The person doing the BBC captions has just given up now #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/w1ym6fvX1h
— TechnicallyRon (@TechnicallyRon) August 6, 2016
By request.
This post is in: Readership Capture
The person doing the BBC captions has just given up now #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/w1ym6fvX1h
— TechnicallyRon (@TechnicallyRon) August 6, 2016
By request.
by John Cole| 73 Comments
This post is in: Dog Blogging, Pet Rescue, Walter
Seems like commenter Debit and his Ellie are keen on adopting Walter, so instead of him driving 14 hours or me driving 14 hours, in a couple weeks after Walter is ready to travel, we could do a Balloon Juice/Walter relay. Map out a route, I drive several hours west and meet someone, they advance the drive a couple hours and meet someone, until Debit meets someone for the last leg. Walter seems like he’s tough as nails and I won’t do it until the vet says he is ok for the trip? Whatcha think?
Could make for a good story.
It’s Olympic Season, So Why Not a Walter Relay?Post + Comments (73)
by TaMara| 47 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
JeffreyW makes Caprese Bruschetta, yum
Hey! How ya been? It’s been much too long. I owe you recipes and a house update. Lots of eventful stuff going on at Balloon-Juice the last couple of days, but I thought I’d sneak this in here anyway. Enjoy!
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It’s been a busy month and I have some more house details and photos. Buying a house in seller’s market was the most challenging house I’ve ever purchased. But I found a cute one with a great garden area. Garden photos at this link and house photos at this link.
Today is my birthday and I’m celebrating with friends and Dutch Chocolate Gelato, recipe here. I served it with a variety of chopped nuts: hazelnuts, walnuts and almonds.
Cooking in the new kitchen has been fun, and by fun I mean interesting and challenging. The first couple of weeks it was much like cooking in a stranger’s kitchen. Even though I’m the one who set everything up and organized the cupboards, I’ll be damned if I could remember where I put anything. I had my first house-guests last week, so I cooked quite a few elaborate meals, which gave me a stronger grasp on the kitchen. I am getting acquainted with the layout and mostly pleased. I could use a pantry…but I’m looking for a tall, stand alone cabinet in local antique and thrift stores to make up for it.
I have a glass-top stove and I like it a lot. I’m learning the temperature quirks. One of the reasons I like to cook with cast iron is because I can gauge when I can turn off the burner and let the retained heat do the remainder of the cooking. It will take a bit more cooking to find that sweet spot with the new one.
I do have questions for anyone who has a hybrid oven – conventional and convection. When and on what foods should I be using the convection feature? Any direction would be appreciated.
My brother and father have competing gardens, which means I reap the benefits when I drive home for a visit. I returned with a box full of tomatoes, onions, potatoes, and cucumbers. I arrived back home to find my very own garden was flush with tomatoes.
Which, in case you missed the story, the woman I bought the house from planted a veggie garden even though she knew she would be moving. I have eggplant, tomatillos, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, grapes, zucchini…there are more photos of my garden here.
All those tomatoes mean an abundance of Salsa, recipes here and Pasta Caprese, recipe here, to enjoy and share. And I’m having plenty of guests this weekend to feed.
Besides helping me with my oven questions, what’s on your menu tonight?
Tonight’s feature recipe is from a friend who also needed to use up quite a few garden tomatoes. Her recipe used avocados. I am not a fan, so I substituted queso fresco, but for those who love avocados, I hear they’re excellent in this salad. I marinated the onions, just to add a bit more zing.
Tomato Cucumber Queso Fresco Salad
large serving bowl, 2 small bowls
Toss onions with limejuice and set aside.
Wash,dry and chop tomatoes and cucumbers into large pieces. Toss together in serving bowl with cilantro (if you don’t like cilantro, substitute basil or dill).
Put lemon juice into small bowl and slowly whisk in olive oil. Pour over tomato mixture, add onions, cheese and toss gently until combined. Let rest for 10-15 minutes for flavors to meld. Salt and pepper to taste just before serving.
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That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend. Let’s finish up this recipe thread with a bonus puppeh:
We went hiking in Roosevelt National Park last week, His first real mountain hike. He did great. There are more photos of him in the new house here. See you next week!
