I’m not the only one who had a long year, and our generous friend who does the annual Balloon Juice calendar had some real life stuff going on, too, so we were not able to get the calendar out in time. However, it will be available by mid-week next week, and I wanted to share a preview of the new cover:
I didn’t know she was going to do that, and I cried when I saw it. I hope you all will still consider buying one, even at this late date, because it will all go to pet rescue.
He was a magnificent fat bastard.
Helen
FAT BASTARD – YAY
Tunch’s death was the first time I cried about a pet. And someone’s else’s pet? Someone that I do not know? Holy crap. What a FAT BASTARD!
RIP, Mr. Tunch.
kc
Tunchie!
I’m in.
jl
Surely, such an august eminence on the cover staring down upon the family would bring a household good luck. The owner of such a calendar who displayed it with proper respect, would surely grow ample, swagger home with a prosperous waddle each night, tilt slightly, think to themself ‘Oh, gravity!’ and waft gently downward into a very satisfied comfortable horizontal aspect for the evening. They would live at least for that one magic TunchYear, a charmed life just as the covercat did.
The calendar person showed excellent judgment and I thank her.
MattR
I was just commenting earlier today that I need a 2014 calendar. I guess now I know where I will get one.
MoeLarryAndJesus
RIP Tunch and my irreplaceable miracle cat Tallulah.
Who rescues who, indeed.
Villago Delenda Est
Aye, he was indeed a magnificent fat bastard.
He and the Ceiling Cat are having a high time right now.
TaMara (BHF)
Tunch on the cover and my beloved Harley inside….it will be the first time a calendar will make me cry. RIP to both furry loves who left us much, much too soon.
And to Steve and my Z-Man who rescued us from the hole of grief with their furry paws of friendship.
TaMara (BHF)
And two things that made me smile today:
Perils of the home office.
And the reason there was no recipe exchange tonight (sorry).
catclub
@MoeLarryAndJesus: whom.
deBO
He was fucking magnificent. Thank you, John, for sharing him with me all those years. I miss him almost as if he had been mine. I cried like he was mine.
Omnes Omnibus
@Helen: I find it easy to maudlin over pets. And Brian’s Song (James Caan/Billy Dee Williams version) even though I hate the Bears. And Steve Goodman’s song, The Dutchman. But not weddings.
RobertDSC-Power Mac G5 Dual
RIP Tunchinator. You are greatly missed.
MoeLarryAndJesus
@catclub:
Don’t make me claw you.
Yatsuno
Ahh our Lord and master Tunch. He was indeed a magnificent feline.
Let me alert proper authoritahs. Methinks a purchase or two shall be coming forthwith.
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: First 30 minutes of the Pixar movie “Up.”
Tear. Jerker.
asiangrrlMN
Oh, Tunchie. I still miss you so. I’ll definitely order a copy when it’s available. ::pours out some tuna juice on the curb for Tunchie::
@Yatsuno: Thanks for the cat signal, Yutsy.
@Omnes Omnibus: Hello, OO! I have some extra commas for you.
BGinCHI
@BGinCHI: Also the end of “Monsters Inc.” which is Xavi’s current favorite.
Total crier.
Omnes Omnibus
@asiangrrlMN: Well, give. Dammit.
I mean, please and thank you.
BGinCHI
@asiangrrlMN: Where the hell have YOU been??
Alison
Aw, Tunch. That was sweet of them to do that as a surprise :)
Yatsuno
@BGinCHI: Best. Love. Story. Evar.
@asiangrrlMN: WIFEYKINS!!! Folks miss you round these parts y’know. Of course we miss RedKitteh too but I might get her popping around again as well.
Little Boots
fine, goober, yaz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J5CIU9AiwA
BGinCHI
I like it when it’s later at night and populated with solid midwestern talent. Plus Yuts, who is honorary.
We would never block your bridge. Unless you pissed us off, of course.
But then it would be your fault.
BGinCHI
@Yatsuno: I’m happy for her. Even if she didn’t invite Team BG to the party.
