Soonerwife and I are going to the OKC Home and Garden Outdoor Living Show tomorrow. I’d rather beat myself into unconsciousness with a thatching rake, but I promised her I’d go.
What plans are you all making, reluctantly or otherwise, this weekend?
Darkrose
I have to work on Saturday, holding the faculty’s hands while they try to submit final grades for the quarter. Typically, we get less than 10 calls, so I use it as an excuse to catch up on stuff.
Omnes Omnibus
You might find such a rake at the show and kill two birds with one stone.
Xboxershorts
headed to the annual DJAM benefit concert for the greater Pittsburgh Food Banks and hoping to raise thousands of dollars.
Special guest this year will be guitarist extraordinaire from Dark Star Orchestra – Jeff Matteson!
If you happen to be near Frankies on Forward Ave in Pittsburgh on Saturday, stop on in and meet a fellow Ballon-Juicer (I’m video taping the show again) and support a worthy and much needed public service!
here’s the Set 1 playlist from last years DJAM benefit featuring Steve Kimock!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA54C7AAE0BA73080&feature=view_all
PS…Mr Cole…this is some jammin cool hippy music, right up your alley!
jeffreyw
Dipping my toe into Korean fast food cuisine.
BruceFromOhio
SHOVELLING THE M’F’CKING SNOW AND FREEZING MY ARSE OFF.
And drinking. Lots and lots of drinking.
ranchandsyrup
Dog beach on sat. morning then going to a bat mitzvah on sat. night.
Bike ride on Sunday then catching up on some work.
Suffern ACE
I’m going into the big city to watch the Croods and talk my partner down from moving to Wisconsin to be near my folks. All I said was “We may have to move there some day to take care of them because they wouldn’t want to move here”, and now, he just wants to move.
Since mayor Bloomberg has decided that the city is so weak that could not survive the creation of an independent Inspector General at the NYPD, I guess he may have a point.
cleek
i’m gonna try to ride my machine without being hassled by The Man. and i’m gonna get loaded.
Elie
I am in the middle of my nursing refresher course to re-activate my lapsed registered nurse license. I need to change my life from the work I am doing now in healthcare consulting. It sucks so bad and I just can’t stand it anymore. I gotta to have some pleasure in my work again. So I acknowledge that I would love to spend the weekend enjoying such pleasures as a house and garden show (smile!), but I will be reading and taking quizzes for my on-line coursework… and dreaming of actually doing work that makes me feel that life has meaning beyond cut throat competition in Jurassic Park.
catclub
I closed the last open thread with this. So I will try again.
Speaking of strange customs. Giving to charity that benefits poor people.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/04/why-the-rich-dont-give/309254/
Some observant comments (“the rich are way more likely to prioritize their own self-interests above the interests of other people.” They are, he continued, “more likely to exhibit characteristics that we would stereotypically associate with, say, assholes.”).
This is actually an ‘obviously’ observation.
Most major donations are to institutions that benefit rich people.
Only exception I know of? Bill Gates has an actual interest in malaria.
catclub
I closed the last open thread with this. So I will try again.
Speaking of strange customs. Giving to charity that benefits poor people.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/04/why-the-rich-dont-give/309254/
Some observant comments (“the rich are way more likely to prioritize their own self-interests above the interests of other people.” They are, he continued, “more likely to exhibit characteristics that we would stereotypically associate with, say, assholes.”).
This is actually an ‘obviously’ observation.
Most major donations are to institutions that benefit rich people.
Only exception I know of? Bill Gates has an actual interest in malaria.
Betty Cracker
@Elie: Practically every woman in my family (with the exception of myself) is a nurse, and all who have wandered into healthcare consulting / case management work have come to regret it. Good luck on your escape!
srv
I’ll be wondering where mistermix is on the whole PyCon scandal. Why talk about football sexism when all of geekdom is melting down?
Clearly, just another example of how the uncomfortable truths are suppressed here at BJ.
Me, I’ll probably be exploring some acreage in sunny Napa. Then some cheese and wine. Oh, the little people.
R-Jud
It’s snowing here, which means everything we planned to do this weekend will be cancelled and chaos will reign.
Sometimes I can’t believe this is the same country that defeated Napoleon.
catclub
@srv: PyCon? Tell me more.
Are Python coders wrapping up the internet and strangling it?
The Dangerman
This weekend’s plans are massive quantities of basketball coupled with bitching that the site is down for upgrade during the second biggest sporting weekend of the year (only the Super Bowl catches more eyeballs). No respect for roundball people, I’m tellin’ ya…
Omnes Omnibus
@R-Jud: Well, you could just give the credit to Blucher.
