Hey, everybody. Just prairie-dogging here, coming up from book-hell to say “hi.” I’m sure I’m not alone in having just about every working day disrupted by Trumpian and GOP dysfunction — which is what I blame the fact that my book is a crooked number of Friedman Units overdue.
Still, while I can’t really blog till the ms is in to my long suffering editors, I find myself needing antidotes to political madness, and I figure some of our fellow jackals might too. So, w/out further ado, here’s some brain candy.
First up, horse twitter:
My favorite in this vein is one from the GoS:
Justify won the Belmont Stakes, becoming the 13th triple Crown winner, and turned down an invitation to the White House. Asked why, the winner neighed, “If I wanted to see a horse’s ass, I would’ve finished second.”
And now, for a true hit of the absurd, a couple of noodle advertisements from the Japanese packaged food company, Nissin. First up, this piece of majesty and terror:
And next, one so wholly bonkers I can only let it speak for itself:
I find solace in the fact that, no matter how crabbed and pinched a view of the world and its joys Trump and his party seek to gaslight the rest of us into sharing, it is, in fact, irreducibly stranger and more fun than they’ll ever know.
This thread?
It’s more open than a Best Buy on Black Friday.
TenguPhule
So closed after 10 pm?
TenguPhule
This is nothing. Look for the old Japanese Sega Dreamcast System commercials.
Baud
I think the Baud! 2020! campaign has found its message.
While the other candidates ignore the solar threat, Baud! has a eight-point plan that will defeat the sun once and for all.
JPL
Conan was great and I appreciate those taking on the asshole with humor.
Yarrow
@Baud: Did I see you say that you’re going to be posting less? I haz a sad!
M4
My day is pretty alright! Two companies offered to fly me out to NY for final-round interviews so I’m feeling smart and capable for once. Which is funny since I was very sure I’d royally fucked up one of their interviews yesterday. Yay depression!
I know I got roundly mocked here last time I shared good job hunt news so screw you guys in advance.
Steeplejack
“Prairie-dogging” in line 1.
“MS.” for one manuscript, “MSS.” for multiple; “mss” is right out. C’mon, man, you’re a professional writer throwing around pro-writer lingo!
Tom Levenson
@M4: Congrats. Enjoy a bite of the Manzana Grande!
Just One More Canuck
@Baud: didn’t Monty Burns do that?
Tom Levenson
@Steeplejack: This is why I truly love me some copy editors.
Fix’t now. My thanks.
Baud
@Yarrow: Yeah, for a little while.
@M4: Congrats, man. And fuck you.
@Just One More Canuck: There’s nothing new in politics.
lollipopguild
@Baud: Only eight points? Baud2020! needs a 12 point plan. Step up your game!
Gin & Tonic
@M4: Not many people can look forward to the prospect of reducing their housing costs by moving to NYC. Hope you get a solid bite.
Yarrow
@Baud: Booo….. I’m concerned about the effect of your sabbatical on your Baud2020 campaign.
Yarrow
@M4: Congratulations! Hope the next steps go well too.
M4
@Gin & Tonic:
This is a nontrivial reason for my move! Thanks.
@Baud: you will be missed.
Gin & Tonic
Oddly, neither of those commercials compels me to eat the product being advertised.
YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)
@Baud: I thought that was going to be about The Sun newspaper.
Yarrow
@M4: Congratulations! Hope the next steps go well too.
Yutsano
@Gin & Tonic: I think that’s not the point for Japanese advertising. If it ever has a point beyond loud and obnoxious.
Personally I haven’t had much in the way of an appetite for a few days. Ate some old cheese and have been fighting lingering nausea and such for a few days now. Just drank a bunch of milk of magnesia and gonna keep doing that. And eat some chicken soup tonight.
Steeplejack
@Tom Levenson:
Dude: The abbreviation for “Manuscript” is capital-M, capital-S, period: MS.
As in Poe’s “MS. Found in a Bottle” (1833).
Bill Arnold
@Baud:
I’d suggest the lazy approach of just waiting it out, but there’s that pesky red giant phase.
Solar flares, you say? Just details.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack:
Like MS-13?
VeniceRiley
How, is my day going, asked no one? I’m experiencing the slowest last hour in the history of a workday.
