Friday, August 16, 2013

Open Thread

Steely Dan - Josie - Live HD

151 comments:

Anonymous said...

While pondering the RulesInABlackHouse topic, I remembered this short bit I wrote from the memory of a best friend, who had grown up poor in Florida.

----------

"Shh, shh." It was a black, dark, night. It was two in the morning. But there was Dad with his index finger pressed to his lips, leaning over me, nudging my shoulder. "We've got corn!" he whispered.

He straightened up and passed the same message to Kenny, sleeping in the upper bunk, then Rob, sleeping on the corner cot.

We tiptoed downstairs to the kitchen. There on the table was a cardboard box stuffed full with fresh sweet Florida corn. There at the table were my sisters, Charlene, Letty and Stephie. I had trooped on down the stairs with Rob and Kenny. We knew the drill -- the 2am-don't-wake-up-Mom-and-eat-some-corn drill. We were all hushed and expectant in our pajamas.

Dad was home! Dad brought us corn! And we were going to eat it furtively, silently as though it were a great, secret adventure.

The big four-gallon pot was on the boil. Dad was cleaning the husks and silk from the corn. Dad was cooking the corn. Dad was dropping the hot fresh ears onto our plates with tongs.

We applied careful butter and salt. In complete silence we ate the corn. If someone dropped a knife, the others would hiss, "Shh!"

It was a great secret adventure.

Chip Ahoy said...

That's an awesome story. It's like an episode in a novel. It totally had me right off.

I thought it was going to be the first corn noticed on a corn stalk that means the crop is one step closer to being assured. So they all go down to see the baby corn.

TTBurnett said...

Could be an opera. One of the sisters steps forward and sings a sotto voce aria, "Un furtivo morso di mais."

edutcher said...

FWIW, off Insta, Wyden and Udall, saying NSA revelations just starting.

TTBurnett said...

Personally, I prefer opera jokes.

TTBurnett said...

Secret corn-eating is charming and surprising.
Secret e-mail interception is not charming, but hardly surprising.
I go for the one with the greatest entertainment value.

TTBurnett said...

Now, is there an opera about a black chamber?

If you want to know, "Black Chamber" is the quaint, 17th and 18th century term for the room where diplomatic messages were intercepted, stealthily opened and deciphered. Ideally, they were replaced and resealed in their proper envelopes before being sent on their way. Occasionally, mix-ups occurred. In one case, the Neapolitan ambassador returned his Austrian counterpart's mis-delivered dispatch with the note, "You, too?" If I recall correctly, that was at Venice.

Bribing post-riders, forging seals and revealing invisible ink was much more romantic than tapping fiber-optic cables.

Alas! The charms of this world are furtive and last not a day!

JAL said...

Serendipitously I bought two gorgeous hibiscus plants the other day.

They will decorate my deck and then live in my sunny living room for the winter.

Lowes was getting rid of them halpf price.

Score!

And we bought ahalf dozen ears of sweet corn today. Yum. (To keep on topic in this open no topic thread.)

Anonymous said...

Chip: Thanks. I like it too but can't always tell how something works for others.

My friend's father was one of the most decorated seamen in WWII. He led an interesting, though checkered, life and died a little over fifty. I only met him a few times. He was a character, the sort of American they don't seem to make anymore.

Laura said...

Long for more of that story. Thanks for the tidbit and the things learned by lurking here. Reminds me of the joy my father had slipping a little something extra into a "mundane" gift.

As the child of a railroader, should know better than to derail a thread, but can't resist sharing the irony of this headline: 'Lost Boys' Actor Jason Patric Testifies For Parental Rights For Sperm Donors.

Mea culpa.

edutcher said...

TTBurnett said...

Now, is there an opera about a black chamber?

If you want to know, "Black Chamber" is the quaint, 17th and 18th century term for the room where diplomatic messages were intercepted, stealthily opened and deciphered


Don't know about the opera, but it's probably where we get "black" covert ops.

Anonymous said...

As the child of a railroader, should know better than to derail a thread...

Laura: It's an open thread. By all means do. Thanks.

I remember liking "The Lost Boys" and getting an early glimpse of Kiefer Sutherland as a compelling actor.

Phil 314 said...

Is it summer vacations or is enthusiasm waning for "Comment Home"?

deborah said...

Phil, I think it's a combination of things, most of all the small size of the commentariat. We don't have the gravitational pull to sustain interest, perhaps. Plus, the pull of the Vortex is strong for many.

Icepick said...

There haven't been posts compelling enough to kick-start long conversations that last few days. It happens. We'll see if it persists.

And it is August, the most miserable of the summer months.

...

deborah, I have achieved escape velocity. The vortex holds no attraction for me any more.

Icepick said...

Someone should write up a post on the sheer inanity of this:

Eastern Shore professors to get bulletproof whiteboards

The upshot is that they're going to spend $60,000 on bullet-resistant white boards that can be used as a small personal shield by professors in the case of violent attack.

From the article: The high-tech tablet — which hangs on a hook, measures 18 by 20 inches and comes in pink, blue and green — can be used as a personal shield for professors under attack, according to the company that makes it, and a portable writing pad in quieter times.

18" x 20"? I could hide my head and part of my upper body behind that. Apparently they don't have anyone on staff that can do a cost-benefit analysis. Or with any damned sense, for that matter.

Also from the story: Tunis envisions teachers using the whiteboards to fend off attackers individually or as a group, standing side-by-side to create a wall that could shield evacuating students or to fend off an attacker.

Yeah, that 20" high wall is going to make for a great shield, just so long as the shooter doesn't see all the body parts not hidden.