Suffern ACE
@catclub:
. Yeah, but I believe he has some kind of interest in any education reform that involves getting rid of teacher’s unions.
Betty Cracker
Spring cleaning. I hates it, I do, but we’ll all feel better when it’s over with..
Jeff Spender
Organic Chemistry.
I’m one of those assholes who has a 4.0 in the class, but it’s damn hard work. At some point I want to pull a Menken and hoist a black flag.
Other than that–Mass Effect 3 Citadel DLC.
Butch
@Suffern ACE: Well, speaking from the Upper Peninsula, which shares its southern boundary with Wisconsin, the Upper Midwest ain’t so bad.
srv
@catclub: Woman is offended by ‘forking repos’ talk and ‘big dongle’ joke, twitterpics them, they get fired, she gets fired.
Glorious.
Litlebritdifrnt
Check out this beautiful essay about a guy and his aging cat.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/dec/05/cat-with-17-lives
BruceFromOhio
@srv: I’ll probably be exploring some acreage in sunny Napa.
With you in spirit! Or spirits! May the old vines replenish all that is lacking ..
Alas, UPS won’t ship to OH.
srv
@Suffern ACE: Bill once again shows himself to be a man of the people.
R-Jud
@Omnes Omnibus: Hush! It was totally all Wellington with one hand tied behind his back.
rikyrah
birthday party for a 5 year old
Amir Khalid
I will be reminding myself never again to get involved in a flame war involving that poo-flinger T&H, as I have foolishly done a few threads down. It’s not worth it.
@Suffern ACE: I just saw The Croods today. Visually impressive, some entertaining gags as you’d expect from a movie that John Cleese had a hand in developing, but the story didn’t feel very inspired.
Eric U.
@catclub: google for Adria Richards, PyCon, and How We All Lost
Some developer told a sexist joke about a forking someone’s repository with a large dongle, and Adria Richards took his picture, tweeted it, and caused the internets to explode
Omnes Omnibus
@R-Jud: The one hand thing was Nelson, FFS.
Yutsano
Sinus infection. So taking an unplanned 3 day weekend to get rid of the damn thing.
@jeffreyw: I could use some of that. You deliver right?
Corner Stone
I will be spending an inordinate amount of time, and by that I mean 3 or 4 lifetimes worth, of dealing with two very large MNCs. One of which may, or may not, be colloquially referenced by their Death Star logo. The other, for some strange reason, seems to keep dropping the Eastern Seaboard router service.
I essentially have to get them to agree to do the same thing, at the same time, in real life.
So! This is shaping up really peachy!
Cassidy
I am expanding my research. I have tried a couple of honey whiskeys with ginger ale and am now moving on to some sort of black cherry bourbon thing. The maple whiskey was really sweet. I’ve got to say, my new year’s resolution to dink more liquor has been very successful.
danielx
Going to a bar this afternoon ($3 Smithwick pints, yay) to watch my beloved IU ‘oosiers hopefully smack the shit out of James Madison. Obama says he thinks they’re going all the way, which I hope isn’t a curse.
A few home maintenance thingies tomorrow and on Sunday…moving snow.
Again.
For what I really and truly hope will be the last time.
gelfling545
Tonight – swearing vengeance on that damned rodent who lied so terribly on Feb. 2. Tomorrow – shopping & cooking for elder daughter’s bday dinner. Sun. Serving & eating elder daughter’s bday dinner followed by coercing granddaughter into studying.
Omnes Omnibus
@Suffern ACE: Welcome back – well not quite.
@Amir Khalid: Every once in a while one has to do something like that to remind oneself that one shouldn’t do things like that.
srv
@Corner Stone: The competency of IT leadership has really gone downhill since CFO’s have taken over all decision making.
Fortunately, my arcane niche looks good for another 5 years and we are blessed with mostly knowledgeable kooks.
kindness
You know how to work this Soonergrunt.
When there start hauling all kinds of big expensive stuff up to her and telling her you HAVE to have it. Understand, you need to make sure it is useless enough &/or butt ugly enough for her to refuse all entries to this (otherwise you may end up owning it). After a bit she will realize going without you is a pleasure.
Problem solved.
Redshirt
I shall be meditating. If you feel some higher vibrations at any point this weekend, that’s me!
danielx
@kindness:
He should try the pink flamingo ploy, if they have any – that’s always worked for me. Those and lawn butts.
gogol's wife
@Amir Khalid:
Do not, do not engage with T&H. He/they make MC look like Seneca.
