Love the Wild Tchapatoulis (not gonna spell check that one). Saw them in L.A. dog years ago where they opened for the Nevilles. Small club, great night. Yay.
@Villago Delenda Est: I grew up in a traditional New England Catholic environment, but immigrant Irish so no partying of the laissez bon temps roulez kind in my family. I very early passed on that Catholicism since it violated so many of my values about humanism, women’s rights and democracy. But, I love the tradition of Mardi Gras; it’s an essential sensual escape that maybe some traditional Protestants don’t get.
@raven: someone in my husband’s family used to own two of them. Wonderful dogs and so much fun to see all our little kids napping among them, using them for nap cots and pillows.
17.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@mainmati: second generation Irish-American. Lent was one of the last things my mother gave up (she didn’t get much support from my father on the religious stuff, especially once he took up golf, and my siblings and I are all very much not Catholic now), Ash Wednesday, no meat on Fridays, stations of the cross… no Mardi Gras. I don’t think I knew Mardi Gras had anything to do with Lent till I was taking French in high school
The governor of WV is a Dem?
18.
srv
Uplifting news for everyone from Soonerland:
OKLAHOMA CITY — Some opponents of Common Core apparently have now turned their guns on Advanced Placement courses.
The legality of teaching Advanced Placement courses in Oklahoma public schools was raised Monday during a House Common Education Committee hearing on a bill aimed at the AP U.S. history guidelines.
That measure, House Bill 1380, by Rep. Dan Fisher, R-Yukon, would direct the state Board of Education to review those guidelines and bar the use of state funds for AP U.S. history courses.
…
Fisher, who has been active in a church-and-state organization called the Black Robe Regiment, said the AP U.S. history course framework emphasizes “what is bad about America.”
Larry Krieger, a teacher who spoke to the committee via conference call, implied that the AP framework was created by some of the same people responsible for Common Core.
Both said the framework omits the concept of “American exceptionalism.”
Finished the Bosch series on Amazon, and highly recommended.
Now to settle in with the newest book in the Mary Russell series by Laurie King. It just got delivered today. Snoring dogs and cats are all around.
21.
Violet
This made my day. It’s the storify of all the tweets of NC State Senator Jeff Jackson when he was the only one to show up on a snow day. Sample tweet:
We just invested heavily in wind and solar energy. I'm moving onto education reform. Any thoughts?
#JustOneLegislator #ncga #snowday— Sen. Jeff Jackson (@JeffJacksonNC) February 17, 2015
It’s really awesome. Go read the whole thing.
22.
trollhattan
@raven:
These goddamn oil trail derailments are scaring the crap out of me. Bakken crude trains are running a half-mile from my house and the refineries are planning on making them a daily affair. It’s headed for the courts as to whether states and municipalities have any say on the subject, because “interstate commerce.”
IIUC Bakken “crude” is really a slurry of oilish chunks suspended in solvent. Yum.
@trollhattan: I know, I’m not minimizing the derailments at all. Her delivery is getting to me is all.
24.
BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan: I live much, much closer to train tracks as well as an oil pipeline that broke last year soaking the local gentlemen’s club in crude.
25.
trollhattan
@raven:
To be honest, never watch her (or any teebee news).
26.
Jacks mom
We (Mr. Jacks Mom) & I always watch the WDS and always talk about the dog we are going to get. He wants big & I want small…thus we don’t have a dog. This year we are having the same discussion but I think we’ve decided we should just go rescue a dog from the local shelter.
We will celebrate 35 years of marital bliss in March….. So it’s time ;/
27.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Violet: Thank you. That was a much needed chuckle.
@raven: Ah, cheer up, it’s Fat Tuesday! Have some durian.
30.
jl
@trollhattan: I suppose you are following the big debate around SF Bay on increased shipments of Bakken oil.
From what I understand of it, the railroads have no problem with local communities having a say, as long as they are not required to listen and can do what they want, and release no information whatever to local communities.
The RR reasoning is not convincing to me. Especially when they said that they cannot share any information with local governments or agencies on safety or shipping schedules because of ‘trade secrets’.
I heard a local news reports about some of the particularly iffy RR bridges around here. I found it hard to believe that the RR said that the rust helps keep the bridges up, but I never heard or read about a retraction or clarification.
