On Halloween, a Twitter user (highlighted by Anne Laurie here) suggested calling raccoons “Trash Pandas,” which is a genius way to elevate the status of marginalized species, IMO. Here are a pair of Couch Pandas in their native habitat:
I’m going to nudge them aside here shortly and lie around drinking plenty of non-alcoholic fluids; been trying to kick some sort of bug for a week or so. What are y’all up to this evening?
Brachiator
A little post Halloween Treat
I sent a YouTube link to an old version of this song to my nephew, who plays guitar
Later I got a google now card saying I might be interested in this
Kinda cool
Danny Elfman – Oingo Boingo 2015 !!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Beye-RpqQE
From a Hollywood Bowl concert this weekend featuring a screening of Nightmare on Elm Street with live music
The LA Times had a story about the Hollywood Bowl concert, but the reporter may not have stayed until the end and missed this altogether. Lame
Mike in NC
Buddy from New Jersey said he grew up calling squirrels “tree rats” and pigeons “flying rats”.
dedc79
On the depressing/disturbing side, more bad news for atheists in (and out of) Bangladesh:
ETA: Forgot to embed a link and don’t know how to do it after the fact so: http://news.yahoo.com/2-writers-publisher-stabbed-attack-bangladesh-capital-113412539.html
MomSense
Tonight is a sip red wine, knit, and watch mindless tv night.
Goblue72
@Mike in NC: Must be a Northeast thing. Grew up in Eastern PA north of Philly and we pretty much called them same thing – “rats with bushy tails” and “rats with wings”.
WereBear
I’ve got the Monday Ennervation going on, so it’s mindless TV and a book.
redshirt
Generally, how much does a mid-size dog cost a month? Factoring in vet visits.
kdaug
Stupid, undocumented code. And I hate the redesign and all of you jackals. The picture of trash, though… that, I can get behind.
/rant, until I can’t take it anymore and have to repose to this little slice of hell.
Gin & Tonic
@Mike in NC: Seagulls are called “rats with wings” around here.
Arm The Homeless
So the major, urban police associations are having apoplectic spasms over Tarantino’s pretty mild assertion that some cops murder people, and as thinking, emotional beings, we should be outraged by that. They want to boycott his upcoming film, Hateful 8.
I guess that means I will simply have to encourage my friends to come see it opening night with me.
What a bunch of whiny fucks.
kdaug
@redshirt: Every last bit of heart you have left.
(Srsly. One blink of mine’s cinnamon eyes and my steely resolve is done for the day.)
Gin & Tonic
Oh, what am I up to? More cleaning of the basement, followed by the consumption of alcohol.
Baud
Lessig is out.
And then there were four…
Goblue72
@Arm The Homeless: Almost makes up for Taratino’s Hollywood Wigga persona. Almost.
Goblue72
@Baud: Four?
Mike J
@Baud: I was trying to figure out who they were and had trouble. Hillary, Bernie, Baud, and who else? Oh yeah, the guy from Balmer, what’s his name.
scav
Oh we got a two-fee on the Darwinian scale. Bolingbrook Man Shoots Self in Head While Driving. Using your hands while talking on your cell phone can apparently be made illegal while driving, but waving a theoretically unloaded gun about and playing with it? Second amendment steering!
Jay C
@Goblue72:
Yeah, Jim Webb is still, apparently, a kinda-sorta-maybe Dem candidate. Of course, members of his “campaign organization” not named “Webb” could probably hold their caucus in a booth at Applebee’s, but he is, so far, still (technically) in the race.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
I start my “Fitness Over 40” Fitocracy program today. Bleah. At least I’m out of shape enough that I can get by with at home equipment and don’t have to go to the gym.
Also, I finally finished Ron Chernow’s “Alexander Hamilton.” If you’re in the market for a 900-page opus about the least-known Founding Father, it’s the book for you. It’s very well-written and thorough without being dry. He even had a couple of extra tidbits in the research notes — there are a couple of longstanding rumors about Hamilton that could be cleared up with some DNA research, so Chernow donated some money towards that effort. There’s the longstanding rumor that he was part black (not much evidence for it in the records, but embraced by people like WEB DuBois) but also a claim that he fathered a mixed-race son before he left St. Croix in 1773 when he was about 17.
