Okay I've had the 90 day trial and would like to return 2020
— Siobhan ??/?? #iKON (@Hipployta) March 27, 2020
Most British response EVAH, via commentor Chris:
The Police in London are trying to brighten the mood.
The are going up and down the Thames in a police boat playing "Always look on the bright side of life" on a loud speaker.
How wonderfully British. Love it ????????????#CoronaCrisis #coronavirus #COVIDIOT #Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/4dcGsd5sJH
— News Addict ???? (@addicted2newz) March 21, 2020
In times like these, I recall what my grandma, Juanita Greengard, always used to tell me before I took a trip: "If you can't be good be careful, and if you can't be careful be sanitary."
— Mig Greengard (@chessninja) March 21, 2020
I do not understand how mcdonalds can serve two billion hamburgers every year but when I order five million at the drive thru it overwhelms the system https://t.co/f70fUIY7MF
— kilgore trout, stonks autographer (@KT_So_It_Goes) March 21, 2020
I'm all in on victory gardens. Just need to figure out how to plant this toilet paper tree.
— Mig Greengard (@chessninja) March 21, 2020
Each night in Spain at 8pm, ppl come to their balconies to cheer the country's healthcare workers.
Last night, a caregiver brought her Alzheimer's patient to the balcony to play his harmonica.
She lets him believe they're cheering for him.
Humanity.????pic.twitter.com/9xmXmyQN8U
— Rex Chapman???? (@RexChapman) March 23, 2020
Apart from that… how’s everybody holding up?
BGinCHI
The hardest part of working from home, and the shift to online stuff, is ignoring the endless advice from others.
I know they mean well, but damn.
#curmudgeon
Ella in New Mexico
Well, Orange Coronius is bloviating on the TV right now so Friday hasn’t really begun for me
Brachiator
TGIF?
Well, I have to work tomorrow.
But it is less busy today.
Martin
Good here. 4 weeks in, only 4 outings. Lots of work do to. We have our family minecraft server running. I have enough tea in the house to make it to Independence day, and my lemon tree is cranking out enough lemonade ingredients to last forever. Looking forward to warm weather returning Monday so I can work from my patio.
NotMax
Repeating.
Fan of Duck Soup from the brothers Marx? In some ways a dry run for that, the W. C. Fields vehicle (although he doesn’t get top billing) Million Dollar Legs on TCM at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Baud
I don’t miss commuting.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax:
I’m planning to try it.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Oh god. I just got email from my publisher, urging all its authors to push their books (consider The Wind Reader pushed). Their sales are down. They’re UK based so this may have hit them a little before US small presses. Typical of them, they paid all their contractors first (cover artists, free lance editors, etc.) because times are hard for contractors. The owner anticipates paying royalties out of her own savings next round, which won’t work for long.
They’re Inspired Quill. Their books are on Amazon, B&N etc. They make a little more if you buy directly from their website but that can be tricky from the US. I know they have a book about depression called Down Days that I mentioned here before. There’s a guy (Hugo Jackson) who write furry books. You can ask me about other books too. IMHO, they do vary in readability.
Pandemic fun and games.
Sab
Good point. My sister is teaching online. I have never taught. I will sit on my hands henceforth.
I do enjoy the startled dachsund picture for new online teachers.
My bosses wanted me to go online. I have been driving an hour to work each way for twelve years, and suddenly you think I could have been working all those driving hours in productive billable work at home. All I do is sit at a computer and input. Yep. Could have been done. Bit late now to suggest it.
trollhattan
@Baud:
I miss the cycling portion of commuting, not the dodge-the-cars part of it. I tend not to miss being in the office so from that aspect, net plus. Okay, definitely miss twin monitors.
ETA week #2 a cakewalk compared to week #1.
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
Absurd and total fluff, Fields milks every drop from his role as president of Klopstokia.
trollhattan
@Ella in New Mexico:
LOL!
Does consider himself king, so here’s yer crown ya wanker!
Funnily enough, the crown is around his neck.
Can The Knack get together and re-record their song as “My Corona”? What’s Weird Al up to?
Sab
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I want to hear more but my email is sort of down since I didn’t move to windows 10 before 7 was cut-off. I haven’t bought a new e-mail only w8ndows 10 computer yet because tax season and some virus cut unto my shopping time.
Website?
Jager
My retired doc neighbor (He’s 86) said he drank enough martinis on Sunday night he could have undergone Civil War surgery. He also said he’d go back to work in a minute if his arthritic hands still worked.
NotMax
@Dorothy A. Winsor
I had one of those as a child.
Oh, books about furries.
Never mind.
/E. Litella
Baud
@trollhattan:
I like my new midday naps.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@NotMax:
I know. I don’t get it but apparently there’s a large furry community with conventions and everything. I tried to read one of Hugo’s books, and if the characters had been people, I think I’d have liked it. But they were animals, which just wasn’t what I was looking for. To each their own.
BGinCHI
@Jager: I want to meet this guy.
Bring him to Medium Cool on Sunday.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Sab:
Here’s their website. I don’t know where you are, but they’ll send you the file for an ebook or ship a ppb to the US for $3. There’s no sales tax if you buy directly from them, which can balance that shipping a little.
Of their recent books, I like Anne Goodwin’s Becoming Someone (a short story collection) and Clare Stevens’ Blue Tide Rising. Clare settled down to write that after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and decides it was now or never. I think both those are well written and very readable.
NotMax
@Dorothy A. Winsor
Buried somewhere in a box is a fur-covered journal I kept during a long stay in South America in 1961.
lamh36
I know folks are looking for respite, but I can only share what I hear, especially since I’m not at home and still goign to work each day I’m on schedule.
Anonymous blog post from a nurse at the big hospital in NOLA (my former employer btw), it’s anonymous, but I have already heard same from friends who are nurses in the same hospital and surrounding.
Local Nurse at UMC Shares Troubling Conditions During Covid-19 Pandemic – Big Easy Magazine: https://www.bigeasymagazine.com/2020/03/26/local-nurse-at-umc-shares-troubling-conditions-during-covid-19-pandemic/?fbclid=IwAR3V6Z21YhTOfuuW2QHn3eIPHy3PpzPYWmbmuMP4Y1zBK-d-j3pjlNdcwrc
Eljai
@Ella in New Mexico: He’s still blathering about how governors should be more appreciative to him. I had to turn it off. I’m going to funnel my rage into some sternly worded emails to the cable networks to stop carrying the idiot live. How the fucking fuck is this helping? Oh wait, it’s not!
Dorothy A. Winsor
@NotMax: Real fur? Why?
Miss Bianca
@NotMax: My ex loved Million Dollar Legs. I’ve never seen it.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Eljai: I leave the room when Mr DAW puts the Trump Pity and Praise Party on.
HumboldtBlue
I posted this below in another thread.
NHS workers keeping the spirits up.
Miss Bianca
@Jager: Under*gone* Civil War surgery, or under*taken* Civil War surgery?//
NotMax
@Dorothy A. Winsor
Me no know.
lgerard
Classic chill pill
lamh36
I’ve been working my same schedule before all the social distancing orders. For now, my lab is still on the same schedule. So far, no one in my Micro lab has had to self-quarantine or has so far, had any family member who has COVID or symptoms of it.
It’s been crazy busy, but also nothing compared to what the doctors and nurses who actually interact w/patients are going through. The biggest consequence for the lab other than more specimens and therefore more workloads, is for those who have kids who are now not in school during the day. I my lab, there is only 2 full time folks w/kids who were affected, between the two, one of them has been able to still work their schedule, but one has had to adjust her schedule to nights for a while, until her husband comes off evenings and then they’ll alternate. So one less person, a bit more work for everyone.
It is what it is.
Anyway, I’m off for the weekend and I’ve requested some time off for the week before Easter Sunday.
Avalune
A fur covered journal sounds fairly horrifying – even before covid cooties.
We took a longer walk with the dog today. Opened up some windows. Elderly lady above us on third door always hollers to us when she sees the windows open and she’s out with Pebs so I go to the porch and chat (maintaining distance) with her. She had surgery on her back and was just about to start PT when everything closed down so I think she’s trying to self PT.
The boss texted me that IT would be in touch, so I assume they are ramping up to bring more of the support staff online at home. Curious to see the logistics.
Working with watergirl to put the finishing touches on my blog post for tomorrow.
Now back to playing an absurd amount of animal crossing. Bankrolling some serious home upgrades with boxes of angry spiders.
CaseyL
I am just starting to get a little restless. Someone at work emailed everyone a beautiful photo of mountains to wish us a happy weekend. I responded, “Oh, to be hiking out there!,” and she replied that a car makes a great HazMat suit.
So now I am tempted to go for a long drive this weekend. But it’s not the same if you can’t stop and eat at some roadside burger joint!
UncleEbeneezer
Just discovered a new musician to be obsessed with: Margaret Glaspy. Ironically, her partner, Julian Lage was my LAST musical obsession. They are also a rather adorable couple. Here they are playing their way through the Covid-pocalypse!
HumboldtBlue
Here’s a taste of what things look like locally.
