I am listening to the Boston-Houston game on my phone, and reading this fine blog.
3.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
BADGER!!! I’m not sure where Harry’s curled up. I’m having a spot of tequila after finishing today’s hours on an interesting project with an obnoxiously aggressive deadline. But at least the weather has cooled off.
Did you read about the honorary Florida Man who was trying to kill his son with a chainsaw and got run over by the lawn mower said son was mowing with? Tennessee is making a strong run in the fools get hurt stakes.
4.
Gin & Tonic
Still the beisbol
5.
RandomMonster
Packing up the house for our big move to Baltimore. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. On Tuesday we’ll be on the road.
6.
opiejeanne
@Gin & Tonic: beisbol bin verrah verrah good to me.
I just finished cooking up a whole chicken on the wood grill. I was going to post the recipe tonight, but I’ll wait until tomorrow, I didn’t realize how late it was…and of course, there are Red Sox to finish watching. For those who cannot wait, here’s the link.
Feel free to let me know how you like the new blog design.
No offense to anyone here who allows it, but I just don’t get the whole “indoor/outdoor cat” thing unless they are working cats. We now have too much invested in our kittehs to let them roam in harm’s way.
@khead: My cats are limited to the backyard, mostly mornings while I’m around to call them back in. As long as they don’t violate those rules, it’s good for them. Fresh grass, fresh air. But I understand not everyone’s cat will do that. Mine lived in a tiny space with only a deck for so long, I’m happy I can allow them this.
13.
Amir Khalid
@TaMara (HFG):
Nice and clean. I just wish there more posts on each page.
14.
RandomMonster
@Betty Cracker: Coast to coast! We plan on making Reno NV on day 1, and from there playing it by ear. But with two yowling kittehs and a pooch, we’re going as directly and swiftly as possible…
Joe West, the worst ump in the MLB still gets to call the big games.
Yeah, that was a hit by pitch, but he still sucks.
16.
Steeplejack
My TV broke about a week before I went out of town, and I haven’t started the process of shopping for a new one since I got back a week ago. So I have been exploring the world of no TV with occasional streaming on the computer. Which has worked pretty well, I have to say. I streamed the Dodgers-Brewers game earlier and currently have the Astros and Red Sox on now. It’s convenient to have it open in a Firefox tab, listen to the audio while browsing and flip over at crucial moments.
Note: This is not “cutting the cord,” because on all the channels where I have streamed a game I had to put in my Cox Cable user name and password to get vetted.
Other than that, pretty ordinary Saturday night. I kicked up the housecat’s workstation heating pad to 3 (“low simmer”) because the apartment temperature has dropped about four degrees with the sudden cooling outside the last few days. I haven’t turned on the heat yet this season. Currently 49° outside, going up to 62° tomorrow.
And tomorrow morning I’m going over to Sighthound Hall for a “brunch” honoring my niece’s fourth birthday. Because there will be many Brazilians involved, the word brunch is entirely inadequate. It will be a big-ass adult party, and it will be great.
@Amir Khalid: I can change that, I just wanted people to be able to find the search bar. How many posts do you think would be a good balance?
18.
RandomMonster
@khead: We did fine for a long time letting our cats out for the day and calling them in at night. When we moved to mountain lion country, that had to stop. At this point I don’t think I would let any of my cats outside.
The new site looks good. As for front-page posts, maybe six or seven? It’s hard to quantify, but I agree with Amir that currently it feels like “not enough” (four posts). Maybe affected by two of them being “something wood grill.”
A few more would give a better sense of variety, and since screen real estate is cheap . . . Plus the site is clean-looking and responsive, so it’s not a hassle to scroll/page down.
Okay, I upped the posts to 8. I really apprecaite the feedback. Thank you.
25.
Bruuuuce
@Mike J: You should be glad, then, that West himself got hit by an errant throw on a stolen base. Ironically, the runner who stole was in for the guy who was hit by the pitch.
26.
Ben Cisco
@RandomMonster: Heh. Just got back to Charlotte to pack up the house and head south. To new beginnings!
We never let our cats out unsupervised. Not because raccoons and coyotes were cat killers, but because cat’s are killers.
When we lived 4 floors up on the Downtown Eastside, we learned the hard way that Popo, the cat with the heart condition, couldn’t even be left out on the balcony unsupervised, when one day, he leapt 12 feet through the air to the balcony next door, just to kill a sparrow.