I plan to follow this by experiencing the slowest commute to home; so I can record Maddow and hit the pool for a workout.
Failing that (if there are kids in there-no go) I will watch her live and have a cocktail. And by cocktail, I mean whiskey polluted with ice.
If Baud can do a 12 point plan in 8 points, he’s got my vote!
M4
@Gin & Tonic:
This is a non-insignificant motivator, for sure.
Steeplejack
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
You will note that there is no period in “MS-13.”
debbie
@M4:
Nice! Good luck and hope you’re offered both!
Steeplejack
@M4:
Good luck on the job hunt! Tech interviews can be all over the map.
Mike J
@Steeplejack: They got tired of people asking if they were Miss or Mrs. 13.
J R in WV
@VeniceRiley:
I like my whiskey with just a touch of branch water. Well actually, well water, it isn’t dipped out of the creek. Otherwise neat. About a tablespoon of water or two if it’s high proof liquor.
M4
@Steeplejack: for sure. Fortunately I already did the live-programming and systems-trivia portions for both. I imagine they try not to spring for travel for total duds.
debbie
@JPL:
Colbert has saved me on many a day.
Aleta
Kewpie mayonnaise used to made great commercials. Couldn’t find one, but here’s a different kewpie product. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QUrM0kJkjc
rikyrah
@M4:
Congratulations and good luck ??
VeniceRiley
@J R in WV: That’s about how much water I get from the cube melt before I’ve finished it off. Ha! I do prefer sweet tasting filtered store bought ice cubes, but I hate lugging the bag home.
lamh36
‘Sup Balloon Juice.
Been a long day away from the city for me, but I finally made it back to the house about 2 hours ago. So I’m just catching up on things I missed.
Oh, and I FINALLY finished my last blog post for my Australia trip with pics from my time in Sydney.
You can check it out here, and I hope ya enjoy my pics. I’m pretty sure the post is longer than the Melbourne post, but I’m not really surprised because while I enjoyed Melbourne, Sydney was a much better fit for me picture taking-wise.
Anyhoo, you’ve been warned… :-)
G’Day Sydney!! Aussie VayKay BlackNOLAGirlInOz…Sydney Dreamin’
sukabi
@Bill Arnold: 500,000 years from now? Who says there will be anything left to incinerate?
Between Trump’s blow everything up now M.O. and Baud’s 8 point plan if we make it through the next 2 years we’ll be lucky.
Steeplejack
@Mike J:
Heh, good one.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack: Details, next you’ll point out the flaws in Baud’s 8-point plan to combat the sun. //
different-church-lady
1998: “We’ll all make our living selling our stuff to each other on EBay!”
2008: “We’ll all make our living selling houses to each other!”
2018: “We’ll all make our living driving each other around and sleeping in each others’ houses!”
Mnemosyne
If you’re the kind of person who really, really cares about the difference between “affect” and “effect,” then proofreading is probably for you.
Personally, I love that shit.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@lamh36: Thanks, have to share that with the kid; she’s headed there(and New Zealand) in late September.
Mary G
@M4: Congratulations! Do they know about each other or do you get two free flights?
Steeplejack
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Hey, I let him slide on “Baud! has *a* eight-point plan.”
M4
@Mary G: not sure whether to tell them about each other unless I end up with two offers. We’ll see how the schedules shake out.
divF
@M4: My day is less than alright. I’m in DC, on the second day of a review panel, and my shirt is soaked from walking the .3 miles from the restaurant to the hotel. I am so glad to be going home tomorrow.
I keep thinking of different abbreviations of your former name. 4K, 10^12, and 1T come to mind.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack: Has the Baud!2020 campaign paid you off?
MagdaInBlack
Waiting to for my lunch today, the young man in front of me was having trouble with his English; the cashier asked him if it would be easier for him in Spanish. He visibly relaxed, and finished ordering.
I told her she had warmed my heart.
HAL
Huh…
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sarah-sanders-raj-shah-planning-to-depart-the-white-house/
M4
@divF: sounds dreadful. It cracked 75 here today so I know how you feel ?
I’d like to keep my nym but will wait until we get the mobile form entry persistence fixed.
Omnes Omnibus
We need an American version of this.