Arm The Homeless
@Goblue72:
What persona is that?
lamh36
Today was the first day of my 9 day stay-cation. I always take the week off for my birthday. Last year I went to Hawaii, this year “money was funny” so no travel plans (unless something last minute happens after my bday). I paid the rent, baked a cake and just been lounging around since bout noon.
Thursday on my actual birthday, the fam is taking me out for some seafood, but the rest of my days off I have no plans ‘cept lounging.
beth
@Gin & Tonic: We always called seagulls “beach rats”.
realbtl
@redshirt: It is a mystery. My rescues (Weimaraners) have been trouble free but I have spent many $ on some others. Depends upon the dog and the fates.
MomSense
@lamh36:
Lounging sounds fabulous. Happy birthday, Lamh. How is little Zoe doing?
lamh36
@MomSense:
Zoe says “Hey I’m 3 months old today”
https://twitter.com/psddluva4evah/status/661236476940673024
Arm The Homeless
Anyone else get the impression that mainstream news is scared shitless of the Anonymous Op: #HoodsOff
This should be catnip to most reporters, but I think the very real possibility that there will be collateral damage and mistaken identities has most reporters’ legal departments fearing very expensive defamation lawsuits.
I take the fact that I want the KKK named and shamed, but hate the idea of digital hate mobs, as a sign that I still have a sense of empathy. But seriously, fuck those whiskey-tango shit-birds.
Real Change
The Jeb campaign is rebooting and retooling with the #JebCanFixIt. He’s a fixer, not a performer, an agent of change, not of anger.
Someone with a real, substantive record, not a pretty face in an empty suit.
Real problems in Washington demand real solutions. Mess in DC? #JebCanFixIt.
That’s going to be the message that turns this campaign around .
jl
Oh boy, more fun! Heard on news that Trump won’t join in the GOP presidential candidate contestant consortium negotiating debate conditions with media, he wants his own independent negotiations and to decide his terms for participation debate by debate.
Sounds like fun. I hope this is big story, since I assume that would mean further descent of GOP into anarchy and chaos.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
Also, too, a story in the NY Times Magazine that tries to explain why Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical about Alexander Hamilton is such a monster hit:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/08/t-magazine/hamilton-lin-manuel-miranda-roots-sondheim.html?_r=1
Short version: it successfully mixes traditional Broadway and hip-hop while telling an emotionally engaging story. If the one-two punch of “Stay Alive” and “It’s Quiet Uptown” on the soundtrack album doesn’t make you cry, you have no heart.
Patricia Kayden
@Mike in NC: I used to have a coworker who referred to squirrels as “tree rodents”. Made sense but at first no one knew what the hell she was talking about.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Two names I’m surprised aren’t coming up in coverage of Jeb! (granted, I tend to skim it cause I know all I need to know about Idiot Princeling (The Younger) of Walker’s Point) : Katharine Harris and Terri Schiavo
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@lamh36:
I always laugh at how puzzled young babies look. Like, “you big people are crazy.”
dedc79
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): Just wish it was slightly less popular so that it would be possible to actually get tickets to go see it.
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): I read Joseph Ellis’ “Founding Brothers,” which has chapters on Alexander Hamilton, but not the big Chernow biography. But then again, I am trying to get through a thousand pager on Beethoven, so I probably should add this one to my reading list as well. The Ellis book is a good short read on America’s OG’s.
The claims about Hamilton’s ancestry are interesting in a minor way, and some of the rumors were contemporary. Some newspapers published by his political enemies described Hamilton as a “mustee,” someone one eighth black.
NotMax
Finding the French TV series “The Returned” intriguing enough to continue watching, albeit at a leisurely pace.
feebog
MRI results from Friday morning are in… and we have a hit! Large tear in the meniscus. Doc says surgery is in the future, for right now a cortisone shot should help. Going to put off any surgery until after the first of the year; to much going on between now and the holidays to even contemplate.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@lamh36: Happy birthday!
MomSense
@lamh36:
She is seriously beautiful and I can tell that she is a smart cookie who observes everything
lamh36
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: thanks…today is my nephew’s 16th birthday…I was remembering this sweet lil 6 year old…now 10 years later, he’s the usual rude, self absorbed, over it all teenager…lol.
I’ll be 39 on Thursday
Eric S.
