Saturday Odds & Sods: Louisiana Blues
This week Adrastos discusses a brief encounter with Tommy Lee Jones and a muddy day at Jazz Fest. Continue reading Saturday Odds & Sods: Louisiana Blues
Month: April 2016
Friday Ferretblogging
Friday Catblogging: Electric Oscar
Della Street has long been into plugging in near our dining room table. This week Oscar joined in on the fun: Continue reading Friday Catblogging: Electric Oscar
It’ll Make Your Head Spin…Literally
Let’s start with former Wisconsin Senator Robert Kasten’s appearance on the Lawrence O’Donnell show (video link, starting at roughly 9:30). Wow. Kasten somehow managed to keep a straight face while insisting that the Donald already has large numbers of, in no particular order, Democratic, blue collar, and/or organized labor votes he can count on…because who are you going to believe, him or your lying eyes? Meanwhile, competing with Kasten on the chutzpah front, Trump went Troll-With-A-Teleprompter in an attempt to “look presidential,” though…it came off more as a feeble rehash of Pat Buchanan’s 1992 cover version of the original America … Continue reading It’ll Make Your Head Spin…Literally
Pulp Fiction Thursday: In The Gutter
After listening to Donald Trump put the lewd in collude, I considered doing something more highfalutin in this space today. I came to my senses and decided to wallow in the gutter. Continue reading Pulp Fiction Thursday: In The Gutter
Cruz-Fiorina: Two Creeps For The Price Of One
Carly Fiorina: Human Hail Mary Pass. Continue reading Cruz-Fiorina: Two Creeps For The Price Of One
Album Cover Art Wednesday: Encores
I spent a fair amount of time last Saturday telling an Adrastos-Zelig story about meeting Jazz great Stan Kenton. It only seemed right to feature a Kentonian (Stannish?) cover in this space. I usually don’t do compilations for ACAW, but … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Encores
John & Ted’s Excellent Misadventure
Adrastos on the GOP’s axis of malakatude, dude. Continue reading John & Ted’s Excellent Misadventure
I am Starting a Consulting Firm and it Will Be Called Stop Doing Stupid Shit, You Stupid Assholes
& Partners: I can tell you from personal experience over the last several months, having met with countless investors and leaders of media companies and editors and writers and technologists in the media world that there is a desperate belief that The Problem can be solved with the New Thing. And goddammit someone must have it in their pitch deck. A new kind of video app. The best news stories of the day, except all on video. Video, but with subtitles. Only 30 second videos, designed for vertical screens. A personalized Facebook bot that delivers only the video you want. … Continue reading I am Starting a Consulting Firm and it Will Be Called Stop Doing Stupid Shit, You Stupid Assholes
Kids Today Just Don’t Want to Save Money!
Buy a house, young’uns! “A lot of folks said that millennials would go off and just rent,” said Jonathan Corr, chief executive of Ellie Mae in Pleasanton, Calif. “But as they hit those life-event years in terms of getting married, having children, they’re starting to make that transition.” That doesn’t mean they’re ready to sign a check. Millennials in about half of large metropolitan areas are underestimating how much they’ll need for a down payment on their first home and are not saving at a fast enough pace. I see “incredibly screwed by the service/gig/contract economy and paying too much … Continue reading Kids Today Just Don’t Want to Save Money!
A Place to Rest in Their Own Damn Country
We are unkind, right now: There are relatively few dedicated Muslim cemeteries around the country, so many Muslim communities use sections of other cemeteries to bury their dead. In Dudley, the proposal from the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester has been met with angry comments at local meetings. “You want a Muslim cemetery? Fine. Put it in your backyard, not mine,” Daniel Grazulis said during a zoning meeting in February, drawing a round of applause. Jason Talerman, a lawyer for the Islamic Society, said he believes the opposition is rooted in Islamophobia. “They like to say it under the guise … Continue reading A Place to Rest in Their Own Damn Country
Tweet/Counter-tweet: Dudebro Nation Death Throes Edition
In the last malaka of the week post, I expressed the hope that the Sanders campaign would go out on a substantive high note. I was privately pessimistic about that but hope springs eternal when the opposition is poised to nominate the Insult Comedian or Tailgunner Ted. I should know better: optimism is for mugs in the 2016 campaign. Let me explain what I mean by Dudebro Nation. I have to since some Sanders supporters “liked” something I posted about it on the book of Zucker last week. By Dudebro Nation I mean the most annoying, obnoxious, sexist, condescending, and childish Sanders … Continue reading Tweet/Counter-tweet: Dudebro Nation Death Throes Edition
The Fog Of History: Paying Off The Klan
John J. McKeithen was an important transitional figure in the history of race relations in the Gret Stet of Louisiana. He ran for Governor in 1963 as a “moderate segregationist,” but moved steadily to the middle after the passage of the … Continue reading The Fog Of History: Paying Off The Klan
Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – completion forward principle
OK people- it’s that time again. We’re going to start with the oldest Freeper insanity and work our way forward.
Starting with last January’s concrete results!
Iran pours concrete into nuclear reactor, expects sanctions relief
Washington Post ^ | 01/15/2016 | By Carol Morello
Posted on 1/15/2016 2:52:53 PM by SeekAndFind
Iran removed the core of its plutonium reactor and filled it with concrete Monday, paving the way for economic and financial sanctions to be lifted soon.
