guess the Dodgers have opened their season.
Mike J
Red Sox 4 Phillies 0 in the top of the 8th, and Mariners leading the Angels 3-0 in the 5th. Good day so far.
Tenar Darell
I was talking with a cousin-in-law at one of the Seders about the relative rudeness and nastiness of Yankees vs. Red Sox fans. We both tended to agree that Red Sox fans could be meaner, and I’m Boston born and bred. My theory is that it has something to do with relative bitterness due to oft disappointed hopes. But then I have no idea why post 2004 fans act out. (So I will guess that right about now, the Boston fans in Philly are in a good mood, but still obnoxious).
jl
OK, then, play ball.
So maybe time to take a moment for an official farewell to Easter.
Giant Rabbits Make Excellent Pets, Just Sayin’
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/06/giant-rabbits-photos-videos_n_7010678.html
Turgidson
I’m not as much of a Duke hater as most – I’ve liked some of the players who have passed through and don’t think Coach K is all that bad. But I grew up in Big Ten country and will be on the Badger bandwagon tonight. Enjoyed seeing them send Coach Cal and his All-Star team home.
JCJ
@Turgidson:
Aren’t those what gives Wrigley its “charm?”
Roger Moore
@rea:
And the Blue Jays spoiled the Yankees’ home opener, which is always a bonus.
ETA: And FTMFYWAVRPF.
dmsilev
In an annual tradition, the local classical music station started off their morning by playing the overture to Die Fliedermaus, that being the only opera which features both a bat and a ball…
(And yes, they make that ‘joke’ every year)
Cacti
My team’s opening day was last night.
Suck it Cubs! :-)
jl
And speaking of Duke: John Wayne Easter Bunny!
Returning-from-the-grave
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2015/04/returning-from-the-grave
Schlemazel
Last year some guy calculated $/win based on published payroll and previous years records. Tampa was not horrible, I believe the local franchise, the Minnesota Tlosses, was in the top 5 meaning they spent more to win a game than almost everyone else. Looks like they are set up to do even worse this yer s they once again didn’t spend a dime on reliable pitching and their bug gun acquisition will be missing a few starts because he is not smart enough to cheat & not get caught.
MattF
Just hold one of those cups up to the light and say “I’m sorry to tell you this, but your horse has diabetes.”
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@BillinGlendaleCA:
We heard them, too. WTF?
Turgidson
@Tenar Darell:
I think a lot of Red Sox fans are obnoxious because they think they still have free reign to play the “frustration of a lifetime of backing a loser/heartbreaker” card, while they also act the part of the smug winner. Toxic brew.
Let Cubs and Cleveland fans be the sympathetic aggrieved loser fans, ya jerks.
The Dangerman
@Turgidson:
Read someplace that Kentucky should have 7 players (at least 2 being Top 10) drafted by the NBA this year (I think those are all early outs; I don’t recall a key senior on the Wildcats). Might be the worst coaching job since the Dude that pulled Tretiak at Lake Placid.
Betty Cracker
@Tenar Darell: I find Yankees fans much more obnoxious overall, but my view of the issue is likely colored by the fact that there are so damn many Yankees fans in my area. There are plenty of Red Sox fans too, but the Yankees fans damn near outnumber the home town team’s, and that sucks.
catclub
More relevant here:
I always thought this verse of a hymn was a reference to the Cubs season:
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
bears all its sons away;
they fly, forgotten, as a dream
dies at the opening day.
shell
SO glad I read this right before going in to make dinner.
jl
And the feckless Obama obliviously dismisses the honey bee threat at WH Easter egg hunt. Thanks, Obama!
Obama Calms A Group Of Frightened Kids: ‘That’s OK Guys, Bees Are Good’
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/obama-bees-good
And for fans of creepy Easter bunny costumes, they seem to using the same one as last year at the WH.
Also,I have been making fun of Macon to my Georgia friends, since they had a rude and pushy parent stampede at a recent Easter egg hunt there. But I heard on news that same thing happened at the Sacramento Easter egg hunt this year. They were trying for the Guinness world record for the larges. And forgot about details, like any organization or rules for the damn thing. Maybe that is what happened in Macon too.
opiejeanne
Mike Trout hit a home run in the first inning against Felix Hernandez (King Felix), just like he did last year on opening day against King Felix. Unfortunately, the score is now 3-1 Seattle.
Jacks mom
My dad (who passed away in 2011) loved baseball. This time of year I really miss him. He was a Bosox fan for years but then switched to Atlanta because he got to watch most of the games when TBS came along. He finally evolved into a Colorado Rockies fan because being from Utah, Colorado was the “home team”.
delk
Used to pee in 5 gallon buckets on the roof tops before idiots built the mega structures.