The first 40 seconds or so are in Arcata home to HSU and the others are here in Eureka not too far from my front porch.
All of those places would be teeming with people and the Old Town shots are where I spend a lot of time. My Friend runs his carriage business right there where you see the big star in the street and my regular cannabis shop is just up the street.
Jager
@Miss Bianca: Knowing Jim, both.
Baud
@lamh36:
Take care of yourself and enjoy your time off.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@CaseyL:
I’m starting to get restless too, and it isn’t even that there’s something specific I want to do. I think it just feels like I’m in suspension, waiting to see what happens.
Lordy, from the next room, I hear Trump still whining about how he’s not treated fairly
eric
@Martin: another video for you……3brown1blue
dmsilev
So I went into work yesterday for the first time since the shutdown (once a week check-in to make sure none of the equipment left in standby is having issues). My parents text me asking if I took a selfie in my hazmat suit…
(gloves and a face mask are all that our Safety and Health officers are recommending, so no bunny suit for me)
dexwood
Hanging in there. This morning I donned my colorful polka dot socks because they cheer me up. My goal for this afternoon was to have an hour of self-reflection, like a monk. Now that I’m awake, it’s time for a beer.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
We watched the timeless classic, The Road Warrior, last night.
I used to think it was a work of fiction but now see it as a tutorial on how to fire a crossbow while riding a motorcycle. Could be a useful skill as it shown many times in the film.
NotMax
@Dorothy A. Winsor
“Worship me! It’s not like government is there to do things!”
dmsilev
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
“Fair” treatment would involve him being dragged out of the White House, strapped into a straitjacket, and shipped to The Hague, so I guess I can see his point.
Sab
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Ordered some books. I certainly need things to read.
I am working my way through Lymond Chronicles. Why do all Scottish aristocrats have three names? Not given, middle, surname. Three actual different names, one given/family, next title, third placename.
I like them a lot but if I hadn’t read Gabaldon’s Outlander series I couldn’t figure out either the language or the politics. How did she do that? A half Hispanic science academic in Arizona?
Fair Economist
@lamh36: I just do not get why healthcare workers don’t get masks. Heck $10 per mask seems well worth it for people with that kind of exposure.
delk
Principal clarinetist of the CSO with his wife and three sons.
Eljai
@Dorothy A. Winsor: You are wise. I just peeked at my TV again and THAT ASSHOLE WAS STILL BABBLING. That’s it, I’m putting the remote down and stepping outside.
dmsilev
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
Saw this a few days ago
TheronWare
Unfortunately our news media are failing us by attending these tRump regime propaganda sessions – sigh.
narya
I had to take a vacation day today (I’d reached my accrual limit), so I started trying to make a roman shade for my kitchen window. I don’t quite know what I’m doing–I found two good resources online but I’m not following either one precisely, plus my dowels aren’t quite wide enough. Basically, I’m going very slowly and MacGyvering it as I go. Soon I”m heading to my downstairs neighbor’s so we can share a bottle of wine. I still have a bit of crud in my lungs, and I still don’t think it was corona. I am mostly managing to stave off anxiety and panic, in part by being grateful and getting exercise.
Van Buren
@Baud: I told my coworkers yesterday that I would like to go back to spending 3 hours a day in traffic because it was easier than spending 5 hours a day banging my head on the desk as we try to master this remote teaching thingy.
danielx
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
He’s not treated fairly? You mean people are asking him today about what he said yesterday, which contradicts what he says today?
debbie
@Ella in New Mexico:
And, very happily, NPR isn’t broadcasting it.
narya
@Sab: I liked those–and liked Niccolo even better. Someone wrote a couple of guides to the books that I found helpful.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Sab: I haven’t read the Lymond books. I read some Gabaldon. She can be fun, but she goes on and on sometimes. I just want her to cut to the chase!
PS Thanks for ordering the books. I hope you enjoy them.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@dmsilev:
Thanks for that graphic. It’ll come in handy methinks over the coming weeks.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@danielx: Reporters and governors fail to appreciate his greatness.
Geminid
@lamh36: Thank you for your knowledgeable posts. I really appreciate your practical experience and your willingness to share it.
Mel
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Thank you for the link. Heading over to look right now.
trollhattan
@HumboldtBlue:
Typical spring break Friday. Not. Video says volumes.
debbie
My back misses my very good office chair.
mrmoshpotato
What a wonderful thing to do for him – seriously.
West of the Rockies
That Bill Mitchell Tweet above… Wouldn’t it hurt your brain to be that stupid? Jesus H. Christ.
MomSense
@lamh36:
Please take care. I’ve been thinking of you as I watch those LA numbers go up and up. I’m so glad you checked in.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Mel:
Thanks, Mel. I hope you find something that interests you. I think their books are uneven, as they get better at deciding which submissions are ready to go or need only slight editing rather than anything massive, which can be hard for a writer to accept and do once they’re signed a contract.
MomSense
@mrmoshpotato:
That video made me tear up. So lovely.
mrmoshpotato
@Ella in New Mexico: You don’t have to watch. :)
I’m relying on Chicago’s mayor’s daily press conferences as well as Illinois’ governor’s daily press conferences.
Sab
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Ohio, or as my mother always said: “Oh-hoho,”
mrmoshpotato
What kind of lemon tree also cranks out fresh water and sugar?
Baud
@MomSense:
How are you doing?
Old School
@trollhattan:
Would you settle for some of The Knack performing “Bye Corona”?
https://youtu.be/LjDidfSc52c
Queens Lurker
Apparently we are cheering for our healthcare heroes here at 7 PM because my apartment complex in Forest Hills just cheered for a full 4 minutes just now. Pretty moving actually.
geg6
Finally, this week is over! Yay!
I hate working from home. I want all my student hard copy files, my process binders, our shared drives, my twin 20 inch monitors, my new office chair and my students and co-workers back in person. I just hate this. I thought I’d love it but now I know how much it sucks.
As for our living conditions, we are doing mostly great. We have plenty of TP and PT. I went to Giant Eagle today and the shelves were much less bare (still no paper products, hand sanitizer, bleach or wipes). I scored a nice beef shoulder roast, a turkey breast and (finally!!!) about 3 pounds of ground sirloin. Also, a nice, fresh loaf of olive oil bread. Fresh veggies were beautiful, especially the asparagus. Picked up a bunch of veggies because I couldn’t resist them.
The only downer is there is nowhere close by to get wine. The state stores are closed and no very close grocery stores sell wine. My Giant Eagle has a state store inside, but it also is closed. Going to take a drive across the river to the other side of the county where I know there is a Giant Eagle that sells wine and beer. Hoping I can get it there. I still have a few bottles in the wine fridge, but if this goes on for weeks, they’ll be gone.
Mary G
I am trying to take a day off from news without much success. I’m very down.
Baud
I like not having a dress code at home.
Sloane Ranger
Trump is still patting himself on the back and complaining that no one appreciates him but he seems less eager to get Americans back to work. Could Boris Johnson’s diagnosis have finally penetrated his thick head that HE is vulnerable?
Obvious Russian Troll
@West of the Rockies: Bill Mitchell is the guy who raised money from his followers so he could move to Washington, DC, where he could follow Trump more closely, blah blah blah.
So he moves to Miami instead.
geg6
@TheronWare:
I’ve had our local CBS station, actually owned by the network, on for local news. They haven’t shown any of it. Now CBS Evening News is on.
mrmoshpotato
And nothing was ever heard from him again, except for the sound of tubular bells
PsiFighter37
My baby is throwing a fucking shitfit trying to go to sleep. She only started being fussy at bedtime about a week and a half ago.
Shoot me now.
PF37 +4
Sab
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Agree on Gabaldon, but her books actually bear/need a lot of rereading. First time through I was galloping scrambling for the plot. Later I saw nuances. Love her charcters. Wish I could meet them in the world.
I used to like my books long and dense. Now I want to be able to figure out the characters and plot first time through. But big long books I will reread forever if I am not bored to extinction first time through.
sanjeevs
@NotMax: The Million Dollar Legs girl ended up marrying Harpo Marx
NotMax
Shocked, shocked.
geg6
@Sab:
I love Gabaldon’s books. I love the length, the detail, the characters. I like the Starz series, too. Not as much as the books, but it’s a pretty good adaptation.
mrmoshpotato
Soooo….angry spiders arrrre currency?
mrmoshpotato
No. That would be generous, pampering treatment.
Sab
@PsiFighter37: How old is she now?
Sorry, I should know but I forgot. Every day is a pleasant torture to you ( baby! but she is crying or fussing) We check in month to month (minutes and eons in your life.) But she is turning into a person with a personality. Wow. Baby.
MoxieM
Being unwillingly retired due to health crap, and an economic immigrant from Home (Boston), I needed to find a place where I could live, have a big fuzzy dog, and access first rate medical care. And, with luck, be within reasonable distance to the ocean. Woo Hoo Central CT! So, I was just due for some minor but very, very essential procedure re: quality of life (steroid shot to relieve the bursitis in a hip), and a final consult before setting up (I hope) back surgery. All that and more is of course postponed, so I limp along, Igor-like, in a place where I know nobody, except the kind folks I have had to hire to walk my dog. I sprang for an extra weekly shift since they have lost a ton of clients. I have lovely neighbors next door, with a terrific rescue dog. The neighbors are about my kid’s age but no matter, they’re super nice.