I made this comment on the last Open thread: Everyone should be sure to read the last 100 comments or so of the John-Cole-foster-parent thread. It’s hilarious.
Irving
Competing at the Grand Tournament of the Unicon in Oxford, OH with my team, the Blades of Brendoken. SCA rapier combat. Video games are for pussies.
jamick6000
@BruceFromOhio: yup + watching march madness
gogol's wife
Oh yes, “spring” break is almost over — only about three snowstorms later. We’ve also been dealing with looking at nursing homes for an elderly relative. No bikinis around here, Selena Gomez (whoever you are).
jamick6000
i’m going to watch every TED talk i can … studying for this year’s ideas festivals.
geg6
We’re going to dinner and then picking Koda up at the airport! Probably won’t get to sleep very early due to getting the new pup acclimated enough to go to sleep, introducing her to her new home and yard, and seeing if we can make an introduction to Otis or if it has to wait. In either case, we have a baby gate to cut the house in half, so we’ll be fine. But I hope it doesn’t come to the baby gate. We’re thinking of putting her kennel in the extra bedroom that is nearest ours and letting Otis sleep in our room as usual.
I’d like to be around to try to see how we can get the pups (well, one pup and one old guy) to get along tomorrow, but I have to work. There is an accepted student brunch tomorrow with a lot of out of state and scholarship students and I have to be there for aid questions. My John gets the pleasure of shaking out the first day doggie kinks.
Yutsano
@geg6: YAY KODAPUPPEH!! Fill up your card with tons of pics!!
Amir Khalid
As a newbie Les Misérables fan, I bought today the “Deluxe 2-CD Edition” of the movie soundtrack, which has just come out. So now I have that and the earlier “Highlights From” version. I hate it when they do that.
Corner Stone
@jamick6000:
Why would you be watching TED talks then?
Betty Cracker
@Amir Khalid: Where-where-where? I don’t bother bashing my skull against that particular brick wall, but I sometimes find shameful amusement in witnessing pointless internet slap-fights. If there are no dryer lint screens to clean out or anything…
Amir Khalid
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I’ve come across Bear before, having read the first of Tom Cox’s books some years ago. Nice to know the dear old chap is still hanging in there.
BAtFFP
Finally, finally: 9 months after I graduated from nursing school, finally I have a job. Not gonna lie — it’s a pretty sweet one. Full time days in a clinic 2 miles from home.
Having beer and cake to celebrate.
Sending love out to everything in the universe right now.
rikyrah
@Amir Khalid:
I could watch that opening scene with the ship over and over and over.
if you really are a new Les Miz fan, get the 10th Anniversary Concert DVD.
UNREAL
Amir Khalid
@Betty Cracker:
The post headline is A Little Perspective Music, Please. Enjoy.
rikyrah
@BAtFFP:
CONGRATS!!
Soonergrunt
@kindness: That’s a great idea.
opie_jeanne
Soonergrunt, we went to the one in Seattle a couple of weeks ago, and whatever you do, do NOT buy the so-called waterless cooking pans, pots, etc. Lord, we sat down at one of their exhibits because it had chairs and the presenters were on break, and as soon as we did two of them swooped in and started a demo.
The science touted was hokum (my favorite nonsense was the one that the Nazis had invented the Radar Range for exterminating Jews, so microwave ovens = Nazis) and the prices they “quoted” for All-Clad was from Bizzaro-World, and we watched them skin a couple of families out of several thousand dollars. It was really disturbing.
I paid attention while they were cooking and it wasn’t really waterless; all of the vegetables in the pots were high in moisture-content, and the cooking was done at a low temp: everything was steamed.
Lots of overpriced stuff and dupllication of exhibits, but we did find a roofer with good references, and a couple of painters, and we will ask them for bids. We live in a neighborhood where there seems to be a luxury tax added to roofing bids, i.e., you live here so you must be rich, never mind the fact that two doors either direction there are people living in single-wides.
gbear
I’ll be starting my fourth week of cat juggling – keeping my new cat separated from my old cat and trying to keep both of them happy. I got the new (5yo) cat on March 3rd and then my old (12yo) cat got sick and needed minor surgery on March 6. The vet wants me to keep them apart for another week while old cat heals. It’s getting to be a pain in the butt because they both get ticked off about me being on the other side of a closed door.
Other than that, my youngest sister is coming in from WI bearing girl scout cookies that we ordered months ago. Another sister is coming down from northern MN and we’re meeting at my oldest sister’s house for dinner. We only do this 2-3 times a year so it will be a nice time. There’s also one each of new grandniece and grandnephew. My oldest sister is in heaven over finally being a grandma (twice) at 59 years old.