The first two years up here, there was no birdsong, no chipmunks, no treefrogs, no salamanders. Nothing at the bird feeders. The previous occupant’s had a managarie of “barn cats”, and they had killed off everything.
Looks like the Astros just issued the coup de grâce.
31.
RandomMonster
@Ben Cisco: Hey, good travels and all the best for your new beginnings, too! What’s your destination?
32.
Patricia Kayden
Watching SNL.
33.
RandomMonster
@Jay: Cat predation is a solid reason, too. Our outdoor cats were pretty efficient killing machines. We didn’t mind them killing gophers, because there was an endless supply of those, but we didn’t like them coming home with birds.
I have a cold and my partner is writing tonight, so I had a This Old House marathon. Didn’t get all the way through the Detroit series yet, but very interesting. Our own real life remodel feels so incredibly slow. Oh well, we hope to live there 20 years so whats a couple extra months??
37.
opiejeanne
@khead: When we lived on a quiet street where there were no coyotes we let our kitties roam a bit. they weren’t out at night though.
Now only one of the cats is allowed out and only with an escort, and on a timer. When we see or hear bald eagles or the big dogs in our neighborhood she gets scooped up and taken inside without ceremony. The other cat came from our daughter. He’s a lovely tuxedo cat, 13 years old, and the one time he was allowed out he went over the fence into the neighbor’s yard and it took more than an hour to track him down. She was letting him wander outside in Seattle, on a busy corner. He must have had some sense because he did that for a couple of years before we got him.
38.
opiejeanne
@Mike J: Just about every Angels fan will agree with you. Joe West needs to retire from umping.
39.
lurker dean
reinstalling os in laptop that crapped out this week. and watching the last season of anthony bourdain. his shows are so interesting , still so sad he’s gone. his philippines episodes nailed so much about the culture that i’ve never seen elsewhere.
40.
opiejeanne
@RandomMonster: We are now in mountain lion country. We’re only missing a tiger now. Oh my!
One was sighted near the elementary school about 4 weeks ago, two weeks ago about five doors down from our house, but understand that’s more than a quarter of a mile because of the huge lots some of the neighbors have.
@Steeplejack: I got rid of DirecTVk about a year or so ago and got SlingTV streaming, watched the UCLA-CAL game this afternoon(UCLA is no longer winless).
47.
Amir Khalid
I just realised that it was my headphones that had died. I swapped them for an identical pair that I use on my guitar amp, and now I’m getting perfect audio out of my laptop. I just wish I’d tried this before spending RM130 on Bluetooth headphones.
48.
RandomMonster
@opiejeanne: Yeah, you have to watch out, right? There have been local reports here of mountain lions scooping up pets on leash with a human nearby!
The writing event I was at today was great, but now I’m totally exhausted. I started interacting with people at 9 am and just got back to my room at 10 pm. I am DONE with human interaction for the night.
The National Park Service is proposing new restrictions on protests near the White House and on the Mall, as well as other areas of DC. In proper Trumpian fashion, their justification is laughably slim. The public comment period ends Monday night, and if I’m reading it right, there are only 300 comments, so go!
Here’s mine:
I oppose the proposed changes. They are presented with little justification beyond the debatable claim that NPS has the power to do so. Restricting areas near the White House is a direct attempt to shield the president from citizens exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right to petition their government. Restricting the Mall is an assault on the most prominent forum for free speech by large groups in the country. Nothing that has happened in these areas in recent years justices these changes; if there are problems to be addressed, they should be stated clearly and the proposed changes should be supported with evidence that they are the least burdensome on legitimate activity by all Americans. The lack of such evidence creates the impression that NPS is more concerned with protecting government officials from citizens than in protecting citizens’ rights.
52.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Redshift:
If you click on that comments button that says 300 it bring up over 10,000 results that are evidently public comments. A lot more than just 300 so rest a little easier.
I like your comment. It’s totally spot on and just a way to shield Trump from hearing criticism.
Good to know. I’m sort of taking this TV disruption thing as an opportunity to rethink/reconfigure my whole “media setup,” such as it is. For example, I’ve got a DVD player that hasn’t been hooked up in years; ditto a receiver and bookshelf speakers. (I’ve been using a Vizio sound “base” that is all right, but just that.) And I’d like to look at going beyond Netflix to things like BritBox, FilmStruck, etc. Don’t know that I’m ready to let go of Cox, but that might be worth looking at too.