Yatsuno
@BGinCHI: Hell if you blocked my bridges I’d have a great excuse to not go to work. Those are important matters you know.
I’ve never lived in the midwest. Closest I got is Boise, which is why I know how to say it properly. The denziens of said burgh will correct you on that mercilessly.
BGinCHI
Watched “Local Hero” tonight. One of my favorite all time movies.
30 years old and totally holds up. Would deserve a remake, actually.
What a great film.
scav
@BGinCHI: C’mon, we tear up airports in the dark of night.
BGinCHI
@Yatsuno: Rhymes with “Fed Wreck,” right?
Mike in NC
RIP Mr. Tunch
Omnes Omnibus
@Yatsuno:
BWAHz?
BGinCHI
@scav: I didn’t even use a machine that night. Bare hands.
Little Boots
whatever.
Yatsuno
@BGinCHI: Gonna have to go with a yeahno on that one. The S is an S sound not a Z. I’m not snobbish enough to know how to spell that out in phonetics. I think that’s a fail or something.
Little Boots
i bring the gift of yaz.
what more do you people want?
BGinCHI
@Yatsuno: That’s exactly how the Jabrones here in Chi would say it.
Like pronouncing the terminal S in “Bears” with alacrity. Like 3 sss in a row.
Omnes Omnibus
@Little Boots: I am listening to the fucking song!
Helen
@Yatsuno: Yeah, but how far did you walk today?
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI: When I moved from the Chicago area to Connecticut as a middle-schooler, the natives of Newtown pronounced the final letter of Illinois as a Z. Annoying as hell.
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus:
you are officially a terrible person.
but kind of funny.
eemom
I can’t buy the calendar because I can’t look at the pic I sent in of my two doggies, now one.
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: That’s OK. 90% of the city of Terre Haute, IN has no idea their town has a French origin.
asiangrrlMN
@Omnes Omnibus: They’re all yours!
@BGinCHI: I gave up politics a while back so I’ve been lacking in my reading of said subjects, unfortunately. Good to see ya!
@Yatsuno: Miss y’all, too!
Jean
I’m in for a calendar! Tunch looks very serious in that photo.
BGinCHI
@asiangrrlMN: My prediction that you had joined the cast of “Girls” was then way, way off.
Hope all is well in your world.
Origuy
For Tunch: Israel Kamakawiwo`ole’s Over the Rainbow
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI: I once dated a girl from Versailles, Ohio, who laughed the first time I said the name of the town (I had only seen it in written form). Later she wrote me a letter in which she said she was a nervous “reck,” the relationship did not survive.
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus:
did you seriously say ver sails?
Anne Laurie
ThankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouTHANKYOU, Cole!
(And also Beth, of course).
Origuy
@BGinCHI: I remember the 60’s TV show Family Affair; the kids were supposed to be from Terre Haute. Except they pronounced it “terry hut”. In Indiana, everyone called it “terra hoat”. Pretty obvious that no one from the show had ever been there.
Yatsuno
@Helen: No wandering today, because I had my PT eval. Gonna be some work but it should go well, especially since I’m making it a point to do my homework. Sometimes I get lazy on that, but it’s too important to not go all in on it. There will be more walking in the near future though.
@asiangrrlMN: The threads have been wide ranging as of late. I’m not sure if you’ve been lurking or just goofing off on the Twitterz. Pretty much all my therapy updates I’ve been sharing here and on Book of Faces. So it’s all good. I just misses you around here.
Omnes Omnibus
@Little Boots: No, but that is how it is said in Ohio. I got laughed at for pronouncing it in French.
Little Boots
@Anne Laurie:
well.
Comrade Mary
There’s our magnificent fat bastard of an awesome cat. Tunch was King.
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: That town, which is close to Terre Haute, is pronounced the same way by Hoosiers. Rhymes with Her Sails.
BTW, did she have both her front teeth?
Comrade Mary
@Omnes Omnibus: For bonus points, pronounce “Roncesvalles”. Go!