In other words, not much in my life has changed.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@PsiFighter37:
I remember those days. I got to understand how sleep deprivation is used as torture.
Jimmm
You can still get a free upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10. I’ve done it recently:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-how-you-can-still-get-a-free-windows-10-upgrade/
MoxieM
@Dorothy A. Winsor: My issue with Gabaldon, beside what you mention, is the very bad, terrible, horrible history in her books. (Yeah, I know, time travel! It’s like complaining about the history in GoT–dragons are the wrong color and all …) But seriously, when Gabaldon is trying to set an historical scene and time, she just fucks it up so, so badly. Ugh. I feel for the actors on the TV, some of whom probably learned a bit more Scottish history in school.
senyordave
It has to be asked. Is the story about Biden sexually assaulting a senate aide 30 years ago real?
mrmoshpotato
@delk: Come fly the friendly skies.
Gvg
@debbie: My office initially said they couldn’d Check those out to us but more people must have whined because today we got an email saying we could get them but have to coordinate with the senior boses whose fobs still work. Thanks goodness! My home chair was fine for an hour now and then, but turns out to be awful at 8 hours.
Today was better than yesterday because I figured out that my home desk is higher than the work one, so my risers to put my monitors at the “right” height were now too high and that is why my neck hurt so bad. I will spend the weekend tweaking the set up to be better instead of assuming bringing my work desktop meant everything is the same.
i don’t miss the commute, I do miss having coworkers to chat up when i’m In the mood. Funny, I am not that social, but I like some in moderation. And I miss being free to just go somewhere on impulse.
Baud
@senyordave:
Two threads down.
MomSense
@Baud:
So far so good. Taking walks in the woods every day with my boys and the pup. Today we walked about 5 miles and detoured through blueberry barrens. There were three hawks circling overhead.
I don’t miss the commute to work, but I do miss people!
Had to go to the pharmacy to pick up my mom’s prescriptions. Too stressful. I’m not going out again if I can help it.
How are you?
Zelma
Being retired and living alone, there can be an eerie kind of normalcy to my day. I mean, I got up, read the newspapers, did my crosswords, started my wash – just a typical day. Then, this feeling of disbelief washed over me. I recalled/remembered/realized what is going on beyond my cozy little house and I almost felt breathless.
We are still at a remove from the crisis down here in very South Jersey. We’ve had six cases, none fatal. At least half were imports from New York and North Jersey. I have a friend who is head pharmacist at our little local hospital. She says things are strangely quiet there: no visitors, no elective surgeries, no volunteers. Just watchful waiting. The hospital has put out a call for masks and protective gear. They are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.
We have a large medically underserved population in Cape May County, a lot of seasonal workers whose jobs should just be ramping up now but aren’t, and more than our share of homeless. Maybe we’ll be lucky.
MomSense
@MoxieM:
How far are you from Manchester? I have a kid there who has a puppy. They love pups and might be a nice connection for you.
Baud
@MomSense:
I’m doing ok. I’m more suited than most to working from home and not going out. But I’ve actually had a really busy week, which got a little bit easier today. I really only need to be around people when I go shopping, so I feel about as safe as I can. Happy the days are getting warmer.
lamh36
Anyway, been sitting here watching Disney’s Hercules! How great was Hercules!
I want the Muses to narrate my life, but it’d be boring as hell…LOL
https://youtu.be/Pa0lMzaljTk
https://twitter.com/AyannaPressley/status/12436026881069547
zhena gogolia
@Mary G:
I’m sorry. I have up days and down days. This is brutal. We all love you.
artem1s
@senyordave: it’s irresponsible not to speculate right?
asshole
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: No pants please, we are Baud.
Chyron HR
@senyordave:
Oh sure, just like everything else Bernie’s going to throw against the wall to see if it sticks.
Another Scott
@senyordave: tl;dr – No.
HTH!
Cheers,
Scott.
NotMax
@lamh36
A nod to that other animated Hercules production.
Softness in his eyes,
Iron in his thighs
:)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan:
A bit difficult with Doug Fieger being dead for 10 years.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
How is your (step?) daughter? She’s a nurse, right?
JPL
@Mary G: I am also. Since we live in an upside down world, I’m finding that this season’s Ozark doesn’t have the same intensity as past seasons. That is how far I’ve fallen.
lamh36
@NotMax: hey…nothing can beat the cartoon, but I do have a soft spot in my heart for Lou Ferrigno’s turn as Herc.
I USED to love the Hercules tv show w/Kevin Sorbo, but he’s such a RWNJ now that I can’t even enjoy it any more
Zelma
@MoxieM:
I read Gabaldon ages ago. When the books were new. I remember waiting for the next installments. But at about book four, my interest just petered out. Part of it was, as you note, the ahistorical problem. Part of it was the gratuitous (or so it seemed) violence. I’ve thought of giving the TV series a try, but I am so a-TV (unwilling to make the time commitment) that it’s never happened. Now if they made a Lymond TV series, I’d be right there.
My current comfort reread is Karen Harkness’s “All Souls” books. Absolutely improbable – witches and vampires and daemons and time travel. But Harkness is a historian of science (Ph.D. Yale) and her books, unlike most romances, get academia right. She also gets the history and the science right. (There’s a lot of genetics!)
I’m not usually a great fan of paranormal stuff, but for some reason, these books work for me.
James E Powell
Open thread? Today is my birthday! I am sixty effing five! What a time to be alive!. I’m going to have a fairly thick ribeye, a couple glasses of red wine, and a slice of a fresh baked Julian Pie. At some point I will go outside and scream “F all of you mother F ers! I’m still here!” Then to sleep, perchance to dream.
James E Powell
@senyordave:
It has to be asked. Is the story about Bernie Sanders and his supporters determined to elect Trump a second time real?
Baud
@James E Powell:
Happy birthday, man. Enjoy your day. It’s a good time to say that I always appreciate your comments. You often say what I thinking.
NotMax
@lamh36
Rhythmic respite with the widow Twanky.
(Minimal Sorbo.)
:)
Brachiator
Never seen this one and will queue it up.
Also on TCM tonght is the 1934 Pre-Code film Manhattan Melodrama, with Clark Gable, William Powell and Myrna Loy. Eminently watchable.
NotMax
@James E Powell
Happy day!
(checks calendar) Well past the ides of March, so Julian Pie is A-OK.
Immanentize
@trollhattan: Saw the Knack at Mosport/Heatwave. Google if necessary.
Spanish Moss
@Sab: The Lymond Chronicles are among my favorite books! I liked them enough to reread them, the second time with “The Dorothy Dunnett Companion” by Elspeth Morrison, and I enjoyed them even more. Lots of great background material, the full poem that contains the lines quoted in the book, etc.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Zelma:
I read the first All Souls book a month or so ago. I think I have several of them on my kindle, but I like to take a break between series books. I’ll get back to them.
@James E Powell: Happy birthday! Eat, drink, and be merry (assuming screaming into the void is the merry part).
Immanentize
@James E Powell:
I AM JAMES E. POWELL
Immanentize
@James E Powell: You live in a shoe
NotMax
@Brachiator
Also the movie John Dillinger attended just before being rat-tat-tatted when leaving the theater.
Martin
Chris Hayes finally losing his dispassionate journalist veneer. Come on guys, lose your shit like the rest of us. You know you want to. Can’t hurt.
Miss Bianca
@geg6: gosh, here in CO liquor stores appear to be considered an essential service, since the two in my town are still open.
Also MJ dispensaries, frim what I hear (none in my town, alas), altho i believe they are curb-side service only.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Dorothy A. Winsor: love books and small publishers so will go see what I can do to help. Need more books to distract me during days off. This week that amounts to Saturday.
Immanentize
@NotMax: But had a very big, you know!
Sab
@Dorothy A. Winsor: If you want to be treated fairly, don’t run for Presidemt. This was nevet complicated. Presidents are vilified. That is part of their job. Other part is running things well. Trump ain’ tdoing neither
@Baud: I would like to have cats not walking on my files and my keyboard at home.
Immanentize
@Miss Bianca: curb side service used to be a federal felony. Jes sayin’
mrmoshpotato
@schrodingers_cat: Baud! 2020! What are pants?
delk
@Immanentize: I saw them at the Aragon in Chicago. My boyfriend won the tickets on one of those radio station phone in give a ways.
James E Powell
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
It is for me. It has been a joyful birthday practice since I turned 50.
Thank you all for your kind words and wishes. The feeling is mutual.
mrmoshpotato
@James E Powell: Now that is a birthday celebration! Congrats!
dexwood
@Miss Bianca: That’s how it is south of you, both vendors are essential. Governor announced schools are closed for the remainder of the school year. Some parents, I think, will be hitting the booze and pot hard once the little tykes are tucked in.
Baud
@Sab:
I tried to foster dogs but apparently so is everyone else.