Well, one of Daddy strictest rules is that you can never have too much hardware. So there’s that.
57.
Aleta
I’m trying to come up with an enclosure for the cats that isn’t too costly and labor intensive (because we’ll have to hire someone) to put up.
Both cats came from hard backgrounds. Though I keep them in now, they get anxious once a day trying to go out. If they do escape (one’s learned to hide near the door at dog walk time), they come right back. One immediately pees in the grass (he’s not marking) and then comes right in. The other will sit hidden in a bush watching the world and then she returns relaxed, instead of anxious and hissy as she is other days.
I finally concluded it may be better for their health (for these cats, not saying all cats) to not get that stressed.
(They already get exercised w. toys, stimulated w/ things, have lots of windows, and come arounf to ask for brushing and petting. They’re relaxed around the dog, who’s gentle and leaves them alone. Dog and both cats sleep together on the bed during the day; and only cats at night.)
They just seem to panic once a day if they think they’re trapped. Any suggestions about making a safe roomy outdoor enclosure would be welcome.
I’m annoyed by who they decided to kill off. I understand why they made that choice for the purposes of setting up the most interesting conflict between the remaining characters for subsequent episodes, but I was still annoyed.
And I had not realized how much of the idea of “the Doctor” is conveyed through the way the Doctor’s dialogue is structured until they had a woman playing the character but still talking the way the Doctor always has in terms of word choice, sentence structure, etc. That was interesting from a writing POV.
60.
opiejeanne
@RandomMonster: OH geez! As if the eagles and coyotes and the bear weren’t enough. The mountain lion hasn’t been seen for 3 or 4 years in the area but just before we left town the neighborhood blast notified us. The big cat has been in yards down the hill to the south of us about 9 years ago, then again in the same area 3 or 4 years ago. It was first spotted to the northwest about a mile from us near the elementary school on property where there’s a saddle club but no horses are housed there. A few days later it was about 5 doors down to the west, and across the road in a horse pasture. (We’re on a corner.) I don’t know where the horses were when it was spotted there.
@Mnemosyne: it was interesting to observe my own reactions to seeing the doctor doing the same things, but as a woman. Especially the physical humor/gestural weirdness parts, it felt rather different.
As for the part you’re talking about I had the exact same reaction.
@Mnemosyne: I did notice just a bit of that language continuity but I didn’t stop to consider it that way, just thought she sounded a lot like the previous doctor when she spoke, aside from her accent.
@opiejeanne: I’ve seen 10 and 11’s debut episodes a number of times and she sounded a bit like 10 as well, IMO; but primarily she sounded like a regenerating Doctor.
@Mnemosyne: I hear ya! Last week when I canvassed and the other guy suggested quitting at 2 even though we hadn’t finished the turf my response was “I’ve maxed out my extroversion for today.”
67.
Aleta
@Bemused senior: Thanks. They look fantastic, but way out of reach, price-wise.
There used to be a lot of out door cats around here – but now there are none. The coyotes have taken a share and then the owls and Bald Eagles. Recently an abandoned bald eagle nest was removed from a toppling tree. Inside this nest were found a large number of cat collars.
So, yes, my cat is an indoor cat. He actually saved the life of my Chihuahua puppy. I was walking the Chihuahua and carrying the cat – the cat suddenly looked up and nearly jumped out of my arms. I looked where the cat was looking and saw a great white owl on a downward decent – claw out and pointed at the puppy. I managed to yank the leash toward me just as the owl hit the ground were the puppy had been seconds before. Cat is a hero. I think the cat wanted to jump on the owl.
Oh, man, no kidding. Virtual contact is about all I can take now. I’ve been interacting with three 15-year-old boys (son and his friends) all day, and even though they are, as teen boys go, reasonably well-mannered and pleasant, they’re still TEEN BOYS. They finally piped down and went off to bed a little while ago, and immediately my husband walked in after his evening out and I almost bit his head off for interrupting my first moment of peace since this morning.
70.
Bruuuuce
@Mnemosyne: @Major Major Major Major: IIRC the character whose removal you’re discussing appears in the series trailer in scenes that are clearly not from the premier, so either’s a return to life or else significant flashbacks coming.
I knew she was The Doctor from Go, but realized it viscerally from this:
“Do you have a plan?”
“Yes”
“…”
“No, not yet. But I will by the time I get up there.”
