Bixby taking a break between zoomies. He got a good workout yesterday. I got a sunburn. Question, dog barking, natural or something to be restricted? I’ve always been strict with my mutts and did my best to train them to not bark unless it was important. But I always feel a bit guilty, like I’m asking them to refrain from conversation or something. Bixby and I are working through this battle right now. He’s fairly good about it, he has a gorgeous deep baritone of a bark, but a little goes a long way.
I just think there is nothing worse than a dog that barks continuously and at nothing much. Thoughts?
Consider this an afternoon open thread..
Yutsano
Barking is like any other puppeh behaviour. It’s something that can be trained to do or not do. The real issue is to make sure Bixbypuppeh barks at the right things, which I have noticed dogs will do regardless of how much training they have. Plus Danes are pleasers, so if he thinks it makes you happy to not bark he will try not to but some barking is instinctual. As long as he isn’t up all hours of the night barking at tiny noises he’s fine.
Great Danes used to be hunting/war dogs, but a lot of that was bred out of them in the last 100 years.
divF
In the weekly e-mail from my HS alumni association, I found out that Kris Jenkins (who shot the buzzer-beater for Villanova) is an alum (class of 2013).
Adam L Silverman
As long as you’re not living in an apartment or duplex or townhouse type of thing and they’re not barking all evening/night, I’ve always been okay with them barking. This includes my coonhound. I want my dogs barking when someone comes to the door or goes past the property.
Keith P.
I’ve got a couple of recently new neighbors who have dogs that bark continuously when they’re outside, which is evening hours and weekend afternoons. Only noises I hate worse living in a neighborhood (as opposed to the country) are leaf blowers and weedeaters.
Miss Bianca
My big girl Stella is pretty much a “when I need to know” barker, these days – she’s mellowed out a lot. Luna the Wonder Husky doesn’t bark unless there’s something serious going down – usually animal-related, like the time she was facing down two huge coyotes on the driveway. But she does woo, yodel, roar-moo (“ROO!!”), and generally talk to me a lot – which I love, unlike regular barking, so I don’t do as much to discourage her as I probably should.
lamh36
I really love the Apple Siri commercials with Cookie Monster.
They’ve releases a BTS video online.
The last line at the end made me snort LOL.
https://www.facebook.com/AppStore/videos/10154134268094421/
TaMara (HFG)
@Miss Bianca: My Harlequin was such a talker. She would have entire conversations with you. Bixby doesn’t appear to have that gene. When he does do a little bit of it, I give him lots of praise and encouragement. But I don’t think we’ll be having long conversations. He’s a boy of few words. LOL
BTW, Miss Bianca, have we had pictures of your crew? I don’t remember seeing them.
Josie
@Adam L Silverman: I feel the same way. As a woman living alone, I want people to know that I have a dog and that he is alert. My corgi sounds bigger and meaner than he is, which is fine. I don’t ever want him to hurt anyone, just to warn them away. I do always make him sit and hush before I open the door.
lamh36
Can’t remember which commenter I was talking to the other day about the Tom Cruise movie with Emily Blunt, Edge of Tomorrow…
I’m not a fan of Tom Cruise, except with his willingness to do his own crazy azz stunts…the crazier, the more I like…lol.
But in this film, I genuinely like his character arc, the true star of the movie was Emily Blunt for sure, but it was a Tom Cruise vehicle, yet he didn’t overshadow or “showboat” Emily Blunt…she was kick ass and awesome and hopefully they bring back her for reprise her role, or maybe some new lady action star to become awesome warrior
MomSense
My labs rarely barked so it has taken time for me to adjust to a dog who barks when people come to the door, walk past the house, etc. It drives me crazy but I have failed at trying to stop her. I also strongly suspect that at least one of her breeds is a barking one. Thankfully she is not an around the clock barker so it hasn’t been an issue for our neighbors. There is a dog across the street who is a non-stop barker and I think he is probably getting the blame even on the rare occasions when he isn’t actually barking and my dog is the culprit.
jacy
I think of barking (or any vocalization) as communication. So it’s not so much teaching your dog to bark or not to bark, but to communicate well. For instance, yapping uncontrollably when the ice maker makes noise is not communicating well…. . If there’s a problem with barking, I think it’s more about solving the problem of why there’s an excess or inappropriate barking than the actual barking itself. And like some people, some dogs may be more talkative than others. At my house, the lab mix and the terrier mix are barkers, while the french bulldog just looks at them like they’re idiots.
MomSense
@lamh36:
I’ve always been a fan of Emily Blunt so I was really pleased to see her develop this kick ass character.
TaMara (HFG)
@lamh36: Loved that.
@lamh36: I have a friend who loved that movie, I will have to share that with him.
Miss Bianca
@TaMara (HFG): I’m trying to put together a promotional video for the hardware store with Luna as Hardware Husky, answering Your Hardware Needs questions via subtitles, like some of the hilarious “Siberian Husky talking” videos I’ve seen. I don’t think her “NOOOOOOO!” will need a translation, however… ; )
ETA: No, we haven’t…is that a regular thing? I thought only the front-pagers loaded pet photos…
Keith P.