D58826
From over on Huffington
I do think it’s long past time that we recall our ambassador and declare the Israeli ambassador persona non grata. Israel threatening an attack simply plays into the hands of the Iranian hardliners.
In the meantime Bibbi is calling the Iranians pathological liars. Of course if someone called Jews pathological money grubbers then they would be anti-Semitic. The question that should have been asked is if the Iranians are pathological liars then why would they be more honor Bibbi’s ‘better deal than the one Obama has negotiated? Even regime change will fail because it will be replacing one set of untrust worthy Iranians with another set. Unless of course Bibbi has found Reagan’s mythical ‘moderate Iranian’
In the meantime Mitch McConnell says the Senate will review the framework and respond legislatively. It seems that he is jumping the gun a bit. It isn’t the final deal. Everyone, except maybe the GOP knows that the details still have to be worked out. Passing a law at this point is simply another way to blow up the deal. But I guess Adelson and his money have to be listened to even if it means a major new war in the middle east. Adelson certainly won’t be drafted to fight in it.
schrodinger's cat
I much prefer baseball’s posh cousin, cricket.
schrodinger's cat
Betty Cracker@top
How did the butter lamb turn out?
Phylllis
Marlin’s grounds crew do a terrific Keystone Kops impression when it starts to rain like hell at the start of their game with the Braves. Marlin’s pitcher’s mound tarp looked like it would fall apart from dry rot at any minute.
Mike J
@Turgidson:
Not after last year.
Eric S.
I was at the game last night (my team won). I went to the bathroom mid-2nd inning ang got back to my seat mid-3rd. Not as bad as some are reporting but the line was ridicolously long at that point. It got better when some stadium employee stationed himself at the exit and stopped people from entering that door. That allowed traffic to flow.
There are local reports of how bad the noise was. As part of the renovation the Cubs have installed a new audio system. I live 4 blocks away. I’ll see how it is tomorrow night.
Betty Cracker
@schrodinger’s cat: It was awesome. Now I have to make one every year.
Cacti
@The Dangerman:
Read an article earlier today raking Calipari over the coals for UK’s performance. Things like how he didn’t have the team study any game film of Wisconsin, and ended their last open practice 15 minutes early, and so on. Stuff that made it sound like he had started to believe the hype about 40-0, and all they had to do was show up in the Final Four.
schrodinger's cat
@Betty Cracker: Cute! How did you make its coat?
Villago Delenda Est
Good news, everybody!
Mariners leading the Angels top of the 7th, 4-1.
As for Wrigley, how stupid to you have to be to NOT have the renovations done by opening day?
jl
@D58826: Interesting that Netanyahu rolled out a government minister to make that threat. I’ve read repeatedly that the Israeli military and intelligence services think going to war over the Iran nuclear program is a bad idea.
And regime change won’t work for the additional reason that, unless things have changed, the vast majority of the Iranian population supports a peaceful nuclear energy program. They think their country has the right to have one.
And people like Cotton are talking as if any nuclear program at all in Iran is exactly the same thing as them building super size fusion bombs as fast as they can.Cotton is still misleading people by using the phrase ‘Iranian nuclear disarmament’, even though Iran as no nukes to disarm itself of.
schrodinger's cat
Did anyone see Wolf Hall on PBS yesterday? Was it good? I was too tired to watch it last night, might do so on Thursday.
Villago Delenda Est
@jl: Cotton strikes me as a pathological liar in the mold of Ted Cruz.
jl
@Betty Cracker: Your butter lamb sculpture was awesomely cute. What happened to it? Did it go on pancakes, or waffles?
divF
Betty, tell us what you *really* think. (Actually, you go, girl!).
I’m still gorked out (since Friday night) from a miserable case of bronchitis. I will continue to take naps, then try to stay awake for the A’s home opener against Texas on the tube this evening. We’re not going to be able to tell the players without a scorecard (at least the position players), given all the moves Billy Beane made in the off-season. So far today, it was plain bizarre seeing Josh Donaldson in a Blue Jays’ uniform, and a positive delight to watch Bartolo Colon baffle the Nats’ youngsters as the Mets’ opening day starter at 41 years old (42 in May).
Tom Boswell is right: life does begin on Opening Day (which is today – I don’t count the ESPN Sunday night baseball hype).
Cacti
@jl:
Hey, why not.
Ted Cruz has promised he’ll repeal Common Core, even though no legislation for it actually exists.
raven
Baseball sucks. Go Braves!!!
Eric S.
@Villago Delenda Est: As for Wrigley, how stupid to you have to be to NOT have the renovations done by opening day?