Mary G linked to this on Friday. I posted a comment right away. At that time, there were 7,600+ comments. So it’s less dire, but still a very tiny response.
ETA: Actually, her link went to a different page. Maybe there are multiple places to leave comments?
72.
WaterGirl
Badger, you goofball, adorable, as always!
Betty, either you are the best dog-picker-outer ever, or you got really lucky with Badger. That face!
“No matter what we do with laws — let’s say we went to all solar panels and did all that stuff, which is not realistic — this trend would still continue,” Rubio told CNN’s Jake Tapper …
Rubio said that the effects of climate change “are going be in place no matter what happens with our energy policy — but I’m also not going to destroy our economy…”
I really never know what to make of these idiots who think destroying the planet isn’t going to destroy the economy.
We have one semi-feral cat who insists on being outside when the weather is pretty – pretty much 23 hours a day unless it’s storming. Now that it’s getting cold, though, she will be inside more. Also since she’s getting older. She’s very slender and athletic, and hunts rodents very effectively.
The other cat is 95% indoors, even when it’s pretty outside. She hunts anything, but is not so athletic, so gets a bird some summers, and some years a chipmunk or woods rat. Yes, rats live in the woods. They have a hard life competing with the real outdoors species, and so don’t get very big. Both cats are pretty good about predating on them.
They’re both pretty affectionate when indoors, the big slow cat sleeps on the bed, when I go to bed she lays on my lap for scritches and purrs while I read for a little bit. Then when I roll over to sleep she moves to the foot of the bed. She will come and go during the night, but isn’t obnoxious about it.
Living in the Appalachian forest, I can’t see our two cats being a danger to anything, really. We’re so surrounded by wildlife here. Plus there are so few cats per square mile of woods. I’m thinking 3 cats per mile right now around us. May be lower than that, really.
I saw those regulations, read through them. Then I commented by quoting the First Amendment, which is a cut and dried about Congress shall make no law… restricting the right of the people to assemble peacefully to petition their government for redress, words to that effect. Shall make NO LAW is pretty unambiguous, no wriggle room there at all as far as I’m concerned.
76.
WaterGirl
@J R in WV: Thanks to your comment, which inspired me to comment also, I just submitted my comment.
I just said: “What you are proposing is WRONG.”
And then I pasted in the first amendment. It didn’t take long. Everyone should do it; you don’t have to write a book.
As pointed out, some of the dialog was simply typical of a regenerating doctor. The important thing to note is that overall, to me, the dialog was believable as a female character particularly the displays of empathy and reassurance. For example, (poor paraphrase) “I’m sorry these bad things are happening to you, I’m sorry I haven’t figured this all out yet.”
I will watch Series 11 because it features a woman. While some of the reaction to a female doctor is, in my option, sexist – even I had a serious concern that the character would simply be a woman reading dialog written for a male character by a male screen-writer. I don’t feel that happened in episode one. I liked that she was funny and empathetic and didn’t take herself too seriously. There are a few things I was not fond of or am cautious about in the first episode. However, it is a good start, in my opinion.
79.
WaterGirl
@Dotsee: I am about to watch the first episode of the season, so I have no opinions yet, but I am looking forward to it. I have never watched Doctor Who before, but I love the actor that plays the new Doctor, so I am giving it a go.
The thread is pretty dead, so I don’t know if you will see any more replies to your comment. Don’t take it personally. :-)
SiubhanDuinne
BADGER!!
Dear Christ, that puppy is cute!
Jerzy Russian
I am listening to the Boston-Houston game on my phone, and reading this fine blog.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
BADGER!!! I’m not sure where Harry’s curled up. I’m having a spot of tequila after finishing today’s hours on an interesting project with an obnoxiously aggressive deadline. But at least the weather has cooled off.
Did you read about the honorary Florida Man who was trying to kill his son with a chainsaw and got run over by the lawn mower said son was mowing with? Tennessee is making a strong run in the fools get hurt stakes.
Gin & Tonic
Still the beisbol
RandomMonster
Packing up the house for our big move to Baltimore. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. On Tuesday we’ll be on the road.
opiejeanne
@Gin & Tonic: beisbol bin verrah verrah good to me.
opiejeanne
Oh Miz Betty, That dog is so damned cute!
Betty Cracker
@RandomMonster: Will it be a very long drive?
TaMara (HFG)
Badger is balm for the soul.