@lamh36: There was also the guilty pleasure (and it was intentional) of watching Tom Cruise get brutally killed over and over again in various ways.
Eric U.
@Adam L Silverman:I could do without the dogs barking at everyone that passes by. My neighbors across the street drive my dogs into a frenzy by slowly, slowly slowly backing in to park. We live on a dead end street, no reason to worry about pulling out of the driveway. I also would like to get the dogs to stop barking when the garage door opens.
Major Major Major Major
1. Your morning Nicolas Cage:
2. We had a Sheltie when I was a kid in Colorado whose favorite thing was to run back and forth in the back yard barking. There were some weird municipal rules that if too many noise complaints went in, they’d have to put her down, or maybe that’s just what my parents told me. But we tried everything, even one of those shock collars, and she just wouldn’t stop. So we had to have her voice box taken out, or whatever that surgery is. I don’t think she even noticed, since her new favorite activity was running back and forth in the yard making some weird dry coughing sound that she thought was barking.
lamh36
@Keith P.: yes…I loved that too…I’m so not a Cruise fan, but when he does good work, IMHO, I just can’t NOT give him his due…but yeah…it did tickled me to see that over and over…lol
lamh36
‘So, yesterday, I was at a local grocery store in NOLA. I was there cause I had to buy postage stamps (don’t ask). So I’m at the customer service counter and this lil ole white lady asked to leave her basket at the counter cause she forgot her card in her car. So I pay for my stuff and head outside. I see the lady slowly making her way out the door and think nothing of it. As I’m turning out the parking lot, I look up and I see the lil ole lady crossing the street to this residential area with these older looking houses and she appeared to be walking up to the front of this house. Apparently when she said she left her card in the car she apparently lives across the street from grocery store and when she said she has to go get her card she meant she had to go home across the street…awww.’
ruemara
There are ways to deal with barking, if it’s a nuisance and good timing with good rewards help. Some dogs talk more than others and that’s OK. If it seems to be a sign of anxiety or aggression, especially if it escalates in behavior, yeah, you may want to learn how to help keep him calm. In the case of our office JRT, he’s usually calm until the gardener comes and often after that, he’s noisier because the clever dick wants a few more treats.
Edited to reflect that I am so down for a Live, Die, Repeat sequel.
Gindy51
It also depends on the breed. I have guardian dogs, 2 Greater Swiss and a pyr/lab mix. They bark when there is something “wrong”. Living in the quiet country that happens a lot. We get all sorts of critters and every car is “wrong” since we have so few of them drive by our house. All ATV’s are WAY THE F wrong, my dogs hate them with a passion because mom gets very mad at them when they are on our land (we have a wildlife sanctuary and ATV’s are NOT wanted at all.
The big Swissie, male and still a baby, has the most alarming BAROOOOOOOO you’ve ever heard. It echoes off the valley walls and I am afraid the cops are going to come over and see if we are beating him to death he sounds so weird.
The other Swissies was born deaf. She does not bark that much but she talks ALL the time. You’d think she was part Husky the stuff that comes out of her mouth. She can’t hear a damned thing but she makes sure YOU can hear her. She barks if she sees the other dogs barking. Instinctively she knows if they make this movement she has to bark. She sounds like a high pitched version of the big Swissie.
The pyr/lab is losing her hearing so she barks randomly at air. She’s good about warning us about the UPS guy but his truck makes so much noise the RIP dog’s ashes bark…
kay (not the front-pager)
@Josie: I’ve had delivery people who won’t ring the bell, but call from their car because of my dog’s barking. He’s a 7 lb chihuahua. On the other hand, my 20 lb Maine Coon sounds like a tiny kitten.
Actually the dog is my son and daughter-in-law’s, but he spends more time with me. He does bark waaay too much. I wish I knew how to get him to quit. He’s 7 years old. Is it too late to train him? I know nothing about dogs. He’s my first.
ETA: I wish he would bark when the cats gang up and won’t let him go to his toileting area. When that happens he only whines and moans, and I don’t always hear him.
lamh36
eclare
My big dog, 65 pounds, has an ear shattering double bark. I didn’t want to completely train that out of him, single female, living alone, in a house with a back yard where he barks, but then my neighbor complained, and I really couldn’t argue with him. Got a shock collar, might as well have flushed $200 down the toilet. What did work? Monitoring with a $2 water squirt bottle. When he barks (as long as no one has come up to the fence), he gets squirted. Does that enough times? He knows he has to come in. You have to stay on top of it, be consistent, but training does work. And relations with my neighbor are now great!
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Bixby is beautiful, and his absence was my only complaint about your otherwise excellent recipe post. I put a link to it in my food folder.
Thanks for the puppeh pic.
Big Ol Hound
I have easily trained my dog to “hush” by imitating a quiet bark “ruir-ruir-ruir”. You know the one they make where their mouth forms a circle. He uses that as an invitation to play with me around the yard or I turn my back, but the big bark is still used for squirrels and cats and in the dog park.