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus:
awww.
see. hate when right is wrong.
BGinCHI
@Origuy: You are correct, Mr French.
/see also Irony, Dead
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Only idiots pronounce the “S.”
Omnes Omnibus
@Comrade Mary: Do you mean Roncevaux? Where Roland died?
Little Boots
omnes, I know I’m a pain in the ass, but you should post your favorite song. it willl be awesome. I know.
Yatsuno
@Comrade Mary: Papa Stevedore Hemingway is a good new overlord, but nothing will replace His Lord and Tunchness in our hearts. May his life be nothing but endless skritches and ahi by the ton.
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: Fuck. Spoiler alert please!!
BGinCHI
@Little Boots: His favorite song is Danke Schoen.
This is well known.
Little Boots
@BGinCHI:
are you being a goob?
if not, post.
Comrade Mary
@Yatsuno: Ahi for the ahi god — yes!
@Omnes Omnibus: I mean the Polish street in west end Toronto. Yes, it is a trick question :-)
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@BGinCHI:
Awww, I love that movie. I watched it twice back-to-back on a loooooooong flight home from Istanbul last year; it was like traveling with an old friend. And I don’t see how it needs a remake – it’s as true as the day it was made. It really is my favorite movie, ever. How many things are there about which one can say, “that’s my favorite”? I’ve got one movie, one song, and for everything else, “it depends.”
Little Boots
or …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J5CIU9AiwA
BGinCHI
@Little Boots: Do not pull your anagram highjinx on me, pilgrim.
I will drink your sake.
Comrade Mary
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: You can’t go wrong with a charming movie that features Malcolm Tucker AND a Time Lord.
BGinCHI
@Comrade Mary: I used to live on Garden Ave just off Roncesvalles!!!
# 94
I was a regular at The Butler’s Pantry when I was a grad student. As well as the theater.
Ahh, memories.
Anne Laurie
@Omnes Omnibus: When I arrived in Michigan as a college freshman, I was bemused by the pronunciation of some of the small towns — Su-LINE (Saline), Char-LOTTE, PEER-ee (Pierre). And also, Bad Axe… not the pronunciation, just th’ hey?!?
Then I realized that the standard pronunciation of Day-twa would sound funny, too, if it hadn’t been large enough to impress the mispronunciation even on my elitist Eastern sensibilities.
On the other hand, the locals pronounce Sault Ste Marie more-or-less correctly… although they tend to spell it ‘the Soo’ when used informally.
Little Boots
@BGinCHI:
mmm. hot.
but still, post.
Comrade Mary
Arrgghh long week, falling asleep on the keyboard, will check all answers in the morning, fucketty bye!
BGinCHI
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: I hear you. It’s true that a remake would fuck it up.
That film is the definition of charming.
There are two Gs in Bugger Off!
Little Boots
@Anne Laurie:
see, everyone loves omnes?
which is good.
I’m totally not jealous.
Omnes Omnibus
@Anne Laurie: About half of the French names in WI are pronounced more or less correctly. The others are English phonetic.
ETA: I am sure you native New Yorkers pronounce every Dutch name properly, right?
Anne Laurie
@Little Boots: People have, quite reasonably, been asking me. And all I could tell them was that Cole would have more information, anydaynow.
Little Boots
did I do this already, cause, I sort of tend to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJYSu2OVCGM
BGinCHI
@Little Boots: My favorite song is “Discovering Japan” by Graham Parker, but that’s only if I had to say the one that most made me understand what was so beautiful about rock and roll.
Otherwise it would be “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” Or “Sam Stone.”
See? I suck at this.
Little Boots
@Anne Laurie:
john, is … problematic.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@Comrade Mary: And speaking of non-obvious pronunciations: UR-k’t. I went to college with someone whose surname was Urquhart, and I was sufficiently a small-town boob that I laughed out loud when he introduced himself.
BGinCHI
@Little Boots: OO is pretty fucking loveable. In a manly way.