I thought about those two nuggets of info when I read about the WV derailment.
@Pogonip: We’re hittin the rack. When the heat went off the noise machine did too and Lil Bit makes soooo much noise I didn’t sleep much.
32.
trollhattan
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Speaking of giant corporations who are unconcerned with killing us in the pursuit of an improved P&L, John Oliver’s extended feature on the tobacco industry was phenomenal. Holy crap, I already held them in brutal contempt (RIP, dad) but this managed to lower the subterranean bar.
@<a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I saw that earlier today and got a laugh out of it too. I’m sitting on the couch with the cat watching the WDS too. Our late dog was a rescue so I’m biased in that direction but it’s fun to see all the different breeds. The experts at the dog park decided our guy was a mix of Australian Shepherd and Golden Retriever. The herding genes predominated though and he was the sweetest guy. Miss him a lot, but cats are easier. We can go away for a couple of days and leave her home which we couldn’t do with a dog.
35.
gbear
I got the word from my vet that my cat Halley is in really great shape for a 14 year old. We went to the vet on Saturday for her yearly wellness exam. They wanted to do blood work and a urine analysis. They had no trouble with the blood draw, but when they tried to do a urine draw Halley wouldn’t relax enough for them to get the hypo into her bladder. She resisted them until she completely lost her temper and peed all over one of the vet techs that was holding her. That was the end of that, but there was enough of a urine puddle on the floor that they were able to get a sample. It was too contaminated to do all of their tests, but they were able to determine that she’s not in danger for diabetes. I felt so bad for the tech. Apparently their entire Saturday was filled with cats from hell.
I just noticed that Amazon has got a DVD box set of every TV episode of Batman at 50% off. I was 11 years old when the series started on TV – a little too young to know what ‘camp’ was all about. I’m trying to resist temptation but might have to give in…
36.
trollhattan
@jl:
Those are the very ones. UP and…CSX(?) run through the city and we have more crossings at grade than any other city in the country.
What could possibly go wrong?
37.
Shana
Gotta say, the ads Subaru is running during the Dog Show with the family of dogs are pretty damned funny.
And there are way too many women wearing suits that are too tight. I sew so I notice that sort of thing.
38.
SiubhanDuinne
Home safely and uneventfully from the ballet. Very glad I went; it was magnificent!
This year we are having the same discussion but I think we’ve decided we should just go rescue a dog from the local shelter.
One thing to keep in mind: If neither of you have ever lived with a dog then discovering the difference between ‘cat’ and ‘dog’ can be like hitting a wall. Not that I’d discourage you — I got my first dog when I was in my 30s — but dogs are needy if you’re used to cats. Not just the fact that you have to plan your entire life around 8- to 12-hour blocks of time, not to mention 4 or 6 trips outside every godsdamned day come wind come weather (or else have a securely fenced yard or a very dependable dog-walker), but even the most laid-back secure dogs tend to be insanely codependent extroverts by cat standards.
You know all those chestnuts about how nice it is that your dog will always miss you & be glad to see you? Well, the downside is that your dog will miss you so much & want to greet you with the kind of YAY! KISSES & COCKTAILS ALL ROUND! leaping barking enthusiasm that drives introverts just looking for a quiet evening after a long day crazy. Not every single dog in the world is like this, of course — there are dogs who can be as ‘standoffish’ as cats are accused of being — but be prepared to have some getting-to-know-you days when you wonder what kind of insanity made you think you wanted a dog in the house.
These goddamn oil trail derailments are scaring the crap out of me.
The safer alternative is oil pipelines. Somehow that choice is not popular either, at the moment.
It reminds me of a discussion of deep sea disposal of nuclear wastes. Putting wastes in barrels that will sink 50m into the sediment ( that is already a mile down) and then only over thousands of years slowly diffuse out to mix with the ocean seems like the safest method. But scientists were basically told that deep sea disposal is not to be discussed because the oceans must be protected.
41.
Steeplejack
@Top:
Who does a brother have to fuck to get an h/t around here?!
Villago Delenda Est
It’s WoW Raid night.
For me, at least.
Having been brought up in a mainstream Protestant environment, this is all just popish nonsense to me :P
However, it’s a great excuse to party, so have at it, everyone!
srv
I’m feeling a bit down after the last thread. Nihilism is a fun schtick, but now it’s the hip thing and everybody is doing it.
