I found this video when I was looking for something to get “Sister Goldenhair” out my head, and now I listen to it whenever I need a pick me up.
And now for an open thread topic: if you could name just one topic that we shamelessly and unforgivably ignore on this blog, what would it be?
stuckinred
“Republicans are reportedly in the midst of drawing up an incentive package that could potentially convince West Virginia Senator-elect Joe Manchin, currently the state’s conservative Democratic governor, to jump ship and place an “R” next to his name.”
DougJ
@stuckinred:
Yikes.
Keith G
Gay politics.
LGRooney
@stuckinred: Beat me to it. I will add, I guess the GOP understands better than the Dems that in Washington everyone has a price attached to their principles.
geg6
Sh0es.
There can never be enough discussion of sh0es, AFAIC.
Of course, WP doesn’t like sh0es.
Dave
Mice with fully-functioning human brains…
Pennsylvanian
Pie.
BarbF
There’s hardly anything about nutso Jack Russell Terriers.
Discuss.
gogol's wife
Nineteenth-century Russian literature. Only one thread that I can recall.
mai naem
Hillary’s cankles
Lady Gaga’s wardrobe
Michelle Obama’s “Hate Bollywood tape”
John’s mopping while nekkid
BarbF
@stuckinred:
Double yikes
Carnacki
Mountaintop removal
Rosalita
how about a scotch? it’s blowing and cold in CT and a glass sounds really good right now…
WereBear
As a public service, I have written a blog post on resetting the cats for daylight savings time.
jeffreyw
There’s never a “what did ya have for breakfast?” thread.
cleek
let’s talk about sex, baybee
let’s talk about you and me
let’s talk about all the good time and the bad times
that may beee
let’s talk aboouuut sex.
jeffreyw
Or a permanent open thread for lunch discussions.
Keith G
Seriously this time:
Of the major “emo” issues we don’t spend as much time on environment/climate as we do others. I also think we do not spend as much time as we might looking at the nuts and bolts of how we educate our kiddoes from 3 yrs to 21.
In both of the above, I am not talking about the big topics featured in the national press, but the “under the hood” stuff.
scav
The archaeology of lint.
A comparative analysis of the free-market value of democratic, progressive, republican, teaparty and independent junk drawers, with an especial focus on objects made of rattan or hemp, double points if they serve as sex or dog-chew toys (or both).
Southern Beale
JETPACKS!!!!
Kidding.
Probably religion, but then, probably most everyone doesn’t want to talk about that stuff anyway.
So I got nuthin’
Comrade Javamanphil
The Mouse Problem.
jeffreyw
And the perennial conundrum: Croutons or Crackers?
stuckinred
@jeffreyw: Every thread with you is a “what’ll ya have. . ” thread my brother.
stuckinred
@Southern Beale:
i
s
r
a
e
l
MattR
I was shocked and unsettled to discover that “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield was not written as an anti-war song.
Just Some Fuckhead
The UFO conspiracy, up to and including flying rods.
Rosalita
@Comrade Javamanphil:
you have a mouse problem? my feline units left me two carcases in one night not too long ago. a bitch to deal with before coffee but…
Amir_Khalid
I’ve been following this blog for a while now, and I’ve yet to see a post or comment thread dedicated to bland, tedious songs that nevertheless manage to crawl into our heads and become earworms.
j low
Maybe somebody could track down RealityBites for guest series on the joys of the uncut penis.
jacy
I vote for more hockey on this blog, but then I always do. But I suppose it wouldn’t be fair to say it’s “shamelessly ignored.”
Hmmm. All my other interests seem to be covered: pets, food, making fun of libertarians, drinking copiously.
I guess I’m good.
TooManyJens
Labor issues.
Jim C
Atrios’ Fall Fundraiser.
Martin
@Carnacki: Agreed. Considering that the home for this blog is unquestionably in WV, it seems like a significant oversight.
Splitting Image
Sewing.
stuckinred
@MattR: As you have found, it was about Pandora’s Box closing and the ensuing Riot on Sunset Strip. Zappa wrote about it as well:
In addition there was a movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJnqN20y8nI
Suck It Up!