Violet
Aww…what a great picture of Tunch.
Helen
Calendar? What Calendar? Surely we all give to charity whenever we can. Right?
Little Boots
@BGinCHI:
well, fine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjtGr41PUws
BGinCHI
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: In Scotland it’s one syllable. Or maybe one and a half. Like a hiccup.
Little Boots
@BGinCHI:
exactly.
that is how I feel.
the manliness.
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI: @Little Boots: One is more than vaguely uncomfortable.
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus:
hey!
well, yeah, maybe a little understandable.
Little Boots
must we do monkees? yes, yes we must.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU615FaODCg
CaseyL
Gorgeous Tunch photo; a proper commemoration. Such amazing cheekbones for a Fat Bastard! Oh, Tunch. How you are missed.
I believe I may buy one, when they’re available. BJ pet photos are like family portraits of my favorite long-distance virtual family.
Omnes Omnibus
@Little Boots: Seriously? You post the whole album without the song dividers. I had to work to get to I Before E Except After C. Midnight remains brilliant.
Yatsuno
@Omnes Omnibus: Nothing wrong with a little bromance. Usually.
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus:
thought you liked yaz. all yaz.
the hell, man?
Little Boots
@Yatsuno:
usually?
hey, this is pure.
BGinCHI
@Yatsuno: Baby steps for the Wiscos. It’s easy to forget how shiny we can be when we’re urban.
Night all!
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI: You want spoiler alerts for events that happened over a thousand years ago? How about this… Neither Julius nor Brutus survive.
Omnes Omnibus
@Yatsuno: Except when it gets creepy. I am not a fan of creepy.
Little Boots
you have not posted your favorite song, platonic buddy.
pseudonymous in nc
The Beaufort in NC is bow-furt while the one in SC is bew-furt.
Or the other way around. I forget.
Named after the same English duke.
Omnes Omnibus
@Little Boots: Varies day to day. As does favorite book and movie. Calvin and Hobbes, however, is the bestest comic strip ever. Even surpassing Bloom County.
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus:
this is true.
Little Boots
if I post partridge family, will you be pissed?
too late.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJYSu2OVCGM
Omnes Omnibus
@Little Boots: Representative recent listens include: this and this.
Omnes Omnibus
@pseudonymous in nc: Well, named after the same Lancastrian family at least.
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus:
nice, but not yaz.
MoeLarryAndJesus
For the first time in 16 years my forearm isn’t covered with a dozen or so little cuts.
Who would think that would be an occasion for sadness, other than cat people?
Omnes Omnibus
@Little Boots: Yaz did two albums in the 80s. The world moved on. So did Alison and Vince.
GregB
Cole, are the wingnut teabagger preppers in West VA planting roadside bombs targeting the FEMA trucks yet?
Little Boots
so diappointed.
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus:
I did not.
and now you have made me sad.
why?
Omnes Omnibus
@Little Boots: Because of this. One of this guy’s other songs is finally getting notice – it is used in promos for Justified
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus:
yaz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9_HrktOwrk
Little Boots
can I post weight? cause it is good, if annoying.
Little Boots
fine, I will:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjCw3-YTffo
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus:
no, I do not accept.
the band, the weight.
Karen in GA
Late to this, as usual. I’ll be ordering. And
I teared up a littlesomething got in my eye when I saw the cover.Little Boots
okay, fine. goodnight all. I blame omnes.
Pink Snapdragon
@Omnes Omnibus: Yeah. I’m from Omro which is apparently the transliteration of someone named Omreau.
Omnes Omnibus
@Pink Snapdragon: Awesome.
Steeplejack
@TaMara (BHF):
Kia Soul: awesome! I am going to be grilling you about this. I have a Kia Rondo that I really like, and, although I have no plans to replace it anytime soon, I have already felt the stirrings of Kia Soul lust.
dance around in your bones
@Omnes Omnibus:
In Merka one should never ask for “Goo-dah” cheese with the proper pronunciation of “How-dah” (have to put a bit of phlegm in front of the ‘How’) or you will get looks of incomprehension from the cheese staff.