Cassidy
@Amir Khalid:@rikyrah: And some Sweeny Todd.
Mnemosyne
I’m going on a bike tour of Long Beach (CA) tomorrow. They’ve really been working hard to turn themselves into a bike-friendly city, so I’m curious to see what they’ve done. I’m hoping I can do 20 miles on my 3-speed city bike, but they’re going to bring an extra road bike and help me decide tomorrow morning.
Gozer
On vacation in Portland, ME and about to go for a little walk around the downtown area and get some grub. My spring break is this week and Dr. Mrs had hers last week, but fortunately she doesn’t teach on Fridays so we were able to get away for a few days.
EDIT: Was watching NECN while waiting for the spousal unit and they compared the weather last year to this year…apparently it was nearly 75 this time last March.
I haz a sad.
Amir Khalid
@rikyrah:
I’ve seen both the 10th and 25th anniversary concerts on YouTube. (The 25th anniversary concert has since been taken down.) Both are magnificent, except that for some unfathomable reason a Jonas brother is Marius in the latter. Nick Jonas looked and sounded absurdly young opposite Katie Hall’s Cosette, let alone Sam Barks’ Éponine.
Yutsano
@opie_jeanne: Living in Woodinville = rich Boeing engineer. Or so they think.
How much snow stuck? None here did but it’s showering.
rikyrah
@Amir Khalid:
You get a feeling that you’re missing something with the Jonas Brother in that role, and it’s only confirmed 100x over when the original cast comes up to join them..
that’s why I go with the 10th Anniversary DVD.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Yutsano:
In Seattle? I’ll alert the media.
cmorenc
I’m refereeing competitive youth soccer games, four on Saturday (which if they don’t get rained out) will be played under damp, chilly, cloudy conditions. THE TOUGHER ONES will be the mere two on Sunday, which unfortunately WILL likely get played, despite temps never rising out of the upper thirties and a half-inch of predicted rain, because double unfortuntely are among the few which will be played on all-weather artificial turf fields.
ACK! At least I’ll get paid roughly $175 for running around chasing teenagers in the chilly mess over the two days.
JPL
@BAtFFP: That’s definitely worth celebrating.
This blog is filled with pleasant news and stories. I had to check to make sure that I was on the right blog.
Thoughtcrime
I’m set for my Saturday night – Seeing a recently restored masterpiece on the big screen at a beautiful art deco theater, preceded by a Q&A by one of it’s stars:
http://www.diablomag.com/D-blog/Petes-Popcorn-Picks/March-2013/Win-tickets-to-see-SINGIN-IN-THE-RAIN-with-Rita-Moreno-in-person/
http://www.lfef.org/fundraising/
Mnemosyne
@Thoughtcrime:
I’m not sure I would call Moreno one of the “stars” of Singin’ in the Rain. I had to check her IMDB entry because I didn’t even remember she was in it (if I remember right, she plays the best friend of the villain and has maybe one or two lines).
But she’ll probably have some great production stories to tell, especially about Gene Kelly, so it will probably be a great night.
Maude
@R-Jud:
UK is supposed to get a bad ice and snow storm. Not a few inches of snow.
You could end up playing Nanook of the North.
Thoughtcrime
@Mnemosyne:
Knew you would chime in, and yes, Rita isn’t really one of SITR’s “stars”, but she is a star, and as I’m sure you know, did win an Oscar for “West Side Story”, which she’ll also be attending the next evening a few miles up the road.
I opted for the better movie and theater, though.
Oh, and I’m sure she’ll have a lot to talk about regarding SITR – from an audio interview:
Jo Reed: Early on, you actually got to do a film with one of the great stars at MGM, one of the great, great musicals, Singin’ in the Rain,with Gene Kelly. You were Zelda.
Rita Moreno: Singin’ in the Rain. Oh, my gosh. Actually, Singing in the Rain came after my option had been dropped at MGM, and for some reason that I’ll never understand, but shall be eternally grateful for, Gene Kelly wanted me for the part of Zelda Zanders, the one who gives away the secret that Debbie Reynolds is singing for Jean Hagen. And, by the way, it’s still one of my favorite movies. I watch it all the time. My grandchildren love it. I think it’s one of the great musical classics that MGM ever made. And it was simply thrilling to work with him. He was marvelous. I was on the set every single day to watch the filming. I did that anyway. The moment I became a starlet at MGM, I would just visit set after…I spent my days doing that. Because people often asked, “Well, what did you do when you weren’t working?” which was really quite often. I said, “Well, I just visited.” I visited and listened and tried to learn. And it was so amazing to be in the same space. And I’m often asked, “Well, did you take photographs?” I didn’t dare. I wish I had been enterprising like Roddy McDowell, who just brought his little camera wherever he went, and I would’ve had quite a roster of historic photographs. But I was there, and so were they.