@LGRooney:
You forget Arlen Specter?
marcopolo
Ah Flashlight. Used to rollerskate to this back in the day. This and the Gap band doing “Burn Rubber on Me”. I think I still expected everything to work out back then. Now, not so much.
stuckinred
@Suck It Up!: And Phil
thomas Levenson
For real…education as noted above.
For an open thread shortly after lunch. The Perfect Martini
Poopyman
@DougJ:
Well I tried to make it Sunday
But I go so damned depressed…
Comrade Javamanphil
@Rosalita: If I did have a mouse problem, it would be dead ones like you encountered but I actually meant The Mouse Problem
arguingwithsignposts
We do not spend enough time on this blog discussing the Invisible Hand of the Free Market in the trash pickup business.
oh, wait…
stuckinred
Chick freaks out on acid from Riot on Sunset Strip
arguingwithsignposts
@thomas Levenson:
I believe after ED Kain came aboard, there were some pretty heated discussions of education reform. But it’s not covered often.
Someone above mentioned religion, but throw up an I/P thread, or a Catholic priest scandal thread, and religion gets discussed pretty heatedly.
Downpuppy
Robots, bears & xenoestrogens
superking
Cars.
I have spent a lot of time in the past few weeks reading about cars in order to distract myself from politics and the election. Given that this blog is basically that–people who care about politics distracting themselves with pet rescue stories and sardonic posts–a nice conversation about cars could easily serve the same purpose.
patrick II
Chinese drywall.
Tens of thousands of homes may be build with drywall imported from china. The defective drywall exudes carbon disulfide, carbonyl sulfide, and hydrogen sulfide, plus other base elements causing illness, corrosion, unbearable smell and eventual damage to anyone or anything living in the house.
There is a trial in Louisiana that has about 3,000 members and those people may or may not get some justice. However, the deadlines to enter that trial may be over, and many thousands will eventually discover why their house smells and have no recourse.
There has been much criminal fraud involved. The homebuilders first acknowledged the harmful affects of chinese drywall in homes in 2006 when they settled quietly with some homeowners. Meanwhile the homebuilders sold off the rest of their inventories of noxious drywall houses committing fraud against both the buyers and the bank, bankrupting many of the buyers and sickening others. There is no investigative entity at the local, county, state or federal level who is looking into this as a criminal manner. As a civil manner, Knauf and Lowe’s (be careful if you bought drywall from Lowe’s, you may still have time to join the case) have offered remediation, but generally it is too little too late to avoid foreclosure and bankruptcy for many.
There have been tens of thousands of homes, billions in real estate damage and billions in real losses to families in addition to causing illness to families moving into those homes (try breathing sulfuric acid mixed with air for awhile), and essentially these builders are walking away free. It is also adding to the foreclose problems in Florida, Virginia, Louisiana, and CA.
Aaron Kessler of the Sarasota Herald Tribune has been writing a series about it, but other than that there has not been very much press.
A few years ago this would have been huge but in the environment we have now legal enforcement seems too busy to go after businessmen who only steal billions and not trillions. So, as long as you the the ability to move children into poisonous houses, you too can be a chinese drywall homebuilder and sicken and bankrupt people and still make a profit.
God bless America.
stuckinred
@superking: How bout my rebuilt 66 chevy fleetside, does that count?
4tehlulz
How long until Erick son of Erick calls for Darrell Issa’s head?
licensed to kill time
The meaning of life, the universe, and everything.
Though I believe it was addressed by another Doug at some point.
MikeJ
Why don’t we talk about the false flag nuclear attack on the US scheduled for two days ago, as foretold in the Simpsons?
Seriously, I like it when crazy people attach dates to their rantings.
Andre
Not enough boob threads.
superking
@stuckinred:
Sure, what’d you do to it?
Ailuridae
@Keith G:
This.
Alex S.
John’s face, and exoplanets.
trollhattan
@DougJ…Maybe water. It’s a western U.S. preoccupation, but with national impacts.
Also, deux, from our “Remember how much safer things were under Bush Jr.?” files, this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/world/asia/08terror.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
suzanne
I don’t think we talk enough about snot. Or my really cute puppy.
cleek
turkey!
Culture of Truth
Rarely discussed is this handbasket we are in nor where we are headed.
