Haven’t posted a Badger photo in a while, so here’s one:
He often walks along the top of the sofa as if he were a cat. That abused piece of furniture is a frequent launchpad when he gets the zoomies. Recently, he used that same commanding height to pounce on our Roomba.
I need to cut his damned claws, a task that we both hate. Daisy’s need to be trimmed too, but I don’t dread it as much as she’s usually not a big baby about it like Badger is. She’s stoical about baths too, whereas he acts like we’re trying to skin him alive. A big ol’ drama llama.
Anyhoo…open thread!
Jerzy Russian
There is nothing wrong with thinking you are a cat.
germy
Omnes Omnibus
I’ve been distracting myself with the “Meanwhile in Finland” series on You Tube. Example.
Anonymous At Work
Any word on the eyeball numbers for last night yet?
AliceBlue
Your abused leather sofa looks exactly like ours (which is also very much abused by a dog).
geg6
Badger is so adorable. He’s what I would like for my next doggo.
Lovey has a thing for the backs of furniture, too. She is often laying across the top of the loveseat in our sunroom, but her favorite place, no question, is on the back of the recliner John sits in. Of course, John must be sitting there for her to sit there.
Cleo, a real cat, does the same to me on the couch in our bonus room where I have my home office set up. She loves when I take a break from work and sit on the couch to watch tv for a short while because she makes a beeline for the back of the couch the minute I sit down. She purrs like crazy when sitting there, so it makes me happy.
debbie
Since it’s an open thread, I just got back from early in-person voting. One hour and fifteen minutes from leaving my car to coming back to it. I’m not good at judging distances, but the line had to be more than a mile long. Tons of Dems handing out sample ballots; only one guy for the GOP (and sadly, the man in front of me who seemed pleasant enough took a GOP ballot, grr). Line moved plenty fast the entire time (except when it was not in the sun). Once inside, I registered and voted and walked back out in less than five minutes.
ETA: Poll workers told me it had been just as crowded every day (since Oct. 6).
Johnnybuck
Waiting to vote Douglas county GA. Ine hour and twenty minutes just to get through the metal detector. It’s almost as if they don’t want us ti vote.
Damien
My girlfriend went on a trip recently, and the second day she was gone our dog started SCREAMING every time I’d pick him up in a certain way. I started really worrying when he kept doing it the next day, so I took him out to the urgent care vet….
Only for this little wiener to be not only perfectly fine, but so well behaved and healthy that the vet called him “stoic.” Turns our you can get a lot of compliments and some light Doggie pain meds if you’re just enough of a drama queen ?
Nicole
@Anonymous At Work:
it’s likely the Trump had larger viewing numbers, but part of that is due to NBC putting him out on several platforms. More than ABC could do with Biden.
it’s not a big deal. Ratings aren’t electoral votes, and Trump clearly did himself no favors last night.
debbie
Forgot this: At the entrance to the parking lot, there was a bunch of GOP signs. Stuck in the middle of the group was a sign saying “George Floyd 2020.” A good reminder of why this election is so important.
debbie
@AliceBlue:
Isn’t the fashionable term “distressed”? Or maybe “vintage”?
dmsilev
@Anonymous At Work: Early reports suggest 45,634 eyeballs gouged out while watching Trump.
Delk
Just voted in Chicago. No problems—no need to show ID. Felt so good to see Joe and Kamala’s names.
in other news, yesterday I weighed in at 221 pounds. January 1 i was 261. 40 pounds!
Charluckles
At the dog park last night there was a young boston doing brodies, spins and twirls and just generally causing mayhem. My 2-legged kids thought it was the best thing ever. They are ready to trade in our dogs this morning.
SiubhanDuinne
@Anonymous At Work:
Found this, no idea how reliable:
Biden slightly ahead of Trump. And my own suspicion is that a hefty chunk of the Trump numbers were due to hate-watching.
Source: https://advanced-television.com/2020/10/16/data-biden-pips-trump-in-town-hall-tv-ratings/
debbie
@dmsilev:
Heh. Driving back from voting, I listened to Glenn Beck’s paen to Donald Trump (“Balls of Steel”). That is why I was going to vote, no matter what. These idiots.
donnah
Badger: I am the King of all I survey! Fetch me a biscuit, minion!
laura
@Delk: I’m updating your file to reflect your good deeds. Santa’s going to good to you this Christmas! Seriously jealous of your reduction and proud of your exercise of the franchise.
