I really am starting to think there was a general strike here on the front page. Honestly, I can’t blame them. The pay is shit, the boss is an asshole, there are no benefits and they have to put up with your bullshit all day. So it would be totally understandable.
I am kind of curious how everyone’s experience has been since the ads were removed. Is it faster?
At any rate, I am not doing much of anything tonight. I had a nice big bowl of beef vegetable soup that I got from the church ladies who were selling it by the quart to fundraise, and it was very good. I don’t know what it is about food made by these ladies, but it is always amazing. Their pie crusts would make you burst out with joy, just so flaky and delicate and delicious. The soup was equally spectacular and my only regret is I only got one quart.
Probably just going to play some video games or look for something to watch on tv while focusing on not eating anything after nine. There’s just not much going on here this time of year (not that there ever really is). An Aldi’s is opening up in Weirton in a couple weeks, that will be a big event. And it’s massive.
That’s all from here. Dump some tv show suggestions below if you want. I am up to date on Foundation. Kinda looking forward to some fantasy show coming out on amazon prime in a week or so but I forget the name.
eddie blake
young justice season four just started. it’s top-notch. hbo-max.
dmsilev
Wheel of Time, adapting the Robert Jordan (seemingly endless) series of novels. I do appreciate Apple and Amazon agreeing to coordinate their release schedules so that Foundation will finish its season just as WoT begins…
zhena gogolia
Is Adam coming back?
Quinerly
Love Aldi’s! We have the best Aldi’s in St. Louis and they deliver! Great doggie, kitty treats. No Aldi’s here in Santa Fe. Nothing remotely similar.
Suzanne
Yes, it is faster, by a lot.
I want to watch Only Murders in the Building, but I don’t think the Mini Spawn will cooperate.
ETA: I mentioned a few days ago that Mr. Suzanne has a podcast about Donald Duck comics drawn by Carl Barks. Here’s the most recent episode, with yours truly as a guest, if you’re nerdy and interested.
Zeecube
“The Harder They Fall” is a good watch on Netflix.
dmsilev
Went to the opera last night, which was great. Lyft driver on the way back was an anti-vax nut, not so great. “Traditional tribal medicine, you just need a good immune system, I know three different people who had horrible reactions to the vaccine including one person who was in a coma for three months but after she got some acupuncture she was good”. Not how I wanted to end the evening.
Yutsano
I’ve had an ad blocker for years. I would feel like I’m freeloading except I never blocked the ads on my phone. The site is quirky as ever, especially the whole visual/text randomness in the comment block. But it is faster, so that’s a good thing.
My finances get better next week. I’ll kick in some coin once I can. Here and to Four Directions.
EDIT: Oh and Boise State 16 – Fresno State 7 at the half.. As a proud Bronco alum I’m chuffed so far.
Quinerly
@zhena gogolia: did he leave? I’m not on that much. Did have a wonderful lunch with Cheryl Rofer last week.
John Cole
@zhena gogolia: I did not know he went anywhere
James E Powell
I’m watching college football. And by watching I mean that it’s on while I’m doing other stuff.
I need a college version of Red Zone. Something that bops around & shows the big plays.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’ll guess butter and salt
jl
Cole starts to post nonstop, and he tortures us with talk about the wonderful down home WV food.
I’m an oblivious slob and never noticed whether ads are on the site, as long as they don’t autoplay. So, do what you want with the ads. I want this blog to pay for itself, dammitall.
mvr
@Zeecube: Oddly enough and possibly related but probably not, I just heard a Willie Nelson cover of “The Harder They Come,” on the radio yesterday. Not as good as the original, but interesting. But I don’t have any TV recs.
Percysowner
@Suzanne: Only Murders In The Building is great! I hope you can get mini spawn to watch or find a way to watch it youself.
Suzanne
@dmsilev: Ughhhhh.
Honestly, conversation with crazy people is the worst part of rideshare.
Kayla Rudbek
@Quinerly: they put an Aldi’s in close to us, and the typical suspects were complaining about it on NextDoor. Mr. Rudbek’s attitude is that as long as he can get German beer six-packs for under $7, and good flatbread, there’s nothing to complain about.