There's more to the article. It's worth a look. It's probably worth a post. Make certain to end the post with a question or two, inviting commenters to do their thing. Something like,

Can anyone think of a better use of $60,000 for this university?

Icepick said...

Also, the shields should come in red, in order to hide the blood spatter, so the shooter gets discouraged. (See "red coats" for more.)

Alternately, the boards should come in rainbow colors (on the non-writing side) to show the commitment to diversity that one expects of a modern university.

Icepick said...

Of course, covering my head and upper torso would be a good thing. If we're learned nothing else from the movies we have learned that it can take days to die from a bullet to the gut.

deborah said...

Icepick, you write it and I'll post it...

edutcher said...

deborah said...

Phil, I think it's a combination of things, most of all the small size of the commentariat. We don't have the gravitational pull to sustain interest, perhaps. Plus, the pull of the Vortex is strong for many.

Not too mention some of the contributors are posting as much - presumably they're on vacation or getting the troops ready for school, which IIRC starts week after next for many.

deborah said...

We shall see, Ed :)

edutcher said...

Comments are back on full time at TOP, I notice, but censored (ie moderated), so what you write may or may not eventually see daylight.

I notice some old names and some very old names there.

Not sure I'd ever go back full time (or much like part time) after the way we were treated, though. The only way I know anything's going on there is the blogroll here.

Icepick said...

Icepick, you write it and I'll post it...

Uh, I think I already did!

Hmm. Let me edit it a little bit and then I'll send it in, either here or to your email.

deborah said...

Very good :)

Trooper York said...

You need to put up controversial and combative posts to get the big comments numbers. It is summer but if this joint stays so well behaved it will not generate huge comment totals.

Which is fine. You don't need it to have a great blog. It all depends on what you want to do.

virgil xenophon said...

"Plus, the pull of the vortex is strong for many."

On one intellectual level I understand this, yet on another I cannot. Yes, the power-source of the vortex is an accomplished and compelling diarist, and as such is often interesting reading. Plus old habits die hard. At first I was amazed (and disheartened) that many of the "regulars" whom I had respected (Cubanbob, MichaelK come to mind) continued to comment once comments were re-opened (ANOTHER whole separate subj to follow!) but I rationalized that perhaps they, seeing themselves as not being the object of the ire of blogess, (wrongly in error, I would say) felt no personal affront by her actions and so, the waters now calmed, feel free to sail on calmer seas at their favorite haunt. Fine, In error, I feel, but fully understandable in a way. What I at first could NOT comprehend is why some here (Freeman Hunt, Chickenman, etc) whose opinions I respect also now post at the vortex. But rethinking again, I'm sure these individuals feel that they themselves, not being original objects of the blog-lady's scorn and ire, are undoubtedly fully welcome once again at the vortex and why, after all, should they deny themselves an enjoyable experience just because of the actions of others? Fine once again. I understand this pov as far as it goes. But looked at on another intellectual level, I find the actions of both groups deeply disturbing for the following reasons:

Is everyone's memory so short? When the vortex mistress closed all comments (overlooking, for the nonce, her original reasons--both technical and otherwise)she soon became enamored of the "freedom" and "revitalization" that a comment-free blog would bring in it's train, thus allowing her to "sharpen" her writing by allowing full concentration on that alone leading to more "interesting" and "vital" posts? Remember all that out-loud musing? I.e., she was better off without ALL of us, NOT just the "Bad faith" miscreants, but everyone. Remember? And remember her comments after the unsat results of her little poll? She TOTALLY rejected the very concept that the interplay of the commentariat both amongst themselves and in reply to the points raised in her posts was perhaps fully 50% of the allure of her site. No, that was not possible. She did not need the hoi polloi she let us know in no uncertain terms.. In what was an unmistakenable open slap in the face to every. single. one. of her commentariat, she in essence said: "Onward and upward alone for this gal, carried along into the exalted upper nether regions of the blogosphere by the strength of my writing alone." Remember? Until, that is, her page-views went into free-fall. Now, without a SINGLE word of explanation, she re-opens comments again to all posts. What happened to the "purity" of her writing, untrammeled, unsullied, unbesmirched by the messy opinions of obvious dullards such as we mere mortals? Down the memory-hole with THAT idea, I guess. But not for this little Indian. And for those who still chose to comment at the vortex? How short the memories must be from the feel of the sting of the firm back of the "intellectual hand"--has it dissipated that fast?

deborah said...

Agree on all points, Troop.

virgil xenophon said...

#CHOOSE viz chose--damn

deborah said...

That's a useful history, Virgil. I hadn't caught the onward and upward comment by her.

virgil xenophon said...

Well, the "onward and upward" phrase was mine, Deb, just summarizing the gist of her comments--too lazy to go back and hunt for the exact wording--but the sentiments are definitely umistakably all there if you care to go back and read.

Trooper York said...

Well Virgil although I agree with your sentiments you have believe in freedom. People should be free to comment there if they think that is what they want to do. It's not for us to say how they should feel after all. You can think they are fools or in some cases quislings who were only part of this to keep the commenters together until it was time to go back to TOP. I don't put that on anybody in particular because everybody should do what they want to do.

What they should realize is that the Evil Blogger Lady will turn on them as well. In time. Todays honored commenter is tomorrows bad faith enemy. You can't get a better example than Palladian. But you can find many, many others going all the way back to Sippican Cottage. So give it time. They will get theirs soon enough.

Trooper York said...