Ruckus
My last dog, Bud the cocker spaniel didn’t bark much at all. He especially didn’t bark if you were doing something like getting too close to him or me. I think he knew that if he did bark he might not have a reason to bite you. He was a bit of an asshole. Loved that gruff old bastard.
aimai
@lamh36: I am crazy about Emily Blunt and have been ever since seeing her in Wild Target. But Tom Cruise gives me the grue. My skin literally crawls when I’m watching him. Not sure I can sit through the movie but I’ll definitely take a look at it. Your recommendations are always great!
Josie
@kay (not the front-pager): You can teach the “sit” and “stay” commands with treats and then use those when you want the dog to stop barking. Duncan (my dog) never barks when he is sitting and staying on command. Some don’t believe in treats, but Duncan is super food obsessive, so they work well with him.
schrodinger's cat
Bixby looks noble and wise.
schrodinger's cat
@lamh36: Emily Blunt was awesome in The Devil Wears Prada.
ixnay
Ixnay the vet here. As was pointed out above, there are breed variations, age variations, personality variations in the amount of barking. There are a lot of “normal” puppy behaviors – e.g. mouthiness/play (or more real) biting, jumping up, cruising the counters for food – but “normal” doesn’t mean we have to tolerate them. We train our dogs to do all sorts of things that are not their natural behavior. Well, we train our children not to simply squat and defecate where they are, also.
I always appreciate it when an owner tells me that the patient “talks a lot,” because that can mean that the growly noises are just conversation. Just like it’s nice to know if a dog “smiles.” On the other hand, when I hear that a dog barks and howls all day long when the owner is away, I recommend training: that dog is either bored silly or scared that the world is coming to an end. It all takes patience and persistence (I don’t think there’s any peer pressure like toilet training for humans, but I do suspect that one loud dog in the family will lead to others).
Germy
Florida governor’s youtube page (or his attack dogs) don’t allow comments on their videos while they attack “latte liberals”
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClvO-3xNIfhT3XBJaXF4Csw
ruemara
Please don’t use aversive techniques. They can create problems in the long run. Reward Bixby for quiet and he learns to be quiet.
Nearly done with the carpet install but I found a nice hunk of mold on the wall where they didn’t check. Cleaned it all up, but now I’m concerned. And very exhausted at the thought of hauling furniture back today in the rain.
LAO
My folks’ current dog is a ridiculously perfect yellow lab that they adopted about 14 months ago. So well behaved, no prey instinct, wonderful with kids and other animals. I had never heard him bark. Last month, I dog sat when my parents went out of town. Milo was napping and started barking in his sleep, which totally startled him awake. My mom tells me this happens often.
Makes me wonder if his original owner trained him out of this behavior. And how.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Keith P.: One of the houses we were thinking about buying 15+ years ago – we actually did make an offer on it, but the owner was totally unreasonable, so we didn’t try very hard – had about 6 beagles living next door. They were outside all the time and were “talkative” to say the least. I don’t know how their neighbors could stand it…
Cheers,
Scott.
eclare
@schrodinger’s cat: Agree.
Suzanne
Some barking is okay. Too much makes me crazy. My Luna (Pit/Lab mix) barks when people are at the door and when she wants to “say something”, like greet people or when it’s dinner time. My mother’s Chihuahua, Chica, never shuts the fuck up and it makes me batshit crazy. STFU, little POS creature.
I really do not like small dogs.
Eric U.
our elkhound loves to bark, and one of her hobbies is to get other dogs to bark. When we were cleaning out my mom’s house, she escaped and we couldn’t find her. But it turned out she was just making the rounds getting all the neighborhood dogs to bark, and once she got all of them barking she came back. If she is in the back yard barking, one of us goes out and gets her. That has really cut down on the instances of continuously barking. Living in pennsyltucky, I’m a little afraid of her safety if she was allowed to bark all the time.
maurinsky
I had a basset hound who would bark incessantly, and I tried, I really did, but he wasn’t that bright. On the plus side, my at-the-time husband worked at night and I loved that Cugel would definitely let me know if anyone came near our house! And even though he was a complete sweetheart, his bark was impressively deep and baroo-ish, and people often were afraid of him because of that.
MomSense
@aimai:
She was so great in Wild Target. Have you seen Salmon Fishing in the Yemen? Based on how much my kids loved Edge of Tomorrow, I managed to convince them to watch it with me and even they liked it. Ewan McGregor, Amr Waked, and Kristin Scott Thomas were also terrific.
Germy
We have a neighbor who instead of walking her dog simply opens her door and lets him do his business in her yard. When the dog wants to come in again, he sits in front of the door and barks loudly.
One day, I heard barking for about ten or fifteen minutes. I peeked out my window and saw the dog barking in front of the door. She had the door open, but the screen shut, and she was staring at the poor thing while he barked, while she held her cell phone to her ear.