Not to let the Cubs or the construction company off the hook but building during the Chicago winter is notoriously unpredictable. We had an early cold snap. Very cold. It stopped construction in November into December. In January we got a very heavy snowfall that delayed things even more. I’ve read the original 4 year plan (stadium and surrounding area) is realistically going to go 5 years now.
Howard Beale IV
@schrodinger’s cat:
Cricket’s dangerous at the top level-especially if you’re dealing with a fast bowler. We haven’t had a death in MLB from a pitch in FSM knows how long.
By my count, there’s been two deaths in cricket in the last two years caused by on-the-pitch incidents.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Howard Beale IV:
Batters have been wearing helmets since at least the 1970s (which is as far back as I can remember). I’m assuming there is no equivalent for cricket players.
Schlemazel
@The Dangerman:
Not sure its a bad coaching job. Basketball is still a team sport & he got those guys to the final 4 with less than 2 years playing together. In contrast, Wisconsin has a bunch of 3 and 4 year players. From a game basis he did very well. If it is true he didn’t discuss UW then he needs to stop reading his press clippings.
But bringing in all that talent knowing it would not stay was a choice he made and I think from his perspective it will pay off for years to come. If you want attention from the NBA KU is a place to be, who cares about the NCAA? Those kids don’t this is just a very brief stop on the way to mad amounts of money. The 14-16 year olds will note the draft position & school a lot more than NCAA wins. The coach is a huge winner long-term because he just sent 5 kids (at least 2 non-starters) to the NBA
gogol's wife
@schrodinger’s cat:
I was too tired last night too. They’re repeating it here on Thursday, so I’ll watch it then. I heard that Rylance is amazing.
D58826
@jl: I’ve read the same thing. The military and the intelligence agencies all think a military strike would be a disaster. Also from Huffington :
‘The former head of Israel’s intelligence agency harshly critiqued Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of a framework agreement between Iran and six world powers on Tehran’s nuclear program.
In a scathing op-ed published Monday, former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy argued that U.S. President Barack Obama was right to call the agreement with Iran “historic” and that Iran made important and significant concessions during the negotiations.
“For decades, Iran rejected the international community’s demand to hold talks of any kind with respect to its nuclear program,” Halevy wrote on Israeli news website Ynet. “The interim agreement reached in Lausanne proves that Tehran capitulated, by agreeing to conduct negotiations about its plans and the nuclear infrastructure it has built up for years, primarily in secret.”‘
schrodinger's cat
@Howard Beale IV: Oh I know. There was a time when batsmen did not even wear helmets.
opiejeanne
@Eric S.: Pretty bad. The comment from management that they weren’t ready for a full house just got me.
The Angels had a hostile relationship with the city of Anaheim a couple of years ago, which owns the stadium, and one year the city decided to refurbish the Big A in the parking lot just before the end of the season. This was a major annoyance to fans because the tradition is that the halo around the A is lighted after winning a game. People driving home on the freeways could feel the outcome. The Angels won their division and went into the playoffs. This was an incredibly stupid decision. The year the All Star Game was at the stadium the fans watched the city drag its feet over sprucing up the place, and there was a lot of peeling paint. I think MLB had to get involved.
Schlemazel
@opiejeanne:
I think if it is important to the team than they should cough up the money for it. Disney does not demand that Anaheim come up with 100 million to spruce up “Its a Small World”. The Angles are a profitable outfit with an owner that will make millions when they sell, why is it on the back of taxpayers to fund the ball business?
The added bonus is that if they paid for it themselves they wouldn’t have to deal with whatever the city wanted to do or their schedule. Win-Win
Suzanne
@Villago Delenda Est: Construction is really complicated. One delay or change can fuck up the entire critical path, and that’s not even counting on weather.
Goblue72
Red Sox have decided to score all their runs in a single game.
Howard Beale IV
@D58826: It seems to me that a whole lot of folks want a real apocalyptic war with Israel being the focus so that can be proven right about ‘The End Times’. Like wiping Israel out will destroy the Jewish faith? Yeah, right.
Wars may make some men great, but in that process they leave millions of dead on their road to greatness.
That’s why I want a Amendment that calls for the automatic resignation and enlistment into the US Armed Services of any representative/senator who votes in Favor of Articles of War or Authorization for Use of Military Force that gets approved by the President, with elections to be held within 90 days of the vacation of the seat, effective the instant of the president’s signature (yes, Grandpa Walnuts and Huckleberry Closetcase, that means you and rest of your nanocephalic chickenhawk Cheeto-dust huffing imbeciles.)