The great thing about Lem's place is that there is not all of the animosity and hatred formatted by bad faith blogging. No provocative posts that pits liberals against traditionalists. Just fun topics that you can enjoy talking about. But you do have to realize that controversy brings hits and comments. You have to irritate the oyster to make a pearl.

XRay said...

That was well said, Virgil, and pretty well encompasses my feelings as well. In fact, it was the poll that destroyed the last vestiges of the vortex for me. The outright denial that the commenters were of any worth whatsoever in the blogs success, and in the process calling those of us who felt different liars. That was BS, so SU I said. But, I'm not quite sure how I would react should you all leave here and return there...

Though too, I agree with Trooper as regards to folks doing what they want, commenting where they will. No skin off my nose.

Trooper York said...

I think there are quite a few people who feel like you and Virgil but the only way this joint will be able to stay open is if the contributors feel that people are enjoying their work. The only feedback they get is through comments so it is important to comment on posts so that they know that someone is out there and appreciates what they are doing.

Icepick said...

But you can find many, many others going all the way back to Sippican Cottage.

I still don't know what happened there. Can anyone provide a brief summary of that?

...

And Virgil, I just don't get going back either. Battered commenter syndrome is all I can come up with.

Cody Jarrett said...


What they should realize is that the Evil Blogger Lady will turn on them as well. In time. Todays honored commenter is tomorrows bad faith enemy. You can't get a better example than Palladian. But you can find many, many others going all the way back to Sippican Cottage. So give it time. They will get theirs soon enough.


How many years have you been saying this, Troop?

Do you really believe it anymore?

Cody Jarrett said...

LOL. I agree with Troop basically (and the people that also agree with him) that it's no skin off my ass who comments where (I don't understand it at all, so it bothers me intellectually, like a splinter)--but I do have to laugh when you see people like Shouting Thomas who're so vocal about what an evil person The Real EBL is and how he's done done done...running right back. And actually being nice.

Or eddie the utch, commenting just today (I think it was today) that he didn't know what was going on over there blah blah hadn't been blah blah...and yet, if you go there...he's right out front.

Yes Madame, may I have another? Harder this time please...ohhhh yeah.

That's the spot.


LOL.

XRay said...

Point taken, and for the record I think the place is doing a fine job, as I know it is tough coming up with good material day after day. I certainly appreciate the efforts of all involved in the endeavor.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

Agreed with virgil.



Eric the Fruit Bat said...

IIRC, years ago Trooper reported that he went to a meet-up and Althouse's idea of making casual conversation was trying to get people to talk about whether she should ban titus.

I don't know whether she would admit that, or deny it, or whether she would say it's unimportant, but I thought it was a damning charge and I thought it had the ring of truth to it.

Icepick said...

How many years have you been saying this, Troop?

Do you really believe it anymore?


Cody, she's turned on and turned off a number of commenters through the years: Sippican Cottage, Ruth Anne Adams, Trooper, Palladian and so on and so forth spring to mind immdeiately. A lot more have dropped out off the site without comment, and I know some of them from other places.

And as Virgil pointed out above, she pretty much told all the commenters to get stuffed this time around.

Cody Jarrett said...

Icepick, I know.

What I don't know what what you're trying to say?

Troop keeps saying EBL and Lwnby are evil people that will get what's coming to them.

My question is how long has he been saying it and if he really believes it or is just saying it mostly out of habit.

Because I don't believe it. It's a pretty thought, but that kind of person is always able to skate by.

Icepick said...

Yeah, I don't know what's going on over there except what I read elsewhere. I'm not going back unless I either blindly follow a link, or if someone tells me there's something REALLY interesting going on over there. What's done is done, and I'm done with that.

Cody Jarrett said...

she's turned on a number of commenters through the years:
Trooper, Palladian



LOL. There's a trick on her part!

(sorry. couldn't resist the playful edit. Don't hate me).

Cody Jarrett said...

PS Icepick--I lurked over there for 2-3 years before I gave up and started to comment, so I've seen a fair amount of her bullshit.

Trooper York said...

I say it all the time Cody because it is true. It is just that people are at certain stages of their development. Some are fresh new commenters. Little fawns standing shakily on little legs. Others are yearlings who have are coming into their own strength of commenters and feeling their oats so to speak. Still others are old stags wandering majestic alone in the forest waiting for the hunters bullet. So they have time until they get shot down. But they will eventually. The Evil Blogger Lady looks at her commenters as a means to an end. She is not your friend. It takes some people a lot longer to figure that out. Even this last blow up is not enough for them to realize what the deal is. But give them time. Trust me.

Icepick said...

Well, TY'll have to answer that himself.

Personally, I don't think people get what they have coming to them. I've seen too many bastards get ahead while shitting all over everyone (take the current President of the United States as an example) with little or no comeuppance. Althouse is going to continue doing fine until she gets old. And even then she's unlikely to face the problems so many others do. She'll have a fat retirement to go with a fat paycheck now. After the last few months I'm now convinced that she's batshit crazy (no offense to Mitchell's shit intended), but she seems to get more than the standard share of human happiness in return.

I've seen good people that seem to get nothing but the Job treatment, too.

And most importantly of all, I've hardly seen anyone that mostly got what they deserved in life, when they deserved it.

So such talk as "they'll get what's coming to them" is an untrue statement as far as I'm concerned, but I know others believe it. I'm not about to argue with someone over such fundamental beliefs.

Icepick said...

(sorry. couldn't resist the playful edit. Don't hate me).

Yeah, I forgot Leisure Suit Larry in the list of turned-on commenters. My mistake!

Icepick said...