Steeplejack
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I don’t want to poke the bare!
zhena gogolia
@JPL:
It was a very clever bit. I’ve gotten tired of Trump humor but this was fresh.
joel hanes
I’m just going to leave this here …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRLe826lyao
Congratulations and good luck to Major Major Major Major.
Maybe a promotion to Lt. Col. Major Major Major will be in the offing ?
Jack the Cold Warrior
Never knew Japanese noodles create such violent conflict….
Never feed them to Trump!!!!!!!
zhena gogolia
@M4:
Congratulations!
Dorothy Winsor
@Mnemosyne: I care. But not as much as I care about lay and lie.
Dorothy Winsor
@M4: Congrats! If they’re flying you in, they’re serious.
chris
Some good news from Charlie Stross. The British press may be starting to turn on the Brexiteers, some of whom were also involved with tRump and the campaign.
From Charlie himself in the comments:”…what we’re seeing is the equivalent of Fox News turning on Trump and the New York Times going into Watergate Investigation target-seeking mode on the alt-right. It’s spectacular. Where it leads? Who the hell knows.”
A boy can hope, right?
And some bad news. Balance! Not for the faint of heart.
Steeplejack
@joel hanes:
I thought he just adds another “Major” to the end.
Platonailedit
I hire only the best people.
M4
@Dorothy Winsor: thanks, so I hear, I’ve never done this before.
@Dorothy Winsor: I get really annoyed by incorrect or imprecise verb tenses. Six years of Latin in catholic school ruined me. Subjunctive I’m less of a stickler about, probably because ours is so weak.
Mike J
@Omnes Omnibus: Watched it and said, “looks like somebody updated Brass Eye.” Then I read the description. Yep.
I may have to dig out my Nathan Barley vidjas tonight.
zhena gogolia
@Omnes Omnibus:
That’s hilarious! Yes, it could easily be adapted to a “Dems in Disarray” story.
Inventor
@HAL: Return of The Mooch?
TenguPhule
@different-church-lady:
2028: “We’ll all be eating each other anyway!”
The Dangerman
This probably got posted already given it’s brilliance, but, if you followed the Minnesota Raccoon, check this out.
TenguPhule
Woman gets head stuck in tailpipe at Minnesota music festival
I can’t believe its not Florida.
MisterForkbeard
@M4: Rock on, man! That’s really good news. Have a good time in your interviews.
MomSense
@different-church-lady:
Fucking brutal and brilliant. That’s exactly the slide into the bullshit gig economy.
M4
@TenguPhule: @different-church-lady: I heard that some people even make a living nowadays by pretending to be somebody else, in talking moving pictures! Can you imagine? We must stop this madness. But then, I’m sure it won’t last.
Steve in the ATL
@M4:
Have you ever seen the movie “dinner for schmucks”?
TenguPhule
Every day in every way they LIE LIE LIE.
TenguPhule
@M4:
How dare you Suh! Voice acting is a perfectly respectable profession. Ah am outraged, outraged do you he’a me! //
M4
@TenguPhule: no, no, we must mock all innovation that happened after some yet-unspecified date.
Also apparently real estate.
zhena gogolia
@M4:
I think she was referring to the period when people were just frantically buying and selling houses, and also buying houses they really couldn’t afford on the assumption that the value would just keep going up and up.
Mike in NC
Certainly the horse’s ass squatting in the Oval Office would look a lot better in a filthy barn.
M4
@zhena gogolia: ah, that makes some sense. Or perhaps the crazy derivatives situation—I’ll cop to that as bullshit innovation.
El Caganer
Two members of the Norwegian parliament have nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize according to Fortune.
Dorothy Winsor
@TenguPhule: Didn’t Annie Lennox have a song about that?
Jacel
@Mike J: Their pronoun preferences is “They-13”.
magurakurin
My wife loves that Chicken Ramen commercial. She went out and bought some the very next day after she saw it.
NotMax
Assiduously working to convince myself to put off mowing for another day.
Smart money is on this being successful.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@El Caganer: There are idiots in every country.
The Midnight Lurker
I’m going to cook some noodles and watch Glory. Or Seven Samurai.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@M4:
Good for you! Hope you knock em dead and enjoy NYC while you’re there. I preferred LA when I was there over NYC but the weather (winter) probably played a part in that.
NotMax
@Mike in NC
Stable genius, don’tcha know.