Oh yeah-this Amendment would prohibit no-bid contracts as well, and restore the laws that made all artifacts of arms systems paid for by the US Government owned by the US Government.
scav
@schrodinger’s cat: Watched it online. Won’t be to all tastes, but golly is it stellar for those that do. Rylance and Lesser for voices and acting, Gatiss off being govermnental and sneaky, lighting and locations. Those are just my weaknesses, and the top billing ones. Gorgeous fabrics. Silences and dark left in. Should be lots of room for differences of opinion as to who’s best as well as interpretation and history.
Betty Cracker
@schrodinger’s cat: I used a garlic press to make the fleece. It was pretty easy — the only difficulty was having to refrigerate it occasionally to keep the butter from getting too soft while I was working on it!
@jl: It got hacked to bits for use on bread and rolls during a very large Easter dinner gathering — the traditional fate of butter lambs. Got lots of compliments on it!
Mustang Bobby
@justawriter: Yes, to my Tigers.
Howard Beale IV
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): There has been a cricket equivalent, but fast bowlers have little control once it hits the pitch. With a fast bowler, the ball is coming up, instead of straight like it does in baseball.
Eric S.
@opiejeanne: That they “weren’t ready for a full house” boggles the mind. I’ve been going for years. It is always, always packed to the gills. If it was an excuse for poor planning they need to fire their entire PR division and probably the HR managers that hired the PR division.
Turgidson
@Mike J:
Sure, last year was embarrassing, but one down year doesn’t cancel out the three recent world series wins.
D58826
@Howard Beale IV:I would go one step further and include their kids and grandkids. They all can ride on the lead helicopters.
Villago Delenda Est
@Suzanne: KNOWING that construction is complicated when you get started, why were there not plans to mitigate things in place before they got started? Porta potties or something like that?
opiejeanne
@Howard Beale IV: There has only been one in major league history, in a major league park: Ray Chapman died in 1920. Yankees pitcher, Carl Mays, hit him in the head on a pitch and he died a few hours later.
I think there was a jr high kid who died last year, though.
Howard Beale IV
@D58826: I can agree to that. Hell, World War II took both fathers and sons.
Villago Delenda Est
Also, too, top of the 9th and the Mariners’ lead is holding up!
jl
@Betty Cracker:
” It got hacked to bits for use on bread and rolls during a very large Easter dinner gathering ”
Sounds like an old school sacrifice. You people don’t fool around in Florida, do you? Did you have special ceremonial knives?
Howard Beale IV
@opiejeanne: It would be interesting to see how many pro test matches there are vs. Pro baseball to see what the totals would be-methinks cricket might slightly eke out as being more deadly, but that’s a real rough guesstimate.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
To the hoop, y’all!
opiejeanne
@Schlemazel: Disney owns Disneyland, the Angles lease the stadium from Anaheim, The city is responsible for maintenance in the lease agreement. I
Right now the city is looking at the possibility of having an unused stadium if they aren’t smart. There was a deal on the table for Arte Moreno (who is a stupid tea party guy) to own the stadium but they couldn’t come to an agreement. I don’t know who is at fault and don’t care at this point.
I don’t think cities should be on the hook for building these sports palaces any more.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
So, this happened, from Steve Benen.
Part of Francis’s Easter sermon.
In probably more relevant news, your new top Democrat in the Senate has pretty much come out on the other side. Politico link.
opiejeanne
@Schlemazel: Arte could absolutely afford to do the maintenance, but this is a guy who has pared down the front office so much that fans have been noticing it so he’s not going to buy so much as a bucket of paint.
By rights, he shouldn’t have to. This was back when Curt Pringle was mayor, and Pringle was one of those California “bomb throwers” (the guys who always voted “no” on everything) in the state assembly, Speaker of the Assembly until 1996 so you can imagine what Anaheim city politics were like.
opiejeanne
@opiejeanne: Angels, not Angles. Duh.
LanceThruster
I’ve read that some municipalities are required to treat roadside urine bottles as toxic waste.
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I do not have a good feeling about Chuck Schumer in this new role. I read something about Dick Durbin saying that Schumer said Durbin would be able to stay in the #2 position, but Schumer is denying it and Patty Murray is gunning for the #2 position.
So Schumer waits to screw Durbin until Durbin has already come out in support of Schumer for the #1 position, no doubt the support was based in part on the assurance of remaining #2. I am definitely not favorably impressed with Schumer’s actions right out of the gate.
divF
@gogol’s wife:
I’d been totally unaware of the buzz about Wolf Hall, and by chance had decided to watch the 1966 film version of Robert Bolt’s play “A Man for All Seasons” last night, with Paul Scofield as Thomas More, and Leo McKern as Cromwell. Highly recommended – Scofield is superb as More, a shrewd but ultimately principled martyr, and McKern does a wonderful turn as the villainous Cromwell. Plus a great supporting cast.