MomSense
@Zelma:
I loved the second book in the series. I’ve always been interested in that time period and loved the special characters.
geg6
@Zelma:
Ooooo, I like those, too!
Immanentize
@delk: The following is not a joke:
I lost a half and a quarter of a tooth dancing in a bar in upstate New York to “My Sharona” called, “Bobby D’s,”. Note the green grocer’s apostrophe. My friend had a bottle of Molson and when I danced forward, he danced up. Smack!! I haven’t (although urged to do so) ever corrected that tooth Thing.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone: Thanks for taking a look.
Saturday is your only day off? As someone who’s been shut inside for some unknown number of days now (what day is it? no one knows), I am in awe.
mrmoshpotato
@James E Powell: Well, if they’re ratfucking bastards determined to sink Biden, and they are…
Mary G
@James E Powell: Happy Birthday.
Sab
@Miss Bianca: Laugh all you like, but for serious alcoholics, they will actually die without it. Heroin is safe if you don’t mix it with alcohol or fentenyl. Ditto cocaine. Withdrawal is unpleasant but survivable. Alcoholics die routinely trying to self detox. Friend of mine bit his tongue off and almost bled to death. Others die in DTs. It’s an actual serious issue. You may not miss them but their family probably will.
Ruckus
@geg6:
I’d normally tell you that drinking alcohol is not necessary but then there have been occasions that I’ve considered my 17 yrs of not drinking to need a break. Especially in the last 3 yrs and more so in the last 3 months. So I will say that I understand wanting a nice mellow evening, to get away from the trump stench and the virus stench, and to have it just seem, well, normal.
chris
@NotMax: I did not know that Hercules was in colour! Now I feel old. And deprived.
Steeplejack
Recon report:
I donned the tactical gear (pants!) and left the bunker in Threadkill Lane at 4:20 p.m. to venture out into the Falls Church/Arlington (VA) pandemoscape. First expedition since last Saturday.
Picked up my friend B. and gave her a ride to work at Trader Joe’s in Clarendon (hipster area of Arlington). She said the store is doing okay—customers mostly polite and grateful, shelves stocked, safety measures observed—and they have upped the number of customers allowed in at one time from 30 to 40. I’m picking her up after her shift at 11:00.
Here’s another problem that gig-economy workers face: Metro has closed a number of train stations, including the two that B. formerly used to get to work. There are bus-route alternatives, but they involve transfers and are very time-consuming. And Metro has cut the bus schedules to “Sunday” schedules all week, meaning very light service. So I’m going to be driving her as much as I can for the near term.
Then I motored back to my hood and went to the state liquor store to replenish the strategic alcohol reserve. Employees wearing masks and observing safety procedures. Foot traffic very light for a Friday afternoon/evening. Dropped by my usual gas station (BP) and talked to the guy there as I picked up a couple of lotto tickets. He said they might close the station soon. They usually sell about 3,000 gallons of gas a day, and yesterday they sold 800. He said they need about 1,000 to make it worthwhile to stay open. Something to think about in your neck of the woods.
I nipped by PetSmart to get a flat of wet food for the housecat. Things somewhat normal in there, employees observing safety procedures. Then I went over to get some things at the new Giant supermarket that opened a few weeks ago. Stopped on the way to get light bulbs at Home Depot, where they have closed all the entrances except one and were going to close the store at 6:00 p.m. Traffic light in there as well.
Giant was well stocked, except for a few things, and I was able to pick up everything I could think of, although I hadn’t gone with the idea of doing a comprehensive shop. Traffic seemed light, but I’ve been there only twice since it opened and can’t really judge. I’ll go again on Monday or Tuesday with a strategic list.
Then I went by my local pub to see about getting some treat food to go, but the curbside pickup lane was packed, so I nixed that. Came on home, lugged everything upstairs, fed the housecat and am decompressing a bit before fixing myself a drink and eventually dinner. Set an alarm for 10:30 so I don’t forget to pick up B. at 11:00.
General impressions: Car traffic was much lighter than usual for Friday. Driving through Clarendon and Ballston (slightly less hip Arlington neighborhood) I saw people out jogging, walking dogs, going home from work. Some observing physical distancing, some not (friends or spouses?). But foot traffic also seemed much lighter than usual.
On a personal level, I was struck by how many potentially filthy surfaces I touch on a random outing—starting with the bannisters in my small apartment building. When I was at Home Depot I looked for some simple, old-school cloth work gloves but didn’t find anything that wasn’t uncomfortable or over-engineered (“grippy” plastic palms, etc.). I made sure not to touch my face, and when I got home I washed my hands (and face) thoroughly with good old-fashioned Dial soap and hot water.
That’s about it. Talked to Bro’ Man last night, and he told me an interesting anecdote. He stopped at a bodega in his old neighborhood to get some things, and in making small talk he said he was on his way home from work. The owner asked him why he was still working (not at home), and when Bro’ Man told him he was a doctor the guy refused to take his money and thanked him for his efforts. Bro’ Man was gobsmacked. Told the guy he was grateful that the bodega was still open.
So that’s another place I’m putting on the list to support during the crisis. The bodega—La Unión—is on Lee Highway, the affiliated restaurant (same name) is on Wilson Boulevard. The restaurant (Mexican-Salvadoran) is pretty dang good and makes a great margarita. Don’t know what their situation is now. The bodega always has the best avocados year-round, along with other good stuff. Worth a trip just for those. I don’t know what sinister cartel they’re in with, but it’s a definite thing. I don’t get by there often, but I’ll make an effort.
Suddenly I’m thirsty for a margarita! End recon report.
Immanentize
@Sab: Now you tell me.
Avalune
@mrmoshpotato: You can collect bugs and fish to sell for the game currency “bells.” There are tarantulas I’m game which behave more like camel spiders – mean and bitey, they hiss and chase you! If you can manage to catch them they are worth 8K bells! I’m up to a 800k mortgage on my current house upgrades so spiders are the way to go assuming you can catch them. (Way more than you wanted to know about that no doubt).
Immanentize
@Steeplejack: Woke up, got outta bed, dragged a comb across my head…
Day in the Life
I myself have seen a band at the Royal Albert Hall.
Sab
@mrmoshpotato:
@Jimmm: I hear it , the update, screws up all my passwords etc. Don’t want to screw up my old computer. many programs and lots of data there. Better to keep it off line and get a new one?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: She’s isolating herself from the rest of the family, even missed her sister’s b-day. I’ve not talked to her, but her mom says she’s busy.
Another Scott
USAToday – LOLGOP’s wife delivers during the pandemic.
A good read.
A colleague and his wife delivered a child this week as well – life finds a way.
We’ll get through this. Hang in there, everyone.
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
?
Brachiator
@lamh36:
Hercules for me was Steve Reeves, and the two (I think) Italian productions he did as the Greek demi-god.
Agree that the Sorbo Hercules tv series was good, and yeah not as much fun to look back on now.
MomSense
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I’ll be thinking of her.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@James E Powell: Happy b-day.
joel hanes
@Chyron HR:
It doesn’t look to me as if this was actually sourced from inside the Sanders campaign, but some of his supporters are certainly amplifying it. Clutching at straws, I think.
chris
@James E Powell: Happy birthday! Welcome to the golden years!
Or not.
germy
Baud
@joel hanes:
That’s their M.O. Get their nasty supporters to do the dirty work.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@MomSense:
@Baud: She’s OK, but working in a major hospital, she doesn’t want to take any risks with possibly infecting the family, especially the more at risk olds.
joel hanes
@Spanish Moss:
I’d have to rummage through my storage to retrieve Lymond and Nicolo, so they’re not the self-isolation solution for me.
Sadly, the same applies to O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin books.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Good kid.
Sab
@Immanentize: My stepson finally sobered up about five years ago. It would have utterly destroyyed his father, and probably his siblings if he had killed himself. Alcoholic parents are a whole different problem because they wreak so much havoc with their kids. Drunk kids just break hearts. I only know it from the parent point of view.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud:
So, he should worry.
Ruckus
@mrmoshpotato:
One of the best versions I’ve heard.
And yes I have the original on vinyl.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
And probably seek treatment.
joel hanes
My family is group reading Larson’s _The_Splendid_And_The_Vile_, a recounting of Churchill’s role in the Second World War. The parallels between Larson’s description of Goering’s character, and the character of the orange buffoon currently defiling the Oval Office, are striking … except that Goering was not nearly-universally ignorant, and less driven by shame and resentment. But the sociopathy, the avarice, the lying, the obsession with gold trim and spectacle, the reliance on self-congratulatory delusion, are all there.
Mary G
Oddly enough, going to Twitter cheered me up. Mike DeWine is begging Ohioans to listen to scientists and stay home. Many responses are wingnut accusations of lying to ruin the economy in league with Democrats. Erick Erickson is touting a White House “county by county analysis” of which areas aren’t being hit and can reopen. The snippets of the campaign rally at the WH are amazingly bad.
Yutsano
@James E Powell: MAZEL TOV YA CRAZY KID! Tomorrow you get to wrestle with signing up for Medicare!