Not to mention Van Goff or Van Khoehk or Van hock up a hairball guy. Folks will think you are pretentious, and artsy fartsy. (There’s yr extra comma, OO – rock on!)
Only The Tunch could bring me out of hibernation, the ‘ol fat bastard – long may he reside in our hearts and memories with commands to FEED and OBEY.
Still dancing around in my bones ☠ y’all!
max
@dance around in your bones: Still dancing around in my bones ☠ y’all!
Well, there you are. They were asking about you a couple of days ago.
max
[‘Glad your around.’]
Jane2
@Comrade Mary: Hah! It’s pronounced “Roncy”.
max
“A Guillotine in Storage Bears Signs of a Role in Silencing Nazis’ Critics”:
max
[‘If anyone ever wonders what someone is going to do to them if they say something, they should think of the White Rose.’]
dance around in your bones
@max: I vass on sekret mission in Lurkistan.
Thanks – just some rough personal stuff to deal with – things are looking brighter!
Jane2
The calendar cover is magnificent and a fitting tribute to a Great Cat. RIP Tunch.
Omnes Omnibus
@dance around in your bones: Howdy, dear.
@Jane2: Eek!
Steeplejack
@Little Boots:
I had a love jones for Susan Dey. There, I said it.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Of course you do.
Steeplejack
@MoeLarryAndJesus:
Condolences on your loss.
Van Morrison, “Redwood Tree.”
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@dance around in your bones:
You have been missed. Good to know you are ok.
dance around in your bones
@Omnes Omnibus:
Right back atcha, dude – uh, bro – uh,man, – uh, hepcat?
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: Danke velle.
Steeplejack
@Little Boots:
Perk up, L.B.
Omnes Omnibus
@dance around in your bones: Dude is fine.
dance around in your bones
@Omnes Omnibus:
That was my first choice but I get kidded for saying it A LOT.
(If I say hepcat I just get puzzled looks).
@Steeplejack: {{{waves madly}}}
MoeLarryAndJesus
@Steeplejack:
Thanks, Steep. Van’s the man.
Steeplejack
@Little Boots:
Aretha’s take (with Duane Allman on guitar).
Steeplejack
@dance around in your bones:
Good to see you!
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Covers? Okay, here are Amy and Paul covering Marvin.
And FWIW I think Amy Winehouse was a Janis Joplinesqe talent who flamed out the same way.
Anne Laurie
@dance around in your bones: Glad to see you here again! As Max says, people have been asking about you…
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
I was trying to find the cover of “The Weight” by an obscure (female) soul singer that is a really scorching version, but I couldn’t remember her name, and YouTube was no help.
Agree on Amy Winehouse, although she had an obnoxious quality that made it hard (for me) to fully sympathize with her. I have redirected some attention to Joan Osborne.
dance around in your bones
@Anne Laurie: That’s gratifying, in a “who, me?” kind of way. Thanks!
I’ve still got beau coup stories to tell, I just have to wait for the mood and inspiration to smite me with wild abandon.
Jebediah, RBG
“still consider?”
Been waiting for it!
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Stones and Amy OTOH here is Christina with the Stones.
James E. Powell
@Omnes Omnibus:
the natives of Newtown pronounced the final letter of Illinois as a Z. Annoying as hell.
I thought there were people in Illinois who did that. Or maybe some other midwestern region. In Cleveland, we did not pronounce the final letter.
Omnes Omnibus
@James E. Powell: No one in IL pronounces the terminal letter.
Anne
So glad the calendar is one the way! I had been wondering why we hadn’t heard and hoping things were okay with Beth. I hope all is well now. And the magnificent Tunch on the cover? Perfect!
Anne
So glad the calendar is one the way! I had been wondering why we hadn’t heard and hoping things were okay with Beth. I hope all is well now. And the magnificent Tunch on the cover? Perfect!