Mai Naem mobile
They have two Aldis in the metro Phx area. I’ve only been a couple of times. They have some good interesting stuff. I mentioned Aldis to a friend of mine who’s from the NE and she said Aldis were considered lower rung discount grocery stores back there. Is it just having to bag the groceries that makes it low rent? The store was clean and the goods were fresh etc.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Real lard in the pastry.
dmsilev
@Suzanne: I tried to push back a bit, but it was nearly midnight and I’d been up since well before sunrise so wasn’t really in the mood for it. And it probably wouldn’t have made much difference anyway. The world we live in, I guess.
Still, an evening of Handel with the English Concert can’t be all bad…
craigie
Much faster. Also, I have been watching Foundation on Apple+ and am liking it. Also Dr Brain, which is weird, but cool (and Korean, full disclosure)
MagdaInBlack
I’ve been listening to a “Harvey Specter Playlist” from Suits, and now i’m watching Suits on Prime, on Chromebook. ( because I’ve not had a tv in years)
SiubhanDuinne
@zhena gogolia:
He commented just a day or two ago in some thread I can’t remember. Don’t think he’s actually posted for, I dunno, a week?
Omnes Omnibus
Just started watching Astrid on Prime last night.* French detective series with two female leads, one a disorganized maverick and the other an autistic archivist/criminologist. The autism angle isn’t played for laughs and, in the course of the detective learning about the condition, the audience learns a bit too. I wonder what some of the folks on the blog who have actual experience with autism would think of how it is treated.
*It was jokingly recommended to me as a French series without the obligatory red-headed woman that the French seem to require.
japa21
@dmsilev:
Jordan always said he would be writing the series until he died. Then he died. Brandon Sanderson finished the series. It was much better at the end.
VOR
@John Cole: It’s been 9 days since Adam posted, which seems like a long time when you enjoy Adam’s work.
MisterForkbeard
They’re both old, but watch:
Both ludicrously good, and BoT’s episode on racism is probably the funniest take on the subject I’ve ever seen in a TV show.
MisterForkbeard
@japa21: WoT was written as a trilogy and that was pretty obviously the plan for the first two novels. And then success caught up with him and you end up with books like Book 7, which boils down to “It is hot in a city and the female characters sniff when the male characters do something.”
Book 9 is the shit, though.
frosty
Site doesn’t seem to be faster. Visual seems to work more often.
No TV recommendations but AVOID America’s Civil War: Blood and Fury.
Gettysburg without Pickett’s Charge? Petersburg without The Crater? Nah.
MisterForkbeard
@John Cole: Can you check on him? We miss him, and I’d love to hear his take on the BIF and BBB bills.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@MisterForkbeard: Better Off Ted deserved more time
Quinerly
@Kayla Rudbek: they have a great Sangria. I buy the big bottle as a base. Make a huge pitcher and add a little Triple Sec, a bottle of cheap Spanish dry wine from Trader Joe’s (cuts the sweetness of Aldi’s Sangria) add sliced apples, oranges, grapes, blueberries, plums. Keep cold in refrigerator. Lasts awhile sealed. Aldi’s has great speciality dips, hummus, salami, olives. Good breads if you catch them the right time
Dahlia
The Foundation series podcast is pretty good too.
jl
I agree with others. Cole might want to check on Adam.
If Adam is off on a secret mission, then Cole can give us the scoop.
Mike in NC
We are watching “Snakes On A Plane” which my wife calls a sick yet hilarious movie.
zhena gogolia
@John Cole: I just haven’t seen him post since the “There is no bill” post that got some negative reaction.
Paul W.
Are you enjoy Foundation @John Cole ? I watched the first episode and can’t help but compare it to The Expanse and feel underwhelmed, though I’ve never read any of the books. I’ll continue on because I love Jared Harris and it all feels very different, at least – but not hitting me like recent favorites like Expanse, Dune, or Bladerunner 2049.
Miss Bianca
I like the site without the ads, personally. Don’t know whether it makes it load faster for me or not, but I like the look a lot better.
Hanging out, quiet evening, eating pizza, listening to music.
