Not sure how many kids I’ll get tonight. We will be extremely cold and there is still snow and ice everywhere.
A reminder, Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be on Colbert tonight – her only appearance in front of cameras today, or so it’s been reported.
Open thread.
Boo
ETA:
Oh, my god, I want these guys for my neighbors.
They have an entire series of videos here.
Joe Falco
The weather is too messy in NE Georgia to expect trick-or-treaters tonight. So more candy for me!
CaseyL
I was told a costume at work would be ok as long as there was no mask. So I am wearing flowing robes and Medusa headpiece. Have gotten a satisfying number of startled double takes!
TaMara (HFG)
I updated the post with a couple and their Michael Myers videos.
trollhattan
Who wouldn’t want to have that teacher?
Weather here is Halloween-perfect, so maybe we’ll see some little ones. Some years we get nobody but a lot of families have moved in over the last couple years so there should be at least an early shift.
On the other side of the nearby arterial is a neighborhood that gets hit massively, with vanloads of kids brought in from all over. It can be a real zoo, and pretty costy.
germy
We have torrential rains in the forecast, and 40-50 mph winds, so I don’t expect any knocks on the door.
They’re predicting random power outages because of the wind.
I have a steam boiler with a safety device that keeps the water level from going too low.
But every time there’s a blackout (or even a brownout) the safety device kicks in and tries to flood the boiler.
I wanted to remove it, but the tech said it wasn’t a good idea.
Our last blackout (last month) as soon as the power came back on, I dashed downstairs to the boiler room just in time to hear the WHOOSH of the boiler filling. Caught it before it could become a problem.
But I won’t be doing much sleeping tonight, worried about it happening at 3am.
Mary G
I didn’t buy candy, because I would have eaten half of it myself. Now I want some. I have the kind of sore throat that feels like Twitler used a forest rake on it and my head is all stuffed.
Here’s a costume I like:
trollhattan
@germy:
You wouldn’t have that problem if only you heated your home with Beautiful Coal!
Boilers, man, I remember those from when I was a kid. They’re not a thing here for houses, at all.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
oh, to this day that fucking blank Michael Meyers mask creeps me out
the music too
ETA: I just watched the video. They seem like fun people to have as neighbors, and the fact that he’s doing it a on a pink bike is just… *chef’s kiss*
CaseyL
Our neighborhood hasn’t had trick or treating for at least 15 years because nobody had kids. Now there is a little girl living here, but she may be too young. I think most families these days prefer going to parties or malls
germy
@trollhattan:
I’ll have to wait a few more months for Santa to bring some.
SWMBO
I give out quarters. That’s about what it would cost to buy candy and it doesn’t cause a freakout over peanut allergies, coconut aversion, etc. And any quarters left over can be spent. I buy candy but it’s for our consumption.
Mary G
The current #1 seed for the Super Bowl of butthurt
A group of people who donated at least $50k are not wealthy?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
only kinda political
The Dangerman
San Luis Obispo Farmers Market for Halloween. Many calories will be consumed of a BBQ nature.
RAVEN
@Joe Falco: It’ll be jumpin in Athens whether or not! I didn’t realize what an industry the Thriller deal was until my buddy hired an instructor and had about 50 kids learn the whole thing. A friend from high school was the keyboard player in Rufus and wrote “Ain’t Nobody” Quincey wanted it for Thriller but he’s promised to to Chaka and that’s who got it! see if you can’t hear it on that album.
trollhattan
Los Angeles Magazine has published a large excerpt from a forthcoming Carrie Fisher biography. Makes me miss her all over again, what a loss for us all.
germy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: He charges a fortune to give lectures on cyber security.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
surprising news
and a Hallowe’en scare!
curious move– I find Graham repellent but I suspect The Audience of One and the cultists find his (probably rehearsed in the mirror) histrionics affirming. I wonder if they want a chair who can at least pretend to look judicious (if he speaks slowly and sticks to the script) because old.
catclub
@Mary G: There was a MSNBC bit featured with Josh Brown andScott Galloway. They have a much less
“I have to protect all my ducats from the liberal hordes” view of Warren than many of the fat cat bankers getting quoted.
Josh says they are scared of her because she understands banking and venture capital FAR FAR better than any previous politician. She knows where the pressure points are, and she knows where the fatcats extract wealth from companies they take over — and that usually results in people losing their job and or their pension.
Galloway says if you want people who are not fat cat bankers ( like 98% + of the population) to say right on – keep saying that the fatcat bankers hate her. Keep doing that and she will use all those terrified banker quotes in her advertising. She has already done it once.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Mary G: my not-very-political brother (like a lot of my family Bush turned his Dem leanings into pretty solid partisanship, and he hates trump) showed me a tweet from some hedge fund guy saying to his brethren and sistren, “come on you guys, you can’t really be pretending we’re victims here”.
@catclub: Ali Velshi and Stephanie Ruhle (the latter especially) are often mouth-pieces for the Wall St POV, but even they often say “Why the fuck do we still have the carried interest loophole? Who in Congress sticks up for it?”. If the good Senator-Perfesser can explain that to people, and get them riled up, it would be a good thing.