Friday Recipe Exchange – No Really, I Mean It And It’s Garden FreshPost + Comments (47)
This post is in: Dog Blogging, Pet Rescue, Walter
Spent the day on the phone with the real estate attorney and getting a locksmith and DOING MORE ADULT SHIT, so I got behind on things and didn’t get around to getting my tetanus shot when I wanted to, so I had to combine our doctor visits. I went and picked up the dog (I named him Walter, after Walter Matthau, which I will explain later), and gave him a long bath with a shower hose. I used the Natural Chemistry flea and tick shampoo that my dogs and my parent’s dogs just love, and gave him a good scrub down and got rid of layers and layers of filth. He immediately looked better an I got a chance to get a good look at his coat.
After I got him cleaned up and dried off, mom was kind enough to sit with him at her house (we used their hose because Thurston would have been freaking out at my house and I think Walter needs calm for now) while I went home and showered. Threw some comfy blankets in the rear of the car, and off we went:
We went to my doctor first, and rushed in and got a tetanus and pertussis shot. I had called ahead and said I would have a dog in the car, so I just left Walter in the car with the AC on. Then went and picked up some more baccitracin w/ zinc, which took longer than it should have because the pharmacists demanded to see Walter after I explained what happened. After that we headed to the vets.
It was packed when we got there, and everyone looked horrified at his condition and looked at me like I was some kind of super villain, so I told everyone the story and could see all the people there mentally grabbing pitchforks and torches to go after the guy who did this to Walter. Decided since I was sure Walter still had fleas and tapeworm that we would just sit outside until everyone was done. We sat under a shade tree and Walter lay down next to me, which was a first because up until now all I had ever seen him do was pace nervously (although I think he was smiling in the back seat picture above).
They finally called us in, and first things first- Walter is a trooper. Just a good natured and gentle dog, and very trusting despite what he has been through. And he has very expressive eyes and eyebrows We weighed him, and he was only 63 lbs, when he should probably be around 100.
I told them the story and the background info I had, and told them I just wanted “the works” to get the old fella back up on his feet and healthy so we can find his forever home. They poked and prodded and did all sorts of tests on his hips and joints, and he never complained and was just amazing- better than any of my animals except Lily. In fact, he is a male, older, bigger Lily when it comes to temperament. He smiled the whole way through:
So here are the details, starting from head to toe:
1.) His eyes are those of an older dog, perhaps 10-11 was the vets best guesstimate.
2.) His teeth and gums are in good shape, and he has this adorable underbite with these teeny tiny teefus that you can make out in the picture above, and the nurse quipped he has very kissable lips. His breath could use a little work, but I got some dental treats that should fix that right up and much of it might be caused by the digestive issues created by the neglect.
3.) His left ear has a mild hematoma (think cauliflower ear on a wrestler), and his right ear has had multiple hematoma that makes the earhole very, very tiny and really hard to clean, but he let them anyway despite being in pain. His left ear was “yeasty,” so they treated that, and the right ear had a different type of infection, so they inserted a tube and gave him a different treatment.
4.) Despite my bath, he was still littered with fleas, so we treated him for worms and gave him a nextguard flea treatment. His coat, overall, is not too bad and should grow back nicely. He doesn’t have a typical lab coat- it is a thicker hair, so he is mixed with something but I do not know what, but he has a very “houndy” Roman nose. He has a couple of fatty tumors that dogs just get with old age, but they are nothing to worry about.
5.) His nails were a mess, so we cut them.
6.) No anal gland issues.
7.) He has three arthritic knees, but his hips are fine (which was my main concern because he walks so gingergly).
8.) His bloodwork was, for his condition, great. He was anemic from the fleas sucking the life out of him and the malnourishment, but everything was fine or within normal bounds for what he had gone through. Most important, kidney and liver functions were good, and, drumroll…. NO HEARTWORM!
In summary, not too damned shabby. Because his bloodwork was so good, I decided we should give him some pain meds to make him more comfortable and he got an injection of rimadyl and some chewable tabs for the next week. Also, I asked if they would give him some antibiotics just to clear up anything we might not know about, and since his digestive system is probably messed up, we went for a two week shot instead of daily tablets, which was more expensive but I think a much better option. We have a checkup next Friday when we will do the rabies shots and other vaccinations. We didn’t want to give them to him today because we wanted a week of good food and water, walks, and to get his immune system back up.
All in all, he is in remarkable shape considering, and I parked my car on the street and quarantined him in my garage with all sorts of blankets. I have some samples of good prescription high protein prescription food for a couple days, and I am going to go to Petco tomorrow and get him some chewbones, good canned food, and a nametag and a collar worthy of the dignified old guy. All in all, this is why this is the best vet in the world- they not only worked on him for an hour and a half primping and preening him (an hour of which was after closing), but every nurse stayed just because they wanted to. And it only came to $420.63, which I think is downright amazing.