Just binge-watched The Mandalorian at my niece’s house, which was fun. Almost makes me wish I were a Disney subscriber. Meanwhile, making do with DVDs at the Mountain Hacienda and doing a rewatch of Star Trek: The Next Generation, winding up Season Five.
rekoob
@Quinerly: There’s the Trader Joe’s on Cordova at St. Francis, which is the other branch of the Albrecht family grocers. Given that Aldi is in Texas and Arizona (but not Colorado or New Mexico), it’s probably a matter of time before there’s one in The City Different.
zhena gogolia
I can never recommend any new TV shows because we are always behind the times. We’re in Season 2 of The Crown. Now I want to see the new Diana movie that A. O. Scott says is “a rebuke” to The Crown, but it’s only in theaters so nope.
Jackie
@MisterForkbeard: Yes! I’m having Adam withdrawals.
dmsilev
@japa21: It’s been a while, but I seem to remember losing interest/patience about five or six books in. I’ve heard that Sanderson did manage to bring things to a good conclusion, but have never gotten around to reading those. Maybe if the show is any good I’ll be motivated to grab copies of the last few books.
One nice thing about the modern TV era is that there seems to be the willingness to support multi-year adaptations of classic book series. The producers of Foundation have said that they’re aiming for eight seasons if at all possible, and I have to imagine that WoT will take several even eliding some of the less consequential parts of Jordan’s books. And, at least both series are finished, avoiding the dreaded Game Of Thrones Ending problem.
zhena gogolia
@Miss Bianca: I also don’t notice any speed issues, but the site is so much more fun to read now.
ETA: It’s gone in the opposite direction from Twitter, which is now a drag to try to read if you’re not signed up.
Omnes Omnibus
@zhena gogolia: He has commented since then.
NotMax
Site has been intermittently very balky, taking anywhere from 20 to 90 seconds after pressing Post Comment to do its thing.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax: I have not had that issue at all.
Starfish
@Yutsano: This is generally how I lived my life with the ads.
@MisterForkbeard: Did he get ticked when everyone was super excited about a bill, and he said that there was no bill until there was a bill? I was on his side of this issue. It felt like this thing was being dragged out for such a long time, and I was tired of the Joe Machin/Kyrsten Sinema show.
Was there a bunch of whining about Balloon Juice not just being upbeat enough anymore in the thread?
Starfish
It has been really slow on the weekends around here. Thank you for posting more so we can have some weekend threads.
BeautifulPlumage
I really appreciate not having ads. I also support Wonkette for that reason.
OT my car was totalled this afternoon. A young kid in a truck slammed into the back of me when I was in a stopped line of cars. It pushed me into the truck in front. No injuries.
It was an older Mazda Protege and worth more as a running vehicle than it’s blue book value. *sigh
Miss Bianca
@BeautifulPlumage: Holy shit! Are you OK? Bummer about your car. : (
rekoob
@John Cole: Thank you for your posts. I’m enjoying the updates.
Manxome Bromide
Used to be when I’d fire up Balloon Juice on my phone when taking the bus or waiting for takeout or something I’d end up with a half a gig charged to my data plan.
It is now basically negligible unless I go deep into the pet pics posts.
I get the feeling some of those video ads must have been auto-download even when they weren’t auto-play.
eclare
@BeautifulPlumage: That really sucks. Glad you are ok.
Quinerly
@Mai Naem mobile: in St. Louis, they are mostly in lower income neighborhoods… City. But a few in the outlying County areas now. Clean stores, quick check outs. A lot of their stuff is hit or miss. One day there, next day gone. You bag your groceries (bring bags or pay a little extra. I grab boxes usually stacked in a corner… and pay a quarter to unlock your grocery cart. Excellent go to for big party food items.. Love their pita crackers, brioche, cold cuts, dips. Cheap bagged cut carrots, celery, peppers.
dexwood
Faster, cleaner, able to jump over tall buildings. Phone, tablet, desktop.
Anyway
@zhena gogolia:
Thought I saw him here after the VA governor election results.
Suzanne
@Mai Naem mobile: We have Aldi here in PA. It is the closest grocery store, but I’m not a fan. They weren’t enforcing masking or distancing last year. It pissed me off. So I drive to Trader Joe’s.
I liked Fresh & Easy in PHX before they all closed.
VOR
@Omnes Omnibus: I enjoyed “The Tunnel”, an adaptation of the Scandinavian series “The Bridge”. It stars the French actress Clemence Poesy as a detective with Asperger’s Syndrome. She is probably best known for playing Fleur Delacour in the Harry Potter movies.
frosty
@BeautifulPlumage: Sorry to hear that. I never owned one but always liked the Protege.
