Looks like we could use an open thread.
This happens every morning and evening. I’m shaking the bowl so they’ll look at the camera, but usually all I have to say is “breakfast” or “dinner” and they are right there with the dogs. They do make me smile.
Open thread
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
Ramfis II Cruz got busted watching porn. Naturally it blamed an intern.
Jeffro
Hey – my RWNJ dad and brother are arguing over Hillary’s book ( which of course neither of them has read yet )
Brother: sheesh what a loser blaming everyone but herself
Dad: that’s not really accurate and her criticisms of others do have a fair amount of merit
Bro: say what now?
Lol ?
Major Major Major Major
Do the ducks share the dog’s food?
Jeffro
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD):
Heidi Cruz : Which intern was it Ted ? I never want that person near our children again
Ted: ummm…
TaMara (HFG)
@Major Major Major Major: Yes – I’ve actually had to separate them because I didn’t want there to be any issues. Despite my best efforts, the ducks reject duck crumbles and prefer dog food. I do try to mix in veggie scraps. And they’ve gotten quite good at foraging in the yard – really cut down on our fly population, I think they eat all the eggs.
trollhattan
@Jeffro:
Heh. Is our dads learnin’?
trollhattan
@TaMara (HFG):
IIUC they’re also very good at clearing out snails and slugs. I’m objectively pro-duck.
Origuy
Of all the people to come up with a new phrase for masturbation, I never thought it would be Ted Cruz.
I’ll be in my room having a staffing issue.
Regnad Kcin
Can I just take a moment to jawdrop here on the state of gentrification in Harlem? Dropped my son off at his apartment this semester in the 130s, and he says “let’s go eat down on Frederick Douglass” and I’m all like “whutttt?”
And darn if the St Nicholas/Convent/FDB of the days when I lived at 122 & Morningside (1990ish) are LONG gone. The number of midwestern ponytails walking around 129th street on their way to Whole Foods just leaves my gob smacked.
That is all.
bemused
I watched the trailer for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri and can’t wait to see the movie. I’m a Frances McDormand fan anyway but she is crazy badass in this.
Cacti
Ted Cruz reveals that his college nickname was “Tug”.
j/k
germy
@trollhattan: Mitch Hedberg:
Barbara
@Jeffro: Many people would be shocked by reading what Hillary has to say without filters, and without having to adjust their ears to adapt to a female voice.
TaMara (HFG)
It’s been a bit chilly the last two nights and I’m thrilled they figured out their little duck hut is a bi-level and the upstairs is warm.
And I should tell you for extra squeeee factor, they always want to be scritched before going in at night. They demand it. So freakin’ cute.
@trollhattan: They love snails…we don’t have a lot, but boy when they find them they wiggle their little butts.
glory b
@Regnad Kcin: Watching my usual real estate porn, “Million Dollar Listing”, I saw that the real estate agent of color (Puerto Rican) who participates in the show was showing really GREAT looking townhouses in Harlem. They were beautiful!
Ajabu
Just a follow up on my comments on the about to be dead thread downstairs:
The situation in the Virgin Islands (even St. Croix that missed the devastation (this time) is exacerbated by the fact that we have to have everything necessary for rebuilding shipped in. Island economies rarely have the raw materials to restore power, repair roads, etc. It’s going to be a long slog. And a major hit to an already shaky economy.
But, as I said earlier, we WILL become paradise again.
I’m physically in the states currently, but my heart is still in the Caribbean.
Major Major Major Major
@Jeffro: I’m actually seeing only the pushback against the “shut up go away” stuff on my book of faces today, except from this one super hardcore totebagger, which is not what I was expecting. It’s nice.
eclare
@TaMara (HFG): That they demand scritches is adorable! So glad you were in the right place at the right time for them.
Quinerly
I would have slapped him without hesitation. At a minimum she should have reported it. Gross:http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/katy-tur-says-trump-gave-her-unwanted-kiss
Another Scott
@Ajabu: Thanks for the update. Best of luck to you and yours going forward.