SFBayAreaGal
@Omnes Omnibus: Now that was funny. Great setup
TS (the original)
@Anonymous At Work:
I know absolutely nothing about this group but from the write-up they do ratings for smart TVs.
Biden pips Trump in town hall TV ratings
Edit: And this one online
Town Hall YouTube Views Suggest Biden hit Trump Where It Hurts Him Most—Ratings
A Ghost to Most
Rick Wilson at the beast:
Omnes Omnibus
Why? Why would you do that?
Omnes Omnibus
@SFBayAreaGal: The whole series is worthwhile.
Percysowner
Ratings aren’t votes, but Trump cares more about them than votes, SO, happy days, Biden’s Town Hall beat Trumps in all measures*
Total viewers Biden 12,705 Trump 10,386
18-49 Biden 2.6 Trump 1.7 Biden even beat him in the Adults 59+ Biden 15 Trump 14. That’s going to leave a mark. Let the tweeting begin.
*For the other categories go toShow Buzz Daily
germy
Everybody wants to be a cat.
RSA
He walks on sofa, like the cat
Of thoughtless climbs and scarry hides…
dmsilev
@debbie: Willingly listening to Glenn Beck extol Trump’s balls? That’s a …unique form of masochism.
dmsilev
@Percysowner: That’s hilarious. Trump wanted the town halls to be at the same time so he could gloat over the higher ratings that he inevitably would have gotten. Oops.
Immanentize
@Omnes Omnibus: Bad you for showing me that station. Good bye all (for hours, I fear!)
debbie
@Omnes Omnibus:
I have always suffered from too much curiosity.
Chris T.
Hah, of our four cats, one is a total drama-queen about getting her claws clipped. The others vary: nobody likes it, but they put up with it to some extent. The extent varies depending on their moods.
Mike J
@Anonymous At Work:
https://www.thewrap.com/early-ratings-biden-town-hall-beats-trump-abc-nbc/
WereBear
And they are the “gentlemen” of terriers. Count yourself lucky! As much as I love visiting with them, I knew I could never actually live with them.
Cats are more my speed… like Reverend Jim!
The Thin Black Duke
@debbie: Thing is, aren’t toxic gasbags like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Joe Rogan, etc. boring? As Gertrude Stein said, “There is no there there.”
Nicole
Oh my gosh, I’m so glad to be wrong about the ratings thing. The only source I could find was Newsweek (which I know is a crap site nowadays) and it had the Youtube numbers favoring Trump, although it pointed out it was likely due to being on more Youtube channels than Biden was.
Again, won’t affect the election, but I take grim pleasure in Trump being denied anything.
different-church-lady
Those irritating “From the web” clickbait-y ads sure were quick to pounce on Savannah Guthrie’s freshly minted prominence.
Anonymous At Work
@Nicole: Not about ratings helping Biden, hurting Trump (directly) or anything like that. It’s all about the effect on Trump’s snowflake psyche if Biden outdoes him on ratings. It’s about keeping Trump spiraling out of control publicly.
WereBear
@germy:
Everybody wants to rule the world.
mrmoshpotato
????
debbie
@The Thin Black Duke:
I was flipping through stations and he was yelling at Sasse’s betrayal, so it caught my attention. Know thy enemies…
mad citizen
@Chris T.: We adopted a large black female cat several years ago (she LOVED to eat), with her male companion, and she was simply a NO on nail clipping–had never been done at my stepson’s place, and I think he told me the vet couldn’t accomplish it either. After several months, I eventually got to the prize, and was able to clip her nails regularly. It was a great day.
VeniceRiley
@Delk: Way to go!
mad citizen
Journal Entry, Donald J Trump, October 15, 2020.
I’ll never forget the night I met my fourth wife. I was levering a very nasty newswoman on national tv, when an angel appeared on my right. She was wearing a MAGA shirt and MAGA glasses, and told me I had a beautiful smile, that I was so handsome when I smiled. I moved on her like The Donald. Later on, when I showed her my new YMCA dance, the deal was closed.
KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))
@Delk: Congrats on the weight loss! That’s a lot, especially during all the stress & confinement of the pandemic. You should be proud of your accomplishment. I am. :-)
Ken
I’ve driven through parts of the country where when I hit the “seek” button the radio sweeps through the entire band before ending up back at the same Sinclair station where I started. Maybe debbie was in a similar wasteland?