Patricia Kayden
chopper
@The Dangerman:
i miss the SLO farmer’s market, especially in winter.
ET
DC is rainy with a chance of tornado so I am not sure how many trick or treaters will be trick or treating. I had decided to be the Grouchy Woman in the Corner House and not participate this year.
trollhattan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
They dread Warren because she truly, deeply understands their arcane world and will quickly knock down their many business-as-usual facades. Once exposed, who knows what’s possible to rein them in?
trollhattan
@ET:
Did you just type “tornado”? Gawd must be mightily aggrieved at the WS outcome.
Chyron HR
@Mary G:
Dear Billionaire L. Cooperman;
I feel that you should be aware that some asshole is signing your name to stupid letters.
Citizen Alan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
There ain’t no way in hell that Shitgibbon is wasting a SCOTUS slot (assuming God hates us enough to grant him another one) on someone who is 64 years old and who openly disdained him literally until the moment John McCain died. Although it would be perversely amusing if a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land were enough to finally get Graham to come out of the closet.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I shan’t offer any opinion, I’ll just report and let you decide
Coulter’s an Ivy Leaguer. She likes people to know that.
trollhattan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
“Fossilizing senator to be replaced with one that has completed the process.”
danielx
If I wasn’t a reasonable man, I’d say it is snowing outside. However, there are a ton of kids in the neighborhood and I am tolerably certain we’ll have some candy gnashers on the streets this evening. I plan to sit in the garage (suitably garbed) with the garage door open, candy bowl handy, space heater on and irish coffee in hand.
Years ago in another house we got nine inches of snow on Halloween, but all these poor little kids came traipsing to the door in boots and costumes. Can’t keep them down.
trollhattan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Oh, mercy. Was unsurprised to learn fairly recently that Skeletor Coulter was an early and enthusiastic Federalist member and attended all the kewhl kids gettogethers.
Next Coulter tweet: “You know what I meant, you morons!”
Viva BrisVegas
@Mary G:
Translation: We plebs should get down on our knees and give thanks that the likes of the Kochs, the Mercers and the Murdochs have deigned to use their wealth and power to manipulate and corrupt the political process in order to enrich themselves and fulfill their Social Darwinist fantasies by assaulting the very fabric of democracy.
mrmoshpotato
@danielx: In Chicago, it IS snowing outside!
trollhattan
Gov Gav has had to tell people to knock it off with harassing PG&E workers. They should funnel that energy into picketing HQ.
mrmoshpotato
@trollhattan:
Why do you hate Skeletor?
scav
@mrmoshpotato: Well, up your game then: Get it to snow INside. Early and often no less!
dmsilev
Heh. Every fall, I trial chocolate cake recipes on my coworkers (prepping for Thanksgiving). Normally, I do three, but because of time limitations this year I only did two. Just now, my boss forwarded this to me: The Chocolate Cake That Saved My Vacation.
I’m regarding this as a not-so-subtle hint that Cake #3 would be appreciated…
mrmoshpotato
@Mary G:
Haha, tell us more. Show your work.
These fucking people. I look forward to John Oliver telling Bob Murray to go fuck himself more.
geg6
I will get no children trick or treating. We live on a one of the busiest roads in the county, it will be raining like hell, winds of about 50mph expected. I have lived in this house for a dozen years now and we have never had a single kid knock, not even when I stocked up on candy when I moved in. Plus I hate, hate, hate Halloween. The only thing I liked about it as a kid was some of the candy. Have never liked wearing costumes or being forced to come up with one. Not my thing. At all. Lastly, Halloween is the day we had to put down my sweetest pup of all time, Otis, a golden with a heart of gold.
I hate Halloween.
eclare
@TaMara (HFG): That was awesome!
mrmoshpotato
@scav: Should it also snow uphill, both ways, barefoot?
Kent
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Lindsey Graham is 64. Zero percent chance the right will waste a SCOTUS pick on someone that old.
scav
@mrmoshpotato: Is there any other way? And we were grateful for it!
catclub
@germy:
George W Bush probably gets even more for talks on leadership. There are rich idiots (convention organizers) who will pay celebrities a lot to talk to them.
trollhattan
Great news for anti-vaxxers! NOT
Boo!
This could explain why I seemed to keep getting colds as a kid. I had had both types of measles.
Chyron HR
@Kent:
On the other hand, imagine how funny it would be if they promised him a SCOTUS seat and never intended to deliver it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kent: You’re assuming Leonard Leo has someone in the golf cart when trump tweets out the nomination after Lindsey looks the other way when trump kicks his ball toward the hole
mrmoshpotato
@Chyron HR: Who would yell at the Democrats during his confirmation hearing?
catclub
@Chyron HR: This could explain why…..
mrmoshpotato
@scav: Didn’t you also have to fight off polar bears barehanded?
tokyokie
I sure as hell hope no costumed kiddos ring our doorbell this evening. I just got back home from having knee-replacement surgery Tuesday, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to stagger to the front door with the aid of a walker and then try to wrestle with Marvin, the corpulent Siamese, to keep him from getting outside, in order to distribute sugary treats. But we rarely have any show up.