Not sure what the psychology behind it is. I think the husband wanted the dog; she didn’t. So she plays passive-aggressive games against the dog when the husband isn’t home.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
So watching all the Masters stuff from a.m. to p.m., even though I’ve never golfed, and happened to catch the interview with Bryson DeChambeau last night after his epic performance (triple bogey on 18 notwithstanding), and thought this guy is either a California douchebro who has a little too much attitude and confidence for his own long term good, or he’s just really confident because he’s already awesome at the age of 22 and can’t pretend to not be confident and self assured. Turns out he’s the latter, who’s taken his study of physics to his swing and clubs, which are all the same length. Just like Bobby Jones.
feebog
I have two Golden Retriever/chow mix. They don’t bark unless someone is walking up to the house, or walking a dog. BUT, the dog next door barks at everything, and when they are inside they will rush to the door barking to see what all the commotion is about. It’s annoying, but part of their job is guarding the homestead, so we put up with it.
D58826
Our basset would bark if some one was at the door or giving the postman a piece of his mind. He felt it was his civic duty that no matter what time of the day or night he had to lift his voice in song to help the volunteer fire department respond to the siren.
SiubhanDuinne
@Gindy51:
She also may feel the vibration of the other dogs’ barks if they’re loud, even though she can’t “hear” them per se.
bystander
We have a 10 year old Frenchie. They’re sort of known for not being very barky. Buster does have the ability to discern any animal, real or cartoon, on tv. He then charges the tv, barking and snorting. This includes line drawing cartoons of bears with toilet paper.
We would try to change his behavior if we could stop laughing long enough. He’s currently woofing at the Horse of a Different Color in Wizard of Oz. Yet, he’s not fooled by Bert Lahr for a moment.
PsiFighter37
It is a dreary Saturday in NYC. Exercised twice and doing some reading for work. Very uneventful.
SiubhanDuinne
@schrodinger’s cat:
I loved her in The Young Victoria too.
rikyrah
The Crisis Magazine
@thecrisismag
Michelle Alexander thanks Bill Clinton for showing us what’s wrong with the racial politics of the ‘New Democrats’
PAM Dirac
@divF:Are you going to tell them about Pat Buchanan, Ken Cuccinelli, and Bill Bennet as well :-)
Pogonip
Once I met a 6-month-old basset puppy. I’m petting her, doing the “What a good doggie! Aren’t you sweet?” routine, and she’s wriggling and wagging as puppies do, and then all of a sudden she opens her mouth wide and lets out this deep, loud Hound of the Baskervilles “BAROOOO!”
rikyrah
Dante Boykin @DanteB4u
Apologists for the crime bill and welfare reform now want to pretend Bill Clinton didn’t have veto power? He signed!
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
I am not a Tom Cruise fan, but he is apparently a great guy to work with. One of the trivia notes at IMDb was that he was the first person on the film to find out that Emily Blunt was pregnant, because they were supposed to do some stunts in some re-shoots and he bowed out. He was worried that he had hurt or frightened her in some way during the original shoot, so he pulled her aside to ask if she was okay, so she told him.
And for the non-Tom Cruise fans, he does win you over by being horribly tortured throughout the film. Plus they’re smart enough to have him start off as a total jackass who needs to be redeemed and not a hero, so you’re supposed to dislike him at the start.
D58826
@maurinsky: Yep from the outside of the door Uncle Wally sounded like he was about 5 feet tall
raven
My Lil Bit never barks except directly at me for food! She’s always been nuts about chow but, lately, she turn her noce up at both cookies and food about every third morning. She will eat if I put some chicken in with the regular food and she always eats by mid-morning. Of course our vet (who we love) says we can bring her in but I guess as long as she eating we won’t.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@lamh36: I’ll take whatever I can get as a charge against that asshole. Accessory before the fact isn’t an option because we all know why. It’s slightly encouraging to read about the finding, but my hope left for greener pastures several years ago. Thanks for the heads up.
raven
@Mnemosyne: He was great in Born on the Fourth of July.
lamh36
@aimai: Edge of Tomorrow is DEF worth a viewing. As I said, the REAL star of the show is Emily Blunt hands down. It’s a Tom Cruise vehicle, but Emily Blunt shines.
Also too, as someone said, you get to see Cruise routinely dying throughout the entire film…lol. Go for that.
rikyrah
On point comment from POU:
Mnemosyne
@kay (not the front-pager):
Maine Coons are known for having tiny meows — that’s one of the ways we knew Keaton had some Maine Coon in him. He’s only 15 pounds, but he’s an unusually big cat (tall and long, not fat). When every vet he’s ever seen immediately says, “My, he’s a big boy!” you know you have an above-average sized cat on your hands!
lamh36
Since I’m talking about movies, just came across this on my twitter TL…
Wow, Civil War is gonna be killing the box office for May
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@ixnay: Thank you for the medical opinion. I have no doubt you like to hear about smilers and talkers, and I suspect you are an astute reader of behavior as well. But knowing the “normal” is such an advantage.
Our Layla is a bit of a talker; she trills when she’s happy or insistent that you need to pay. attention. now, but only occasionally sportbarks in the yard. She often ignores conversational overtures from nearby dogs. She’s such a princess now that she’s the only one. Dog knows I tried for weeks to introduce her to a companion at the shelter. The trainer – who’d introduced her to our older two – and I finally admitted it was beyond both of our abilities. I don’t want holes in dogs.