Some are fresh new commenters. Little fawns standing shakily on little legs. Others are yearlings who have are coming into their own strength of commenters and feeling their oats so to speak. Still others are old stags wandering majestic alone in the forest waiting for the hunters bullet.

LOL, I wonder what that made me!

Cody Jarrett said...

Icepick, I agree with you. I've never seen anyone really get what they had coming.

edutcher said...

Whoever "Cody Jarrett" is (sounds like Bathtub Swabbie), as he is afraid to tell us his real name, he can take take his opinion - which has missed a good deal for quite a while - and cram it up his ass 'cause that's where he's apparently keeping his head.

As for comments, we ran in the hundreds last week talking about nothing more significant than Westerns, but, if you look around, everybody's - even Insta's - comments have dropped.

Give it a couple of weeks until school starts and Labor day is done (always feels weird having them in that order now) and we have a new set of scandals and foreign policy failures to talk about.

Trooper York said...

I think there are quite a few people who feel like you and Virgil but the only way this joint will be able to stay open is if the contributors feel that people are enjoying their work. The only feedback they get is through comments so it is important to comment on posts so that they know that someone is out there and appreciates what they are doing.

Nicely put. The only thing I can add is sometimes the topic is something where I haven't got a protozoa, much less a dog, in that particular hunt, but I do appreciate the work done here.

Icepick said...

Icepick, I agree with you. I've never seen anyone really get what they had coming.

I don't think I have either, but I'm not sure about a couple of cases. But in the one case I'm thinking of someone that was born to a comfortable life who is living their life comfortably. A good guy, but (a) he's always done what he's supposed to do, when he's supposed to do it and (b) he's never really been challenged by life, as best I can discern. In other words, he's boring as dirt.

Icepick said...

Whoever "Cody Jarrett" is (sounds like Bathtub Swabbie), as he is afraid to tell us his real name, he can take take his opinion - which has missed a good deal for quite a while - and cram it up his ass 'cause that's where he's apparently keeping his head.

Two things.

First, Cody is a regular that changed names recently. (He can tell you from what himself.)

Second, anonymity is a prized possession on the internet. Not everyone can speak their mind freely without consequence, and I don't just mean being a jerk, either.

Anonymous said...

Oh didn't Titus just recently get banned from a certain private blog?

edutcher said...

Icepick said...

Well, TY'll have to answer that himself.

Personally, I don't think people get what they have coming to them. I've seen too many bastards get ahead while shitting all over everyone (take the current President of the United States as an example) with little or no comeuppance. Althouse is going to continue doing fine until she gets old. And even then she's unlikely to face the problems so many others do. She'll have a fat retirement to go with a fat paycheck now. After the last few months I'm now convinced that she's batshit crazy (no offense to Mitchell's shit intended), but she seems to get more than the standard share of human happiness in return.


Don't bet on that one. She really hurt herself with Deadly Sunday (anybody seen her Sitemeter lately?) and her conduct this year is that of someone who isn't all that happy. As I said, some of the effects of anosmia can really bring you down.

Look at the fight she picked with Insta. She's been doing it all year. And, if things were so peachy, why turn comments back on?

She may have the money, but that isn't always the answer to your problems.

Anonymous said...

I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more. Others may do otherwise.

Cody Jarrett said...

Whoever "Cody Jarrett" is (sounds like Bathtub Swabbie), as he is afraid to tell us his real name, he can take take his opinion - which has missed a good deal for quite a while - and cram it up his ass 'cause that's where he's apparently keeping his head.

Ha! The self proclaimed expert in all things doesn't even recognize the name of one of the most famous gangster movie characters of all time?

Don't hate me because I've got you pegged as pathetic, eddie. Hate me because it's what you do to people who don't agree with your shit.

Anonymous said...

the only way this joint will be able to stay open is if the contributors feel that people are enjoying their work. The only feedback they get is through comments so it is important to comment on posts so that they know that someone is out there and appreciates what they are doing.

Trooper: That's a two-way street. Commenting is thirsty work too.

I'm somewhat puzzled that contributors don't do more to keep conversation going.

Cody Jarrett said...

BTW, is edutcher your first name or your last name?


Funny how one of Lawnboi's biggest things when he's trying to start shit is to start carrying on about people's real names.

Right, Madame?

Icepick said...

She may have the money, but that isn't always the answer to your problems.

Money can't buy happiness, edutcher, but the one thing lack of money can buy is a heap of misery.

As for other the other things you said: Maybe she likes picking fights? It sure seems that way. I've known people like that.

But everyone has their ups and downs, and eventually age wears everyone down, unless they die first. She's getting older and some of it is starting to show. That would be the case regardless of anything else she did or any state of being she might otherwise occupy. So that's that.

And the last time I saw a Site Meter read for her, the big plunge looked to be about 20 to 25 percent, which seemed precipitous but also not devastating. And other than the timing coinciding with the latest Bloody Sunday it also looked like the kind of swing one might see in the blogosphere, even at her level.

But then I run a blog whose only hits come from me and occasionally from my wife checking to see what craziness I might be involved with at the moment, so such things really don't register with me.

Cody Jarrett said...


Trooper: That's a two-way street. Commenting is thirsty work too.

I'm somewhat puzzled that contributors don't do more to keep conversation going.


Bingo.

Icepick said...

And, if things were so peachy, why turn comments back on?

Oh, and she's vain. Hardly the first tenured professor I've known with that personality trait!

Cody Jarrett said...

Having had no money, less than no money, some money, okay money and decent money--I can tell you flatly that having money may not be everything--but the only people who say that with a straight face are people that have at least "enough".

Not having money causes more misery than just about anything else.

Icepick said...