We know how to get people back on their feet quickly, and we know that all of us will be better off if that happens, but too many want to let stupid ideology rule our actions. Something something bootstraps. Something something no-handouts. It’s infuriating. :-(
Hang in there.
Cheers,
Scott.
opiejeanne
Going to get our flu shots today. I do not want a repeat of the year we went to Italy. We left on Sept 1, the day the flu shots became available, and caught it near the end of the trip*. Mr opiejeanne was sick on the flight home and I came down with it 4 days later.
One can encounter a small child with a runny nose anywhere, and if the kid decides to stand very near you while coughing and sneezing, it’s better to be prepared.
*Totally possible the flu shot would not have protected us from the strain we caught. Just like to have a fighting chance.
Jeffro
@Major Major Major Major: That is nice! Heaven forbid we hear a honest take on…well…what happened, from the person who won the most votes.
Brachiator
The Apple iPhone event is coming soon, I suppose. Rumors of a $1,000 iPhone. This is ridiculous. And it’s not just Apple. I can understand their “premium price” model, in a way. It’s always been their thing. But tech evangelists have gone overboard in trying to rationalize the idea that all phone makers absolutely must have an ultra-expensive “flagship phone.”
It’s also ridiculous that many tech evangelists fall for the BS that you must always want to upgrade your phone as soon as a new model is announced. This is
Oh, well, we shall see what Apple has to offer, and how other companies counter their efforts.
eclare
@Ajabu: Glad you missed Irma. Never been to the USVI, but I’ve been to some other islands, such as St. Martin. So beautiful. Saw that Richard Branson is calling for a “Marshall Plan” for the Caribbean…um…would you care to start things off?
Barbara
@Major Major Major Major: Everyone should be allowed to speak their mind using whatever revolting and offensive language they desire . . . except for Hillary Clinton, who must shut up and let the rest of the world define what she really meant. So Ann Coulter, Milos Yannopoulos and the YouTube guy who shouted “f***ing n***er” are all exercising their sacrosanct right to speak freely, but Hllary must STFU. It’s disgusting all the more for the sheath of unconscious misogyny that they piously deny every other second. I will never get over how entrenched I now understand misogyny to be in the media.
Ajabu
@Regnad Kcin:
Flip Wilson & I met – and became lifelong friends = at a Chock Full O’ Nuts in Harlem about 3am after our respective gigs. Way back in the early 60’s when nobody ever heard of either of us. He became famous (I didn’t) but we stayed friends because I had no agenda after his fame hit. I still miss him.
Oh, well. Old folks love to reminisce…
chopper
@Origuy:
CAN’T UNSEE
Quinerly
@Ajabu:
Glad that you are ok. The pictures are devastating.
FlipYrWhig
@Quinerly: I wonder how many such stories Hope Hicks has. Not trying to be sexist here but I’m assuming “very many,” and likewise assuming that’s the reason she’s now part of the inner circle.
Barbara
@eclare: I laughed when I saw that. There is no doubt that most permanent residents of the Caribbean islands are not wealthy, probably not even middle class, but among them are some very, very wealthy people who could choose to be kind and generous to bring the islands back to life. Not to mention, those islands that are territories of wealthy countries will most likely rely on that status to recover. Those that are not could be in for some very tough times.
Elizabelle
@Ajabu: I still have some of my parents’ Flip Wilson records. Loved him.
Was he doing Geraldine yet?
Great story. Am more concerned about the Caribbean than Florida, because of resources available and logistics for rebuilding. What a tragedy.
Ajabu
@eclare:
MY understanding is the Marshall Plan would be $130 billion in today’s dollars. I guess I could chip in $10.
Your turn.
opiejeanne
@Barbara: Haiti and Cuba come to mind. Do either have a tie to a larger country with money?