I also suspect most “incessant” barkers are bored, anxious, or downright fearful. It makes me sad.
raven
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): she’s got me on my knees
tsquared2001
@lamh36: Woo Hooo!
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@raven: I expected she would. I’m sorry to read about Lil Bit; I know it’s distressing, but when they eat and aren’t in pain. I waited too long with Django, and I still haven’t forgiven myself. He ate like a workhorse but was in far too much pain too many hours of the day.
Hey, you never did tell me who that old man who looked kinda like Steve Winwood was in the Can’t Find My Way Home you posted. :)
Which of course sent me down some Blind Faith rabbit trails. And made we wonder – when you were both younger, did people ask if you were Ginger Baker’s little brother? Some of those pictures you’ve posted from the Ralphie days, not to mention the march against the war, came to mind looking at old images.
ETA: I’m not only truly weird, now that I don’t have a gig I have entirely too much time to be weird. :)
Mnemosyne
In knitting news, I’m going to try and make a quick pair of boot toppers today for the Festival of Books tomorrow so I don’t have wet feet all day.
Yes, it’s going to rain in Los Angeles today AND tomorrow. El Niño came late this year, but he’s here.
lamh36
@Mnemosyne: Oh, I like Tom Cruise just fine, but he’s not an actor I rush to movies for…there are a few of them I’m truly that type of fan for tho
lamh36
Ok, I’m not one of those tv viewer fans who goes on rants about season finales and such, but I found myself last night feeling sympathetic to The Walking Dead tv watchers after last week’s season finale.
Last night was the “season” finale of Sleepy Hollow, and after what they did to THE main character that kept folks watching the show, my guess is it’d be a “seried” finale even if it gets another season, cause they have lost their most loyal viewers.
My next comment will be a SPOILER for the show, so if you watch Sleepy Hollow and still havent’ seen last night’s ep, be forewarned.
Brachiator
@lamh36:
Yeah, I just saw a thing about this as well.
Sad Batman just got sadder.
raven
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I’m probably the same age.
I let Ralph the dog go to long and swore I’d never do it again. I really think she’s ok for all the problems she has. She either dry heaves or barfs every couple of nights and the eating issues come along with that. Otherwise she bounces all over the place when she’s awake and sleeps like a baby. The thing I’m most happy about is, despite her poor vision, she can find the doggie door in and out.
raven
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I wrote a big reply and it vanished.
Keith G
@rikyrah: Re the quote:
Maybe.
Those were different times and the entire political power structure aa well as the nation as a whole were more hostile to liberal ideas than was the case as the disaster of Bush II drew to a close. Clinton was the first Democratic president in 12 years and was trying to be the first successful Democratic president since the 1960s. Also remember that Clinton was not a “Majority” president, winning only 43% of the popular vote.
There is a list of things that I wish Clinton had done better (sorta like Obama), but I do not think it shows wisdom or fairness to discount his abilities and achievements (just like Obama).
rikyrah
@lamh36:
can’t wait, lamh.
can’t wait.
Brachiator
@lamh36:
Spoil away.
This has been an interesting week for plot developments that ruin a show for many fans (yeah, I’m talking ’bout you, “Arrow.”)
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
Slightly random, but I heard this piece on our local NPR station by a film critic talking about the history of “manly” black men in American films starting with Paul Robeson and ending with your former future ex-husband. I thought it was a great (if brief) piece, but obviously I’m a film history geek. This is the transcript (with a relevant film clip) but the audio stream is at the top of the page with additional audio clips from the films.
WaterGirl
@lamh36: Accountability. Who knew? Hopeful me wonders if even the cops and the courts might be starting to connect the dots. Sad, discouraged, angry me wants to add the words “at least occasionally”.
Yutsano
@lamh36: *cough* Idris Elba *cough*
He was fantastic in Zootopia and he’s gonna NAIL Shere Khan!
schrodinger's cat
Corrupt police officer is reconsidering his life decisions in Jai GangaJal, wondering what kind of karma he has accumulated.
Sab Dhan Mati :( All my wealth is dirt)
I loved the singer’s voice, was surprised to find it was the wife of the sitting CM (Chief Minister) of Maharashtra.
ETA: Priyanka Chopra is the badass chief cop in this movie about police-politician-goonda nexus in north Indian politics.
divF
@PAM Dirac: I have already admitted my shame on those, no need to repeat it :-(.
lamh36
SPOILER…SLEEPY HOLLOW SPOILER ALERT!!!!
I cannot believe they killed off Abby.
Apparently Nicole Beharie wanted out, since about season 2, and I can’t say that I blame her. Since season 2, TPTB at the show, have been slowly turning what was a perfect partnered duo, into one where Abby is basically a sidekick to Ichabod.
There are 2 witnesses, the entire 1st season was about how important the 2 WITNESSES were, NOT Ichabod as the “Supreme” witness, that the show turned into.
I mean they didn’t even allow Nicole to be part of the darn DVD commentary for the show’s season. And how did she find out she wasn’t on it? She got a call from her costar asking after the recording asking her where he was….
They even dialed back her presence in the promos as Season 1 became the Crane Family Saga.