I just finished cooking up a whole chicken on the wood grill. I was going to post the recipe tonight, but I’ll wait until tomorrow, I didn’t realize how late it was…and of course, there are Red Sox to finish watching. For those who cannot wait, here’s the link.
Feel free to let me know how you like the new blog design.
khead
No offense to anyone here who allows it, but I just don’t get the whole “indoor/outdoor cat” thing unless they are working cats. We now have too much invested in our kittehs to let them roam in harm’s way.
TaMara (HFG)
@TaMara (HFG): Oh, and one more plug for the Author in our Midst/Writers Chatting tomorrow around 3 pm EDT
TaMara (HFG)
@khead: My cats are limited to the backyard, mostly mornings while I’m around to call them back in. As long as they don’t violate those rules, it’s good for them. Fresh grass, fresh air. But I understand not everyone’s cat will do that. Mine lived in a tiny space with only a deck for so long, I’m happy I can allow them this.
Amir Khalid
@TaMara (HFG):
Nice and clean. I just wish there more posts on each page.
RandomMonster
@Betty Cracker: Coast to coast! We plan on making Reno NV on day 1, and from there playing it by ear. But with two yowling kittehs and a pooch, we’re going as directly and swiftly as possible…
Mike J
Joe West, the worst ump in the MLB still gets to call the big games.
Yeah, that was a hit by pitch, but he still sucks.
Steeplejack
My TV broke about a week before I went out of town, and I haven’t started the process of shopping for a new one since I got back a week ago. So I have been exploring the world of no TV with occasional streaming on the computer. Which has worked pretty well, I have to say. I streamed the Dodgers-Brewers game earlier and currently have the Astros and Red Sox on now. It’s convenient to have it open in a Firefox tab, listen to the audio while browsing and flip over at crucial moments.
Note: This is not “cutting the cord,” because on all the channels where I have streamed a game I had to put in my Cox Cable user name and password to get vetted.
Other than that, pretty ordinary Saturday night. I kicked up the housecat’s workstation heating pad to 3 (“low simmer”) because the apartment temperature has dropped about four degrees with the sudden cooling outside the last few days. I haven’t turned on the heat yet this season. Currently 49° outside, going up to 62° tomorrow.
And tomorrow morning I’m going over to Sighthound Hall for a “brunch” honoring my niece’s fourth birthday. Because there will be many Brazilians involved, the word brunch is entirely inadequate. It will be a big-ass adult party, and it will be great.
TaMara (HFG)
@Amir Khalid: I can change that, I just wanted people to be able to find the search bar. How many posts do you think would be a good balance?
RandomMonster
@khead: We did fine for a long time letting our cats out for the day and calling them in at night. When we moved to mountain lion country, that had to stop. At this point I don’t think I would let any of my cats outside.
James E Powell
@Mike J:
I thought the worst was Angel Hernandez.
Betty Cracker
@RandomMonster: How exciting! Best of luck on the trip.
Mike J
@James E Powell: ESPN radio calls them the two worst in MLB, so it’s a bit of a tossup. Both make everybody’s list every year.
RandomMonster
@Betty Cracker: Oh thank you! It’s a big life event and we’re excited about starting in a new place.
Steeplejack
@TaMara (HFG):
The new site looks good. As for front-page posts, maybe six or seven? It’s hard to quantify, but I agree with Amir that currently it feels like “not enough” (four posts). Maybe affected by two of them being “something wood grill.”
A few more would give a better sense of variety, and since screen real estate is cheap . . . Plus the site is clean-looking and responsive, so it’s not a hassle to scroll/page down.
TaMara (HFG)
@Steeplejack:
@Amir Khalid:
Okay, I upped the posts to 8. I really apprecaite the feedback. Thank you.
Bruuuuce
@Mike J: You should be glad, then, that West himself got hit by an errant throw on a stolen base. Ironically, the runner who stole was in for the guy who was hit by the pitch.
Ben Cisco
@RandomMonster: Heh. Just got back to Charlotte to pack up the house and head south. To new beginnings!
Jay
@RandomMonster:
We never let our cats out unsupervised. Not because raccoons and coyotes were cat killers, but because cat’s are killers.
When we lived 4 floors up on the Downtown Eastside, we learned the hard way that Popo, the cat with the heart condition, couldn’t even be left out on the balcony unsupervised, when one day, he leapt 12 feet through the air to the balcony next door, just to kill a sparrow.