Once you get over your grief take a look at the Mazda 3, its replacement. I have a 2014 that I really like and my son loves his 2008.
Omnes Omnibus
@Starfish: He left this in a thread discussing whether it would be a good idea to have threads discussing the bits and pieces of the BBB once it passed. Then he followed with this front-page piece. Make your own judgment.
eclare
Quiet evening here, thinking about firing up the most recent episode of GBBS. Instead of releasing the whole season at once, for this season it’s one every Friday.
Once I’m done with that I’ll switch to Hulu, I really want to see Only Murders in the Building.
Omnes Omnibus
@VOR:
Oddly, I remember her best from The Tunnel.
NotMax
Oh, and right hand side fly-out is AWOL for extended periods at times.
Kayla Rudbek
Well, I decided both against baking and the treadmill tonight. Now I’m undoing some of my knitting (a section in seed stitch which is a pain to deal with) and looking at Sierra Trading Post for wool socks and base layers.
I really want to cocoon myself in wool and flannel this fall…
El Cruzado
The posters should clearly get at least twice as much for their hard work. Twice as much as the 0.0 they are getting right now, of course.
BeautifulPlumage
@Miss Bianca: fine so far, seat belted and air bag did not go off. Front and back crumpled in a few feet each.
Quinerly
@rekoob: was at that TJ’s this AM. I’m always pretty close to it when l rent in the Railyard District. Very small store compared to my store in St. Louis. I also time visits to Albuquerque when here to hit one of its TJ’s. Bigger store… More in line with my St. Louis store.
BeautifulPlumage
@eclare: yeah, I only had it a few years but came to love it…a zippy little 5 speed.
KrackenJack
A few threads back, the question of reinvigorating the online store turned to fair labor practices. Someone may have mentioned Worx Printing as a Union option.
Miss Bianca
@NotMax: Not for me – but you just reminded me, the right-hand-side flyouts actually *work* for me now, now that the ads aren’t there anymore – I could never maneuver around them.
Starfish
@Omnes Omnibus: I remember that post. I hope he is okay. I think a lot of people have been just worn out and tired.
BeautifulPlumage
@frosty: I’ve noticed those and liked the look. This was my first Mazda and it seemed like a well-made car, except for the crappy cupholders. However, used cars are in demand right now. I may be able to buy my sister’s little Subaru as I doubt she plans on driving ever again.
Not thinking much about it all until tomorrow, though, as I was very shaken once I got home.
Miss Bianca
@Quinerly: That TJ’s is the one I always used to go to with my sister when she lived in Pecos. Seems like every trip I took there we ended up shopping there. Ah, good times, good times…
VOR
@Omnes Omnibus: I thought she did an excellent job in The Tunnel. She was also good opposite Micheal Caine in “Last Love”.
Feathers
@Anyway: Yes, he was here Tuesday night. When he’s away, I just assume work got busy. We all wish he’d post more, but he puts a lot of work into each one. Maybe he’s got something big planned.
No show recommendations, currently no streaming. I’m doing Noirvember. I tend to buy DVDs of films that I find referenced in a book or article that isn’t on TCM or the library doesn’t have. So I’m basically watching all the “other” films from box sets that I’ve picked up.
Review: Bury Me Dead (1947). Fantastic premise: Woman shows up at her funeral determined to find out who murdered her (and whose body is in her grave). Sadly, not a very good film. Feels like it started as a comedy (there is a couple about to divorce who realize they were both had affairs trying to make the other jealous), but noir became the big thing, so they had fantastic lighting (John Alton), but forgot to rewrite the script.
rekoob
@frosty: @BeautifulPlumage: Very sad about the Protege, but hope you have no ill effects. I’ll second frosty’s nomination of the Mazda 3, which is available both in hatchback and sedan and can also have all-wheel-drive. A very capable and stylish option, and likely to be in better supply in this crossover-mad market at the moment. Good luck!
zhena gogolia
@Feathers: Sounded intriguing so I looked it up. June Lockhart and Hugh Beaumont in a noir — there’s your first two mistakes
ETA: “your” meaning the casting director’s
Capri
I third Only Murders In The Building – I’m only 2 episodes in but it’s very enjoyable and better than I thought it would be.