@Real Change: you forgot the “/snark” closing tag.
lamh36
@MomSense: thx…she’s gotten sooo big in 3 months. she was this tiny lil thing when she was born…now she our lil “pork chop”…lol
And she really does seem to love the labtop…she was on my dad’s lap while he was using the computer and he caught a pic with her once again looking at the screen like she was really surfing the ‘net…lol
MomSense
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
It’s a compelling story told in a new and intelligent way. When I see something so creative and good, like Hamilton, I really miss the theater.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@dedc79:
I’m on the opposite coast, so we’d have to make a special trip to see it anyway. They do have a lottery 2 hours before every show, if you have some time to kill and you’re feeling lucky.
@Brachiator:
It’s definitely a contemporary rumor that his enemies used to try and defame him — John Adams referred to Hamilton as a “Creole bastard” more than once. And, like I said, Hamilton was embraced by black intellectuals in the 1920s as one of their own, partly based on the rumors and partly based on the fact that he was an early abolitionist. But Chernow’s research didn’t seem to find much there there.
MomSense
@lamh36:
My great nephew was a little peanut with a giant head and now he’s a little chub a lub. I think he’s about the same age as Zoe- maybe just a few weeks younger.
srv
dmsilev
@Real Change: Jeb’s campaign has been rebooting pretty often. Have you considered updating Jeb to something more modern than Windows ME?
Brachiator
@Real Change:
You know, one problem is that the lame slogan Jeb Can Fix It, is uncomfortably close to the slogan “Jim’ll Fix It,” the title of an old British TV show fronted by comedian Jimmy Savile, who was revealed to have been a notorious abuser of children.
British comedians are going to have a field day with this on programs like The News Quiz.
dmsilev
@Brachiator: “Jeb Can Fix It” sounds like the slogan painted on the side of a local handyman’s van. Jeb the Plumber!
Arm The Homeless
@dmsilev:
The Bush clan have always had Day-0 driver issues. But unlike MS Windows, skipping a generation doesn’t seem to smooth out the problems.
kdaug
@Real Change: Beep beep, motherfucker. That ain’t a Brinks truck.
MomSense
@redshirt:
I spend about $80-$100 on food and $30 a month on the flea/tick meds. If you get a puppy there are more vaccinations the first year.
You can spend much less on food but my first lab had kidney problems (and hip probkems which were outrageously expensive) so I made a lot of changes to my second lab’s diet and he lived to be 16.
You have to do some research and think about what kind of dog will fit into your lifestyle.
p.a.
@Mike in NC: here in RI ‘flying rats’ are seagulls. A car with an out-of-alignment headtlight that puts out streetlights (results of fender bender or baseball bat attack) was known in my yout’ as a ‘squirrel hunter’.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@MomSense:
I almost get a little mad at him sometimes — it’s not fair that someone is that brilliant at such a young age. What a jerk.
;-)
Did I ever post the “love for the techies” Ham4Ham video for you? They had the stage manager come out and call all of the cues for “10 Duel Commandments” while the cast did a sidewalk performance of it.
bemused
@dmsilev:
Jeb is rebooting to look tough saying he eats nails before breakfast. This is just sad.
Baud
@dmsilev:
I’m trying to think of a worse slogan. I’m drawing a blank.
p.a.
@Gin & Tonic: beat me to it.
redshirt
@MomSense: What about the vet? Can you average out typical costs per month?
Tom
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): What made you choose Fitocracy? Also, what kind of equipment will you need?
I’m looking for a program for myself. I work from home and if Fitocracy will make exercise less boring, I’m interested.
dmsilev
@Baud: “Jeb! Because otherwise Mommy will get mad at him”
scav
@Brachiator: You’re faster, but yeah, as a Guardian
readeraddict, that’s all I can read: oneK plus accusations of child abuse in hospitals and elsewhere. Luckily the target market doesn’t believe in news, let alone foreign news.Tom
Monday night is chicken night. Usually baked but I always make enough for leftovers. I roasted up some veggies yesterday so putting together dinner should be pretty easy.
Other than that, I’m trying to decide between doing some course development work, prepping for my web programming class or just watching “Supergirl” with the bride and cats.
MomSense
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
I don’t know if you posted it but I found it one night in an obsessive ham4ham watching binge.
jmt
@redshirt:
My two 20 pound dogs have cost just shy of $60 each a month for the past year for general care and feeding. It was a healthy year, only 1 acute illness to treat. For a larger dog, add a bonus for more expensive toys, medications and bigger chew bones. I’d figure $75-$80 a month for a 50+ pound dog with no major health issues.