Okay, boys, calm down already. It's a long way to Tuscon, and we're too damned far along to turn this thing around. So sit down and shut up or I will duct tape you both to the roof of the station wagon.

Palladian said...

I hope this experiment we're conducting here doesn't founder. I don't know if there's much interest in the subjects of my posts among this blog's visitors, but I still enjoy writing. And I do know that I have real friends here, so I pray that it keeps going.

Cody Jarrett said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cody Jarrett said...



And, if things were so peachy, why turn comments back on?

Summertime. No students to browbeat and good god can you imagine only having lawnboi to interact with?

Plus she missed the feel of eddie's tongue on her hobbit feet.

Cody Jarrett said...

Geez Icepick. Just trying to generate some comments.

Cody Jarrett said...

And yet, Palladian, every time you post people go out of their way to tell you how much they enjoy your posts.

Trooper York said...

I think some of the contributors here are just busy and don't feel they have to contribute more than once a week. There are enough people on the masthead that it shouldn't be a problem to have a couple of posts per day. You see it easy when it feels like fun but if you are obligated to post everyday than it starts to feel like work.

Nobody wants' that.

Trooper York said...

I think Palladian's posts are very interesting. Of course I am a fat bastard so I love food posts.

Math not so much.

Thank God you stopped that crap.

Icepick said...

Geez Icepick. Just trying to generate some comments.

And duct-taping the children to the roof of the station wagon while driving through the desert in summertime won't?

Dude, they've got child safety seats that rate for kids up to 100 pounds now. Hell, my mother didn't top 100 pounds until she was in her thirties and had already had two children! Imagine how the people responsible for 100 pound children needing extra restraints will feel about you and edutcher taped to the roof!

Icepick said...

And yet, Palladian, every time you post people go out of their way to tell you how much they enjoy your posts.

He offers them food, whaddaya expect?

Trooper York said...

Good topics lend themselves to lots of comments. The Western movie post was evidence of that.

Here's an idea for another movie post.

What horror movie has the actress with the best tits?

I nominate Adrienne Barbeau in "Swamp Thing."

Cody Jarrett said...

about you and edutcher taped to the roof!

Better use extra tape, cuz after the first chorus of "madame, amazing madame" I'm chewing through it and killing him.

Seriously? 100 pounds? That's a big kid. I don't think Honey Boo Boo goes that much.

Cody Jarrett said...

He offers them food, whaddaya expect?

Plus he's gay so every thinks they have to be nice to him.



But really--I think Palladian's posts are always really interesting.


Palladian said...

If the way to success in blogville is to create a poisonous atmosphere by playing favorites, then turning on them in a vicious and personal fashion, or deliberately stirring up hatred and strife, or playing politics in a disingenuous manner, or starting battles with other blogs, or encouraging toxic personalities, then I have no interest in blogsville at all.

I've learned a lot of valuable lessons in the past year, about other people but mostly about myself. I learned that I need to flee from poisonous behaviors, or be consumed by them.

In an evil world, evil gets rewarded.

Icepick said...

Better use extra tape, cuz after the first chorus of "madame, amazing madame" I'm chewing through it and killing him.

Not unless you got teeth like Jaws from the Bond movies. I always use ball-gags for this kind of thing. It's safer that way.

edutcher said...

Icepick said...

She may have the money, but that isn't always the answer to your problems.

Money can't buy happiness, edutcher, but the one thing lack of money can buy is a heap of misery.

As for other the other things you said: Maybe she likes picking fights? It sure seems that way. I've known people like that.


I don't know about the misery (lack of money limits your options, but that's about it; the misery is your doing usually), but sometimes all money buys you is just a different set of problems.

Palladian said...

I hope this experiment we're conducting here doesn't founder. I don't know if there's much interest in the subjects of my posts among this blog's visitors, but I still enjoy writing. And I do know that I have real friends here, so I pray that it keeps going.

I think the fact people write about things that interest them and they enjoy doing it helps this place tremendously.

Cranking out material for its own sake has to get as old for the readers as it does for the writer.

PS I know about "White Heat"; if he's too self-absorbed to see I was referring to his use of it as a nom de Net, his head is farther up his ass than I thought.

Cody Jarrett said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cody Jarrett said...

PS I know about "White Heat"; if he's too self-absorbed to see I was referring to his use of it as a nom de Net, his head is farther up his ass than I thought.

Wake me up when you comment about anyone else's 'nom de Net', scooter.

Palladian said...

And yet, Palladian, every time you post people go out of their way to tell you how much they enjoy your posts.

And it's greatly appreciated. I just worry that my posts are too narrow and personal for a blog that's ostensibly geared towards commenter interaction.

Cody Jarrett said...

And it's greatly appreciated. I just worry that my posts are too narrow and personal for a blog that's ostensibly geared towards commenter interaction.

Drama queen.

:)


Seriously--the commenter interaction part is you, you know?

yashu said...

Beautiful little story bit, creeley-- so evocative.

That in itself (with not much changed) could be turned into a poem.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

I just worry that my posts are too narrow and personal

Everybody eats, dude : )

And I've been thinking for days* about your post with the Our Father faultily, but beautifully, machine transcribed.

I thought about it yesterday when I was praying the rosary in the dentist's chair.

*intermittently, not continuously

Icepick said...

Everybody eats, dude : )

That's not the only thing everybody does. But let's not take that for an opportunity for Pastafarian* to start documenting his bowel movements!

* Or anyone else, for that matter.

edutcher said...

Same something stupid using another name.

PS Troop, I hope you are doing something fitting to celebrate Maureen O'Hara's 93rd birthday.

yashu said...