I’m currently being tortured by my college football team, Purdue. When I have had time to watch them and they played crappy or so-so teams they lose. WHen I am working so I can’t watch them, but figured they’d get blown out so it’s no big loss, they win. This year they have beat the (at the time) #2 and #3 teams in the country and lost to Minnesota. They should pay me to not watch them.
Feathers
And ninja kitty : Twitter link
mrmoshpotato
Why is Burger King pushing cryptocurrency? What bloody cow money are they trying to launder?
NotMax
@MisterForkbeard
Also too, should you find it, Wonderfalls. Full episodes seem to be up on YouTube. Earlier production from the same team behind Pushing Daisies.
Catchy music video and a snippet.
BeautifulPlumage
@rekoob: I will need to save up for one of those (don’t want to make payments) but I was definitely planning on another Mazda. Thanks for the input. How bad are repair costs for this model?
Barbara
@Capri: I can’t tell you how many times I have felt like the kiss of death for teams I like. Ugh.
Omnes Omnibus
@mrmoshpotato: If only it were cow….
James E Powell
@Feathers:
So he’s going to let his personal or professional life get in the way of blogging?
Raven
@Capri: Go Illini! Go Dawgs!!
Lyrebird
@Mai Naem mobile:
No it’s how they started. If you have a grocery store near you with a cornball name like Sav A Lot or Food for Cheap or something, that’s what they started out as, except in Germany.
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: He was in the comments last Tuesday discussing returns from VA. He was his usual sunny self.
Scout211
Yes, the site is faster and the buggy reloads are gone. So thanks.
No streaming out here in the wilds but I have been enjoying watching the entire series of Castle on (of all places) Lifetime Network. I just happened upon it while scrolling through the meager array of channels on my Dish.
mrmoshpotato
@Capri: May I suggest Only Minnies In The Building: A True Crime Podcast
Feathers
@zhena gogolia: And Kathy O’Donnell was right there! She’s top billed, but in a minor role as the crazy kid sister in love with the husband. She would have been excellent as the young heiress terrified to find out she’s alive and someone she loved wanted her dead – and killed somebody else thinking it was her. RKO loaned her out for this right after she was in The Best Years Of Our Lives. I’d love to know how that happened.
BTW, looks like it’s on YouTube if anyone is interested. There are some beautiful shots towards the end of the film. Sometimes it’s good to watch bad films to better appreciate the good. Some of my reference books did praise this one.
Raven
@Lyrebird: I shop at Aldis at least 5 times a week. I take a big IKEA bag, empty it on the belt and put it in the cart an the checkout person puts the items in the bag. Easy peanut!
rekoob
@Quinerly: Agreed. Small by modern standards (it was a Furr’s, I believe, before the conversion). Still, handy for getting in and out quickly. I used to live about 90 seconds by car from there.
You mentioned that you’re contemplating a move to The Land of Enchantment, and I offered some thoughts in an earlier thread. To reiterate, consider adding Mora and Las Vegas to the mix. It’s a great part of the world.
NotMax
Repeating from this morning.
Partially through the free for the month of November first season of Magellan (original title Commissaire Magellan) on Prime.
Watchable enough and likeable cast, although stretching each episode to 90 minutes exposes a plenty of padding; also more red herrings than in a Soviet cannery. The eponymous detective is a textbook study in equanimity.
Too, somehow wasn’t aware that the second season of the Icelandic noir Trapped popped up on Prime. If in the same boat and the first season spouted your geyser, check it out.
mrmoshpotato
@Omnes Omnibus: Seriously, it’s just weird – and suspicious as hell – to see all this crypto shit being pushed lately.
Some NFL game was pushing it a couple weeks ago!
SiubhanDuinne
@zhena gogolia:
Good lord, Beaver’s dad and Timmy’s mom in a noir? I can’t even, or however that expression goes.
HumboldtBlue
I watched the first two episodes of Dickinson on Apple TV and I’m still deciding if I’m gonna continue.
The show is about Emily Dickinson, a woman I am wholly unfamiliar with but who has an extraordinary story to tell. I very much enjoy the lead character, but there is a modernity to it — in speech, music that is off-putting.
And the site is loading much faster and smoother.
mrmoshpotato
@Raven: What about Jewel’s in Chicago?