We didn’t have any overnight boarding to pay for this year – that would have upped the total substantially.
We did take several training classes, so that was another $400 for the year. You’d definitely want to plan for at least 2 training classes the first year if you get a pup or rescue adult.
Baud
@dmsilev:
Jeb!: I am so too good enough.
MomSense
@redshirt:
I spent $200 the first year because of all the visits. The fee to the rescue agency was $325 which covered spaying. The first year is the most expensive, assuming you have a healthy dog with no hip or other extraordinary problems.
different-church-lady
If I don’t get to refer to myself as an “internet comment panda” then I’m simply not buying in to this.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Tom:
I’m doing a group program with them — I did a different one last year. They have a bunch of different programs that run simultaneously. I like that the workouts download directly to my phone, so I don’t have to fumble around with diagrams etc. Plus it’s good for me to have the accountability of posting to a group. This particular program also has a nutrition component, but they have programs without that.
They usually say ahead of time if the program requires a gym and they always seem to have bodyweight programs running, so you don’t have to be a gym member.
I like that it’s a personal trainer in your pocket for a lot less money. I’m not an absolute beginner when it comes to weight training, and I think that helps — people who’ve never trained before might not like it as much.
MazeDancer
@lamh36:
Sounds like a wonderful gift to yourself. What is more luxurious than time? May many delights be yours!
NotMax
@Baud
Jeb Will Keep Us Safe.
Jeb! Third Time’s The Charm!
Baud
@internet comment panda:
Stick to your guns.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@MomSense:
Did you see the three kings lip-syncing? I think that went a little viral.
scav
OK, my next thought is inevitably the news headline: “Jeb! can fix it!” Campaign Neuters Self.
Real Change
Social Security? #JebCanFixIt
ISIS? #JebCanFixIt
Healthcare? #JebCanFixIt
Just like “compassionate conservative” and “a reformer with results” this will get people onboard with the Bush campaign. Catchy slogans and hashtags go a long, long long way with moron swing voters.
Peale
The puppy has giardia and is on an IV in the puppy hospital. i won’t go into details, but I’m dealing with some crap i didn’t need right now.
NotMax
@Internet Comment Panda
Gotta be a use for the term Mingopanda someplace.
different-church-lady
@Real Change: His own campaign? #JebCan’tFixIt
MomSense
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
Yes! I’m embarrassed to say what a video stalker I’ve become.
Baud
@different-church-lady:
He can put it out of its misery.
MazeDancer
@Baud:
That’s because there is nothing worse. The implied starting phrases are legion. “Yes, he broke it, but…” or “Of course, he blew a commanding lead and huge war chest, by being a lackluster candidate, but…”
Couldn’t believe it was real when I saw it on the side of that shingled building a day or so ago while Jeb was being interviewed.
My second thought was, sure, Jeb Can Fix It, just like they were counting on him to do in Florida during the election and recount in 2000.
Twitter has been savaging him – rightly, so.
Gin & Tonic
@MomSense: Cost/benefit analysis with respect to a pet is a really bad idea.
Mike in NC
#JebCantFixShit is trending.
Eats nails, eats breakfast, curls up in fetal position for a nap while momma strokes his head.
David Koch
Lawrence Lessig (Who?) – we hardly knew ye.
that means the next President of the United States (baring an unforeseen entry) will be either Clinton, Baud!, or Sanders.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@MomSense:
Unless you’ve watched his wedding video a hundred times, you don’t count as a stalker.
Me? I think I may be the president of the stalking club at this point.
Gin & Tonic
Fuck this shit, I want numbered comments back.
NotMax
@Mike in NC
Shelob don’t stroke.
(To coin a phrase.)
:)
MomSense
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=USrLTJqaeL8
ETA May I join your club?
NotMax
Shoot. Forgot about the time change and thus subjected myself to 5 seconds of Chris Matthews.
Must shower now.
MomSense
@Gin & Tonic:
No it is not possible because they are family. On the other hand, cost is something to think about because I’ve seen too many animals abandoned because their humans didn’t think it through.
benw
@bemused: Are we sure Jeb! wasn’t referring to chewing his fingernails before breakfast? He’s probably a nervous wreck by now.