Anne
So glad the calendar is one the way! I had been wondering why we hadn’t heard and hoping things were okay with Beth. I hope all is well now. And the magnificent Tunch on the cover? Perfect!
Anne
Sorry about last comment showing up three times. I didn’t think it had gone through. But I’ll stand by three cheers for Tunch.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
Worthy efforts, although I have to say that the Stones are almost dead to me. Poster boys for “Dead at 30, buried at 80[?].” Which is sad, because I love the early Stones, and some of their songs are among my earliest imprinted musical memories. When I hear “Heart of Stone” I can almost taste the hair spray on Donna Winters’s raven mane back at the dance in the Episcopal church basement. Talk about a Proustian moment. Although I believe madeleines taste better.
Still sifting through obscure soul singers. This is a favorite: Sandra King, “Leave It Up to the Boys.”
Steeplejack
I seem to have opened a rift in the music/time continuum. I’m sliding down the Floyd hole.
James Gang, “Midnight Man.”
SixStringFanatic
@BGinCHI: Terre Haute, which is French for “land fill.” That joke is funnier if you’ve ever smelled Terre Haute.
Joy in FL
Looking forward to getting my copy of our wonderful pet calendar.
Thanks Beth.
debbie
Good photo. Who took it?
BGinCHI
@SixStringFanatic: AKA Terrible Haute.
rikyrah
Going to get this for a co-worker who lost her beloved cat a few months ago
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
Yay calendar!
@Omnes Omnibus: Growing up, my mom (a native Ohioan) told me “There is no noise in Illinois” is a way to remember it.
I guess Nevadans are sensitive about how that is pronounced, too. “It’s Nev-add-da, not Ne-vaah-da!!1111”
It’s a losing battle on this stuff though. “OffTen” is apparently trying to crush “offen” as the most common pronunciation of ‘often’ these days. Makes me cringe, it does.
And don’t get me started on ‘ask’ (ax) and ‘deported’ (depor-Ed) and …
Cheers,
Scott.
(Yes, you should get off my lawn. Why do you ask?)
danielx
Tunch the Mighty indeed, as ever was, and greatly missed.
For all those who may be seeking gifts for someone in future, my 25 year old niece treasures her Tunch tshirt above all other gifts she received for Christmas.
Edit: even if CafePress’s customer service does truly suck – I ordered it on December 17th with expedited shipping to the tune of eleven bucks and it finally arrived on the 28th. Somehow they managed to lose the order, which one would think is just about impossible in these IT-heavy days.
greenergood
@BGinCHI: NO!!! No remake of Local Hero!! Never! Feel the same way about Secret Life of Walter Mitty – absolootly refuse to see it. Some films, like wines, are vintage, never to be repeated. Think remake of Psycho: Jeesh ….
Lurker
I cried my heart out when I found out about Tunch’s premature demise. Wept for a cat I never knew and for his owner whom I never knew and more than likely will never get to meet.
But His Tunchitude was really special. RIP again , gorgeous Tunch.
beabea
Been wondering about the calendars and thought maybe I missed the announcement, but yes will definitely get one!
My Tom, the flower-delivering cat, was killed last February in a way similar to what happened to Tunch. I sent his picture and story to Beth and when she emailed back to say Tom would go in the calendar, I was so grateful. Sadly, looks like Tunch and Tom aren’t the only BJ pets being memorialized in this year’s calendar. But their spirits live on in our memories, and in the lives of the animals helped by MARC.
WaterGirl
@beabea: I remember that story! What a special kitty. I am so very sorry for your loss.
beabea
@WaterGirl: Thank you. He was attacked by dogs in the pre-dawn hours possibly while he was walking around gathering or delivering his flowers, since there were fresh camellia petals on my porch that morning. I miss him so much, but it’s a comfort to know that others were touched by his unique story and remember him too.
WaterGirl
@beabea: what a terrible loss. such a sweet soul, the world was a better place with him in it.
edit: and now my dog wants to know why i’m crying…
Chris Grrr
He really was Larger than Life.