TPTB have been slowly putting Abby in the background since the end of Season 1…the put Katrina front and center, they added Jenny more and let Orlando Jones die on the vine.
I have no problem with Beharie wanting to leave, but TPTB owed the Abby character more of an ending that giving the same ole “sidekick death” speech…ABBY WAS NEVER A SIDEKICK.
No Nicole, I’m done…TPTB at that show have never given Nicole/Abby the respect she was due. The folks who rallied for the show were Black fans who started watching the show because of the chemisty between Nicole and Tom…so I’m done, and I refuse to watch any further…I refuse to let TPTB think by just replacing Nicole with another “random” Black chick, that it’s all okay
I mean Abby didn’t even have dignity in death. They had her give a speech essentially saying that it was really always ALL about ichabod and that she, Abby, was just another way to push him forward…”don’t let her down”…WTF…ya’ll I am livid…smh
TPTB and Fox have given a master class on how to ruin a popular show in less than 3 years…
There is NO show without Abby (Nikki Beharie). So returning for another season or not…makes no difference to this avid viewer
Oh, and don’t think folks didn’t notice the “bloodline” gem dropped by daddy Mills. So TPTB think they can just replace Nicole with some other Black chick and that will make it all better…yeah right…just go ahead and end it now.
scav
@lamh36: It’s good (especially in this instance), but it would be even better if the police (also) took responsibility for exercising a little basic judgment, independent situation evaluation and control before guns blazing movie-land entrances, rather than passing the buck to the original caller.
lamh36
@Brachiator: Right…I’m really hyped for Black Panther, so hearing the positive things about both BP and Spiderman is making me soo hyped for the film
WaterGirl
Just want to say that this is a lovely saturday afternoon thread. People telling stories about their dogs. Good one, TaMara!
Mike J
Bernie leads in Wyoming, 68 to 58. That’s right, 126 votes in the entire state.
WaterGirl
@raven: No kidding! I had always dismissed Cruise as a “pretty boy” until I saw that movie. Wow! I was really impressed with his acting ability.
I have never been a fan of the conventionally pretty boys – I guess I would describe them as conservative or traditional good looks, and that does nothing for me. Now smart is sexy, and so it a little less conventional. (raven, this part’s not for you, I’m sure you could care less.)
Major Major Major Major
@Mike J: A lot of the time those are… precinct… delegates? Something like that. Not actual votes. I imagine it’s the same in WY, unless only one or two have called in.
debbie
@lamh36:
After a great first season, I quickly lost interest early in the second season. It seemed Abby’s only purpose was to pose for reaction shots. But, then, I’m still pissed how Stringer got written out of The Wire.
Brachiator
@Yutsano:
The trailers for the film look intense. And this may not be a good thing. From the Guardian.
However, here is a peak of the review from the Indian Express:
Disney opened the film in India before opening it in the US and UK.
ETA: The review loves them some Idris Elba: “Where the film scores consistently is in its CGI-crafted talking animals, who emote and enact without anything appearing out of the ordinary. Plus, if you look hard enough, you can spot the wily wisdom of Kingsley in Bagheera, the unmatched jowly languor of Murray in Baloo, the shiny, spiky Walken in King Louie, and the actress with just the right amount of ‘ss’ (a suitably hypnotic Scarlett Johansson) in Kaa. Though nothing prepares you for the ferociousness and vehemence the mild-mannered Elba packs into Shere Khan.“
PhoenixRising
@Mike J:
Whoa. 58 people in WY caucused for Hillary? That’s amazing. I mean that sincerely.
PhoenixRising
In reference to last night’s open thread drama: I’m home in the quiet desert. Cleveland is cold. And I can’t get there from here in under 14 hours on a weekend. Which is okay because my mom bounced, got up this morning when the residents came for rounds, and demanded new radiology before being taken to surgery because she felt so much better. Weirdly, the tests showed that in fact the crisis was resolved. So…yay!
Mnemosyne
@raven:
Check with your vet and see if it’s safe to give her something like Prilosec (or if they have a doggie-safe equivalent). There may be a way to calm her tummy troubles down without needing a huge intervention.
PAM Dirac
@divF:
Of course there’s Martin O’Malley as well. And plenty of people like Fr. McKenna who should be well known. I’m ancient enough (73) to have been around when he was letting the homeless sleep in his car.I keep up a little more than most because one of my best friends in our class teaches there.
Iowa Old Lady
@efgoldman: The NYT has some results. Looks like Sanders is more or less hitting his mark, ie he needs around 57% of the remaining delegates.
Major Major Major Major
@Iowa Old Lady: 538 says he needs +57 in Wyoming. Yes, that’s 57 more points than Hillary, not 57% (+14).
Brachiator
@lamh36:
You sure you’re not talking about “Arrow.”
I didn’t really watch this show, but you nail the view of the characters that most of the biggest fans of the show seemed to have.
And I understand when an actor wants to leave a show. The best show runners handle this elegantly. The way that Moffett handled Clara’s departure on Doctor Who might be a good example of this for many fans.
What happened here on Sleepy Hollow seems to have really dropped the ball.