Time to open that bottle of whine.
Pogonip
@Villago Delenda Est: Some of the Bad Popes threw a very good party.
Botsplainer
Getting ready to watch the Boardwalk Empire series finale on iTunes. We’ve loved it, and will hate to see it go.
Pogonip
I am mending and surfing.
Does anyone know if Cole is in the dark? Electrically, I mean.
Pogonip
@Villago Delenda Est: God has given us the Internet, so let us enjoy it!
raven
Fucking Rachel and her goodamn derailments. Fuck
Svensker
Love the Wild Tchapatoulis (not gonna spell check that one). Saw them in L.A. dog years ago where they opened for the Nevilles. Small club, great night. Yay.
Pogonip
@raven: Who what huh?
raven
@Pogonip: No big news in the Pittsburg or Wheeling papers.
raven
@Pogonip:
Federal officials probing West Virginia oil train derailment
She’s as bad on this as she was on the goddamn veterans “welcome home parades”. She gets like a fucking Jack Russell.
beth
Watching the dog show and wishing I could own all the working dogs – they are all magnificent.
mainmati
@Villago Delenda Est: I grew up in a traditional New England Catholic environment, but immigrant Irish so no partying of the laissez bon temps roulez kind in my family. I very early passed on that Catholicism since it violated so many of my values about humanism, women’s rights and democracy. But, I love the tradition of Mardi Gras; it’s an essential sensual escape that maybe some traditional Protestants don’t get.
raven
@beth: Thanks, I forgot.
The Leon Berger
raven
Neapolitan Mastiff!
beth
@raven: someone in my husband’s family used to own two of them. Wonderful dogs and so much fun to see all our little kids napping among them, using them for nap cots and pillows.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@mainmati: second generation Irish-American. Lent was one of the last things my mother gave up (she didn’t get much support from my father on the religious stuff, especially once he took up golf, and my siblings and I are all very much not Catholic now), Ash Wednesday, no meat on Fridays, stations of the cross… no Mardi Gras. I don’t think I knew Mardi Gras had anything to do with Lent till I was taking French in high school
The governor of WV is a Dem?
srv
Uplifting news for everyone from Soonerland:
raven
@beth: Drooly knuckleheads!
satby
Finished the Bosch series on Amazon, and highly recommended.
Now to settle in with the newest book in the Mary Russell series by Laurie King. It just got delivered today. Snoring dogs and cats are all around.
Violet
This made my day. It’s the storify of all the tweets of NC State Senator Jeff Jackson when he was the only one to show up on a snow day. Sample tweet:
It’s really awesome. Go read the whole thing.
trollhattan
@raven:
These goddamn oil trail derailments are scaring the crap out of me. Bakken crude trains are running a half-mile from my house and the refineries are planning on making them a daily affair. It’s headed for the courts as to whether states and municipalities have any say on the subject, because “interstate commerce.”
IIUC Bakken “crude” is really a slurry of oilish chunks suspended in solvent. Yum.
raven
@trollhattan: I know, I’m not minimizing the derailments at all. Her delivery is getting to me is all.
BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan: I live much, much closer to train tracks as well as an oil pipeline that broke last year soaking the local gentlemen’s club in crude.
trollhattan
@raven:
To be honest, never watch her (or any teebee news).
Jacks mom
We (Mr. Jacks Mom) & I always watch the WDS and always talk about the dog we are going to get. He wants big & I want small…thus we don’t have a dog. This year we are having the same discussion but I think we’ve decided we should just go rescue a dog from the local shelter.
We will celebrate 35 years of marital bliss in March….. So it’s time ;/
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Violet: Thank you. That was a much needed chuckle.
danielx
I walk on gilded splinters.
Pogonip
@raven: Ah, cheer up, it’s Fat Tuesday! Have some durian.
jl
@trollhattan: I suppose you are following the big debate around SF Bay on increased shipments of Bakken oil.
From what I understand of it, the railroads have no problem with local communities having a say, as long as they are not required to listen and can do what they want, and release no information whatever to local communities.
The RR reasoning is not convincing to me. Especially when they said that they cannot share any information with local governments or agencies on safety or shipping schedules because of ‘trade secrets’.