Then today I read the paean to Thomas Cromwell in the Sunday NYT Op-Ed section, and thus found out about Wolf Hall. Short version of the NYT Op-Ed: boy, did Cromwell get things done for the boss (Henry VIII) no matter what it took, which is after all what counts in today’s world.
I like the Bolt’s version of Cromwell / More story better, and from what I can tell, it is also more accurate historically than the Wolf Hall version.
Howard Beale IV
@WaterGirl: Maybe Zephyr Teachout can run to fill his shoes on the next cycle.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
Cups?? Cups?? In Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, we peed in the sinks.
geg6
I do believe it is not possible to give less of a shit as to who wins the basketball game tonight than I do. I will be watching DVR tonight. Too many shows I like are on Sunday nights, so Mondays are dedicated to watching what I couldn’t in real time. Much more enjoyable for me and my John is not a basketball fan.
Cacti
@WaterGirl:
Durbin disappointed me in making no attempt at all to be the new minority leader.
Schumer is joined at the hip with bank lobby and AIPAC, and will be every bit as compromised as Reid in his leadership role.
ThresherK
@Tenar Darell: The rudeness and nastiness of Yankee v. Red Sox fans?
I trust you heard of the incident from my home state. I grew up in the not-at-all demilitarized zone between the two places.
WaterGirl
@Howard Beale IV: whose shoes?
WaterGirl
@Cacti: I am disappointed, too. Schumer is a dick.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@divF:
That’s not exactly how “Wolf Hall” goes, though, at least in the book. In extremely rough terms, it really is a battle over religion, and Cromwell is pissed that More helped get William Tyndale, the first English translator of the Bible, executed as a heretic. More is a strong (if secret, by necessity) Protestant who helps turn Henry away from the RCC. More does not come across well since he was heavily involved in executing Protestant heretics, something that was glossed over (to say the least) in “A Man for All Seasons.” It’s an interesting corrective.
Suzanne
@Villago Delenda Est: Because mitigation costs money! No one likes to spend money! This way, the owner can blame in on the GC!!!
geg6
@divF:
You’ll get no love from me for Henry VIII, but More was a total asshole and the world was better without him. The historical record does not support the idea that he was anything other than a self-righteous Catholic fundamentalist who was happy to see his family suffer as long as he could wallow in self glory and martyrdom. Just like every fundamentalist you can point to today, whether those in the Middle East or in the Southern US. Henry was a psycho, but so was More.
NotMax
@divF
Great flick.
Run, do not walk, as far away as possible if ever the version of the same thing starring Charlton Heston as More should come on.
(Payed Cromwell, long time ago, in a dinner theatre production of A Man For All Seasons . One night (in all modesty) I was hitting it on all cylinders and when curtain calls happened, was hissed (not booed) by the audience. That was tres cool.)
@gogol’s wife
It was okay. Kind of slow (not in a leisurely fashion) and ponderous. A lot of the scenes felt very cramped. More medium and long shots would have helped. May pick up now that the characters of import have been introduced.
Baud
@Cacti:
Elizabeth Warren supports Schumer.
ultraviolet thunder
I flew from Detroit to SFO today for work, and could have turned around and flown back tomorrow morning but parts I need weren’t here. It’s going to cost me a day delay. And for once I wouldn’t rather be in California than MI for an extra 24 hours.
I guess I’ll go down to the hotel lounge and watch that basket-ball game everyone’s talking about.
SiubhanDuinne
I’m just wondering — does Bob in Portland like music? Because….
Gin & Tonic
@ultraviolet thunder: If you’re in the city, get thee to Henry’s Hunan on Sansome St. You can thank me later.
rikyrah
Mama and Daddy loved baseball. They were so happy when Spring Training began, let alone the regular season.
Cacti
@Baud:
Does that somehow change his history of being a Wall Street call boy?
Baud
@Cacti:
Just saying. She didn’t have to support him. She must think he’s someone she can work with.
jl
@Gin & Tonic:
” If you’re in the city, get thee to Henry’s Hunan on Sansome St. You can thank me later. ”
Let’s correct that:
If you’re in The City, get thee to Henry’s Hunan on Sansome St. You can thank me later.