PhoenixRising
Wait, not a actual miracle according to the rules of miracles.
Per Casper, WY paper: “…in Casper, about twice as many people were sitting in a section reserved for Sanders supporters than in the Clinton section. However, Clinton did well in the absentee voting process.”
WY party allows Dems to mail in their preferences, so you’d expect the results to be a bit more like a primary in that the full participation of folks who had other stuff to do today was sought.
In related news: the USDA appointees of insufficiently-radical Obama (whose environmental policies the insufficiently-revolutionary Clinton intends to continue with and improve upon as she can) have banned drilling in the Bridger-Teton NF, which I would tell all y’all holds some of the most spectacular vistas in the West except I don’t want to have to compete for a campsite with you. So keep that last part under your hat.
raven
Does this look like a doggie on her last legs??
Mike J
@Major Major Major Major: Yes, those are delegates, not votes.
Tom Q
@Major Major Major Major: Correct. This was one of Sanders’ best remaining states; he was supposed to get 11 or so of the 14 delegates to keep pace. It appears Hillary will tie him 7-7, or, at worst, trail 8-6. This will push the percentage of remaining delegates Sanders needs UP a tick.
And, MikeJ, you want to be careful about reporting caucus totals — they seem to be numbers of interim delegates (people going to the state convention), not overall voters. The actual turnout in WY, according to a state party official on MSNBC, was something like 8500. Still obviously small compared to a real state, but not quite the laughable numbers you cited.
lamh36
@Brachiator: My sis and I have tickets for a free screening next week. So I’ll be seeing it early.
Can’t wait.
Iowa Old Lady
@Major Major Major Major: Holy crap. OK. Clinton is apparently having a better than expected caucus.
Mnemosyne
@PhoenixRising:
Phew! Sometimes our immune systems can still rally to do their jobs (I’m assuming the problem was a potential infection since you said her temperature was too high yesterday). Hopefully she will continue to improve.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@PhoenixRising: I’ve been thinking about you/your family all morning – what good news!
I also wanted to thank you for provoking me to dig out my copy of “The List.”
I swear I read that her father included TVZ’s most famous song in the 100 essentials he gave her, and seeing your story was a good excuse to listen to that CD again.
WaterGirl
@raven: Somebody is quite indignant that you took so damn long with the cookie, raven! And it’s not the stoic blond dog who is just giving you “the look”.
She’s got a lot of fight left in her, my money is on Lil Bit! Her attitude reminds me so much of my cocker spaniel Mellon, who made it to 16. She had been in the ICU at the UI vet school – her numbers were god awful and most of the vets were telling me it was time. (I worked there, so everybody knew me and my guys.) There was one vet who said, “I don’t care what her numbers say, when I walked into the ICU she was barking indignantly because her food was gone and they clearly had not given her enough to eat.”
She was right, my girl made it another two years!
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Obama won it in 2008 62% to 38%, receiving a 7 to 5 delegate split.
so 2008 Obama won WY by 24 pts yet only gained a net 2 delegates. which is the problem Sanders faces – even with big wins just don’t net enough delegates to make up a large delegate deficit.
Mike J
@Iowa Old Lady: .
The “scandal” is that absentee ballots were accepted (had to be in by the 1st), and Hillary’s team won at least one county based on having those votes banked.
Out of 14 delegates to Philly, it’s going to be either 7-7 or 8-6.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): @PhoenixRising:And of course I’m hoping she’ll keep making new CDs with more of that list! I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve not heard her sing the Cleveland desert song, so I need to look for that.
raven
@WaterGirl: The Bodhi think Lil Bit is as dumb as a catfish! She only barks at me there at White Tiger because she knows she gets a bully stick when we get our food.
Mnemosyne
When I first took up knitting 10 years ago, nobody warned me that math would be required. This seems unfair to me.
WaterGirl
@raven: Another laugh out loud. So the look from The Bodhi was because Lil Bit was barking and not because you were taking too long? Well, I don’t care what The Bodhi thinks, I like her spirit! Are they not good buds?
Whenever people complain that their dogs are strong willed, I say “you’ll be glad about that when they get older!” I think tha adds years to their lives.
MomSense
@Mnemosyne:
ha! I know what you mean. I’m always doing “mods” that require lots of math.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@raven: Bully sticks are banned in this house. I told Mr Q how they were made, LOL. I have a secret stash for outdoor dog enjoyment.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
raven
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I didn’t use them till Bohdi broke a tooth on a marrow bone.
Major Major Major Major
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Oh that’s fun.
raven
@WaterGirl: They just ignore each other for the most part. The day we got her Bohdi went around the house and found every toy that existed and pile them in the corner. He then laid on them and looked at her. He never touched them before or since but he showed her.
Mnemosyne
@MomSense:
It doesn’t help that I’m apparently a very loose knitter, so even with size 9 needles, I was getting 3 sts/inch with bulky yarn instead of 4 sts/inch. And it’s way easier to adjust the pattern (even with the dreaded math) than go down 3 needle sizes, because even that doesn’t always help me get gauge.
eclare
@Brachiator: He will always be Stringer Bell to me.