Jo Reed: So what happened? Why did MGM drop the contract?
Rita Moreno: Really, simply, because they didn’t know what to do with me. The name was Rosita Moreno. It became Moreno when my mother remarried. And they gave me a name change, and they really didn’t know what to do with me. They really saw me as a little Spanish girl. The fact that I don’t have looks that are that all Caribbean didn’t mean anything. The name was Hispanic, and that’s all they needed to just be at sea about what to do about this young contract player. Ricardo Montalban fared well, but he was a guy, and a guy could be sexy and a leading man, but you know a young Hispanic woman being a leading lady, it was way out of their ken. They couldn’t even imagine such a thing. So my option was dropped simply because there were no films for me. There were plenty of films for me if I didn’t have to have a label attached to me, but that was show business in those times, and I suffered greatly from that for many, many, many years.
Jo Reed: Yet, ironically, the part of Zelda in Singing in the Rain…
Rita Moreno: …was the most American part. That was Gene Kelly, though. That’s what’s so interesting. Gene Kelly thought that way. He thought out of the box. And if there had been another musical where a featured role was in the offing in his film, I probably might’ve gotten it, just simply because he thought that I had talent, and I don’t think it occurred to Gene to think of me as a Latina. But he was in the minority.
rikyrah
Soonergrunt,
what keeps your left-wing leaning self in a hard red place like Oklahoma…if you live there.
Cheryl from Maryland
Last weekend for outdoor ice skating in Montgomery Co., MD.
Soonergrunt
@rikyrah: my job is here. I work for US Dept. Vet Affairs at the OKC VA Hospital. And while I could probably transfer to another VA or another part of the federal government (not as easy as it should be, btw) my wife works for the State of Oklahoma.
We ended up here when I got out of the Regular Army 16 years ago and my parents were living here at the time and I needed a place to live while I searched for a job. I intended to get out of Oklahoma as quickly as possible.
Mnemosyne
@Thoughtcrime:
See, I told you she’s going to have great Gene Kelly stories — have fun!
(Though IIRC even Ricardo Montalban had some trouble getting work in the 1950s — he played lots of second leads and villains, but he rarely got to be the romantic lead because he was Mexican.)
Yutsano
@Mnemosyne: I thought for the longest time he was Cuban. Huh. I wonder where I heard that now.
@BillinGlendaleCA: Showering is SOP. Showering snow in March however…
Ben Cisco ( onboard the Defiant)
Traveling north for my brother-in-law’s funeral. He was a Marine Vietnam vet, had a massive heart attack immediately after requesting that his wife go for take-out – and take the dog with her. He was a selfless individual, always looking to spare others.
I think he knew.
Mnemosyne
@Yutsano:
According to IMDb, his parents immigrated to Mexico from Spain. Andy Garcia and Cameron Diaz are both Cuban, IIRC.
Montalban was blacklisted through a lot of the 1960s and 1970s because he was very active in the Chicano rights movement, so “Fantasy Island” was a huge comeback for him.
Ben Cisco ( onboard the Defiant)
Traveling north for my brother-in-law’s funeral. He was a Marine Vietnam vet, had a massive heart attack immediately after requesting that his wife go for take-out – and take the dog with her. He was a selfless individual, always looking to spare others.
I think he knew.
Yutsano
@Ben Cisco ( onboard the Defiant): Oh man. Peace to you and your sister. May your brother’s next journey be guided by the Prophets.
ruemara
@srv: Not quite sure what was glorious. I disagree with the firing of one of the men, much less their being kicked out of the Con, but her being fired is even more bullshit.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
We had plans to hike the Falls Trail at Ricketts Glen State Park in PA, but my clever brother checked the conditions. Ahem. It’s closed to everyone except experienced ice climbers. You need crampons, picks, etc.
So, needless to say, no geezer hike this weekend. I might just do nothing instead, for the first time in awhile.
glaukopis
Knitting some wool and cashmere sox for myself and maybe watching the complete Firefly set again.
opie_jeanne
@Yutsano: About 3 inches of snow on top of the car. The driveway was covered at 10am and it’s the first area to melt. It snowed yesterday and Wednesday but none stuck until last night.
And we’re up on Hollywood Hill, where some rich-ass folk live. The house across the street from mine is probably the largest in the state: over 17,000 sq ft. and the guest house is almost twice as large as our house.