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Yeah, my guy spends a lot of time perched / sleeping / barking out the window from the top of the sofa. He’s only 34 pounds (er… up to 38 in lockdown) so his damage is limited.
He’s managed to absorb the nuances of Sofa Rules pretty well:
Omnes Omnibus
@Ken: She is in Columbus, Ohio. She has CD101 and WCBE available on the radio.
Ken
@Anonymous At Work: I would add that it’s well-known that when Trump is unhappy he shares it. Widely. So he’ll be making his campaign staff miserable, and that will impact their work. Plus they deserve it for working for him.
different-church-lady
Am I a fuckin’ genius or what?
Ken
@Omnes Omnibus: It was a joke. However, my explanation still works if we assume that as a person in a city in a Republican-controlled state, she was required to drive two hundred miles to get to her assigned polling place (open alternate Thursdays, 4 to 5 AM).
mrmoshpotato
@Anonymous At Work:
Most of us have two. Hope you do too.
Elizabelle
Bad – juh! Love that hound.
The NY Times is getting shrill. Maybe those fuckers shouldn’t have gone all emails emails emails, hmmm? It’s a whole section, with numerous articles. Going to be its own special Sunday Review section, it seems. (And you might have covered this on the morning threads; first time checking in and — there’s Badger! A good Friday.)
END
OUR NATIONAL
CRISIS
The Case Against Donald Trump
Fuckers couldn’t scream emails, emails, emails enough. You helped elect him, NY Times/Sulzbergers. You and NBC, may that network live in shame. (Fox too, of course, but we expect them to be awful.)
Nutmeg again
I love the Badger side eye. He must be quite a character. (And yeah, Murphy does not allow nail trimming, nor necessary brushing of her hind end. It’s a never-ending dilemma, with a querulous 97 pounder.) How we love them, though.
different-church-lady
@Ken: A lot of them are probably trudging along, putting in minimal effort, and thinking, “I can’t wait for this to be over.”
different-church-lady
@Elizabelle:
He’s a man unworthy of the human existence he holds.
trollhattan
@debbie:
“These sofas are all stone-washed.”
CaseyL
@Omnes Omnibus: Good gravy. Do Finns have antifreeze in their veins?
trollhattan
@Elizabelle:
Gee, thanks a lot, guys. But I’m waiting until Dowd decides whether Trump deserves a second term, you know, in lieu of Joe the Hawk.
Ken
@mad citizen: Are you talking about the “nodding woman”? The Miami Herald found some information about her. Also she doesn’t look like Trump’s type, though I was struck that the three women sitting behind him in one photo had a similar appearance and outfits.
I saw this on Tom Nichols’ twitter, where he also notes that Trump re-tweeted a satirical post from the Babylon Bee, apparently thinking it was real.
Elizabelle
@different-church-lady: I am curious if the FTF NY Times has put this content out without their paywall.
Anyone want to check?
If it’s that important, the Sulzbergers need to make it free and shareable.
I mean, since it is a national emergency. (Which the Times has awoken to, slowly. Maybe they’re briefing Maggie Haberman on it, right now.)
KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))
My son’s elderly chihuahua is also a couch-back sitter and nail clipping drama queen. He’s a bit of a drama queen about everything, to be honest – he barks at the wind when he’s outside, too. My daughter-in-law thinks the couch-back sitting is because he has spent so much time around cats, but I think it’s because he’s small and likes to be up high enough to see what’s going on.
And where the 20 lb cat is.
KrusherKing
O Noble Badger! What a handsome boy! Have you tried a Dremel for his nails? My friend who is a past dog breeder swears by hers — says it’s WAY less stressful for both her and dogs.
https://www.chewy.com/dremel-7300-pt-dog-cat-nail-grinder/dp/156127
mrmoshpotato
@Delk: So yelling about Dump, eating healthy and exercise does burn calories!
trollhattan
@A Ghost to Most:
At least Trump finally established his position on pedophilia. The entire world had been wondering whether he a-fer it or agin it. Thanks, qanon.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@geg6: My Buddy sleeps on the back of the sofa in front of the big window every day. He now has to shoulder the 2 cats out of the way, which does not please him AT all. My lovely old cats(RIP) did not care about that window strangely. One of the new cats likes to sit on that back of the leather recliner near the front door. He is very offended when we actually want to recline in the recliner. They all hate and stalk the Roomba.
Lyrebird
@germy: Hmm… Wasn’t sure about that, but I surely do thank you for linking us to more Moshow!