The Pale Scot
I went to Madeira Beach for an evening swim, clouds snuck in to block the sunset.
A cormorant landed about 20 ft beside me, spent a minute locking me over, then went to work cleaning his/her feathers.
I guess I guess he decided that I’m too small to be a manatee, too big to be a seal, and too slow in the water to be a threat.
goblue72
@Jay C: I’m pretty sure Webb announced he dropped out as few weeks ago as a Democratic candidate, and is instead thinking of running as an Independent.
Shana
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): Loved the Hamilton biography too. I read it after seeing the show in previews and it’s every bit as good as the hype.
My evening. Early dinner, stiff drink followed by bed around 9:30 so I can get up tomorrow at 4:45 in order to open the polls at my polling place. Followed by handing out democratic sample ballots on and off all day and then overseeing the closing of the polls. I hope to stay awake long enough tomorrow night to see the results.
The good thing is that several of our incumbent Dems, House of Delegates member, State Senator among them have no opponents. On the other hand, there’s no statewide elections this cycle so it’s going to be a long lonely day with the lowest turnout of the 4 year cycle.
goblue72
@Arm The Homeless: White dude who is “down with the blacks” so its ok for him to say “Nigga” 100 times a day. That persona.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@MomSense:
It’s hard to tell from the angle of that video, but the two guys who saunter past the “sisters” are Daveed Diggs and Okieriete Onaodowan — there are longer versions that show their faces.
I noticed the other day that there’s a newish commenter named Hercules Mulligan, so we may have a fan club of three already.
bemused
@benw:
Lol, that should be a gif.
MomSense
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
My middle son bought the soundtrack because he is a history nerd who loves rap and hip hop. He hasn’t had time to delve into what he calls “deep YouTube” because school is so busy but we are planning on some video sessions between Christmas and New Year.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Gin & Tonic:
I think it’s worth thinking about the cost before committing to a pet — some people don’t seem to realize that pet food and vet bills cost money and their pet ends up in a shelter or worse because they can’t afford it.
Our youngest cat — the one G found in a parking lot — will probably end up costing us the most money overall because she has a heart murmur that needs to be checked on once a year. Fortunately, we can afford it, but it’s something people should think about before deciding to get a pet.
Arm The Homeless
@goblue72: Have you ever seen him do that, outside of Pulp Fiction?
I think that he is quite OK with writing dialogue from the underbelly of American Society in such a way that the impact of the term is blunted.
Somehow I don’t think Samuel Jackson needs parts bad enough that he feels it’s necessary to bite his tongue when asked to recite those lines. So if it’s good enough for Mr. Jackson and Jamie Foxx, who am I to complain?
But I am open to the critique.
Shana
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): My dad always said the free cats are the most expensive.
Also, can I be in the club? There’s a tumbler called “The Federalist Freestyle” that collects lots of stuff about the show. Worth checking out.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@MomSense:
Has he discovered the annotated lyrics on Genius.com (aka RapGenius) yet?
http://genius.com/albums/Lin-manuel-miranda/Hamilton-original-broadway-cast-recording
It’s all crowdsourced, but it should get us through until Lin-Manuel finishes and publishes his annotated version.
satby
@lamh36: Happy Birthday!
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Peale: I’m thinking good pup health thoughts.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Shana:
A fourth member of the BJ Hamilton Fan Club!
I couldn’t tell from dedc79’s comment if s/he was a fan, so you may be member #5.
Doug R
@MomSense: Why does CBS have to put Supergirl on the same time as Gotham? Sure annoys the hell out of this DC fanboy
shell
@Real Change: Oh Lordy, your posts just get funnier and funnier. You cant even come up to the level of a grade-z press agent.
lamh36
“James Bond Movie Theme Songs, Ranked Worst to Best
From A-Ha to Adele, breaking down the franchise’s legendary (and legendarily bad) opening numbers”
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@lamh36: Hey Happy Birthday! Enjoy your rest.
Betty Cracker
@goblue72: I know he’s played characters like that, but is he that way in real life?
MomSense
@Doug R:
Ooh is Supergirl good? I’m thinking I’ll try and catch up by watching on demand.