I really hope this place continues, too.

I lost affection for the other place, no longer find pleasure commenting there. So on a purely selfish level, really hope this bar stays open, so I can hang out with the regulars I love.

I've really enjoyed the posts and thread conversations here. Not only the ones I've participated in, but the ones I've silently followed (like the recent epic Western thread).

I think personal, narrow, idiosyncratic is great! Especially when you've got a great variety of contributors; each individual has the freedom to do their own thing, bring something very much their own to the table (for us to feast on).

I also want to say, though, that there are posts which don't get many comments which I think are wonderful, and are a big draw here for me. They are a big part of the wit, poetry, play, surrealism, pleasure of hanging out here. Just because I don't comment on a post doesn't mean I don't enjoy it. That stuff cross-fertilizes with other posts and threads, contributors and commenters alike (especially here where that distinction is so tenuous) riffing on, to, for each other.

deborah said...

Palladian:
"And it's greatly appreciated. I just worry that my posts are too narrow and personal for a blog that's ostensibly geared towards commenter interaction."

Palladian, I love your posts. They're well-written, interesting, and visually appealing. Some readers may not them appreciate as much as some others, but that's no big. We need to think of this place more like a magazine, I think. Different topics for different personalities.

(Me, too, Yashu.)

Anonymous said...

I think some of the contributors here are just busy and don't feel they have to contribute more than once a week.

Trooper: Assuming you were responding to me, my point was not that contributors should post more, but when they post they might take part more in the ensuing conversation, especially if they are going to feel unappreciated unless there are comments.

I also think it helps the whole blog, which is distinguished as a place -- "Comment Home" -- to hang and talk, not necessarily to read interesting tidbits. The latter can be found easily enough in the big brand-name blogs.

Trooper York said...

I agree creeley but it seems to me that most of the posters here do come into the comments to interact a lot more than other bloggers do. I think this place has come a long way and can be a very interesting long term project if it can maintain peoples interest.

Sadly controversy and fighting help maintain interest in a blog. Just sayn'

deborah said...

Creeley, thanks for the input. I do try and comment, but this is a new experience (thanks Lem), and I'm still lurching my way around :)

The first week I was so spazzed, I really did neglect commenting myself, just in order to find material and write. But I'm getting in the groove, more or less.

Cody Jarrett said...


Sadly controversy and fighting help maintain interest in a blog. Just sayn'


The trick is to be civil about it. Or something.

Because no matter what--I'd still give ol' ed a chuck around the shoulders and a noogie. Just to show him I care about him, no matter what.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

What Palladian said.

I'm trying to find my way in a medium where I enjoyed being in the comments more than being the starter.

I suspected this was the case from the beginning and now I'm convinced.

I'm going to keep trying. That is all I can promise.

deborah said...

I like how you tie things together.

Cody Jarrett said...

I'm trying to find my way in a medium where I enjoyed being in the comments more than being the starter.

So you can start the open threads with a video of a song or whatever, or you could just start threads with a poll about some hot button issue and let the comments flow from there.

Let the other people worry about making substantive posts.

Part of the point is just having a place to hang out anyway.


Just don't quote Titus' hate-speech rants. Those kill discussion.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Just don't quote Titus' hate-speech rants. Those kill discussion.

I think you might be right.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

This may sound like a cop out and maybe it is.

I remember saying after the election that I was going to back off commenting about politics and Obama in particular.

The election seems to have gotten more incomprehensible to me rather than less. Is not that I don't accept Obama as my president. Maybe its that I don't accept the country that has accepted him again after what he has done.

As PaddyO said the other day.

We might live out wrong assumptions, pursue wrong paths, vote for clearly unqualified candidates, then when confronted by the obvious evidence just point to the next clearly unqualified candidate as the answer, simply because they have parts or colors that we think we need in order to fill out all the bubbles in our chart.

What chart? We don't have a chart. They're qualified!

Icepick said...

100th, bitchez!

Cody Jarrett said...

Maybe its that I don't accept the country that has accepted him again after what he has done.


That fairly well sums up how I've been feeling lately.

It's funny. I used to be a huge political junkie. Loved it. The way some people do their fantasy football stuff, that's how I was with politics.

But now...I still sorta keep up, but it's just not fun anymore.

And lest anyone accuse me of just being a crybaby--I didn't mind at all when Clinton was POTUS, or when the Dems had the majority while GWB was in.

Now it just feels evil.



Are the Sox still ahead?

There's something else that got killed for me. I used to love baseball. After last year I just can't get interested.

Anonymous said...

So you can start the open threads with a video of a song or whatever...

Yes. I think it'd be great if someone put up an open thread first thing in the morning like a pot of office coffee.

I like open threads without a strong starter. People play nice here (and that's a good thing IMO) so if there seems to be a theme they accept it as the topic. For instance some felt they should talk about corn in this one because I came on strong about corn in the first commment.

I thought Althouse handled the cafes well with those bland yet colorful photos which basically functioned as wallpaper for discussion. Commenters could notice the wallpaper, but mostly they felt free to talk about whatever was on their minds.

Trooper York said...

Second nomination for best tits in a horror movie:

Janet Leigh in Psycho.

Cody Jarrett said...

Sheri Moon Zombie, because she's perfect in every way.

And I already got the Janet Leigh. Yawn.

XRay said...

OT, but Janet Leigh in "Jet Pilot"... my first Hollywood crush. That white sweater, hmmmm.

Anonymous said...

It's funny. I used to be a huge political junkie. Loved it. The way some people do their fantasy football stuff, that's how I was with politics.