The first two years up here, there was no birdsong, no chipmunks, no treefrogs, no salamanders. Nothing at the bird feeders. The previous occupant’s had a managarie of “barn cats”, and they had killed off everything.
TaMara (HFG)
This game is killing me. ugh.
Steeplejack
@TaMara (HFG):
Whoa, that’s too many!
Just kidding. It “feels” much better now, especially since you do the two ’graphs and “read more” thing. Nice and clean.
Steeplejack
@TaMara (HFG):
Looks like the Astros just issued the coup de grâce.
RandomMonster
@Ben Cisco: Hey, good travels and all the best for your new beginnings, too! What’s your destination?
Patricia Kayden
Watching SNL.
RandomMonster
@Jay: Cat predation is a solid reason, too. Our outdoor cats were pretty efficient killing machines. We didn’t mind them killing gophers, because there was an endless supply of those, but we didn’t like them coming home with birds.
Amir Khalid
@TaMara (HFG):
It looks perfect now.
rikyrah
Badger is absolutely adorable ??
Raoul
I have a cold and my partner is writing tonight, so I had a This Old House marathon. Didn’t get all the way through the Detroit series yet, but very interesting. Our own real life remodel feels so incredibly slow. Oh well, we hope to live there 20 years so whats a couple extra months??
opiejeanne
@khead: When we lived on a quiet street where there were no coyotes we let our kitties roam a bit. they weren’t out at night though.
Now only one of the cats is allowed out and only with an escort, and on a timer. When we see or hear bald eagles or the big dogs in our neighborhood she gets scooped up and taken inside without ceremony. The other cat came from our daughter. He’s a lovely tuxedo cat, 13 years old, and the one time he was allowed out he went over the fence into the neighbor’s yard and it took more than an hour to track him down. She was letting him wander outside in Seattle, on a busy corner. He must have had some sense because he did that for a couple of years before we got him.
opiejeanne
@Mike J: Just about every Angels fan will agree with you. Joe West needs to retire from umping.
lurker dean
reinstalling os in laptop that crapped out this week. and watching the last season of anthony bourdain. his shows are so interesting , still so sad he’s gone. his philippines episodes nailed so much about the culture that i’ve never seen elsewhere.
opiejeanne
@RandomMonster: We are now in mountain lion country. We’re only missing a tiger now. Oh my!
One was sighted near the elementary school about 4 weeks ago, two weeks ago about five doors down from our house, but understand that’s more than a quarter of a mile because of the huge lots some of the neighbors have.
Ben Cisco
@RandomMonster: Alabama. Back home.
TaMara (HFG)
@Amir Khalid: ❤❤❤
NotMax
If I had something to say I would. But I don’t so I won’t.
:)
Mike in DC
It’s inexplicable, but I actually liked the “Bayou Benny’s Liberal Lagniappe” sketch on SNL.
kdbart
GCB Dems +11 RV +13 LV Washington Post/ABC https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/voters-say-they-are-more-likely-to-cast-ballots-in-this-years-midterm-elections/2018/10/13/c8dd8198-ce63-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html?utm_term=.f11798fa8c12
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack: I got rid of DirecTVk about a year or so ago and got SlingTV streaming, watched the UCLA-CAL game this afternoon(UCLA is no longer winless).
Amir Khalid
I just realised that it was my headphones that had died. I swapped them for an identical pair that I use on my guitar amp, and now I’m getting perfect audio out of my laptop. I just wish I’d tried this before spending RM130 on Bluetooth headphones.
RandomMonster
@opiejeanne: Yeah, you have to watch out, right? There have been local reports here of mountain lions scooping up pets on leash with a human nearby!
RandomMonster
@Ben Cisco: Welcome home then!
Mnemosyne
The writing event I was at today was great, but now I’m totally exhausted. I started interacting with people at 9 am and just got back to my room at 10 pm. I am DONE with human interaction for the night.
Redshift
The National Park Service is proposing new restrictions on protests near the White House and on the Mall, as well as other areas of DC. In proper Trumpian fashion, their justification is laughably slim. The public comment period ends Monday night, and if I’m reading it right, there are only 300 comments, so go!
Here’s mine:
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Redshift:
If you click on that comments button that says 300 it bring up over 10,000 results that are evidently public comments. A lot more than just 300 so rest a little easier.
I like your comment. It’s totally spot on and just a way to shield Trump from hearing criticism.