Gotham is really growing on me.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Arm The Homeless:
To jump in for a minute, my Tarantino opinion is that he’s one of those directors who’s able to say more with his art than he can consciously verbalize, which is why he ends up with repeated bouts of foot in mouth disease. Ironically, I think Spike Lee is the same way, which may be one of the reasons why they clash so much.
satby
@Peale: I had 5 foster kittens with that once and it was ugly. Every one of them survived, the carpet in the living room was a casualty though. Hope your pup is ok soon.
satby
@Real Change: too obviously snark at this point.
gogol's wife
@MomSense:
I had a chance to see him give the commencement address last spring, but I didn’t go (various reasons). My husband said it was very good (and he’s oblivious to stuff like that).
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@gogol’s wife:
FYI, I checked and “Dracula AD 1972” is definitely on Watch TCM. G will be at a library conference this weekend, so I’m tempted to pour a glass of wine and watch it.
JPL
@Shana: Odd year elections should be outlawed. The turnout is so low, that I’m not sure that it is a sample of what the electorate want. While saying that, I was out today waving signs and getting wet. It’s a rainy day in GA, or so the song goes. I’ll be out in the morning 6:45 but will be home by 10:00.
MomSense
I’m now hearing all the 6th grade gossip. Youngest is wondering why his friends are acting so strangely. Hmm, how do I explain the collision of hormones and middle school politics?
Baud
@MomSense:
Watch the GOP debates with him?
MomSense
@Baud:
He does a really good Carson imitation.
Baud
@MomSense:
I’m so sorry.
gogol's wife
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
I have to admit my ignorance — is “Watch TCM” an app (in which case I have no idea what that is), or can you just watch it on their website?
lamh36
@Doug R: I thought it would be on against Minority Report, which I actually do watch…I was surprised they’d pit DC vs DC but then I realized the producers of SG also produce Arrow and The Flash, so I’d guess they figured they’d get the viewers that don’t like Gotham cause it’s no Batman?
lamh36
@MomSense: I like the pilot. I”d give it a solid B. It can get better though.
Still, if they can find a way to get Mechad Brooks as Jimmy Olsen to go around shirtless for like any episode, I’d be happy to add it to my DVR…LOL
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@gogol’s wife:
It’s TCM’s streaming service, though you have to log in with your cable TV subscription. Go to TCM.com and click on “Watch TCM” in the top menu bar. You can stream to your computer or download the app for your mobile device. It’s very handy for those times you forget to set the DVR!
MazeDancer
@MomSense:
If you find anything, please share.
Have tried every theoretical search I can think of, but apparently people who go to “Hamilton” are too enthralled to rudely and, well, reprehensibly, destroy other high price ticket payers enjoyment of the experience and sneak vids.
On the one hand, this is great, because no one’s doing icky things, for which they should surely be reprimanded and thrown out of the theatre. On the other hand, not all of us can travel and/or pay a fortune. And are tired of viewing the paltry vids that are available. (Videos of the actual show, not the very nice ticket give away concerts they’ve been doing. Wonder if they’ll continue those in the vestibule or something during the winter?)
Really, they could do a giant money-making pay-per-view at absurd prices and not cut into their ticket sales.
different-church-lady
@MomSense: Do a lot of sixth graders know who Johnny Carson was?
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
Also, too, TCM’s Star of the Month for November is Norma Shearer. I may have to re-start my Pre-Code blog in her honor.
gogol's wife
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
Yes, do!
rikyrah
James Bond Movie Theme Songs, Ranked Worst to Best
From A-Ha to Adele, breaking down the franchise’s legendary (and legendarily bad) opening numbers
1 ‘Goldfinger’ (Shirley Bassey)
https://youtu.be/51Wg6k9cWhM
You were expecting someone else?
Where to begin with a song that almost every culturally literate person in the Western world has etched into their minds like the lines on their hands? The brassy call and response that triggers the track seems as natural a place to start as any, that two note phrase blasting the first real James Bond theme into our spinal cords even before Shirley Bassey can solder the wound shut. By the time her voice kicks in, instantly becoming as integral to the franchise as the Walther PPK or Sean Connery’s hedge maze of chest hair, John Barry has already gilded the 007 movies with a frivolous sense of danger; silly in the extreme but worth taking seriously.