Gin & Tonic
@SiubhanDuinne: There’s a large and vocal Ukrainian emigre community in the Toronto area – large enough that they’ve had more than one MP, and include the current Canadian ambassador to Ukraine. Her views are *deeply* unpopular with most members of that community, who have been in Toronto far longer than she has. It seems that the TSO management can count.
geg6
Late to get to it, but I’ve been reading “Merchants of Doubt” by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway. A tough slog for a non-scientist, but really fascinating. The tactics they highlight among the anti-environmental crowd are the same ones the right wing uses for every fucking argument there is, not just science, with AEI, Heritage and Cato as the recurring characters in all the tales.
Gin & Tonic
@jl: Sorry, we were talking about San Francisco, not New York. My orthography is correct.
Cacti
@Baud:
Chuck has been a political godfather of sorts to Elizabeth Warren.
Just another example of the clubby nature of the Senate at work.
Schlemazel
@opiejeanne:
I bet the land the stadium is sitting on would be worth more than the Angels and whatever was built on it would create more jobs and produce more tax revenue. They could be the Los Angles Angels of Bakersfield for all it matters.
Couple people mentioned Arte is a bagger – gee what a surprise, demand the government sut spending & give nobody anything . . . except for himself who deserves everyone else share too.
Baud
@Cacti:
Seems like any other workplace in that respect.
Roger Moore
@Howard Beale IV:
Since 1920, so almost 95 years. Not that there haven’t been some awfully close calls.
Schlemazel
@NotMax:
Boo’ed for playing the bad guy, that would be so cool! As long as they were not booing DURING the show!
Story I heard & loved: I believe it was Olivia playing Richard III.
“A HORSE, A HORSE, MY KINGDOM FOR A HORSE!”
. . . Some guy in the audience laughed loudly . . .
Larry points him out & says “Saddle yon braying ass!”
ultraviolet thunder
@Gin & Tonic:
Thanks for the recommendation. I was in Greenville SC last week and someone recommended that I go to a sushi/taco fusion place that I ordinarily wouldn’t have gone near. It was great.
I dine out regularly on recommendations.
D58826
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Well looks like we have our first ‘volunteer’ for the war on Iran. – Chuck Schumer. I’m beginning to wonder why I send in money to the democrats. It seems like it would be more efficient to send the money directly to the GOP. Save the middleman.
Betty Cracker
@rikyrah: My mother loved baseball and followed every off-season development (trades, surgeries, etc.) avidly. She always said if you didn’t understand pitching, it was an unbearably boring game but if you did, it was irresistible.
J.
Mets fans represent! One down, 161 to go. Ya gotta believe.
Tenar Darell
@ThresherK: No, I did not. I’m going to have to forward this, not as “proof of border aggression,” but because I’m pretty sure that cousin-in-law didn’t know about it either.
SiubhanDuinne
@Gin & Tonic:
Yes, I believe it is now one of the larger national communities in greater Toronto — which, as you know, is a huge megacity of countless neighbourhoods and émigré groups. Apart from Russia and Ukraine itself, Canada has the largest Ukrainian population in the world. When I lived in Saskatchewan as a youngster, there were a lot of Ukrainians (as there were, and still are, throughout the prairie provinces), and that was 60+ years ago.
ThresherK
@Schlemazel: Olivia? Love the gender-blind casting.
(I keed.)
Last month we were at a teens n tweens performance of The Wizard of Oz, and during “If I Were King of the Forest”, after they get to the Emerald City (after the lion gets his mane permed), the actor’s permed wig falls off.
After about two seconds of singing and trying to remount it, he just gives up and holds in his hand, which the audience loved.
He runs to a wing while Dorothy sits down to soliloquoy about missing her tee-totaling dirt farming family, then Lion comes back re-wigged and tells the Scarecrow, “I got my hair back”, perfectly in Bert Lahr voice. The audience loves it, loves his composure and the ad lib, and they’re in stitches.
“Stop laughing! It isn’t funny!” calls Dorothy. Which only made us laugh and applaud even louder. To give her credit, she didn’t break a bit, and carried on perfectly.
gogol's wife
@scav:
Gatiss is in it? Oh goody!
gogol's wife
@divF:
I have no dog in the fight, but Mantel’s narrative of Cromwell is artistically compelling.
gogol's wife
@NotMax:
Charlton Heston as More sounds like a hoot.
Why did I think you were of the female persuasion?
Gin & Tonic
@SiubhanDuinne: I didn’t know you were from Saskatchewan. The prairie provinces were populated by Ukrainians and other Eastern Europeans toward the end of the 19th century, so the people there now are sixth and seventh generation; in some towns in Alberta, you can, even now, go to (public) high school in Ukrainian.