PaulWartenberg
National Novel Writing Month update: I am currently above 18000 words into this year’s novel project, may God have mercy on my soul.
schrodingers_cat
@Mai Naem mobile: I shop there every other week. They have good prices on fruits and veggies. The stores are stark, they didn’t have many options when they opened. Also stock good German cookies and chocolates during Christmas. There is no booze in the store where I shop. Liquor licenses are hard to come by in the Commonwealth.
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne: Yeah, not exactly Mitchum and Greer.
OTOH, Fred MacMurray was in one of the greatest noirs, and I grew up thinking he was just another Ward Cleaver type.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@zhena gogolia: I was shocked when I found out the dad of My Three Sons was a movie star. I think I’ve read it was a big show business story when he signed on for a series.
I think the first time I saw Uncle Charlie in a movie was The Lady Eve.
Narya
Dinner tonight: venison medallions w a blueberry/raspberry sauce, caramelized onions, barley w dried cranberries, and roasted delicata squash. Apple galette w ice cream for dessert.
Quinerly
@Miss Bianca:
Was in Pecos the other day. Fabulous lunch at “Frankie’s at the Casanova.” ??
MagdaInBlack
@Raven: I’m sure you remember when they were just open cardboard cases stacked as aisles. I loved shopping there.
zhena gogolia
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Uncle Charlie is in one of the best Shirley Temple movies, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
My husband was surprised to learn that Barbara Stanwyck had made a few movies before starring in The Big Valley.
ETA: Demarest is brilliant in The Lady Eve. “Definitely the same dame!”
Raven
@mrmoshpotato: Beats me, I haven’t lived in Chicago since 1966.
Major Major Major Major
Well I’m working on a post, sheesh.
Can’t finish it until I get back this book I lent out, of course… tomorrow allegedly…
FINE I’ll write up today’s trip to the park.
Omnes Omnibus
@Narya: Wow. I mean, wow.
Raven
@MagdaInBlack: nope, I never went in one before 4 years ago
zhena gogolia
@Narya: Be right over. I’ve never had venison.
MagdaInBlack
@Raven: ok then. nm ?
Ruckus
John
The site works better for me, much smoother loading and faster.
Feathers
If some jackal wants a snappy little B noir for their Friday night pleasure, the movie that I bought the set for was The Chase (1946), based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich. Stars Robert Cummings, Michelle Morgan, Steve Cochran and Peter Lorre. Set in Miami and Havana, with all the decadence, gangsters, twisted romance, and fevered dream sequences you could want from a low budget noir.
YouTube link: The Chase (1946)
Quinerly
@rekoob: l think l replied on that thread and to you but the thread was dead. I like Vegas quite a bit, but no interest to live there. Mora is also nice. Again, sweet place but no interest in actually living there.
Thanks!
Narya
@Omnes Omnibus: it was quite tasty! Currently drinking a rye-barrel-aged imperial stout: begyle’s Imperial Pajamas.
Suzanne
As for liquor departments….. Costco has the best. I miss it very much.
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
For some reason triggered the thought that TCM hasn’t seen fit to show the comedy noir Murder, He Says in ages.
Almost worth it alone just for the glowing granny.
chopper
got my booster and boy howdy, i feel even shittier than i did after the second one
Narya
@zhena gogolia: I love it and am fortunate to have a source. The trick is to not overcook it.
Suzanne
@chopper: When did you get yours? I got mine about five hours ago. Feeling slightly mehhhh but not wretched…. Yet.
david
Sounds like TCG is sleeping and farting his way through global warming.
Scout211
@chopper:
Have you taken any Tylenol? That seemed to help me. Sorry that you feel shitty but congrats on the booster. Moderna?
FlyingToaster
@Capri: Out of loyalty to my old alma mater:
I think it’s our turn to take home the Old Oaken Bucket…
H.E.Wolf
He is. Worth watching for his antics with the clothes brush, too. “Guess who *I* am!”