Redshift
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Whew! Thanks for supporting that.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Whoops. I meant the proposed regulations, not your comment. I can’t blame lack of an edit button on this one.
Steeplejack
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Good to know. I’m sort of taking this TV disruption thing as an opportunity to rethink/reconfigure my whole “media setup,” such as it is. For example, I’ve got a DVD player that hasn’t been hooked up in years; ditto a receiver and bookshelf speakers. (I’ve been using a Vizio sound “base” that is all right, but just that.) And I’d like to look at going beyond Netflix to things like BritBox, FilmStruck, etc. Don’t know that I’m ready to let go of Cox, but that might be worth looking at too.
Steeplejack
@Amir Khalid:
Well, one of Daddy strictest rules is that you can never have too much hardware. So there’s that.
Aleta
I’m trying to come up with an enclosure for the cats that isn’t too costly and labor intensive (because we’ll have to hire someone) to put up.
Both cats came from hard backgrounds. Though I keep them in now, they get anxious once a day trying to go out. If they do escape (one’s learned to hide near the door at dog walk time), they come right back. One immediately pees in the grass (he’s not marking) and then comes right in. The other will sit hidden in a bush watching the world and then she returns relaxed, instead of anxious and hissy as she is other days.
I finally concluded it may be better for their health (for these cats, not saying all cats) to not get that stressed.
(They already get exercised w. toys, stimulated w/ things, have lots of windows, and come arounf to ask for brushing and petting. They’re relaxed around the dog, who’s gentle and leaves them alone. Dog and both cats sleep together on the bed during the day; and only cats at night.)
They just seem to panic once a day if they think they’re trapped. Any suggestions about making a safe roomy outdoor enclosure would be welcome.
Major Major Major Major
Watched the Doctor Who premier. Never do like the new doctor intro episodes, except David Tennant’s.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
I’m annoyed by who they decided to kill off. I understand why they made that choice for the purposes of setting up the most interesting conflict between the remaining characters for subsequent episodes, but I was still annoyed.
And I had not realized how much of the idea of “the Doctor” is conveyed through the way the Doctor’s dialogue is structured until they had a woman playing the character but still talking the way the Doctor always has in terms of word choice, sentence structure, etc. That was interesting from a writing POV.
opiejeanne
@RandomMonster: OH geez! As if the eagles and coyotes and the bear weren’t enough. The mountain lion hasn’t been seen for 3 or 4 years in the area but just before we left town the neighborhood blast notified us. The big cat has been in yards down the hill to the south of us about 9 years ago, then again in the same area 3 or 4 years ago. It was first spotted to the northwest about a mile from us near the elementary school on property where there’s a saddle club but no horses are housed there. A few days later it was about 5 doors down to the west, and across the road in a horse pasture. (We’re on a corner.) I don’t know where the horses were when it was spotted there.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: it was interesting to observe my own reactions to seeing the doctor doing the same things, but as a woman. Especially the physical humor/gestural weirdness parts, it felt rather different.
As for the part you’re talking about I had the exact same reaction.
Bemused senior
@Aleta: Google catio.
opiejeanne
@Mnemosyne: I did notice just a bit of that language continuity but I didn’t stop to consider it that way, just thought she sounded a lot like the previous doctor when she spoke, aside from her accent.
Interesting.
Major Major Major Major
@opiejeanne: I’ve seen 10 and 11’s debut episodes a number of times and she sounded a bit like 10 as well, IMO; but primarily she sounded like a regenerating Doctor.
Redshift
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: And I meant thanks for spotting that. :-)
frosty
@Mnemosyne: I hear ya! Last week when I canvassed and the other guy suggested quitting at 2 even though we hadn’t finished the turf my response was “I’ve maxed out my extroversion for today.”
Aleta
@Bemused senior: Thanks. They look fantastic, but way out of reach, price-wise.
Barb 2
@RandomMonster:
There used to be a lot of out door cats around here – but now there are none. The coyotes have taken a share and then the owls and Bald Eagles. Recently an abandoned bald eagle nest was removed from a toppling tree. Inside this nest were found a large number of cat collars.
So, yes, my cat is an indoor cat. He actually saved the life of my Chihuahua puppy. I was walking the Chihuahua and carrying the cat – the cat suddenly looked up and nearly jumped out of my arms. I looked where the cat was looking and saw a great white owl on a downward decent – claw out and pointed at the puppy. I managed to yank the leash toward me just as the owl hit the ground were the puppy had been seconds before. Cat is a hero. I think the cat wanted to jump on the owl.