Now, the important part. This is where I decided to name him Walter. I couldn’t decide on a name (I had just been saying “hey buddy,”) and we were just going to put him on the chart as “stray” until I came up with a name or homed him, when my favorite nurse went on about his kissable lips and I got an awesome picture:
IMMEDIATELY after that picture, he turned and looked at me and shot me this goofy yet also lugubrious sly look and instantly reminded me of Walter Matthau.
And thus he became Walter. Commenter Debit- email me. Trust me, you want this dog. He was made for a couch or a nice dog bed on the front porch. Really pretty remarkable dog considering what he has been through.
And that was my day, which ranks up there as a pretty good one and I’m glad I can share.
John and Walter’s Excellent Vet and Human Doctor AdventurePost + Comments (184)
This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Sports, Television
Fireworks are tested for the opening ceremony of the #Rio2016 #Olympics, Maracana stadium, Rio pic.twitter.com/TU67lTS8G4
— Derek Momodu (@DelMody) August 4, 2016
So now we get a respite from politics and money and the intersection of the… hahahahaha. The Washington Post explains “Why you won’t be seeing the Olympic Opening Ceremonies live”:
… The Peacock Network plans to show the Opening Ceremonies of the Rio Olympic Games on Friday night with a one-hour delay. And viewers who live in the western U.S. will find their telecast delayed even longer.
NBC will start its broadcast at 8 p.m. ET, although the Opening Ceremonies in Rio, which is one hour ahead of the Eastern time zone, will begin at 7 p.m. ET.
“We think it’s important to give context to the show,” Mark Lazarus, the chairman of NBC Sports Group, said earlier this month. “These Opening Ceremonies will be a celebration of Brazilian culture, of Rio, of the pageantry, of the excitement, of the flair this beautiful nation has. We think it’s important that we are able to put that in context for the viewer so that it’s not just a flash of color.”…
And god forbid if anything terrible should happen, the NBC suits don’t want that marring their ad-buy-friendly happytalk broadcast.
Viewers in the Mountain time zone will have a two-hour delay, and viewers in the Pacific time zone will have a four-hour delay. The network plans to delay the broadcasts on its streaming service, too, so that won’t be a workaround. And don’t expect the practice to change in future Games. NBC’s delayed broadcast is a tradition it has maintained for 20 years largely because it believes its audience, which is mostly female, watches sports differently from men…
It’s not as though the viewing audience has changed over the past 20 years, at least not as far as NBC is concerned.
NYMag extrapolates “What to Expect at Rio’s Budget Friendly Olympics Opening Ceremony“:
… “I hope that the opening ceremony will be a drug for depression in Brazil,” said City of God director Fernando Meirelles, who, along with filmmakers Daniela Thomas and Andrucha Waddington, is directing the event. But he was sure to note that, thanks to Brazil’s recession, things are being done on the cheap. “We were looking at a budget of 113.9 million U.S. dollars for the four ceremonies — opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. But now our budget is 55.9 million U.S. dollars for four ceremonies. Most of this money is for security, and all the stuff around the show. I think it is 12 times less than London, 20 times less than Beijing. This makes it very challenging … You lose ideas, you lose toys, where you had 3,000 people you now have 200,” he explained. “On the other hand, it is good in some way because we are in a moment in the world where we need to be reasonable with the way we spend money.”…
The identity of the person who transfers the Olympic flame from the torch to the cauldron is officially a secret, but all signs point to Brazil’s most beloved athlete, the now 75-year-old soccer star Pelé…
NYMag‘s Vulture blog also has “A Day-by-Day Schedule of the 2016 Rio Olympics” here.
Who’s gonna be watching the Opening Ceremony, at least?
Sports Open Thread: Rio Olympics Opening Ceremony This EveningPost + Comments (105)
by Betty Cracker| 204 Comments
This post is in: Election 2016, Hillary Clinton 2016, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, General Stupidity, Our Failed Media Experiment
Hillary Clinton spoke at the National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists joint conference and took questions too. Here’s a tweeted clip in which she blasts Trump, explicitly calling him out for playing footsie with white nationalists:
.@HillaryClinton: "America is better than Donald Trump." Full video here: https://t.co/SzCddBvvzy #NABJNAHJ16https://t.co/KmQYRQZNSH
— CSPAN (@cspan) August 5, 2016
Good. However, CNN’s account of her appearance focuses on the stupid fucking email thing again:
Hillary Clinton on Friday doubled down on recent misleading statements about her use of a private email server at the State Department, even as she acknowledged that she “may have short-circuited” her answers.