Henry Fonda displays an unexpected talent for physical comedy. Barbara Stanwyck is her usual glorious self. And Eugene Pallette – best known as Friar Tuck to Errol Flynn’s Robin Hood – has a nice character role as a beer baron with a heart of gold. :)
Gin & Tonic
I just spent some time editing photos for an OTR post of my recent trip to the San Diego area. I had asked for a few bits of advice, so thanks to those who chimed in. We ended up driving out to the Anza-Borrego desert – yes, going through Julian with the obligatory stop for apple pie – and then as far as Desert Shores. I know a few of you said the Salton Sea was a waste of time, but I overruled you and I’m glad I did. I knew it would be kinda weird, and it was, but the smell was certainly less than a lot of East Coast tidal flats at low tide, which I am quite accustomed to. It was a long day out and back, but we took the back roads: Hwy 78, Hwy 79, S22, that sort of thing. My real regret was that it was in a mediocre rental car, because that drive would have been perfect in my Miata, but I wasn’t going to drive that across the country and back.
The rest of our time was a combination of stuff to do and more local sightseeing. The Cabrillo National Monument was really very nice – location, of course, the statue of Cabrillo is nothing special. Torrey Pines was very nice, but we’d been there once before and returned enthusiastically. Otherwise just a couple of leisurely drives up through Solana Beach, Cardiff, Encinitas; a half-day at the beach in Cardiff, although it was windy and chilly, so I opted not to go swimming. All in all a very nice time.
And, yes, of course, fish tacos. More than once.
Another Scott
ObOpenThread:
It’s so annoying that so many of the courts waste our time on things like this.
Grr…
Cheers,
Scott.
Feathers
@zhena gogolia: just found on YouTube a Q&A with June Lockhart after a screening of Bury Me Dead. Turns out Cathy O’Donnell had a contract with Samuel Goldwyn, producer of Best Years of Our Lives. She married the director’s brother. Director dumped Goldwyn, Goldwyn demanded she get divorced. She refused. He canceled her contract and she never made a major picture again. Wow. June Lockhart on Bury Me Dead
Chetan Murthy
@Another Scott: Every day the courts block these mandates, is a day that MAGAt Covidiots get to be angry and spread their message of defiance of lawful government. That’s a win for them. Whereas, once these dumbfucks get the shot and suffer no serious complications, they have to find a new issue to get the spittle-flecked masses going.
Gin & Tonic
@schrodingers_cat: Aldi stores in CT sell beer. In MA and RI, nada. It’s not that liquor licenses are hard to come by, although they may be, but the beer and wine distributors have a *very* powerful lobbying group.
NotMax
@H.E.Wolf
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@H.E.Wolf:
One of the greatest entries of any movie character ever. So tonight we’ll merry, merry be….
Any movie with Eugene Pallette and Charles Coburn is one I’m gonna watch.
NotMax
Format fix.
@H.E.Wolf
Ale baron.
/nitpick :)
Demarest also laid out his crusty but benign best in The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek.
eclare
@Narya: Yum!
NotMax
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
Forgotten now that Palette first gained cinematic recognition portraying buff, barechested swashbucklers in the silents.
TxTiger
John, what I am enjoying most about the ad-free site is that you are dropping in more often, and based on your post yesterday, are in a better mood because you don’t need to see us all grumping about technical gremlins.
I have noticed the site loads faster without ads. Since they are embedded with so many Twitter threads, Anne’s threads in particular took a very long time to fully load. They still take some but not as much.
Another vote here for Only Murders in the Building. We watched it every week when it premiered. It takes an unexpected twist in the second to last episode, and I found myself eagerly waiting to find out what happens.
I also REALLY enjoyed Reservation Dogs, also on Hulu. It got better and better as the season progressed.
I’ve started watching Acapulco on Apple+ and it’s fun and frothy, perfect for watching when the world gets too heavy (I turned to it last Tuesday and Wednesday evening, for instance, as I tried to avoid the doomsayer talking heads). I especially enjoy that so much of the dialogue is in Spanish. It’s helping strengthen my oral comprehension a bit.
FlyingToaster
A) On the laptops, no difference, because of adblockers (NoScript, Ghostery).
B) On the iPad, infinitely faster. Like, seriously, pages load and don’t repaint six times before they stabilize. And the iPad was partially blocked (PrivacyPro); I don’t object to ads in principle, so I selectively block badly behaved ad servers (doubleclick, zergnet, and now, vidcrunch).
***
You and Wonkette (among others) are in my Patreon stack because I find the sites worth it. I pay Esquire for Charlie Pierce. I contribute to Universal Hub. If it weren’t for the FTFNYT I’d be paying for Paul Krugman (the Times has it all or nothing, so I chose nothing). I will NEVER give the Boston Globe another fucking dime.