But now...I still sorta keep up, but it's just not fun anymore.


Lem & Cody: Likewise. I can't quite believe America elected Obama again and has mostly sat still for all the scandals from Benghazi onward.

There's not a lot to be done other than pushing back hard in the midterms next year. It's clear that information and debate doesn't count for much. Before I believed that we were just an inch or two away from a tipping point and Obama would fall like Nixon in his second term.

But that doesn't look likely.

We're just going to have to live this out. Perhaps we will hit the wall hard and get smarter. Or the US is going to slip slide away and morph into a cross between Europe and Mexico.

Trooper York said...

You have to understand that Obama will never be held to the standard that a white politician would be held to just as Clinton was able to slide out from under. Democrats get away with anything and black democrats get away with the most.

We just have to wait him out and hope that the country is not destroyed by then.

Cody Jarrett said...

I'm waiting for the (married) black lesbian they run next.

Think about all the things that won't be able to be talked or joked about.

Cody Jarrett said...

Upon further review: we pretty much have a black lesbian as POTUS now. Just like how the NY football Giants have a black sheep lesbian for a quarterback.

Anonymous said...

You have to understand that Obama will never be held to the standard that a white politician would be held to...

I knew he had some immunity on that score; I didn't expect it would be this much.

I fear that the country has also changed. For years I've heard conservative commentators say the US is a center-right country, but I don't think so anymore. I'd say we are more center-left now.

Trooper York said...

I don't think we are a center left. I do think that we are a country where a lot of people have opted out of the process. So many are in despair that they just don't care anymore. They gave up or didn't care in the first place. So things are not going to change anytime soon.

Cody Jarrett said...

It's center left because of the number of parasites suckling on the government teat.

The part I can't stand is the people who claim to be conservatives that line up to game the system.

Slurp slurp bitchez.

ken in tx said...

As far as I can tell, EBL ignored me. I made off topic comments, stupid comments, and comments I thought related to the subject in an interesting way. None of them seemed to draw attention from her or anyone else very much. I have left a comment or two there since the comments were restarted, but I don’t know if they were published. I don’t perch on the postings to find out.

I like it here. It seems more congenial.

About people not getting what they deserve in this life, well, that's what the book of Job is all about.
People who think if they do their dharma, they will receive their karma in this life have not studied the concept.

TTBurnett said...

If you don't mind, I'll just make little opera jokes.

I have some really good bassoon jokes, but they might be a little outré around here.

Cody Jarrett said...

I wouldn't have thought there could be bassoon jokes.

Please, carry on!

ken in tx said...

Has Titus been banned from here? If so, that's too bad. He is a jerk, but he is our jerk. We should stick together.

TTBurnett said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
TTBurnett said...

Allow me to repost something, edited a bit, that I posted at another blog a few days ago. It's about everyone's favorite topic, blogging itself:

What is the point of having numbers unless

a) You want to sell something.

b) You think people gawking at your blog equals
1. Friendship.
2. Happiness.
3. Influence. See "d" below.

c) You're in a generalized (or maybe specific) pissing contest with other bloggers.

d) You're a moralist or patriot who wants to improve the public for their own good or the good of the nation. God bless you.

e) You may not be selling anything specific, such as crappy furniture, to pick an example from the storied past, but you want all that traffic so your Amazon portal might get close to making you minimum wage for the time spent blogging.

f) You have a verbal abuse fetish, because your father repeatedly reduced you to tears with cruel rhetoric lessons when you were a young teenager. You now love to see others suffer verbally.

g) A step beyond the above, you are totally insane. This is perhaps the best way to get numbers, which, of course, may supply its own reasons.

deborah said...

Cody, I meant what was your former poster name?

Icepick said...

Lem & Cody: Likewise. I can't quite believe America elected Obama again and has mostly sat still for all the scandals from Benghazi onward.

This and all of the center-right, center-left talk is missing what has really happened. Which is that we have been transformed from a nation of citizens endeavoring together in the dangerous enterprise of self-governance to a country full of subjects to whom shit happens. The elites have been working for at least fifty years to make it so, and they have finally succeeded. The looting will proceed apace, along with the continued transformation of the populace from citizens to serfs - which is what the big push for "immigration reform" is about.

Oh, and the people that have dropped out the most in the last 20 years have been Perot voters. They get shit on by both parties, so they've got nowhere to go. Having nowhere to go, they're staying the Hell home on election day. Romney didn't get enough "hold your nose" voters last year. People don't really want to vote for a shit sandwich, much less eat one, and that's what the Republicans in their collective wisdom offered last year.

Icepick said...

Has Titus been banned from here? If so, that's too bad. He is a jerk, but he is our jerk. We should stick together.

He hasn't been banned. He's pooped up a few times (so to speak) but mostly gets ignored.

TTBurnett said...

Icepick has more-or-less nailed it.

Icepick said...

That should have been "popped up", but "pooped up" also works.

And now I'm wondering exactly what I nailed. I hope I'm not going to hate myself in the morning.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Icepick has more-or-less nailed it.

The two of you, TT & Ice, have.

Icepick said...

I have some really good bassoon jokes, but they might be a little outré around here.

Yeah, save those for Trooper's joint. You can squeeze them in on a "Betty is a dirty girl" post, LOL.

Icepick said...

And I'm still not sure what I've nailed.

Cody Jarrett said...

I have no idea what Icepick and TT nailed.

Cody Jarrett said...

Cody, I meant what was your former poster name?


I don't think I've ever been on a poster.

deborah said...

Ken, glad you like it here. I don't recall posting to you, but seem to recall your wife is a doc and you were in the AF, and you made a lot of salient points.