Needed that.
debbie
@Omnes Omnibus:
It was just a couple of minutes. The NPR program was a rerun and CD101’s DJ (or whatever they call them now) was running his mouth. I really didn’t miss that much.
mad citizen
@Ken: No, the red glasses woman who complimented his smile: https://etcanada.com/news/703196/twitter-wants-to-cast-allison-janney-as-the-woman-who-complimented-donald-trumps-smile-at-town-hall/
Supposedly Republican leaning Biden.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Excellent!
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Nutmeg again: My 14 year old Jack Russell mix can give side eye like that. I finally gave up on doing nails and baths myself when my knee and back problems got too bad. Thankfully a dog and car groomer moved into the strip mall down the street and they do contactless pet grooming including baths and nail trims. Takes they about 4 minutes to clip my 2 kitties nails. Takes longer for the dog because he is such a baby about it.
trollhattan
@mad citizen:
Is this our new Guy in Red Sweater?
Yesterday I heard a political reporter despairing over how few undecided voters there are this cycle. Perhaps fewer Cletus safaris then, guys?
Elizabelle
Since open thread, this article was a lot of fun. Worth a click.
Los Angeles Times: An unlikely Pasadena love story: The high-school bromance of Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth
Yeah, well.
Interesting article on busing in LA area in the 1970s (Eddie and Alex got to attend their neighborhood high school, David Lee Roth — from a wealthier area — got bused), high school party culture, the Van Halens’ preference for metal hard rock and Roth’s more varied tastes, shall we say. I think the VHs later flamed him by calling him “Disco Dave”, etc.
Author is Greg Renoff, (“a historian and the author of “Van Halen Rising: How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal” and “Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer’s Life in Music.”)
raven
Here’s a nice shot of the Bohdi and the Princess on the sofa.
Miss Bianca
Now I’m starting to wonder if Watson might be part Boston – the way you describe Badger’s attitude about baths reminds me of Watson’s – he shrieks and flails and squirms like he’s being flayed alive when you turn the hose on him. Sponge/rag baths or nothing for this boy!
Zelma
Since this is an open thread, I’m looking for cat advice. My beloved Simmons died about 3 weeks ago and it has been strange to be cat-less. I have been feeding 4 ferals on my deck for years. (Part of the local TNR program.) One of them has been very friendly, allowing me to pet him and pick him up. Well, today, said cat decided to come into the house for the first time. (it was raining.). He is now ensconced in my utility closet.
My dog – who chases the cats when they are on the deck – is studiously ignoring him. He’s used to having a cat in the house. I’m thinking I’d rather give this cat a home than go get a new one at the animal shelter. Can anyone give me advice as to how to proceed?
BTW, I’ve been calling this cat “Piggy.” I think I may have to change that if he stays!
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca: Beau hated baths and hated going outside in the rain. At the same time, if you put him near a lake or pond, it was virtually impossible to keep him out of it. If it wasn’t deep enough for swimming, he wasn’t having it. He also loved snow.
debbie
@raven:
Sweet! (Love the lines of the sofa!)
karensky
@Omnes Omnibus: OMG. What a great wormhole is “Meanwhile in Finland.” I grew up in North Central Massachusetts in the’50s and my dad’s buddies included 3 Finns, farmers and a furniture maker. They were so awesome.
Raven
@debbie: It belonged to her aunt and we had it recovered, Lil Bit’s headstone just came so I have to get on it an build her wheelbarrow shrine.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Yes. Can vouch for this.
Elizabelle
@raven: Bohdi living his best life.
Do you sense that he misses Lil Bit??
Chris T.
@Zelma: Piggy has chosen you. What more is there to know?
Raven
@Elizabelle: I dunno, the situation at the beach seemed physical. He’s fussy about his food now and I get the sense that without competition it’s not the same. We fed her in the chair and he loved to muscle between us and gobble the dropped food.
germy
File this under “wonderful things”
J R in WV
@Zelma:
First, sorry for the loss of your long time cat, Simmons!
But also, I’m thinking you’re done with the cat search already. Maybe take Piggy to the vet in a few weeks, once he’s established that you are his home-maker.
When the cat picks you, you have been had. Or something like that. Congratulations on the new cat. . .
Blackcatsrule
@Zelma: Simmons sent this cat to you ❤️
TomatoQueen
@Blackcatsrule: @Zelma:
Am very much inclined to agree. Sometimes they have good ideas lurking under the surface.