Immanentize
@Sab: Oh, I have a personal relationship with that tale.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Steeplejack:
It feels daring to go out, doesn’t it? When you talk to people, you really see how folks are struggling. I feel lucky to be in the situation I am.
joel hanes
Powell’s Books in Portland closing down, open online only, all employees let go.
Please buy gift certificates now to help save this landmark.
Sebastian
Villages experiencing COCID-19 outbreak (POLITICO)
https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2020/03/27/coronavirus-spreading-in-the-villages-1269421
Immanentize
@Ruckus: Respect
germy
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Immanentize: Did you see the holes there?
Immanentize
@joel hanes: If my wife hadn’t died, the news about Powell’s would kill her. The world is going to be so different by December.
Jeffro
The kids and I took several walk-and-throw-the-football walks today – it was really nice here in central VA!
At one house in our development, the residents had left a couple first-floor windows open for the fresh air, unaware that at some later point their two doggies had pushed the screen out (no doubt it is INTERESTING! ALL THESE PEOPLES!!) so that instead of having their noses up against the screen, the dogs were just hanging out the window.
They were so cute! I hated to ‘bust’ them but couldn’t take the chance that they leapt out the window after we passed through.
Immanentize
@?BillinGlendaleCA: may have been One if them, waddya think?
mali muso
Count me in as another fan of the Outlander series, albeit with the knowledge that Gabaldon could really use an editor. Still, the characters really stick with you, and I like spending time with them. I think that since I ran across the first three books back in the late 90s when I was about 16, Jamie Fraser kinda imprinted on me as my original book boyfriend and no matter how tired I can get with the meandering story lines (I haven’t even kept up with the latest installments), the Outlander universe will always be special.
Skepticat
No
Jeffro
@mrmoshpotato: Agreed – that is way, way too kind. Something just short of the Mussolini treatment would be great. I don’t want him getting off that lightly.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mary G:
What a fucking asshole!
germy
Immanentize
I am thinking I may become one of the guilty remnant. So I ordered some white pants on Amazon. But I don’t smoke!!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Immanentize: They did have to count them all.
Jeffro
@James E Powell: that and also isn’t Bernie the guy who wrote the sick rape fantasies? And hasn’t released his taxes, or his health records? Or what he was doing in Russia back when it was actually communist?
Whatevs, B-Bros.
FlyingToaster
@PsiFighter37: IIRC, after a couple weeks of that, some 11+ YEARS ago, we instituted “Dance Party” at 15 minutes before bedtime. It was before she could quite walk, but she could stand and jiggle to my iPod-in-the-BoomBox, and the novelty and exercise meant that she was ‘way more likely to just go to sleep.
Yutsano
@Mary G: Last time I checked, the President is not an official signatory of government payouts. He could be rendering the payments invalid. Which would be just like him!
germy
Ruckus
@James E Powell:
Congrats, youngster.
Sounds like a good way to celebrate.
Sab
@Mary G:I bailed on a job I have loved for twelve years because they couldn’t take this seriously. The nature of our work is we talk to spoiled rich people coming back from Spring break or vacation.
This year I just couldn’t handle it. I was sick a lot last winter/ spring because of flu. Hadn’t happened to me before in years.
My sister has a Chinese husband. This is the first year in twenty that I can remembering them hunkering down and isolating. And they have been through SARS and MERs and swine flu. Normally they just wear masks and wash their hands.This time they saw the videoes from Wuhan. And the in-laws are sophisticated medical people. They are seriously concerned.
Nobody in my office did anything until deWine closed schools, and they are still didn’t do much. I watch more than Fox, so I am seriously concerned. I am too old for this nonsense.
oatler.
@joel hanes:
Coincidentally I saw a PBS doc on Henry XIII last week and the parallels to this regime are amazing.
Mary G
@Sebastian:
From your link:
They are getting a military field hospital too. Amazing how much more care and attention white Republican voters are getting.
jimmiraybob
It is sad but Trump’s coordinator for the US Coronavirus Task Force, Dr. Deborah Birx, has resorted to North Korean levels of Dear Leader praise, “He is so attentive to the scientific literature and the details and the data, and I think his ability to analyze and integrate data that comes out of his long history in business has really been a real benefit during these discussions about medical issues.”
She said this the same day that at a news briefing Donald John “Stable Genius” Trump (AKA, Unindicted Co-conspirator No.1) said:
joel hanes
@Jeffro:
Bernie released ten years worth of tax returns back in 2018.
I don’t like the man, and I suspect that the 2008 return, not released, would have shown problems, but I don’t want misinformation to spread either.
lgerard
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
LOL
too stupid to realize that only a handful of olds get checks anymore
Jeffro
@Steeplejack: Thanks Steeplejack. Hang in there, NoVA!
germy
@Jeffro:
From what I understand, he was participating in one of those “sister city” programs so popular back in the day. I think Reagan was in favor of that stuff.
Sab
@Immanentize: I think I remember you saying. Definitely entitles you to your point of view.
A Ghost to Most
t* is already saying he will ignore the Congressional oversight portion of the bill.
Mary G
Sab
@Yutsano:
@James E Powell: Ask NotMax. He knows a lot about the mechanics ( pre-disruptive-plague.)
pluky
@Sab: Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! Part of my standard “Open Meeting Commitment” share is a PSA strongly advising people not to try self-detox. Even if it doesn’t kill you, it might leave you wet-brained.
Jeffro
@Mary G: Sounds good – let’s impeach him again. For this and for blackmailing NY and MI over life-saving supplies.
Miss Bianca
@Immanentize: Haha, true, dat!
J R in WV
@senyordave:
NO it is not real. Unless you believe Pravda and fellow publications (Isvestia?) are always real. The accuser also asserts she was engaged to V. V. Putin at one time. That Russia is a wonderful, feeling nation to live in.
So… pretty crazed in my book!
Amir Khalid
@lamh36:
A long long time ago I read that Kevin Sorbo had auditioned to play Fox Mulder. I’m really glad he didn’t get that part.
Ruckus
@Mary G:
I don’t really need the check, although I can certainly use it, as I’m not working by my own decision. Work has been light and my SS is close to enough to making ends meet. If dipshit’s signature is on there I may have to, I don’t know, treat it like it was radioactive? Could we demand that he personally sign each one separately? That would keep him occupied so that maybe he can’t do any more damage, nor would anyone have to listen to his BS.
Miss Bianca
@MomSense: Dragonfly in Amber is totally my favorite. Loved all the French court intrigue, plus the build-up to Culloden and then beyond is so wrenching.
Miss Bianca
@Sab: I am aware. Who said I was laughing?
Steeplejack
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Daring or foolish, I’m not sure which. Lots of things will be clear only in hindsight.
Immanentize
Please let me know if wolf girl if good?
Brachiator
@Mary G:
Thank God for direct deposit.
mali muso
@Miss Bianca: I legit SOBBED throughout the whole J&C goodbye scene before she goes back through the stones.
Ruckus
@Jeffro:
Why short of that? I do ask because a viewing, allowing people to, say spit on the corpse, might be a relief and most likely could be a money maker.
Ruckus
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Pretty sure that’s what’s going on his gravestone.
Here lies, What A Fucking Asshole!
Heidi Mom
@Sab: I have a similar problem with The Mirror and the Light, the third and final volume in Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell series. Her Cast of Characters is six and a half pages long because so many characters are identified as, e.g., “George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford, [Anne’s] brother.” And of course he might be referred to as George Boleyn, as Rochford, or as Anne’s brother, so it pays to keep one finger in the Cast of Characters for at least the first 50 pages or so. The wonderful writing makes it all worthwhile, of course.
Gin & Tonic
@J R in WV:
I’m sure you know the old saying that there is no truth in Pravda and no news in Izvestia
ETA: Although I always loved the weekly Argumenty i Fakty (Arguments and Facts.)
Sab
@pluky: Yes. You cannot safely dry yourself out. After detox you can choose your own way. You cannot safely detox yourself if you have a serious drinking problem. This isn’t character. It’s chemistry.
Mary G
Miss Bianca
@Brachiator: Steve Reeves!!
I’ve never seen a Steve Reeves movie, but I’m told that when one of my older sisters used to see Hercules or Samson or something on the TV, it always inspired her to start moving all the furniture around!
Agree with you and lamh about KS – it’s too bad, really liked him in both Hercules *and* Andromeda…
CarolPW
Between moments of rage today I am pretty happy. Got a big box of giant Castroville artichokes yesterday (the “artichokes” I can buy here are shit). I also scored a 750 mL bottle of hand sanitizer from a local distiller in trade for an unopened bottle of isopropanol which I only had because I couldn’t get hand sanitizer. Also got the humidifier I had ordered today, a day earlier than I expected. And finally I get to pick up a load of groceries tomorrow in the store parking lot after a couple of days waiting for a slot to open up. Hoping the car starts – I have not left home for three weeks as of yesterday so who knows?
Thankful for the community here. Puns, wit, wisdom, sideways thinking and a great deal of information. Thanks everyone!
WhatsMyNym
@oatler.:
They both got fat…?