Peale
@Jeffro: @Barbara: Yep. The narrative was set when she gave her first interview. Until she appears in public with a shaved head and figures out ways to give herself boils and leprosy, she will be treated as the most unlikable pariah who is blaming everyone else but herself.The bishops have determined when it is all over, Steve Bannon can say two our fathers and the pennance is over, but unless Hillary takes 120% responsibility herself, she’s being selfish and still doesn’t “get” how the actions of other people are 180% her fault.
opiejeanne
@Ajabu: I think she was directing the “you want to start” to Branson, not you.
opiejeanne
@Peale: I’m picking up her book this morning, after the flu shot. If they aren’t sold out.
ruemara
@Regnad Kcin: Don’t. Just don’t. I do not want to know this sadness. I went to CCNY and had an apartment at 131 & Amsterdam.
Tamara, I’m slightly jealous you have ducks.
@Ajabu: That’s a cool story. I used to watch reruns of his comedy show. I blame Geraldine and Monty Python for my general acceptance of transvestism at a young age.
TaMara (HFG)
@Ajabu: I was heartbroken about St. John – it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. We camped out there in tree-house-like tents for a week and it was amazing. The people all over the island were just so sweet and friendly.
Quinerly
@FlipYrWhig:
It’s all so disgusting. I think sometimes I can’t fully grasp that he is POTUS.
eclare
@Ajabu: Oh no! I meant Richard Branson needs to start, not you!
Barbara
@opiejeanne: No, they don’t, but there is a lot of investment in Cuba, and I would expect countries with business interests in Cuba (France) might offer assistance.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@opiejeanne:
I know Macron went to St Bart and St Martin, and is apparently ready to commit. Would like to see France do right by Haiti for once.
Irma pounded the shit out of a bunch of my favorites – Anguilla, St Bart, St Martin, Key West. Big Pine, Stock Island. It’ll be years for some – took St Bart and St Martin a long ass time to recover from Lenny.
Jeffro
@trollhattan: He seems to be, a bit. But he’s on vacation and away from his blessed Faux Snooze, so I’m sure once he returns he’ll be back in fine wingnut form!
dexwood
@Ajabu:
Well, then, we had a friend in common. Flip Wilson took lessons to become a hot air balloon pilot here in little old Albuquerque. He was here frequently for ballooning events, too, such as the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. He tagged along with us, that is, the pilot I was crew chief for, and our merry band on several occasions and we treated him like any other regular guy interested in ballooning. He was gracious, generous, and, of course, funny. He was very good to my son who was a toddler then.
bemused
@Quinerly:
Somehow this does not surprise me. He’ll try to dominate every way he can.
Verbal attacks.
Sneak attacks such as grabbing women, planting a kiss on Tur’s cheek or lurking behind Hillary at debate.
Sneak attacks with handshakes, aggressively yanking hands, basically hand wrestling.
Everyone knows his techniques by now and he’s lost his power to intimidate.
Quinerly
@dexwood:
Great story!
bemused
@Brachiator:
$1,000 is insane. I want a bigger phone. I still have an Apple 4S but not going to spend that kind of money.
schrodingers_cat
@Quinerly: Weren’t most of her reports fawning? Mission accomplished.
Brachiator
@Ajabu:
Very cool that you knew him. I think that he is becoming forgotten. There are not even many YouTube clips of his best work.
I liked how some of his routines would slowly build to a sly punch line.
Also, note your heartfelt comments about the devastation of the various island communities. A local talk show host here in Los Angeles recently spoke about how he and his wife had recently had their honeymoon among some of the islands, and how he had come to have great affection for many of the people he met.
dexwood
@Quinerly:
Hey! Briefly here, as usual. Taking a break, having a snack before going back outside to finish cleaning a storage shed too long neglected. Is it too early for a beer?
MazeDancer
Time to install the TaMara Back Yard Ducks & Pups Web Cam. That was such a great vid. Laughed much. Thanks.
Major Major Major Major
@Barbara: The people I know most likely to want Hillary to STFU and go away are the people who think Milo et al. have no right to speak because of the content of their words. They’re the most likely to begin their rants with “Obviously Hillary has the right to say whatever she wants, but.” So it’s not quite the same.
Quinerly
@dexwood:
I finished the last of my Happy Camper IPA stash last week. ? Albuquerque arrival 1/25. Start making some plans!