DougJ
@trollhattan:
Yeah, not much of an issue in western new york.
LGRooney
@gogol’s wife: What do you want to talk about. Я хорошо знаю русскую литературу.
Gus
Beer. There used to be Friday beer blogging sessions when I first started reading this blog.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@jeffreyw:And the perennial conundrum: Croutons or Crackers?
Ash Can
@Andre: What about that last one on Eric Cantor? If he isn’t a boob I don’t know who is.
Culture of Truth
“Wetsuits – Are They Really Optional?”
Culture of Truth
“George W. Bush – Great President, or Greatest President?”
DougJ
@Gus:
I’m thinking of biting the bullet and just doing whatever booze-related post pops into my head each Friday. A lot of times I can’t think of anything coherent and scrap it, but maybe I’ll just throw something up there each week.
LGRooney
@Keith G: Okay, parental advice: when your 7 y.o. wakes up in the middle of the night, every night, for two weeks from bad dreams, an effective way of dealing with it is to scream “This is it! I’m done with him!” as you march down the hall to his bedroom, smack his pillow when you get in there and demand, “Head! Pillow! Put them together! Get to sleep! It’s all in your head and I’m not coming in here again to explain that.” He slept safe and sound the rest of the night, and woke up with no ill effects from the 2am tirade.
DougJ
@Poopyman:
You know, it’s not that bad of a song.
marcopolo
@suzanne: Well if we are gonna talk about canines, how about the Atomic Dog?
And I recommend everyone just head to a bonfire tonight and make some smores. That is where I am off to now after the final CSA harvest of the year.
LGRooney
@Suck It Up!: Not at all which is why I hedged myself by saying “understands better.”
Tom Levenson
@arguingwithsignposts: I do remember that.
I’ve got some stuff I hope to say there — not that I have any particular knowledge. But I did enjoy this article in the NYRB about prevailing “truths” that are not true in public education and charter school debates.
Montysano
Not my favorite P-Funk clip, but more than good enough.
In 1978 I was into the prog-rock thing, so I just didn’t “get” P-Funk. For the last 9 months I’ve been making up for it by digging into their vast catalog. The early Funkadelic stuff is some of the best, and frequently strangest, music of the era, and “Motor Booty Affair” is simply one of the greatest albums of all time.
Keith G
@LGRooney: Thanks, I will pass that along to my boyfriend, David. He has two sons of around that age.
Not sure it fits his style, though.
JGabriel
DougJ:
Emacs vs. Vi. Obviously.
Also Windows v. Mac v. Linux.
And all the good the GOP has done for the country. For instance, we never talk about all their charitable works.
.
Keith G
@Tom Levenson: Bring it on, please. We can only carry on about the election, its antecedents and its consequences for so much longer.
Poopyman
@DougJ: It’s hard for me to judge. For me it’s attached to a blonde when I was in college in those days and, well …..
Downpuppy
What I don’t get about education is : With all the incentives to keep a district’s test averages high, why do school districts* do all they can to drive away the better students through sheer boredom?
*Yes Somerville, I mean you.
Linda Featheringill
@Keith G:
I agree. Environment.
I’d like to see some discussion on our plans to live with global warming.
Or our plans to live with decreasing oil supplies.
Or our plans to live with decreasing coal supplies [maybe 10-15 years from now?].
On the other hand,
we could also discuss our plans to live with deflation.
Poopyman
@marcopolo: Oh crap! Thanks for reminding me! Our pickup day isn’t until Wednesday, but I was on my way towards writing it off for the year.
We’re not so sure it was worth it this year. It was a dry mid-summer, the crops were scant and the deer were plentiful. We’ll re-evaluate come February.
Ross Hershberger
Electricity. This is a big subject. Too big for one blog, but you could try.
To distract myself from thinking about general political fucked-upness I work on restoring vintage (50s – 60s) tube audio electronics. This requires total focus, as one slip in a 500 volt circuit will plant your ass on the floor instantly.
One positive side effect of this is that the Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, etc. really like restored American tube audio gear, so I’m running a significant trade surplus with S.E Asia by selling the stuff on eBay.