Ruckus
@Sab:
Arn’t we all……
Chyron HR
@germy:
“I want to set the record straight–the trip my wife and I took abroad immediately after getting married was NOT our honeymoon, our honeymoon was an unrelated vacation we went on a year later. Now let’s talk about the real issue that matters to real white Americans: The Democrat establishment hiding Joe Biden’s death certificate!” – Bernie Sanders, probably
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Sab:
When I was in the hospital last year, the nurse was telling me they debate about whether to give alcohol to alcoholics in the hospital. I don’t know which way they came down, but I could see the problem.
Miss Bianca
@Immanentize: Aw, wolf girl is crashed out on the couch, she’s such a (fuzzy, FUZZY!) muffin!
That’s it, I’m sending photos of the whole menage to WaterGirl – Roxy, Watson, and new horse babe Ember!
Sab
@Baud: You need more stepkids. Mine are always abandoning pets. We just turned down our first ( turned down) step-pet ever. He is a cat I like a lot. But he is 4 and I am 66 and he will almost certainly outlive me. He needs a younger adopter.
Miss Bianca
@mali muso: IKR?
Tell me, do you like the TV series? I am gobsmacked that my particular friend D, who I think committed to the first season to humor me, ended up liking it so much that he’s now read *two* of the Outlander books, a thing I never would have predicted!
Fair Economist
@germy:
Dirty secret about China: they have not actually eliminated SARS2 locally. They are not counting ‘asymptomatic’ cases as cases officially. This means they are actually in a situation like South Korea, holding the disease in check with distancing and extensive testing.
Apparently the open movie theatres blew their control. They must have it on a relatively short leash to know so quickly, so they’re doing that right at least.
HumboldtBlue
Imagine having these guys next door during self-isolation. You’d jam your brains out and then die from rhythm.
I’d almost forgotten it was time for baseball season.
Suzanne
I am just so freaked out. I would feel less stressed if I hadn’t started this major life change and been halfway through the process and unable to hit the pause button when all this shit started happening. This is terrible. The project that I’m staffed on went on hold today, because it’s a new hospital for a really big system and they’re so overwhelmed with COVID preparations that they can’t manage the project right now. My office says they have enough work for us, but this is how it starts. I just want to be settled before I get laid off. I probably won’t be able to work in architecture again after getting laid off, so I would at least like my life to be stable in other ways.
JMG
A mildly positive story. For years, Alice and I have nagged our children to watch movies we thought they’d like but were really old like from 1990. From France my daughter said that after 15 years of nagging from me she’d finally watched “Goodfellas.” She really liked it and now is open to more suggestions. I said that if she wanted more Scorsese and DiNiro to do “Raging Bull.” Her mother, thinking a change of pace might be in order, suggested “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” Anyway, I think we’re having a transatlantic film club.
mali muso
@Miss Bianca: Yeah, I enjoy the TV series a lot. I’ve been a fan of the books for some 20 years, but I’m aware that TV and written work are different mediums, so I’ve managed to chill out when my favorite bits don’t make it on the screen. I think they nailed the casting, which was the most important thing for me. DH has been watching along with me (although I made him skip the end of season 1 for…reasons) and it’s got enough action and intrigue to keep him entertained as well.
Ruckus
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
If you are a serious drunk you need to be properly detoxed.
We had a lifer on our ship who ran out of alcohol once when we were at sea for weeks at a time, which we normally didn’t do, normally we would only be out for 3-4 weeks max at a stretch and then we’d make port to, if nothing else, restock supplies. At 6 weeks he sobered up. I’d only seen him as a nice guy, happy and not a dick. That was the soused guy, the nice, happy one. This was the exact opposite. People were scouring the ship, looking for hidden bottles to put under his pillow. Or a bat to fix him with.
Sab
@Heidi Mom: I guess I just need a piece of paper and a pencil when I read historical novels. They instinctively kept all that straight. I just can’t. E-books have charts, but you will never find the plot aagain if you look that up. Worth it to keep it straight. Plot makes sense the first time through.
HumboldtBlue
@Suzanne:
Sadly your story is now a daily lament for millions. All the best.
Gin & Tonic
@JMG: One of my favorite really old movies is “The Conversation.” Holds up surprisingly well, given the amount of ancient technology.
Elizabelle
@Suzanne: Oh wow. Would you put the move to Pittsburgh on hold?
And you just got an offer on your house. Might you hunker down there? Is this the PA or AZ job that seems to be stalling? (It would seem you’re in demand with your healthcare design expertise.)
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Ruckus: my father was a functional alcoholic for most of my childhood. Making him go cold turkey sober involuntarily would have been borderline dangerous. For us more as much as him.
Gravenstone
@Mary G: A reason to be truly thankful for direct deposit, if ever there was one!
Martin
@Fair Economist: Yep. How we reopen is going to be a lot harder to work out than how we close. I don’t expect universities can offer lecture courses again until we have a vaccine – probably late 2021. Concerts, movies, sports audiences, same thing.
Bars will probably not be able to reopen until then. Restaurant dining rooms might be able to. Basically, anything designed to encourage socialization will probably need to stay closed.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@James E Powell:
Happy Birthday
Kelly
I had a very good day. Spent the afternoon patching all the potholes in our 1/2 mile of shared gravel road. Returned to an email that I’d passed my annual poop test(occult blood colon cancer). Happier than usual to keep my distance from the medical system.
Gravenstone
Successfully converted a pack of freezer burned chicken leg quarters into stock and from there. chicken noodle with mushrooms soup. So I’ll take that as a modest start to the weekend.
Gin & Tonic
@HumboldtBlue: Nice. I suspect the Duke would approve.
Sab
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Another problem with this pandemic. When my step-kid turned up on our doorstep wanting detox he was a mess. Shivering, almost convulsing. If they couldn’t find him a detox bed they would say just drink until you are ready. And he would drink an amazing amount. His father, my teetotalling husband, would have to buy him a couple of bottles of vodka just to hold him over until a bed opened up.
Bad times.
Elizabelle
@Mary G: Trump can’t do that, though. He does not have a line item veto.
He is blowing smoke, isn’t he??
joel hanes
@Immanentize:
I need a positive linear narrative.
If you’re at all Anglophile, Sayers’s _Murder_Must_Advertise_ is one of the wittiest romps in the language. I don’t read mystery or detective genre, but this isn’t that — or rather, it transcends the genre the way that LeGuin’s _Dispossessed_ transcends sf.
I often bless my sister for giving it to me, nearly forty years ago now. Something to re-read every five years.
Suzanne
@Elizabelle: We accelerated the move to April 17. I’m already working for the Pittsburgh company, and a project over there went on hold until COVID evens out.
Miss Bianca
@Suzanne: Oh, I feel you. I mean, I haven’t made life-changing choices of nearly the magnitude you have, but definitely made some choices that, had I known even two weeks earlier what was going down, I might not have made. So, trying hard not to freak out, and see the wisdom in taking one day at a time.
Hoping it works out for the best. At least with the money from the house you’ll have some kind of cushion, right? Or not?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Gin & Tonic: The saying is “there’s no news in Pravda(Truth) and not\truth in Izvestia(News)”.
Miss Bianca
@Martin: Oh, shit, don’t scare me like this right now.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Heidi Mom: I’m listening to Wolf Hall on audiobook, planning on Bring Up next before I start to actually read the new one. At first I felt like I was cheating, but he recording is really well done, and either my memory of the original is better than I thought, or somehow the narration is making it easier to keep track of all those names. When there’s a really good scene– Cromwell at dinner with More, Cromwell and Mary Boleyn, Cromwell and Ann Boleyn– I go back and read the text.
Anyone else really dislike the cover they’ve picked, at least the one I’ve seen, for The Mirror and the Light?
joel hanes
@JMG:
More movies young people should see
The Sting, with Newman and Redford again.
Reds, with Beatty (they won’t know any of that history, and they should. Maureen Stapleton as Emma Goldman is superb. Jack Nicholson as Eugene O’Neill)
Miss Bianca
@joel hanes: That one is one of my all-time favorite Sayers, and one of the ones I read over and over again, along with Gaudy Night. Oh, and Strong Poison. Oh, and The Nine Tailors. Oh, and Busman’s Honeymoon. : )
ETA: Agreed about The Sting, saw it over and over and over again when it first came out (I was 10!) Also, Paper Moon, another amazing movie covering the same time period, based on the even more amazing book Addie Pray by Joe David Brown.
Sab
@Suzanne: It won’t be better in AZ, sad to say. This will poubd us akl.
joel hanes
@Martin:
I keep hoping that serum therapy will turn out to reduce the percentage of severe cases and can be ramped up in many places using existing lab facilities.
Hope is not a plan.
phdesmond
@debbie: i’m so happy my local NPR station isn’t broadcasting trump’s daily propaganda hour that i donated $120 to them in their one-day fund drive today. at least i can prepare dinner in peace!
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I listened to the first two on audiobook too. I was commuting long distances to work at the time, and it kept me good company.
Suzanne
@Miss Bianca: Yes, that’s the hope.
MomSense
@Miss Bianca:
Same here. I do love a good court intrigue.