O. Felix Culpa
Love the ducks! I’m glad you kept them. I also love the incredibly interesting people who inhabit this top 10,000 blog. Please keep your wonderful stories and reminiscences coming.
bemused
Friends have a couple of Kuni pigs they taught to sit for a treat.
Amir Khalid
@eclare:
Sir Richard is way loaded. He can kick in a hundred million quid easy.
@Peale:
I don’t fault Hillary for losing. The 2016 presidential race was decided by the “Fuck your feelings” voters. They wanted a President who would say “Fuck your feelings” to the objects of their bigotry: liberals and people of colour. It was they who made Trump the Republican nominee. It was they who voted in just the right numbers, in just the right states, to hand him an electoral-college victory that overruled the popular vote. And now the President says “Fuck your feelings” to them too. The people who supported the silly candidate Jill Stein helped make this mess happen, sure, and so did the star-struck Wilmeristas; but the fault is ultimately theirs.
Quinerly
@schrodingers_cat:
No. They didn’t seem fawning at all.
O. Felix Culpa
@Quinerly: Yay! I’m looking forward to your visit. I hope to meet dexwood, PhoenixRising and other NM peeps while you’re here.
TenguPhule
@Peale:
Boils and leprosy will be treated as signs of sin and the faithful will demand she be dunked in the duck pond as a witch.
If she floats she must be a witch and they must burn her. If she sinks, that’s a sign Hell is trying to reclaim her and she must be burned.
Amir Khalid
Tamara,
I remember you said something about the ducks’ gender, but I don’t remember if you said they were boys or girls or one of each. Could you refresh my memory?
TenguPhule
@dexwood:
Never.
catclub
@eclare:
We’ll get right on that as soon as there is a risk of Communist government there. And no time sooner.
Czanne
@bemused: I can recommend the 6S for durability and reliability. Also, the last with a headphone jack. Put a glass screen protector on it, and a body case, but that should be a default recommendation for almost any phone. They’re running $550-700, and may drop after this release. Which is still not inexpensive, but it’s got more processing power than my first laptop and the second desktop I ever bought myself, which both had bigger price tags in 90s money, and were far bigger chunks of my budgets.
dexwood
@O. Felix Culpa:
You will. Saw your reply in yesterday’s thread. Can’t make it to the State Fair Saturday as suggested by PhoenixRising, but a meet up will happen. Back to work for me.
Major Major Major Major
@TenguPhule: I worry about you sometimes.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major:
In my defense, I haven’t drunk beers since college. They all tasted like hoppy urine to me.
catclub
@bemused:
I was amused by the radio description that the $1000 cost would be folded into your monthly payment by an additional $10/mon. Huh? People keep that phone for 8+ years.
catclub
@TenguPhule:
TMI
dexwood
@TenguPhule:
I know people who might disagree, but some opinions are easily ignored.
Major Major Major Major
@TenguPhule: Oh, that’s right. Carry on.
Amir Khalid
I have begun studying the blues scale, which my reading tells me is essential to playing rock and blues guitar. Is there, or is there not, a major blues scale? Opinions seem to differ, which doesn’t sound right. Can anyone enlighten me?
Origuy
@Czanne: I bought a refub 6S through Amazon after mine got stolen, for under $500. I had to return the first one because it overheated and the screen slowly faded. The company replaced it promptly and the second one has worked fine since. I don’t see a need to upgrade,
Yutsano
@Amir Khalid: Mallards are sexually dimorphous. The female is the brownish one, while the male has the shiny green hood on his face and neck.
They’re also one of the few species of duck that have that trait now that I think about it.
Mel
@opiejeanne: Thanks for the reminder! ?
It’s important for all, but especially vital if you, a loved one, or someone you work closely with falls into a high-risk group (immune supressed either b/c of a health condition or b/c of immune suppressant medications; elderly; very young; diagnosed with diabetes, asthma, etc.).