I love watching Badger growing up!
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@Mnemosyne:
Oh, man, no kidding. Virtual contact is about all I can take now. I’ve been interacting with three 15-year-old boys (son and his friends) all day, and even though they are, as teen boys go, reasonably well-mannered and pleasant, they’re still TEEN BOYS. They finally piped down and went off to bed a little while ago, and immediately my husband walked in after his evening out and I almost bit his head off for interrupting my first moment of peace since this morning.
Bruuuuce
@Mnemosyne: @Major Major Major Major: IIRC the character whose removal you’re discussing appears in the series trailer in scenes that are clearly not from the premier, so either’s a return to life or else significant flashbacks coming.
I knew she was The Doctor from Go, but realized it viscerally from this:
“Do you have a plan?”
“Yes”
“…”
“No, not yet. But I will by the time I get up there.”
Looking forward to lots more.
debbie
@Redshift:
Mary G linked to this on Friday. I posted a comment right away. At that time, there were 7,600+ comments. So it’s less dire, but still a very tiny response.
ETA: Actually, her link went to a different page. Maybe there are multiple places to leave comments?
WaterGirl
Badger, you goofball, adorable, as always!
Betty, either you are the best dog-picker-outer ever, or you got really lucky with Badger. That face!
JGabriel
Marco Rubio on Climate Change via TPM:
I really never know what to make of these idiots who think destroying the planet isn’t going to destroy the economy.
J R in WV
@RandomMonster:
We have one semi-feral cat who insists on being outside when the weather is pretty – pretty much 23 hours a day unless it’s storming. Now that it’s getting cold, though, she will be inside more. Also since she’s getting older. She’s very slender and athletic, and hunts rodents very effectively.
The other cat is 95% indoors, even when it’s pretty outside. She hunts anything, but is not so athletic, so gets a bird some summers, and some years a chipmunk or woods rat. Yes, rats live in the woods. They have a hard life competing with the real outdoors species, and so don’t get very big. Both cats are pretty good about predating on them.
They’re both pretty affectionate when indoors, the big slow cat sleeps on the bed, when I go to bed she lays on my lap for scritches and purrs while I read for a little bit. Then when I roll over to sleep she moves to the foot of the bed. She will come and go during the night, but isn’t obnoxious about it.
Living in the Appalachian forest, I can’t see our two cats being a danger to anything, really. We’re so surrounded by wildlife here. Plus there are so few cats per square mile of woods. I’m thinking 3 cats per mile right now around us. May be lower than that, really.
J R in WV
@Redshift:
I saw those regulations, read through them. Then I commented by quoting the First Amendment, which is a cut and dried about Congress shall make no law… restricting the right of the people to assemble peacefully to petition their government for redress, words to that effect. Shall make NO LAW is pretty unambiguous, no wriggle room there at all as far as I’m concerned.
WaterGirl
@J R in WV: Thanks to your comment, which inspired me to comment also, I just submitted my comment.
I just said: “What you are proposing is WRONG.”
And then I pasted in the first amendment. It didn’t take long. Everyone should do it; you don’t have to write a book.
Domestic short hair tabby (fka vheidi)
@Redshift: thanks, submitted
Dotsee
@Mnemosyne:
First post.
As pointed out, some of the dialog was simply typical of a regenerating doctor. The important thing to note is that overall, to me, the dialog was believable as a female character particularly the displays of empathy and reassurance. For example, (poor paraphrase) “I’m sorry these bad things are happening to you, I’m sorry I haven’t figured this all out yet.”
I will watch Series 11 because it features a woman. While some of the reaction to a female doctor is, in my option, sexist – even I had a serious concern that the character would simply be a woman reading dialog written for a male character by a male screen-writer. I don’t feel that happened in episode one. I liked that she was funny and empathetic and didn’t take herself too seriously. There are a few things I was not fond of or am cautious about in the first episode. However, it is a good start, in my opinion.
WaterGirl
@Dotsee: I am about to watch the first episode of the season, so I have no opinions yet, but I am looking forward to it. I have never watched Doctor Who before, but I love the actor that plays the new Doctor, so I am giving it a go.
The thread is pretty dead, so I don’t know if you will see any more replies to your comment. Don’t take it personally. :-)
Dotsee
@WaterGirl:
Thank you ?