:)
debbie
@M4:
You better start steeling yourself. NYC summers aren’t much different from DC’s.
M4
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: LA is fine except I don’t have a car or like driving.
ETA also the severe housing shortage sucks
@debbie: it’s my husband I’m worried about, he’s only ever lived in the Bay Area.
SiubhanDuinne
@Steeplejack:
This reminds me of a terrifying week in my young womanhood.
Ruckus
@sukabi:
500,000 yrs? I can’t tell if that’s how long I’ve lived or just how long it feels like.
tybee
@The Midnight Lurker: a reasonable part of Glory was filmed in Savannah.
i got to see several sets – particularly the one set on Isle of Hope.
didn’t see any stars but saw lots of extras sweating bullets wearing those woolen uniforms in 95 degree weather.
Ruckus
@MagdaInBlack:
Es muy bueno
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne:
Ha! Another good one.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Baud wan Kenobi, don’t leave us, you are our only hope.
Steeplejack
More screenwriter gaffes. Bull tonight:
Although I guess it could have been written correctly and mangled by the actor. I’ve seen that happen in my bush-league corporate media career.
Gin & Tonic
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I was in NZ in late September – early spring on the South Island. Even got some skiing in. It was spectacular.
dexwood
@SiubhanDuinne:
Best laugh I’ve had all day. Hasn’t been a bad day. Not great, not bad.
rikyrah
Voldemort on pre-existing conditions ??
https://twitter.com/American_Bridge/status/1007016301758484481
lamh36
Shoutout to The Root’s headline writer for this one…LOL
eemom
@M4:
“….the sun shines most of the time, and the feeling is laid back….”
Cyberkissies to anyone ancient enough to recognize that.
TenguPhule
@El Caganer:
Every man has his price.
lamh36
I know this is supposed to be a leisure thread, but this thread…wow…I missed this being away from my computer.
This is heartbreaking…
No matter how you feel about immigration, “legal” or otherwise…this is just not right at all
I mean…what about the little girls?
I actually shudder to think of it. This country already treat white girls with barely any respect…lets not even talk about Black children…these are “illegals”, I just don’t even want to think bout the treatment they might be receiving.
oh and this is an invited visit…so even “cleaned” up for company, it still makes me sick
Ruckus
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I’ve done a 3 week tour of NZ, it was spectacular. Sister asked what I liked best when she picked me up at LAX and I started naming off stuff and ended up saying “It was the people.” Even when something went wrong, everyone just pitched in and helped. I’ve had good times in lots of cities around the world but NZ was the best. If I was a couple of years younger I’d probably have emigrated there.
Josie
@Dorothy Winsor: This made remember the difficulty I had when I was fresh out of college many years ago, teaching grammar to high school sophomores – more specifically lay, lie and lain. The ribald humor in the classroom that day was something to behold.
ETA: It was obviously a more innocent time.
TenguPhule
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
But why do so many of them ascend to positions in government?
Mike in NC
Breaking: Possum Queen plans to leave WH
TenguPhule
@lamh36: Remember, the GOP made accusations of child sex trafficking.
And its always projection from them.
Mnemosyne
@M4:
Actually, I think Bay Area to NYC won’t be too bad of a transition. NYC winters aren’t great, but they’re not Chicago or Buffalo winters, and summers aren’t great, but they’re not Phoenix or Houston summers. Plus you guys are already used to public transportation and the crazy people thereon, so you won’t pine for a car.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Ruckus: She’s doing Australia and New Zealand since her mom got laid off at Macy’s and can’t go on their planned trip to Korea, I think it’s 2 weeks total.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@TenguPhule: We let them.
Dorothy Winsor
@Josie: Hey, “lay” takes an object.
@Ruckus: We spent about a week in NZ a number of years back. It’s one of the few places I’ve visited that I thought I might be willing to live.
lamh36
Oooh…who’s got the popcorn.
Per April Ryan, apparently the WH is fighting back at CBS over the reporting of the SHS leaving and the problem they are having hiring someone to repace her and Shah…
Omnes Omnibus
@El Caganer: How do you say “hold my beer” in Norwegian?
M4
@TenguPhule: if you think that’s unique to government you’ve never met industry.
Omnes Omnibus
@M4: Let me add to the good wishes for your job hunt.
M4
@Omnes Omnibus: thanks!