Doug R
@lamh36: Tom Cruise is 5 days younger than me, yet you’d never catch me hanging on to the outside of an Airbus, but I guess that’s why he makes the big bucks.
PhoenixRising
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
I think it’s online. PBS. Willie Nelson was the honoree for Library of Congress’ American Songwriter award. February, I think. It’s been a long winter so it’s no longer in my dvr.
Roseanne Cash was wearing the same thing as Sarah Palin that day, but looked a hell of a lot better in it (IMO).
Mike J
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne: No word yet on Bernie Sanders’ review of a currently hot Broadway play:
from Gawker
ETA: Not sure what HRC will do to match this.
Doug R
@kay (not the front-pager): The small dogs are the WORST
Mnemosyne
@Brachiator:
I’ll have to check LMM’s Twitter feed and see if Bernie stopped by for a photo op. We already know that Hillary is a fan because she tweeted out lines from the show months ago, most notably, “They don’t have a plan, they just hate mine.”
Mnemosyne
@Brachiator:
Dang — Hillary’s been a LMM fan since In The Heights, his previous Tony winner.
Doug R
@rikyrah: Historical revisionists busy forgetting New York city used to have over 2,000 murders a year, THREE TIMES the current rate.
eemom
Fun fact: LMM is also an alum of my alma mater, Hunter College High School, together with Elena Kagan, Chris Hayes and, less proudly, Martin Shkreli.
Doug R
@lamh36: So Civil War buzz pre review is positive-just like Batman V Superman-Uh oh.
Mnemosyne
@eemom:
His “60 Minutes” interview was really interesting, because he said he got to Hunter and realized that he was never going to be as much of an academic star there as some people (though he did just fine), so he decided to pursue theater instead — “I picked my lane and I swam in it.”
His wife (Vanessa Nadal) also went to Hunter, though they didn’t start dating until after she had graduated from MIT and was working as a chemist before going to Fordham for a law degree.
CaseyL
Thanks, TaMara – It’s always a good day when there’s a Bixby update! What a fine young man he’s growing up to be.
@Doug R: Actually, the pre-release buzz I saw for BvS was that it stunk really bad. Even the few positive reviews I saw had a lot of warnings; like, you really needed to have seen Man of Steel to understand what was going on, and you really needed to be aware that there were no sympathetic characters. And those were, as I said, the positive reviews!
I’m really jazzed about Civil War. Trying to stay mostly unspoiled is… difficult.
Speaking of being spoiled – I didn’t see the Sleepy Hollow season finale when it aired, and found out what happened on Twitter. I fell out of love with the show during the 2nd season, when it became All About Katrina (who bored me half to death), but still watched because I adored the relationship between Abbie and Ichabod. I liked – no, loved- that theirs was a deep and loving friendship, full stop. No UST, no ‘shipping, just deep and true buds. Now… they killed off Abbie? Not much reason to keep watching, then, is there?
eemom
@Mnemosyne:
That’s interesting — didn’t know those parts of his story. Thanks.
The posts on the HCHS alum FB page over the last six months or so have been about 50% gushing over LMM, and 50% endless arguments over what the school should do with Shkreli’s $1 million donation out of his ill gotten gains. It’s kind of hilarious.
Iowa Old Lady
I’m still reading Chernow’s bio of Hamilton, and I have to say Jefferson comes across badly. I suppose it’s Hamilton’s point of view, but still.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@eemom:
“Elena Kagan Will Be The Most Unqualified Justice In History
Published May 10, 2010 | By emptywheel
“Hillary Clinton is unqualified” ~ Sanders.
The fringe far left are threatened by women holding power.
Mnemosyne
@Iowa Old Lady:
There’s been a pretty major re-evaluation of Jefferson in the past 20 years or so. American Sphinx by (I think) Joseph Ellis was one of the most prominent examples.
Short version is, historians now seem to realize that Jefferson was much more of a hardball politician than he was given credit for, and he crafted a folksy public persona that fooled a lot of people. Partially because of Chernow’s books on Hamilton and Washington, Washington is getting a bit of a similar re-evaluation as a politician and getting a lot more credit for his ability to keep totally disparate personalities like Jefferson and Hamilton working together.
eemom
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Who’s unqualified is that twat “emptywheel”, who’s been lucratively masquerading as a lawyer for more than a decade.
Mnemosyne
@eemom:
The other Hunter connection for LMM is that he was a substitute history teacher there for a few years after he graduated from Wesleyan, so he’s kind of a double alumnus. He worked there was he was writing In The Heights.
Aardvark Cheeselog
After 20+ years of living with quiet dogs, we adopted a pit bull mix rescue about 6 months ago, and she is a talker. Obnoxious, sometimes. I have been trying to teach her “hush,” with some success, but she won’t listen to my wife and daughter, just shouts them down.
I saw something someplace where the leading cause of people leaving dogs at shelters is “barks too fvcking much.” Sometimes you *do* have to require them to “refrain from conversation,” and I think it’s important that they be able to. But sometimes they’re just telling you “I’m bored, let’s do something,” and you have to pay attention to that too.