Herd immunity is a wonderful thing.
trollhattan
@Czanne:
Come to the Dark (Android) side and for the same money get a Galaxy S8, which has a very fast processor; full-size, hi-def edge display; headphone jack and–ta-da–micro SD slot, which Apple won’t provide for infinite-thousand dollars.
trollhattan
@germy:
“Duck flash mob flocks 7-11”
eclare
@trollhattan: I’m still rockin’ an S5.
bemused
@Czanne:
Thx for the tip on 6S. When I read about the thousand dollar phone coming out, my first thought was better price on older models which is when I got the 4S.
Mel
Has anyone else seen waterfowl or birds seemingly displaced by the hurricanes? A friend saw a Black Bellied Whistling Duck in the upper-upper south / lower Midwest. Definitely outside of his normal range. He showed up on a pond at the same time that the remnant rains from Harvey made their way to my friend’s locale.
Zoo / rescue and return org. contacted, because they are definitely warm climate ducks, and are apparently very social but stick to their own particular type of duck. This poor little guy was completely avoiding the local ducks, and was frantically swimming around calling for his missing buddies.
WaterGirl
@catclub: I think what they’re saying is that if you already have a phone payment, the difference between your previous payment and the new payment would be $10 a month. That’s $120 a year. If you keep the phone for 2 years, that $240 could well be the difference between your previous phone ($760) and the $1,000.
TomatoQueen
@Amir Khalid: Forgive me, but there’s a chorus that ends: “You got to suffer/ If you want to sing the blues.” I suggest a deep dive into the works of one David Bromberg, national treasure.
trollhattan
@eclare: Dependable, then? I was Moto-centric through my last one, which got swelling battery syndrome short of two years so knew it was time to jump brands. Didn’t shop obsessively but wanted the latest version OS and the card slot, which quickly narrowed the list. Then it’s a matter of what’s in stock and the current deals. A month in I’m pleased with it. First phone I can describe as operating in real time–no lag whatsoever–and the display is just…pow. Now it just needs to last longer than two years.
trollhattan
@Mel:
My kid did zoo summer camp a couple years ago and “helped” raise whistling ducklings that go on display and are part of their “meet the critters” program. They’re utterly lovable little guys.
Laura
@TaMara (HFG):
They love snails…
In my dreams of retirement, I’d have a small flock of ducks and a dinky trailer. For a reasonable sum, I will deliver the ducks to your home to spend the day eating your snails, slugs and other bugs.
A gal can dream, can’t she?
NotMax
Have you switched your default search engine to DuckDuckGo?
:)
eclare
@trollhattan: I got mine as soon as it was released in 2014, so I’d say you’ve got a good shot. It was my first smart phone, and I’ve been very pleased.
Mel
@trollhattan: They are so pretty! Those pink beaks!
Miss Bianca
@Ajabu: You knew Flip Wilson? *So cool*. I loved his show when I was a kid – watched it every week. I still crack up whenever I chance to think about Miss Geraldine Jones…
TaMara (HFG)
@Amir Khalid: They are both girls. I’m looking forward to eggs for the dogs.
trollhattan
@eclare:
Great to hear, was having second thoughts only because of the Note 8 fiasco.
Miss Bianca
@Amir Khalid: My understanding is that the blues scale usually always involves at least a minor 7, if not a minor 3, so I think that “Major blues scale” may be an oxymoron…but any actual musicians in the crowd are free to contradict me…
TaMara (HFG)
@Yutsano: Actually Mabel is a Rouen
They are almost twice the size of the mallard, but just like the mallard, males and females are distinctly different. I think they were bred specifically to resemble them. .
Maddie, for those who care, is a Blue Swedish – and the males and females are distinguished by head color (males are blue) and the drakes have a curly tail feather (as do most domestic male ducks).
Jane2
Those ducks are delightful!
Brachiator
@trollhattan:
A weird, almost dirty little secret is that the performance of some smartphones seem to severely diminish after 2 years, especially battery life. This seems to be particularly the case with some Android phones. Apple could be just as bad, but I don’t hear it noted as much, even by people who buy the “lesser” Apple phone when they are lowered in price.