Thanks everyone :)
schrodingers_cat
@M4: Congrats and good luck with the next phase. If you move to NYC we are practically neighbors! (Well not really, but compared to California you will be a train ride away)
MomSense
@M4:
You got this, M4.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@schrodingers_cat: Well, California’s just a train ride away; just a much longer ride.
lamh36
Today is my mommy’s birthday!
Just wanted to say… Happy Birthday to my Mommy
Every year is a blessing since she had her heart attack over 5 years ago
Another Scott
@Omnes Omnibus: Nice.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
lollipopguild
@eemom: “I love LA” Randy Newman
Jager
@J R in WV: I wet my fingers and shake them over the whiskey glass.
Mai naem mobile
I wonder if any media org will hire Huckster or if she’s end up doing ‘consulting on how to deal with Trumpov’ like Reince. Or maybe she’ll be too busy with Mueller. Hope Daddy Huckster has to spend big money on lawyers for Huckster.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@lollipopguild: They play that at the end of Dodger games.
Gin & Tonic
@Jager: There’s a really good whiskey bar in San Francisco called Hard Water. They give you an eyedropper for adding water to your drink.
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: The right amount of water depends on the whisk(e)y and the moment. But then I am currently enjoying a Presbyterian, so what do I know?
Gin & Tonic
@Omnes Omnibus: I learned “beer” is “øl” when I was there last month. I also learned that beer, no matter how you say it, is insanely expensive.
Another Scott
@M4: Excellent. Knock ’em dead!
Cheers,
Scott.
Gin & Tonic
@Omnes Omnibus: That’s an old-guy cocktail if ever there was one.
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: I just read about it last night. It is pretty good summery drink. Not quite your level, of course.
Jager
@Mike in NC: Believe me Justify does not live in a filthy barn. trump’s stall would seldom be cleaned and nobody would groom him..
Jager
@Gin & Tonic: I love going to the old school bar where they bring you ice, whiskey and a little pitcher of water. My old man would put ice in the glasse, fill it with water, drink it down and then pour in the whiskey. He also warned me against drinking any sweet drinks. I’ve been a scotch and whiskey guy since my late 20’s.
lamh36
Alright alright…movie trailer news for today.
Disney released a teaser trailer for their LIVE action Dumbo directed by Tim Burton!
Dumbo – Official Trailer
If this is Tim Burton at his best, this could be a real tearjerker and nostalgic…I mean just hearing the lilt bit of Baby Mine had me a bit verklempt…
the big question though is will the film include the Jim Crows?
Platonailedit
Asshole zuckerberg slowly killing his ‘baby’.
M4
@Platonailedit: are we not in favor of this?
Ruckus
@Dorothy Winsor:
I actually liked a number of places in the world. Unfortunately a couple of them have worse winters than Los Angeles. Norway, Belgium, Denmark. NZ isn’t quite as bad, especially on the north island.
Omnes Omnibus
@Platonailedit: I never used it for news. I have 70-ish friends on it and I use it to keep up with them. And that’s it.
J R in WV
@Mike in NC:
Horse barns are usually as sterile as possible, as horses are worth millions of dollars, if they have the right genetics. Unlike certain human horse’s asses.
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
Okay, I’m going to put myself on the line and defend the Jim Crows as secretly subversive characters. Yes, they’re horrible stereotypes … who are also the only characters in the whole damn film who are kind and helpful to Dumbo and Timothy (the mouse).
Hang on, I’m putting on my flameproof suit …
(I can pretty much guarantee that they will be replaced in the live action version, though, because they no longer come across as subversive since we’ve moved past that specific stereotype.)
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne: I have never seen the movie. There are Jim Crows – actual crows?
lamh36
@Omnes Omnibus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v2exWrsGOc
Omnes Omnibus
@lamh36: Um, wow.
Steve in the ATL
@Steeplejack: you can’t expect the people who write a show about the legal profession to know hyper technical terms like that
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: I flaunt the law all the time. Usually while flouncing.
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
Ay-up. That’s them. They end up giving Dumbo a “magic” feather to help him fly, so they’re pretty much the only helpful characters in the whole dang movie. And they’re horrible, cringey stereotypes.
Steve in the ATL
@Omnes Omnibus: I did that once while dining on flautas. While sitting near a flatulent man.