I heard a local news reports about some of the particularly iffy RR bridges around here. I found it hard to believe that the RR said that the rust helps keep the bridges up, but I never heard or read about a retraction or clarification.
I thought about those two nuggets of info when I read about the WV derailment.
raven
@Pogonip: We’re hittin the rack. When the heat went off the noise machine did too and Lil Bit makes soooo much noise I didn’t sleep much.
trollhattan
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Speaking of giant corporations who are unconcerned with killing us in the pursuit of an improved P&L, John Oliver’s extended feature on the tobacco industry was phenomenal. Holy crap, I already held them in brutal contempt (RIP, dad) but this managed to lower the subterranean bar.
danielx
@trollhattan:
Then this article ought to really brighten up your evening.
Boom
An Investigation by the Weather Channel and InsideClimate News
Shana
@<a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I saw that earlier today and got a laugh out of it too. I’m sitting on the couch with the cat watching the WDS too. Our late dog was a rescue so I’m biased in that direction but it’s fun to see all the different breeds. The experts at the dog park decided our guy was a mix of Australian Shepherd and Golden Retriever. The herding genes predominated though and he was the sweetest guy. Miss him a lot, but cats are easier. We can go away for a couple of days and leave her home which we couldn’t do with a dog.
gbear
I got the word from my vet that my cat Halley is in really great shape for a 14 year old. We went to the vet on Saturday for her yearly wellness exam. They wanted to do blood work and a urine analysis. They had no trouble with the blood draw, but when they tried to do a urine draw Halley wouldn’t relax enough for them to get the hypo into her bladder. She resisted them until she completely lost her temper and peed all over one of the vet techs that was holding her. That was the end of that, but there was enough of a urine puddle on the floor that they were able to get a sample. It was too contaminated to do all of their tests, but they were able to determine that she’s not in danger for diabetes. I felt so bad for the tech. Apparently their entire Saturday was filled with cats from hell.
I just noticed that Amazon has got a DVD box set of every TV episode of Batman at 50% off. I was 11 years old when the series started on TV – a little too young to know what ‘camp’ was all about. I’m trying to resist temptation but might have to give in…
trollhattan
@jl:
Those are the very ones. UP and…CSX(?) run through the city and we have more crossings at grade than any other city in the country.
What could possibly go wrong?
Shana
Gotta say, the ads Subaru is running during the Dog Show with the family of dogs are pretty damned funny.
And there are way too many women wearing suits that are too tight. I sew so I notice that sort of thing.
SiubhanDuinne
Home safely and uneventfully from the ballet. Very glad I went; it was magnificent!
Anne Laurie
@Jacks mom:
One thing to keep in mind: If neither of you have ever lived with a dog then discovering the difference between ‘cat’ and ‘dog’ can be like hitting a wall. Not that I’d discourage you — I got my first dog when I was in my 30s — but dogs are needy if you’re used to cats. Not just the fact that you have to plan your entire life around 8- to 12-hour blocks of time, not to mention 4 or 6 trips outside every godsdamned day come wind come weather (or else have a securely fenced yard or a very dependable dog-walker), but even the most laid-back secure dogs tend to be insanely codependent extroverts by cat standards.
You know all those chestnuts about how nice it is that your dog will always miss you & be glad to see you? Well, the downside is that your dog will miss you so much & want to greet you with the kind of YAY! KISSES & COCKTAILS ALL ROUND! leaping barking enthusiasm that drives introverts just looking for a quiet evening after a long day crazy. Not every single dog in the world is like this, of course — there are dogs who can be as ‘standoffish’ as cats are accused of being — but be prepared to have some getting-to-know-you days when you wonder what kind of insanity made you think you wanted a dog in the house.
catclub
@trollhattan:
The safer alternative is oil pipelines. Somehow that choice is not popular either, at the moment.
It reminds me of a discussion of deep sea disposal of nuclear wastes. Putting wastes in barrels that will sink 50m into the sediment ( that is already a mile down) and then only over thousands of years slowly diffuse out to mix with the ocean seems like the safest method. But scientists were basically told that deep sea disposal is not to be discussed because the oceans must be protected.
Steeplejack
@Top:
Who does a brother have to fuck to get an h/t around here?!
shortstop
Always’ve loved the Wild Tchoupitoulas. This video’s a classic.