And thanks for posting on the weekend; it does get thin around these parts.
Chetan Murthy
@TxTiger:
Heh, that’s what I’m finding, watching Shetland. Sometimes I wish for subtitles …. [snort]
Another Scott
@Chetan Murthy: But the mandates don’t start until January 4… :-/
It used to be that one had to actually suffer an “injury” of some sort before one could claim that a law should be enjoined or struck down. I guess this is one of the reasons why the 5th Circuit is so often over-ruled.
(IANAL)
Cheers,
Scott.
Feathers
@NotMax: Do you mean Quiet Please, Murder? George Sanders as a forger and Gail Patrick as his accomplice? Great little mystery. Rival art thieves trying to outwit each other to steal a rare book collection from the library. Set during WWII, so you get Nazis trying to steal for Hitler’s collection and an air raid trapping everyone in the library. Fun stuff.
For the noiristas, Eddie Muller of The Film Noir Foundation and TCM’s Noir Alley has been doing a once or twice a month “Ask Eddie” where he answers questions people send in. I end up watching it pen in hand, because there are always so many films to watch and books to read. He does it with Anne, social media person for the FNF and she knows a lot and has her own opinions.
NotMax
@Feathers
Nope. One I cited includes Fred MacMurray at loggerheads with Marjorie Main.
schrodingers_cat
@Raven: Same here.
schrodingers_cat
@Gin & Tonic: No it’s not just that. Other than Whole Foods no other grocery store stocks booze. And even Whole Foods only has wine no beer or hard liquor.
James E Powell
@NotMax:
Thanks for the tip on Trapped. It’s been so long that I will have to watch the last episode of the first season to get the who, what, and why of the place.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@mrmoshpotato: Mad Cow Money.
Feathers
@NotMax: Shamefacedly realizing I typed in Murder, He Wrote and found only a musician. One thing to note on TCM is that they have their own “in house” movies that they can show any time they want and a certain number of films that they pay to license for a limited period of time, say for Fred McMurray being Star of the Month. Eddie Muller talks about getting films for Noir Alley that will only screen for his midnight and ten AM screenings.
I will have to track that one down. Looks good.
SFAW
I hear The Wire is pretty good. Not sure what channel it’s on.
Feathers
@schrodingers_cat: In Mass, each grocery store chain is allowed to sell liquor in nine locations. And the limit applies to corporate entities, so presumably Aldi’s and Trader Joe’s would split nine between them. They sell booze at the Brookline and Allston TJs. I suspect most of the grocery store booze is in cities or high end suburbs.
There keeps being talk of a ballot question allowing for no cap on licenses, which I would support just because I am positive all the packie owners are Tr*mpers.
JoyceH
I really enjoyed the show Dead To Me. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, but as I recall, every episode had at least one really head-snapping plot twist. The first episode had something like two or three of them. But each plot twist actually made sense; it was just that what you thought was going on was an incomplete version of reality.
Chris T.
Much faster, even though I have ad blockers etc.
quakerinabasement
HBO Max: His Dark Materials. Two complete seasons currently available. Closely follows the trajectory of Philip Pullman’s novel series of the same name. Lin Manuel Miranda as aeronaut Lee Scorsby is a highlight among a uniformly excellent cast. Also available on Amazon Prime for a fee.
Miss Bianca
@Quinerly:
Frankies!! Love that joint.
prostratedragon
@SiubhanDuinne: Don’t forget that Beaver’s dad had another son named Wallace Cleaver.
Chris Johnson
Wait, Balloon Juice is on Patreon?
*insta-join*
My income still ain’t great but the way I support all the things out there worth supporting is by being one of the $1 members of a whole bunch of people who deserve compensation for what they do. If they were all $5 or $10 or whatever I wouldn’t be able to do it. Over the years it’ll add up to $5 or $10 or more, and honestly the more $1 folks you have the more stable your Patreon will be: you maybe don’t want to make it act like some high-dollar thing that will collapse on you if times get tough. My own Patreon is wavering right now but doesn’t look to be collapsing.
Best wishes with going ad-free! Might be a really good move :)
Sis
If you have Paramount+, Evil is incredible. I finished the second season, and now I’m dying to see the third, which won’t come out until next year. I was also completely addicted to Travelers on Netflix.