When I think about what it took for an entire family to abandon its ancestral home and travel across an ocean and most of a continent to get their “section”, I stand in awe. Having spent part of a summer in northern Manitoba, and having experienced its insect population, I wonder how anyone stayed there.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Pierce, not surprisingly, also noticed the Pope’s Easter message
raven
I made the winning bid on the Cobra ride!!!!!!
divF
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): The Wikipedia entry on More gives an even-handed summary of the controversies. Apparently, Wolf Hall has some issues with the historical record as well. For example, the assertion that Cromwell went after More in revenge for More having Tyndale executed is historically inaccurate, since Tyndale was not burned at the stake until a year after More was beheaded, and the notion that More was a secret Protestant is supported by neither his actions nor any of his writings.
In fact, both Cromwell and More are depicted as having the same loyalties, which were to Henry and England. Henry had no tolerance for Reformation heresies either – he was just anxious to get a male heir, by whatever means necessary. As was stated by both Wolsey and Cromwell in Bolt’s play, England had just been through nearly a century of dynastic wars, and they feared a repeat in the absence of a male heir. More is depicted as seeing their reasoning, but felt his conscience would not allow him to swear to Henry’s supremacy over the Church.
ETA: More was canonized by both the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches. The NYT Op-Ed writer expressed the view of that being far less important than doing Henry’s bidding effectively. That is the realpolitic morality of Henry Kissinger; in fact was one of the alternative endings to Bolt’s play was to point out the moral bankruptcy of that view.
Baud
@raven:
Congrats!
NotMax
@gogol’s wife
Because I truly am a “man for all seasons?”
:·:
(Do my best to try to come across as gender neutral online.)
Baud
@NotMax:
Why did I think your name was Max?
divF
@NotMax:
We ordered that one from Netflix by mistake – sent it back immediately.
gogol's wife
@divF:
I haven’t read the NYTimes piece. All I can say is that Hillary Mantel doesn’t depict Cromwell as a paragon of virtue. He’s a complex character, and you come to identify with him, but that comes with a good deal of self-loathing, if I recall correctly.
tybee
@raven:
cool.
the only cobras around here are grey and have “marines” down the side.
doggies fly the apache.
danielx
No, no, I’m told by those who have sampled it that Coors Light tastes like angel piss. Disclosure: I did not inquire about their grounds for comparison. Some details are much better overlooked.
No way they’ll ever serve Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout at a ballpark, more’s the pity.
Woodrowfan
AND THIS ONE BELONGS TO THE REDS!!!!!!
ThresherK
@raven: Great! Now you know we want pix afterwards.
PaulW
Uh, go Rays?
Thank God for the hockey team.
raven
@tybee: It’s this outfit
The Army Aviation Heritage Foundation
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Gin & Tonic:
There’s the old Diane Ford routine (from memory, so a bit paraphrased):
“I’m from Minnesota, and you have to understand that my ancestors left Sweden and Norway, crossed the vast oceans, and traveled across the prairies with danger at every turn so they could find a place just as fuckin’ miserable as the one they left.”
raven
@ThresherK: Oh yea, proly take a go pro.
NotMax
@raven
Enjoy the ride.
raven
@NotMax: I really wanted to do one on Maui but it was that or deep sea fishin!
Mike J
@raven: Have you seen the footage from the skydiver that lost his gopro?
I put a bolt through a clamp to use as a quick release mount for mine. I can attach it to either the boom or the mast and move it around quickly. Sadly, I haven’t had a chance to test it yet, but I’m hoping to this week.
Mike E
@raven: Take two cameras so you can cut a video out of it: one fixed inside on the cockpit, another can be handheld to catch all the action wherever you see it!
NotMax
@raven
Seriously doubt anyone would have the chutzpah to name a whirlybird Die Hard.
:)
raven
@Mike J: Jesus Christ put a warning on that sucker, I almost passed out! I have and extendable thingy for my camera but I don’t want to miss what will probably be a pretty quick flight scewin with a camera.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@divF:
I think you tried to say above that there’s no evidence that Cromwell was a secret Protestant — obviously, More was not a secret Protestant. The book uses the long persecution of Tyndale as one of the things Cromwell holds against More, but even Wikipedia doesn’t excuse More from the trials and executions of 6 other English Protestants, something that, again, is glossed over in AMFAS.
According to Wikipedia, Cromwell is now recognized as having been a committed Protestant who used his influence to put reformers into various bishop and archbishop positions, which is how Mantel portrays him. He’s certainly not portrayed as heroic by her, but he’s much more human than the play’s simple villain.
Schlemazel
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
I liked GArrison Keillor’s take also
Minnesota was settled by people who thought “this is good enough” People who wanted more kept going until they made it to California but those who would settle for just OK stayed here.