This is not made up.
cleek
@JGabriel:
recently, work has forced me onto a linux box for a short project. so i spend half my time in vi and half resisting the impulse to type “:q!” in FireFox, when i want to close a web page and move to another.
vi infects your mind.
geg6
@Downpuppy:
Oh, hell. That’s easy. The incentives for schools today have nothing to do with keeping the best students constructively engaged, nothing to do with actually imparting knowledge or how to reason or the usage of critical thinking.
You said it yourself:
It’s all about the test. The test and nothing but the test. If they did a worldwide survey about student performance similar to what they do for math and geography, etc. on how to take a multiple choice test on a bubble sheet, the U.S. would vastly outperform any other nation.
Sadly, there aren’t many careers (or even just jobs) that require mastery of that.
MattR
@cleek:
Which is why I stick with emacs.
vi versus emacs is definitely a topic not covered enough on this blog
Citizen_X
I don’t know if “we should be discussing this,” but hey, open thread:
If you get a chance to see the full 5 1/2 hour version of Carlos, by all means, do so, even if you have to hijack a plane to do it. (KIDDING!) I saw it this past weekend, and it’s everything the critics make it out to be. Ramirez is awesome–both repellant and charismatic–as Carlos.
They’re talking about putting out a 2+ hour theatrical release, but I’m not sure how that will work. The long version splits very naturally into three parts (they had two intermissions when I saw it), and it may be better to see it on successive nights on IFC or when it comes out on disc. Either way, see the long version. Hell, I may see it again if I get a chance.
PS: Watch the trailer!
PPS:No, I don’t work for IFC.
Pangloss
Wait, are we talking about worst songs of the 70s? I nominate “Torn Between Two Lovers.”
Julie
Chocolate, and does white chocolate qualify as chocolate.
geg6
@Pangloss:
Sorry, but I have to go with “You Light Up My Life.”
Not only the worst song of the 70s, but the worst Grammy win of the 70s. And that’s saying something.
Julie
Bad songs? “Feelings” and ” Little Drummer Boy”.
suzanne
@Pangloss: I nominate “Annie’s Song”.
Iowa Housewife
New Jersey
none
The Steelers. Unless they lose.
Jean
What can be done to encourage Obama to be less conciliatory.
He needs to be persuaded to not try to make deals and get along with people who will never, never sit down with a Democrat, especially a black one.
Write them off, go directly to the American people. He’s eloquent, can’t he at least try to correct the insane misinformation that more and more people seem to be believing?
That’s what I want to talk about.
Anne Laurie
@Downpuppy:
__
School districts (i.e., administrators) get rewarded for moving the worst students a little higher… or at least for keeping the bulk of the lowest-scoring students from dropping any lower. Theoretically, they could achieve the same results by moving the best students’ scores even higher, but (a) despite what the helicopter parents want to believe, there are far fewer ‘gifted & talented’ kids than ‘needs improvement’ kids in a random draw, and (b) in the short term, points-shaving and teaching-to-test have more effect at the left side of the bell curve than “incentivising” smart kids does on the right side.
WereBear (itouch)
We don’t talk enough about how President Obama was supposed to have fixed everthing already.
Including Republicans.
Origuy
Kirk vs. Picard
Connery vs. Moore, et al.
Diana Rigg vs. Joanna Lumley (never saw any of the Honor Blackman episodes)
Downpuppy
@Anne Laurie: We have a good pre-k program, and lots of highly educated parents with bright, well prepared children starting out every year. And for the first few years, the system is very good.
Then the kids approach middle school. Where there is no tracking, nothing, for the better students.
So they leave. And averages drop.
I get that a kid maxing out on the MCAS won’t be even higher the next year. But even the dimmest school committee member should get that the school’s average will drop when the kid bails for someplace that will offer them something other than 6 hours a day of mind wrecking boredom.
JoyfulA
@Ross Hershberger:
Too totally true. My husband is into the same thing, although not down to dealing with the actual electricity. He has packed off a few items to Europe and a lot to Asia.
He also has a collection of floor-model tube radios that gracefully take up a lot of space all over the house, a lot of turntables, all the boxes of records he ever saw cheap at yard sales, and on and on.
DougJ
@Pangloss:
“Baby I’m A Want You”
pjcamp
Shoes for Industry.
Nutella
@pjcamp:
Shoes for the dead!