Martin
@Miss Bianca: But other things can open up. Going back to work, most stores, parks, etc. But social distancing will have to be a thing either until there’s a vaccine or until enough people get this to provide herd immunity (and that’s a really bad thought). If we’re lucky there will be some treatment that can keep people off of ventilators and from dying. If so, having people fall sick may not be so bad, provided we can effectively treat it. It’s not a vaccine, but having people be home sick for 2 weeks is at this point very appealing provided people stop dying and needing to be hospitalized.
In my experience best case scenarios never happen, but neither do worst case ones. So far we’ve been walking the worst case line pretty tightly.
Except for the bright spot of my day: Katie Porter’s test came back negative.
joel hanes
@Sab:
I bailed on a job
Good for you.
As beloved commenter efgoldman would have opined
fuckem
if they can’t see what’s in front of their face.
joel hanes
@Miss Bianca:
Addie Pray
Goes on the list. Thanks.
Martin
@joel hanes: I hope so too.
No, hope isn’t a plan, but innovation tends to be a stochastic thing. You try a zillion things and something is likely to help. It would be nice to have some kind of national coordination here, though so that we could cast as wide of a net as possible.
Brachiator
@JMG:
Old is pre 1990. I feel so sad
Heidi Mom
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The cover on my copy–red and white flower (rose?), vines with thorns–is OK, although the vines with thorns do look a bit like Christmas lights at first glance! I’ve seen a blue and green cover, maybe the British version, that I didn’t like.
Sab
@Miss Bianca: “Here in my town it appears to be an essential service” Yes , actually it is if you don’t want people to die. That’s all I was saying. Why didn’t you think otherwise?
Gin & Tonic
@Martin: I’m bad at making predictions, especially about the future, but for the US to cancel the NFL season just seems very highly improbable.
Miss Bianca
@Martin: I work at a theater. And I cover public meetings. Somehow, when your very livelihood depends on people’s ability to be able to gather freely, it’s not very comforting to hear, “but other things will open up.”
HumboldtBlue
@Gin & Tonic:
You suspect he would.
The world needs more horns, particularly the trombone.
And now I’m scrambling to track down one of my favorite horn pieces from the other Duke (Ellington), which is a whirlwind of sound and rhythm with the trombone as lead.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Heidi Mom: I must be seeing the British version on-line, and you nailed it: Christmas lights. It doesn’t fit, somehow.
Yutsano
@HumboldtBlue:
I’m sorry, but your premise is flawed.
/tuba player
Another Scott
(via LOLGOP)
Good, good.
Eyes on the prizes. We have to vote the monsters out.
Cheers,
Scott.
Miss Bianca
@Sab: oh, ffs. I DO CONSIDER IT A GODDAMN ESSENTIAL SERVICE, ALL RIGHT, I AM SORRY I HURT YOUR GODDAMN FEE-FEES BY EVEN APPEARING TO SUGGEST OTHERWISE, I LIVE IN GODDAMN CENTRAL MOUNTAIN COLORADO I KNOW WHAT LIFELONG ALCOHOLISM LOOKS LIKE, AND IF I DIDN’T FROM THAT, I DO FROM THE FACT THAT BOTH MY FATHER AND MY OLDEST BROTHERS WERE ALCOHOLICS.
NOW WILL YOU LAY THE FUCK OFF ME?
Jesus Chicken-Fried Christ.
Amir Khalid
@oatler.:
I didn’t know the Kings of England included a Henry the Thirteenth.
Yutsano
@Amir Khalid: Give it time…
HumboldtBlue
@Yutsano:
I am an easy-going man so I will call for more tuba as well, again, we need more horns.
I was a sax player, but man I love a good trombone.
Brachiator
I guess they have a curfew in parts of Florida. Maybe Miami
A co-worker with a strong right wing streak sent the following note:
Some people refuse to learn
mrmoshpotato
@Chyron HR: When does Wilmer start yelling that Biden’s the walrus?
Fuck Bernie.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Miss Bianca: oh now I need to have a Paper Moon and Sting double feature!
Lyrebird
@Immanentize: I guess agraybee is thinking along the same lines:
I don’t know, but for one thing, I’m both easily skeeved out and also part Irish, a big part, and none of the previous evidence brought forth that Biden hugs and puts his hands on people said anything to me other than “yeah he’s Irish-American, we are not English. Also generally not Californian.” (Apologies to both green and orange Californians.)
For another thing, when people were bringing all that out, I think if he’d had a pattern of harassment or assault, it woulda been mentioned. Especially when he championed better protections for college students from assault.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@mrmoshpotato: The Walrus was Paul.
Kent
Also been watching “old” movies with my two teen girls. So far the big hits have been:
American Graffiti
Best in Show
Harold and Maude
The Graduate
Pleasantville (girls LOVED it)
Lord of the Rings trilogy (yes, it’s old. No one under 30 has ever seen it in the theaters)
ballerat
@Immanentize: Technically still is, IIRC. The feds haven’t decriminalized it but the state has.
Matt McIrvin
Left Twitter now, at this time when Trump is literally causing mass death in the United States, is all just people attacking various Democratic politicians. Biden, Bernie, Warren, all of them at the same time sometimes. They seem to particularly blame Elizabeth Warren for everything, just now. I’m starting to unfollow people left and right; I can’t take it any more. Good people who I respect about a lot of things. They’re just going insane.
joel hanes
@HumboldtBlue:
Please update when you find the one you’re thinking of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOlpcJhNyDI
Mary G
@Suzanne: Why wouldn’t you be able to work in architecture again? You specialize in hospitals. Firms would be crazy not to hire you. There will be all kinds of lessons learned from this, won’t there?
I can’t imagine how much stress you must be under between dealing with a new spawn, a new job, and selling a house on top of a world pandemic.
joel hanes
@HumboldtBlue:
Also
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUyLdaCftNQ
Brachiator
@Matt McIrvin:
This is nuts. What would anyone be blaming Warren for?
It’s odd. I think that Democrats are looking good right now, just for not being crazy and for managing the pandemic well in various states.
I would tend to distrust any criticism popping up, especially any coming from other supposed Democrats or leftists.
J R in WV
@Yutsano:
i too once played the tuba — actually, technically — the Sousaphone, for marching with. tho we also played them for concert band!
Mai naem mobile
@senyordave: no. There is no fucking way Obama would have let even an accused rapist be his Veep. There is no way it wouldn’t have come up in a background investigation – FBI/Intel etc. This stuff is usually serial. There is nothing there to suggest he’s doing it serially. There is no way the GOP would have not used this years ago if it was true. Also too, having an actual accused rapist in the WH right now kind of lessens the impact of an attack based on this so I am not sure Putins going to have any luck gaining traction with this.
joel hanes
@Mary G:
The rebuilding after this will be like the pandemic
gradually, and then all at once
I wish it were closer than it appears
There will be a time when all the skills will be needed, desperately needed: all the deferred maintenance, all the pent-up demand, all the building and making of the different world that will be.
Jay
Off shift, catching up on my reading, glass of wine, another Death March tomorrow.
For those interested, Wonkette has a bleg up to pitch in and help others short in this time of need,
And Evan has a bitter sweet write up on NOLA, which is hurting bad.
Ruckus
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone:
Yep.
When I was in pre-med I also was a counselor at a local mental health facility. Phone, and walk in clients. Part of our training was that we went to Los Angeles skid row, to see what it could look like. I already knew that, dad’s machine shop was not far away. But it was interesting as we were transitioning at that time from drunks being treated like something to sweep up by the police and something to be actually treated. The LAPD used to drive around in a paddy wagon and pick up people and arrest them for 3 days. Delouse them, throw away all their clothes and most likely all their possessions. Then after 3 days they sent them on their way, clothed from handoffs. And their way was nowhere because they were homeless or drunks or both. So we got to see the issues with drunks and homeless up close and we got to see that people often need help in life, just to make it through the day. Was a counselor for almost 4 yrs, it was interesting, terrifying on occasion and an eye opener for how life can be shit for anyone, any time.
Brachiator
@Miss Bianca:
I loved Greek mythology as a kid. And Steve Reeves seemed a perfect incarnation of Hercules. He wasn’t too bad in a few other films as well.
I also have to give credit to whoever they used to dub him. Even though he was American and actually had a pretty good voice, they chose someone else to dub the English language version of his movies who projected “strength” and “nobility” very well.
NotMax
@Kent
A few titles off the crest o’ the noggin.
Watched 1973’s Harry in Your Pocket again recently. Holds up surprisingly well.
If they’re of age to handle sexual subplot, The Stunt Man. If they liked Paul Newman, Cool Hand Luke.
If they’re of age and don’t mind alarming tension, Play Misty for Me. On the lighter side of suspense, The Trouble with Harry.
On the much lighter side all ’round, the original Fantasia. Also too, Galaxy Quest.
cain
@MoxieM: Retired..time to work on an open source project!!! Come hang out with us :-)
Mai naem mobile
@Suzanne: I know this is probably way below your pay grade and not your specialty but I have an acquaintance who makes a pretty decent living doing building plans for small time builders/projects. Believe it or not he gets some of his work off Craigslist. He’s been doing it a long time. He’ll help the person go through the permitting process etc. Who the hell knows what is going to happen to the Phx RE market now but last I talked to him a couple of weeks ago he still had work.