It seems to fit us.
raven
@Mike E: There are vids of people flying with a camera on them so I’ll have to find out if that comes with it. It was listed as a $500 value but all I see is “minimum donations” on their webpage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7Ypg8hVngE
jl
@efgoldman:
” Hockey in Florida is a figment of your imagination. ”
Maybe so. But does airboat polo exist?
SiubhanDuinne
@dmsilev:
Just shared that with my Facebook opera group. They are all groaning in a very agreeable and gratifying fashion.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@raven: How nice for you! I know you were a little concerned with a new bid in the last hour
I made a (practice) butter lamb today. The coffee shop owner wants to have one for the 2d Sunday Brunch this weekend. Unless her husband the chef bans me for playing with half a pound of his butter. I have a not great photo.
SiubhanDuinne
@catclub:
“It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops.” — A. Bartlett Giamatti
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Congratulations! That sounds really cool. Hope your opponent didn’t jack up your price too much.
Litlebritdifrnt
@ThresherK:
During a Royal Navy production of Red Riding Hood on one night I (playing Red Riding Hood) decided to pull the door of grandma’s cottage instead of pushing it (which I had done for all of the rehearsals and five nights previously). I Obviously pulled it behind the jamb and then I simply could not get into grandma’s cottage. After several minutes of trying to get in I walked through the curtains into the cottage and said “Grandma you have GOT to get that door fixed” it took a good ten minutes for the audience and the rest of the cast to stop laughing. Ah good times.
Frankensteinbeck
@Howard Beale IV:
There are probably a few, but really, I know these people. Mostly they just hate Muslims/Arabs (they can’t tell the difference) and want to wipe them out. They think Israel is fighting the good fight against the evil terrorist nations. It’s no more complicated than that.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: Nah, there was one bid this morning that took it to $160. I had determined to not go higher that $165 so I was glad whoever it was bailed out. I have a friend that is a pilot and he said the “$500” value was probably low so it seems pretty good. The money goes to scholarships so I couldn’t lose.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@SiubhanDuinne:
Fun fact: actor Paul Giamatti is his son.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne:
It should “stop” a lot sooner than it does.
MomSense
Work was even worse than I thought it would be. Stayed two hours late because I was on the phone with tech support and hoped we were near a solution. Sadly, no we were not close to a solution and tomorrow I will get a follow up from an engineer.
Oh and my boss showed up after the long weekend with a terrible cold he got from his granddaughter. He was coughing and sneezing like crazy. After work I thought I would de-stress and take the pup for a walk. She was spooked by something, managed to wriggle out of her harness, and ran home at full speed in the middle of the road miraculously avoiding all the cars.
Tonight I’m going to have a glass of red wine (or two) and listen to an audio book. Oh and do laundry. Hopefully tomorrow will be much better.
I used to be quite the bleacher creature at Fenway back in the day. I don’t get to the park much now so I like to listen to games on the radio. Reminds me of putting around in the yard with my dad when I was a kid.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jacks mom:
My dad really introduced me to baseball. We had three good seasons together cheering on the Braves (’91-’92-’93). There was a strike the following year (when the Braves would have been out of contention thanks to the amazing Expos). He died in February ’95, eight months shy of seeing the Braves win their first (and so far only) World Series as an Atlanta team.*
*The Braves are the only MLB franchise to have won a WS in each of their three incarnations: Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: And they dumped their two best players yesterday. Then they had a rain delay in a dome today.
SiubhanDuinne
@Phylllis:
Obligatory. This never gets old.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Yup. As I said to Phyllis,
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WTSIJzvNIM8
SiubhanDuinne
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
I heard of Bart before I had any idea who Paul was.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
That sounds like a real bargoon. Good for you!
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Well, that’s what three divisions, wild-card playoffs, and padding the season with stupid interleague games will get you.
/reactionary
WaterGirl
@raven: Go raven!
ThresherK (GPad)
@Litlebritdifrnt: That’s a hoot. I could not imagine overcoming my introversion in the first place.
WaterGirl
@MomSense: Tonight I’m going to have a
glassbottle of red wine (or two) and listen to an audio book.fixed that for you
p.s. holy shit on the dog escape. that’s happened to me twice this week but thankfully no cars were coming. yikes, what a day.
MomSense
@WaterGirl:
Sounds like a plan!
WaterGirl
@Jacks mom: @MomSense: @SiubhanDuinne: Baseball is definitely a dad thing for me, too.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: It doesn’t get me, I’m deep into football by the time that mess comes around.
Tree With Water
Dock Ellis vs. the Cincinnati Reds (posted at Deadspin.com).
http://thestacks.deadspin.com/