But it’s Bassey who deserves the last word — and given her lung capacity, it’s hard to take it from her. The singer couldn’t have known the extent to which her performance would resonate in pop culture, but she holds that final note for so long that it may reverberate with us forever.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/lists/james-bond-movie-theme-songs-ranked-worst-to-best-20151102/goldfinger-shirley-bassey-20151030#ixzz3qNxpkGlE
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@MazeDancer:
The Metropolitan Opera has been doing pretty well with their simulcasts to movie theaters. I wonder if anyone at Fathom (the company that does it) has approached the producers of “Hamilton.”
gogol's wife
@MazeDancer: @Mnemosyne (iPhone):
I don’t know if this does anything for you. There was a video, but I can’t find it now (it wasn’t of the show, though, just people on the sidewalk outside talking about how great it is).
http://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2015/10/06/hamiltonbenefit/
Renie
@Real Change: Give it up. We all know you are not part of the ?JEB? team so go troll somewhere else. Telling us all this reboot crap, rebrand nonsense is a waste of time, cuz NONE of us will ever vote for ?JEB?.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@MazeDancer:
Also, they did a “Great Performances” documentary about Miranda’s previous Tony Award-winner, “In The Heights,” so I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s one in the works for “Hamilton.”
Also, shall we add you to the official BJ Hamilton Fans roster?
Pogonip
@redshirt: I don’t know, but if you pay him off early you’ll be able to trade him on a Great Dane.
I haven’t had a dog in ages but I imagine that dog-day-care, while a great idea (no more piles if you get delayed!) might cost X-hundred dollars a month. And I know that keeping bulldogs alive is very, very expensive.
The last time I had a dog, dog-day-care consisted of putting the dog in the yard with his necessities till you got back. Which, I suppose, is how cats came to be associated with apartment living.
Shana
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): I’d see that from here in the DC area.
lamh36
Wishing the biggest Happy Birthday to my favorite nephew! 10 years ago today he was this cute lil puffy cheeked 6 year old…today he’s a surly, rude self-absorbed 16 year old boy who is already tired of our bullshhhh…ya know..A REGULAR OLE TEENAGER…LOL.
Pogonip
@jmt: Or train it yourself–more fun and cheaper!
JPL
@lamh36: Have a wonderful week. I hope that means that you’ll be able to post more during the day.
Also, Happy Birthday to your nephew.
lamh36
ICYMI, my blog post from March on my personal James Bond theme song list:
Bond…James Bond! Top Ten Theme Songs and Favorite Bond…
Pogonip
@lamh36: Happy birthday to you, your nephew, and to Zoe when the big 4-mo rolls around!
Pogonip
Re dog training: you will become much more fluent in Canine if you read Patricia McConnell’s “The Other End of the Leash.”
goblue72
@Arm The Homeless: Whether or not Sam Jackson feels comfortable appearing in a Tarantino movie is not a rebuttal to criticisms leveled at Tarantino. That’s like using a “my black friend” argument. And I find Spike Lee’s criticisms more trenchant and on-point than those of Tarantino’s defenders. He throws around his “niggas” so often in his movies (110 times in Django) that at a certain point one stops accepting it as an artistic choice and starts agreeing with Spike – “There’s something wrong with him.” Its not just in Pulp Fiction that he does this – its Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Django – even slipped it into Inglorious Basterds (in French)
He’s a pop fantasist – as far as those things go – who likes to wrap the cloak of “art” around himself when convenient to cover up the vapidity of a lot of his work. Which would be fine as far as it goes, but he’s gone on some long with his “nigga” schtick, that some of the criticisms have started to stick – that its gone from an artistic choice to a weird obsession. And its particularly loaded – and racist – word to choose for one’s obsessions.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@gogol’s wife:
Until this show, I didn’t realize that Wesleyan is basically the feeder school to Broadway like USC is the feeder school to Hollywood. Very interesting.
MazeDancer
@gogol’s wife:
Thanks. And lucky Wesleyan to have so presciently accepted Lin Manuel Miranda.
Here’s Leslie Odoms, Jr., who plays Aaron Burr doing “In the Room Where it Happens”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISPISYEp8Aw
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
Yes, of course, please add me to the BJ Hamilton fan club. But with the asterisk of “Haven’t seen it yet, probably not going to spend the grand to do so before July”
For musical lovers everywhere, here’s a sweet, tear inducing moment. Hamilton is playing in same theatre where Chorus Line had its amazing run. And they were both Public Theatre productions. So in April this year, the cast of Hamilton celebrated the cast of Chorus Line, on the 40th anniversary of the opening of Chorus Line. And members of the Hamilton chorus – not its stars – sang the solos. Quite beautiful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqqjJFHV5qY
rikyrah
HE TOSSED A BOMB…
Anyone want to explain to me why he wasn’t shot on sight for being a domestic terrorist?