At a gathering of black and Hispanic journalists in Washington, D.C., Clinton was asked about her recent assertion that FBI Director James Comey had said she was “truthful” in discussing the issue — a claim that a number of media outlets, including CNN, have debunked.
“I was pointing out in both of those instances, that Director Comey had said that my answers in my FBI interview were truthful. That really is the bottom line here,” she said. “What I told the FBI, which he said was truthful, is consistent with what I have said publicly. I may have short-circuited and for that I will try to clarify.”
Clinton went on to repeat that she “never sent of received” classified information on her private email server — a statement that is inconsistent with Comey’s testimony on Capitol Hill.
The email controversy has continued to dog Clinton’s presidential campaign, particularly as she suffers from the widespread perception among voters that she isn’t honest or trustworthy.
Jeebus. Maybe it’s time to start saying, “The FBI investigated the issue for two years and found no basis for charges. I consider the matter closed.” Explaining will sound like dissembling to voters, and there’s no explanation that will satisfy the Beltway hacks, who are itching to slam Clinton to achieve fake equilibrium after covering the Trump implosion for the past week.
Speaking of Trump, he told Mike Pence to go get his fucking shine box yesterday. Video at the link:
TRUMP: He [Pence] came to me — he called me the other day, he said, ‘Do you mind—’ because he likes Paul Ryan. Paul Ryan’s a good guy, actually. No, he’s a good guy. So, Mike calls me yesterday and he says, ‘Would you mind if I endorsed? I won’t do that if it creates any complications or problems, I would absolutely not do that…’ He’s the greatest guy. He’s the greatest human being. And he said that and he said, ‘But I like him, he’s a friend of mine, would you mind if I endorsed him? I will not do it if you say no.’ I said, ‘Mike, you like him? Yes. Go ahead and do it, 100%.’ And he endorsed him.
Trump’s alleged point is that any rumors of a “fissure” in his relationship with Pence are bogus. That’s normal enough — candidates routinely assure supporters their ticket is united. But only Trump would do so by portraying his running mate as a servile toady.
I hope the thick-headed Pence has enough self-awareness to find that embarrassing. And I hope he will suffer many more humiliations for throwing in with an unhinged, narcissistic demagogue.
HRC at the NABJNAHJ + Pence’s Shine BoxPost + Comments (204)
by DougJ| 121 Comments
This post is in: Election 2016, We Are All Mayans Now
If Hillary wins by 8 points and the Democrats take the Senate, that will be great because it means Democrats are likely to establish a long-term majority in the Supreme Court. But to think that the victory will be seen as a mandate or that Republicans will pivot to the center is just stupid:
I don’t think even a massive landslide would crush Trumpism. Goldwaterism didn’t go away after 1964 — it morphed into Wallaceism and, more significantly, the GOP’s Southern strategy. David Duke lost badly when he ran for governor of Louisiana in 1991, but the GOP continued to appeal to its voter base with Duke’s message translated into dog whistles; shortly after that Duke loss, a Louisiana politician named Steve Scalise declared himself “David Duke without the baggage.” He’s now the House majority whip.
In fact, we’ll be told that Democrats have to move farther to the right to become a true majority party. Sure, Ryan Lizza is especially bad but expect a lot of this:
What if Hillary offered Republicans one SCOTUS pick? Would that open the floodgates for skeptical Republicans to rescind support for Trump?
— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) August 2, 2016
I like magical thinking, but the truth is the super-majority coalition never develops, the meteor never hits, the levee never breaks. Hillary wins, most likely, then Trump challenges the results in a half-ass way, Ryan and the rest of the conservative Beltway nobility support his challenge in a half-ass way, while still being hailed as serious moderate thinkers, and then we get back to dealing with filibusters and the usual bullshit.
I don’t mean this to sound pessimistic. To the contrary, it all makes me glad we have a president like Obama and a candidate like Hillary. Because it’s all a tough slog, not an episode of West Wing or a documentary about the Roosevelts.
Update. I shouldn’t say “never”, just not soon. A few more generations of kids voting Democratic 20+ over Republicans (and voting democratic socialist +60 over neoliberal in primaries), and, yes, the levee breaks.