WereBear
Oh, rilly? Let’s cast our minds back four decades, shall we? As the ridiculously-wealthy tighten their grip on the throats of our net worth, our wages diminish, our taxes rise, our schools disintegrate, millions of lives ended or destroyed with wars designed to funnel money to themselves…
So that’s what they mean by “substantial contributions to society”? I think they should stop.
NotMax
FYI, this year’s Frightgeist.
danielx
@mrmoshpotato:
Well, Chicago kids. Snow ain’t gonna stop them.
Mary G
Kay alert: NY Magazine piece Democrats Lost the States. A New Book Says Activists Are Fighting Back.
By Sarah Jones. This is an interview with journalist Meaghan Winter about her excellent new book, All Politics Is Local: Why Progressives Must Fight for the States.
Republicans still control many state governments: Why Democrats did better in 2018, but are unlikely to catch up easily, if at all:
It’s all good, if a bit depressing. I’m going to get the book.
Patricia Kayden
delk
Boo!
Looking out my living room window.
JaySinWA
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Perhaps Lindsey wants to go full screaming Kavanaugh, hard to do that from the chair and still look fair.
trollhattan
@Patricia Kayden:
Ooh, my heart. Wanna bet Step 1. is Organize Study Group?
scav
@mrmoshpotato: With an eggbeater — and a pogo stick if we were lucky.
Mnemosyne
@tokyokie:
Keep all lights at the front of your house off and they’ll get the hint.
Or, if you’re feeling nice, put a mixing bowl of candy on the front porch with a handwritten sign that says, “One per customer.” Done.
Be VERY careful with your knee. The manager at our apartment building set her foot down wrong while getting into a car to go to physical therapy and somehow ripped out some of the internal work. She had to go back under the knife a couple of weeks after the initial surgery to repair it. ?
dmsilev
@trollhattan: Better than that: The proposal is to convene a bipartisan blue-ribbon panel.
(yes, seriously)
schrodingers_cat
@Mnemosyne: How is your knee? Haven’t seen you in a while on Balloon Juice.
Fleeting Expletive
Did y’all hear that Ann Coulter insisted on twitter that Tulsi didn’t either vote on that stupid House resolution, cause she’s a SENATOR, you betcha. The ratio is pretty funny.
Carry on.
trollhattan
@dmsilev:
But blue ribbons are the best ribbons!
Ugh, predictable thing is predictable. I hope today’s Twitter announcement does something to shove Facebook towards not enshrining lies and deceit as Free Speech that keeps you Free. I know…winged monkeys, infinite butts, etc.
mrmoshpotato
@scav: Wimps.
If my generation had polar bears, we’d be riding them. “Heyeah, Coca Cola! Heyeah!”
mrmoshpotato
@trollhattan: infinite butts?
JaySinWA
@JaySinWA: Ah, I see the handoff isn’t until 2020. https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/31/graham-judiciary-chairmanship-grassley-062993 Many possibilities between now and then. Senate may not be GOP controlled, Grassley is old, Graham may have other ambitions.
debbie
41 degrees and gusts up to 30 mph. At least it’ll dry up the rain so there won’t be icy streets in the morning. I am not looking forward to the time change at all. Driving in the dark with idiots who refuse to turn on their headlights is no fun.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Pizza has arrived.
Pathetic porch display is setup: two uncarved pumpkins, a couple of glow-in-the-dark skulls that never glowed, one wearing rabbit ears, and a raven skeleton perched attractively on top of one of the pumpkins.
Candy in basket.
Quality control sample on candy completed (may require resampling later).
Hocus-Pocus purchased and ready for watching, something I’ve been meaning to do for years. I love this movie, especially how much fun the three witches obviously had doing it. I heard when Bette Midler got a taste of the broomstick flying she enjoyed it so much they were hardly able to get her out of the apparatus afterward. Did BJers know that the zombie is Doug Jones, who we hardly ever see outside of heavy makeup (Hellboy, The Shape of Water)? I didn’t.
Bring ’em on!
JaySinWA
@mrmoshpotato:
debbie
@Kent:
Where’s the opening? RBG been kidnapped or something? //
debbie
@trollhattan:
Me too. Maybe this is why my immune system’s so f’ed up.
mrmoshpotato
@JaySinWA:
NotMax
@Ceci n est pas mon nym
Pumpkin display at the Canadian Prime Minister’s residence quite impressive.
Trivia: Pumpkins became a substitute used by Dutch settlers in place of a tradition of hollowed-out turnips with a candle inside, as turnips were rare to non-existent in N. America at the time.
mrmoshpotato
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
*clears throat* SISTAAAAAAAHHHHSSSSS!!!!!!!
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: 24 SOS SEX? Oh those Canucks.
WereBear
@NotMax: You mean we dodged Turnip Spice Lattes?
Whew.
mrmoshpotato
@WereBear: A cool glass of turnip juice
The Lodger
@mrmoshpotato: It’s a DC Comics event: Crisis on Infinite Butts.
NotMax
@The Lodger
Starring, natch, Cheeks.
NotMax
Bad linky. Fix.
@The Lodger
Starring, natch, Cheeks.