…………………………………………..
Mississippi Flag Backer Accused of Tossing Bomb in Wal-Mart
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TUPELO, Miss. — Nov 2, 2015, 6:30 PM ET
A man who’s known for flying a 4-foot-long Mississippi state flag on his car has been accused of bombing a Wal-Mart because the chain stopped selling the flag, the police chief said Monday.
The explosive made a loud bang but did no damage when it was thrown early Sunday into the 24-hour Wal-Mart in Tupelo, Police Chief Bart Aguirre said Monday. He said bomb technicians reported that the package held enough explosive to damage the store if it had been assembled differently.
Marshall E. Leonard of Tupelo, a northeast Mississippi city of 34,500, was jailed on a charge of detonating an explosive, and police were searching his car and home, Aguirre said.
Wal-Mart is among retailers that stopped selling merchandise bearing reproductions of the Confederate battle flag — which makes up the upper left section of the Mississippi state flag — after the June 17 killing of nine black worshippers at a church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Some Mississippi cities and institutions also have stopped flying the state flag.
“He’s a strong supporter of keeping that flag flying. … This is his way of bringing attention to that,” Aguirre said.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mississippi-flag-backer-accused-tossing-bomb-wal-mart-34923732
Goblue72
@rikyrah: he’s just bringing attention to the issue, said Sheriff Goober
schrodinger's cat
Your doggies look so serene and pretty. Thanks for sharing.
rikyrah
@feebog:
good you have a diagnosis.
PurpleGirl
When my friends were still living in Peekskill it was cheaper to pay for my commute to work in Manhattan than to try and board the animals when they had business trips or vacations. Besides which, they had two parrots which can’t be boarded out anyway — too easy for them to pick up something and get sick. Vets will take other animals but not parrots.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@MazeDancer:
I probably won’t be seeing it until the summer of 2017 at the earliest, so you’re already ahead of me. My husband is starting grad school in January and I’ve promised to take him to NYC to see “Hamilton” as a graduation present since neither of us have been there before.
CTVoter
Late to this. Betty? I just wanted to thank you for posting pics of the girls. I’ve been a bit afraid of boxers ever since one nearly killed my rat terrier, and two others (with dickish owners) terrorized the neighborhood, killing cats and other pets. (When I moved here, I had no idea that it was a hotbed of bad boxer owners).
Your pics lessen that fear.
Arm The Homeless
@goblue72: As I said, I am open to the critique, but claiming that this is a artistic/personality tic or Tarantino’s is self serving. It gives you the pasty bogey-man that is coercing fine, upstanding, church crown wearing black folk to engage in a modern Stepin Fetchit routines for equally pasty audiences.
Here is what Tarantino has to say about it, and I mostly can get behind this thought.
I don’t go to see Tarantino flicks for socially conscious baddies.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Arm The Homeless:
Ironically, I think Tarantino’s use of “nigger” is more defensible in “Django Unchained” than in his contemporary films. That really was just the standard, uncontroversial word at the time, which is why some parents always want to ban “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”
Arm The Homeless
@Mnemosyne (tablet): I like that he writes horrible people doing and saying horrible things. When I watch one of his movies, I love that 95% of the characters require conscious effort to empathize with.
Hateful 8 is described as having no good guys. I think this might be the culmination of his career, taking what he learned from his early films and stripping away the last vestiges of comfort for his audience.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@MazeDancer:
I’m very curious to see how Odom does at the Tonys — he lost the Drama Desk award to the guy who played the Bard in “Something Rotten.”
@Arm The Homeless:
I’m really curious about “Hateful 8.” When I first saw the trailer, I was wondering who was playing the blonde girl and was fascinated to see it’s 50-year-old Jennifer Jason Lee, so not a “girl” at all. Makes it much more interesting as an acting battle.
jmt
@Pogonip:
I do train my dogs myself for the most part (as a professional dog training instructor for 20 years, now retired), but class settings are great fun for me and my dogs. We mostly take classes in Rally and Freestyle, as well as early puppy or basic classes. It’s kinda cool that some of my teachers are people who started dog training as my students.