TT, you're being pretty negative. It's nice to have numbers because you can get some sort of critical mass. If we can have a few good nights like this, with some slow days mixed in, that will be very nice.

Cody Jarrett said...

I do wonder if TT is getting confused.

At some blogs the writing is the thing, hits don't matter. That's fine.

This one though, was set up as a place specifically to comment and interact. More like a message board.

If the comment numbers go down--there's a problem.

Anonymous said...

This and all of the center-right, center-left talk is missing what has really happened. Which is that we have been transformed from a nation of citizens endeavoring together in the dangerous enterprise of self-governance to a country full of subjects to whom shit happens.

Icepick: Actually that's my point. To me that translates as center-left.

TTBurnett said...

By "nailing it," I mean I completely agree with Icepick's 8:57 comment.

Anonymous said...

I watched "The Limey" again last night. It's a Soderbergh flick with Terence Stamp as a retired criminal from the UK who flies to LA to investigate his daughter's death while she was living with a dodgy record producer played by Peter Fonda. Basically "Get Carter" with a father-daughter, instead of brother-brother, relationship.

It was made in 1999. Given Hollywood's current bankruptcy, the late nineties seem like a golden age of filmmaking.

Anyone else see this? I like it a lot. Peter Fonda reaches perfect sleazoid, yet still human, joy in this.

rcommal said...

Such thread of open.

rcommal said...

He was a character, the sort of American they don't seem to make anymore.

Oh, BS. There are plenty of characters, especially even quintessentially American ones.

It's just that most folks don't want to bother with them, especially if they don't exactly fit neatly into preferred political categories.

Any one who does not know that needs to get out more.

rcommal said...

Wh-wh-oo-oo!

Silly is what silly does. Right?

deborah said...

Now you're just being silly, Lori. That's one kick-ass song.

Loved the Stardust, too. 'Night :)

rcommal said...

Interesting, especially in its pointed nature.

So noted, Deb.

William said...

Some of the posts here are interesting, but not interesting in a way that attracts comments. Althouse makes interesting observations that you want to respond to. She's witty and acerbic, and, in real life, when you know such women, you know that it's just a matter of time before the acerbic wit gets directed your way. Some days you smell the roses and some days you find the thorn........I think that excellent tits are a prerequisite before being cast in a horror movie. Axe killers and mutant life forms are simply not attracted to flat chested women. Flat chested women do well, however, in Jane Austen movies.

rcommal said...

So true William: so true.

deborah said...

The witty and acerbic William kindly clues us in :)

TTBurnett said...

"It is often said that we learn to love the characters in romances as if they were characters in real life. I wish we could sometimes love the characters in real life as we love the characters in romances. There are a great many human souls whom we should accept more kindly, and even appreciate more clearly, if we simply thought of them as people in a story."
—C.K. Chesterton

Blogland, occupying a disembodied middle ground between real life and romance, encourages its citizens to do neither. If the good professor were equally acerbic in real life, she would be subject to face-to-face social convention, and there should be fewer hurt feelings and ruffled feathers among her acquaintances. A look or a tone of voice might soften or make light of what otherwise could be taken as contempt or arrogant dismissal. If she were a character in a novel, the regard in which she might be held is a matter between the author and the readers, and no one but a idiot would feel as personally offended by her. Ordinary readers, however, might be expected to have strong emotional reactions if she were a well-developed character in a book.

As it is, we have the worst of both fantasy and actual life. But Chesterton's advice is still good: Whatever you may think of our professor, her bustline or her manners, consider your reactions as you might those to someone in a story. Whether that story is good or bad, I'll leave to other critics, as my copy is half-forgotten, gathering dust on its shelf.

deborah said...

"...as my copy is half-forgotten, gathering dust on its shelf."

Dude, she's in your hed eating your branes. And she's dee-lighted :)

TTBurnett said...

All I can tell you deborah, is that I have more fingers on one hand than the number of times I have looked into her blog this year. I have also resolved my dispute with Palladian, which was the biggest obstacle to blessed forgetfulness.

There are a number of commenters I met on the professor's site I regard as worthy online acquaintances. Many are regulars here. Quite a number of blogs, including my own desultory and feeble ones, have been started at least partly inspired by our professor. She also remains a talked-about figure many places online. That's to be expected. The whole thing has become tedious, although I can't deny I was fairly astonished at her shedding her old commentariat in the way she seems to have. I say, "seems to have," because I did not violate my general rule to avoid her blog, so most news I got was second-hand.

So, I won't deny her. But she has, for me, become like a character in a Dickens novel with all her memorable peculiarities. I haven't read Dickens in a long time, but I seem to find myself in book clubs where Jonas Chuzlewit, Chevy Slime, Mr. Pecksniff, and Miss Havisham are frequently discussed. I might wish the conversation to turn elsewhere, but it is a sad reality many of my interlocutors retain their old fascination with such odd literary creations.

deborah said...

Well said, Tim.

rcommal said...

Unfortunately true everlasting [not to mention an enduring premise of mine, from decades ago. Sorry. But there it is, and never did folks prove that premise wrong.]

; / : (

rcommal said...

I am curious.

Since Deborah feels free to call me by my given name, I have to wonder about her. Are you someone I know?

Or are you just a play-ah, so to speak.

rcommal said...

: For Tim.

rcommal said...

No doubt too irritating by half.

deborah said...

You were often called Lori at Althouse. Apologies, I thought we knew each other well enough.

rcommal said...

And no, we don't. I don't know you from a hole in the ground (unless you are actually someone else, in which case: WTF?).