Some of the most foolish tech evangelists dismiss this because they are hot to get a new phone as soon as the latest models are announced. But this is absurd.
I lean toward Android, not out of any loyalty, but simply because it meets my needs. My ideal phone would be mid price, with good long lasting performance, and guaranteed and timely system updates. Perversely, it is possible to buy a new Android phone, and never have the most current version of the Android OS. This should be unacceptable.
J R in WV
@dexwood:
Not if you’re working hard, and have some other fluids too!
Regnad Kcin
@ruemara: I’m stilling shaking my head. I knew the gentrification pace that went on in Brooklyn in the 1990s, but this is some industrial-strength stuff.
Mel
@Brachiator: Apple has the same battery issue, at least in my personal experience. Apple has said that after appx. 2 years (or so many hundred full charges – I can’t recall the exact number offhand) the battery in an iPhone will lose roughly 20% of its power / capacity.
At right around 2 years, both my 4 and my 5s began to lose charge pretty quickly, sometimes requiring up to 3 charges a day with heavy use. It still took the same amount of time to bring them both up to 100% charge; both phones just lost charge much faster.
No One You Know
@Major Major Major Major: And how do they know they aren’t food? Ducks seem mysteriously wise…
Ajabu
@Amir Khalid:
Technically, a blues scale is a Pentatonic scale (I – bIII – IV -V – bVii) with the flatted fifth added.
For example, in a C blues scale the notes are C – Eb – F – Gb – G – Bb – C.
If you use Roman numerals (as I did above) you can translate that to any key.
You can easily use the major third as well as the flat three because the whole thing is essentially based on a dominant seventh chord. (I – III – V – bVII). And the dominant has a natural third.
Basic Blues Form Is the following 12 bars : I—IV—I—I—IV—IV—I—I—V—IV—I—I. Everything else is variations of this.
Hope This Helps!
Czanne
@trollhattan: Nope. Left the dark side after eight phones in five years (between two people). IOS is 3 total phones between two people in 5 years (and the 5C I replaced was due to me breaking it in a boneheaded move.) The OS is the problem, not the hardware. I like the hardware* quite a lot and would use it if I could get more support for Paranoid Andriod from the service providers. The supported versions attract cruft like unfinished concrete and the code review process is like going back to Win 3.1 but with 2017 malware. We keep a couple of Android devices for testing purposes, and keep them off the networks. It’s worth remembering that most of the Internet of Shit zombie devices that serve as malware vectors are running Android variants with crap security and bad updating. The walled garden is not my preference, but it does contain and control the code base. This household tends to be more in favor of open source than not, but have become reluctant fellow travelers (wouldn’t call us converts) to a controlled code base.
Battery life is a problem across the board – it’s a lithium ion battery issue. Replaceable batteries should be standard, and they’re not. If we’re going to get a handle on the tantalum/coltan/RE&M issue, we’re going to have to insist on replaceable batteries (which are wear items, like brake pads), or at least battery replacement service, because the reason most people upgrade a phone is because their batteries fail. Recycling for RE&M is still not that common, or effective, so conservation matters, which means keeping devices working.
* except for the actual phone hardware — the speakers and mics. All cells are somewhat prone to this — if the speaker volume is too loud, the microphone gets borked. It’s less of a problem with IOS devices; I assume slightly better component quality. Consistent echoes and robo-voice are the sign that the phone audio is broken, and it gets broken by sound volume. (It’s a bandwidth issue when the problem is intermittent.)
workworkwork
@Czanne: I watched the replay and skipped right over the new phone hardware stuff. I get the model phone my carrier has available and the one I currently have (6S) works fine.
I was interested in the new watch hardware, though, mainly for the health monitoring. I occasionally have fibrillations plus it would be nice to monitor my blood sugar non-invasively. However, the new heart monitoring software comes with next week’s release of IOS so I’ll get it for free. The blood sugar thing probably needs new hardware and isn’t out yet.
Amir Khalid
@Miss Bianca:
@Ajabu:
Thanks for the guidance. It’s very much appreciated.