HumboldtBlue
@joel hanes:
Got that mutha, was in the car because it’s part of the “driving library” of music that keeps me company leaving Humboldt and headed anywhere
Trombone Buster
L85NJGT
@Brachiator:
Joe is polling a couple of points better with her as VP vs. the field.
L85NJGT
@Mai naem mobile:
It’s garbage of the make his support(ers) deny it variety. Refinery 29 is currently the outlet of choice for Biden ratfucking. It seems to owned by some hell mix of Vice, Disney and one of the Murdoch offspring.
Pizza parlor stupidity.
joel hanes
@Brachiator:
RALPH SPOILSPORT: That’s .. that’s Steve Reeves.
Steeplejack (phone)
@James E Powell:
Happy birthday! ????
CaseyL
@NotMax: OMG, I remember that, too!
Fire in his heart,
Virtue in every part of,
The Mighty Hercules!
…how about the Merry Marvel Marching Society? I think it was from the same studio.
Ruckus
@HumboldtBlue:
Your second link was great but this came up as the next play
Trombone Shorty at age 13.
The guy in your link, playing lead trombone at 13 in Lincoln Center playing Duke Ellington’s 2nd Line.
HumboldtBlue
@JMG:
Dog Day Afternoon
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Papillon
The French Connection
Field of Dreams
Hoosiers
The Natural
Casablanca (obvs)
Gin & Tonic
@joel hanes: I knew somebody would come up with that.
The Thin Black Duke
@NotMax: Introduce them to John Sayles: Return of the Secaucus 7, Lianna, The Brother from Another Planet, Matewan, Eight Men Out.
Jay
BTW about the “anybody hear about the Biden/rapist thing”.
A common troll/active measures tactic is to be “ just asking questions”, “enquiring about something they heard”, etc.
Refutated, dismissed, what not doesn’t matter as parts of it “stick” in parts of our brains, and that’s amongst the “best of us”. In the most recent time frame, most of us remember “it “ as the BS it was and the refutations. In the longer time frames, fewer of us remember “it” as the BS it was and the refutaions, exactly. As time passes, fewer of us remember anything other than the allegations, vaguely.
And this is amongst Jackals with deep political interests,
The effect is more pronounced amongst those who mostly consume sports, “news” or other forms of infotainment.
Antifacist researchers have the technique of using screen shots rather than links or embeds. That is so that the sites/feeds don’t get any additional traffic or direct the gullibillies to a site/ feed that could radicalize them.
Some “has anybody seen” comments here, really raise my hackles, put me on alert. Here there be trolls,…… but also people unaware that easily debunked “just asking questions” comments, does the devils work for him.
Another Scott
@Jay: commiegirl1 is good people.
Cheers,
Scott.
Fair Economist
@Martin: Pretty much the same as my thoughts. Large anonymous gatherings are going to have to be foregone until we have a vaccine. One huge consequence not discussed yet – no megachurches or revivals. The machinery of religious grifting – and election manipulation – will be seriously impaired for a while. Even more if they endorse Trump’s plan for Plague Easter.
L85NJGT
@Jay:
Well said.
Second attempt here to raise it.
HumboldtBlue
@Ruckus:
Yup
opiejeanne
@Ruckus: That was 20 years ago, my God what a monster he must be by now. He had a lot to say in that solo. I’d have to go back and count but I think that was more than 8 8s and he used every drop of it very well.
NotMax
@NotMax – @Kent
A passelette of late arrivals from the memory bank which are not in the usual lists.
Mystic Pizza
Fried Green Tomatoes
Brassed Off
Jay
@Another Scott:
yup, they all are. Plus, they all write like Betty Cracker wished she could, but for all of our frail sense and sensibilities, and lack of fainting couches.
Kent
@NotMax: It occurs to me that my girls have never seen Meg Ryan. Maybe I’ll dust off a few of those 90s classic RomComs and see what they think.
opiejeanne
@Jay: Like Betty Cracker wished she could? I think they wish they could write like Betty Cracker.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
What a great movie, I haven’t seen it in over twenty years. The first time I saw it, an 80s kid checking out this new thing called a video store, I knew it was an old Clint Eastwood movie and hey, isn’t that the lady from that Dallas spin-off? I had no idea who Jessica Walter was. Was that Clint’s directorial debut?
That same video store was where the owner suggested Harold and Maude and The Producers, two movies I had pretty much memorized not long after.
Jay
@opiejeanne:
Betty Cracker gets to turn a lovely phrase of words into pure PG dismissive scathing poetry, PG 14,
at Wonkette their frontpagers get to swear and say openly what we are all thinking most but don’t say, because of the old strictures.
which is funny, because Mark Twain blew a bunch of them up.
I am sure, that if she were allowed to, Betty Cracker would be mailing live, hungry, locally trapped, swamp gators to shall we say, “certain people”.
Suzanne
@Mary G: I’m too old. There’s kids to hire.
NotMax
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
IIRC yes, it was his first time in the director’s chair for a film.
Kattails
@JMG: Coming in just before bed so you’ll probably miss this, but if Butch & Sundance go well, I’d suggest The Sting. Charming, clever. Just heard the ragtime theme a few days ago & now want to see it again.
Matt McIrvin
@Brachiator:
Having the gall to run for President when Bernie was in. Seriously. Also the whole Cherokee thing
Basically they blame her for Biden getting the nomination, and by extension for Trump getting elected because they believe Biden is doomed and Bernie woulda won.
Kattails
@HumboldtBlue: Got to see Casablanca on a big screen a few years ago. Very different experience than TV.
Just thought of Charade also too. Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau, George Kennedy. 1963. Stanley Donen director.
Brachiator
@Matt McIrvin:
RE: This is nuts. What would anyone be blaming Warren for?
Warren performed dismally in many primaries. No one can reasonably say that she stole any votes from Bernie.
Then again, many Bernie Bros are not known for their ability to be reasonable.
Elizabelle
@Fair Economist:
Ooh. A silver lining.
And they deserve it. A very popular op ed in today’s NY Times:
The Religious Right’s Hostility to Science Is Crippling Our Coronavirus Response
Trump’s response to the pandemic has been haunted by the science denialism of his ultraconservative religious allies.
Ruckus
@opiejeanne:
Listen to the second link that HumboldtBlue put up at #280.
That’s from 2011. He got better. Amazing.
HumboldtBlue
@Kattails:
North By Northwest!
Ruckus
@Elizabelle:
Much harder to grift people with a damn clue.
Evangelical preachers have been doing this for well longer than I’ve been alive.
Elizabelle
@Ruckus: Hey Ruckus. Good to see you here.
Ruckus
@opiejeanne:
He also played at the White House for President Obama.
You liked my first link this one will stun you.
Ruckus
@Elizabelle:
Glad to be here!
I’m pretty much bunkered in here in chez ruckus. I go for a 2-3 mile walk every day, store as least often as possible, that’s about it. I call it practice retirement. Hope to see the real thing in a year. Who the hell knows now. One day at a time.
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
Picked up my friend at 11:00 at Trader Joe’s and took her home. Clarendon and Ballston mostly deserted. Strange.
She’s got a ride to work tomorrow, so I’ll pick her up at 7:00 p.m., when her shift is over.
Scored some rugelach and grilled chicken strips in the deal. Win!
HumboldtBlue
@Ruckus:
Hah! I just got done dancing to that motherfucker.
Jimmm
With the caveat that you should always backup data when performing an upgrade, it’s not supposed to touch your personal files at all (and in my experience, which includes dozens of such upgrades, it doesn’t). There are certainly edge cases where stored information could be lost (profile corruption and such), but for that I’ll refer to my previous advice: backup before any major system change.
I just wanted to make sure that you realized that Microsoft was still offering the free upgrade to Windows 7 users in the event that you wanted to pursue it.
Ruckus
Think about this.
Trombone Shorty played at the WH for President Obama and the current sack of shit would never have anyone with any talent whatsoever there as just giving up the spotlight to someone competent, let alone a young guy like Trombone with real talent would make him look like even more like the asshole he really, really is.
Jay
@Ruckus:
maybe add in some more local fishing?
NotMax
@Jimmm
Also relatively painless to revert back to Win 7 within 30 days of upgrading to Win 10, a little more involved after 30 days.
As well, Win 7 isn’t usually disappeared – just, um, quarantined. Files from the Win 7 installation can be accessed after Win 10 install.
Dahlia
Years ago Mr. Dahlia and I saw “The Third Man” au cinema. It was fantastic.
Some years later I got to see “Lawrence of Arabia” at the Cinerama. It was a cinematic revelation.
Someday….
joel hanes
@Gin & Tonic:
We aim to please, and so does Louise
So don’t hide arms
Get side arms
At Aaaaammmes Guns!
WaterGirl
@Miss Bianca: Happy pet photos! Can’t wait.
schrodingers_cat
@joel hanes:
Wasn’t he a fighter pilot during WWI. I can’t imagine our Buffoon King doing anything that requires physical courage.
So he has fewer redeeming qualities compared to Goering.