The work that effectively rendered the reactor at Arak harmless was the last major hurdle for Iran to fulfill its commitments under a landmark deal reached just shy of six months ago in Vienna. The International Atomic Energy Agency must verify that everything was done satisfactorily before U.S. and international sanctions can be lifted. But that is expected to take days, not weeks.
To: SeekAndFind
So they didn’t really do it?
To: SeekAndFind
So they DID do it?
To: SeekAndFind
And the Plutonium went where?
Yeppers – we should have flown F-16s across thousands of miles of the most heavily defended airspace in the Middle East, and just blown up an empty nuclear reactor.
That’d show them!
To: SeekAndFind
Real answer: We have produced enough plutonium to build one or more nuclear weapons and we don’t need the reactor anymore.
8 posted on 1/15/2016 3:48:13 PM by Blood of Tyrants (Liberals are the Taliban of America, trying to tear down any symbol that they don’t like.)
Freepers – unable to distinguish between HEU , Heavy water (for nuclear reactors), and a dry double martini (no vermouth)
More and newer stuff below the you-know-what…
Continue reading “Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – completion forward principle”
Going On: Game of Thrones Thread
Let’s get some stupid out of the way first:
Do portentous birds and beasts appeal to you? Why not try spreading some fortune cookies around in your backyard and pretend they are pearls of wisdom bequeathed by Quizzilneck the Engimatic Gopher? That way you’ll still have 59 hours free to rotate your tires, clean out the gutters and complete all the various other chores associated with responsible adulthood.
My favorite Facebook comment on this “takedown” — as the URL describes it — was, “Which Hobbit hurt you, dude?”
This Northwestern prof seems really loud about how he doesn’t like Game of Thrones, and okay. I don’t like country music. I don’t go over to forums devoted to country music and yell I HATE ALL YOUR TWANGY WHINY OOOH SHE LEFT ME I’M SO SAD HORSESHIT AND I’M SO MUCH COOLER THAN YOU! Like what is the point of talking about which pop culture thing you do not enjoy? Did someone ask him? Was it not possible to simply say, “Not my scene?”
Fans can be annoying. My reaction to people who haven’t read The Beekeeper’s Apprentice is to shove a copy into their hands and offer to take care of all their work for a few days so they can devour it whole. I am evangelical on the topic of Our Lord and Savior Lin-Manuel Miranda. I do judge you if you’re not watching The Magicians.
I have things I’m sick of being told to love, too. Like the Beatles. Arrested Development. And church.
But instead of owning that you feel a little sad and left out because everybody likes this thing you’re not into, you write for the LA Times that that thing sucks and is uncool? I don’t … what contribution to the conversation does that make beyond establishing you as a superior person not at all interested in clickbait?
Ugh. Moving on.
‘Mister Hearst and Pulitzer, have we got news for you’
At least the Reader’s staff isn’t laying back and thinking of its digital paradigm: We, the Reader’s staff, ask that you join us in supporting the publication and its advertisers. We are reaching out because . . . The owners at Wrapports LLC have ordered repeated cutbacks that diminish editorial coverage and quality. The size of the print edition has been slashed nearly 40 percent and popular columns have disappeared. Other staff reductions have curtailed service to advertisers and impaired distribution of the print edition. Employees haven’t received a cost-of-living wage increase in nearly a decade. We recognize the fiscal … Continue reading ‘Mister Hearst and Pulitzer, have we got news for you’
The Trump Reform Movement
Josh Friday: As you may have seen, Donald Trump’s new campaign chief Paul Manafort made a presentation to Republican insiders in Florida yesterday with a pretty stunning set of claims. Members of the RNC shouldn’t be worried, he told them: Trump’s not against the party or the people who run it. He’s just been putting on an act, playing a part to win the nomination. He’ll now shift gears to playing a different, more congenial role (a new ‘persona’) that party regulars will be more comfortable with. In his new role, his historic unfavorable ratings will also fall rapidly. This … Continue reading The Trump Reform Movement
On Fighting For Those Who Fight Against You
Charlie: Before beginning, and in fairness to the good people of Menomonie, Wisconsin, whose voting record we examined earlier Tuesday afternoon, let us remember that Texas is the home office for climate denialists among our elected representatives. It begins at the top with Tailgunner Ted Cruz, who’s been spouting the stupid on this subject heavily for the last few weeks. It runs down through Governor Greg Abbott and indicted attorney general Ken Paxton. And it runs deeply through the Texas congressional delegation, which includes some leading intellectual giants like Lamar Smith and Louie Gohmert, although, to be fair to those other worthies, … Continue reading On Fighting For Those Who Fight Against You
Sunday Morning Video: Tedeschi Trucks Band Live In 2012
Ready for some roots rock? If not, you’re getting some anyway. Continue reading Sunday Morning Video: Tedeschi Trucks Band Live In 2012
Saturday Odds & Sods: Close To The Edge
Jazz Fest started yesterday and I’m not feeling it this year. Crowds and I used to get along but we had a falling out sometime after the storm. Making matters worse are all the chair people who insist on plopping down wherever they want. Jazz Fest used to be a more mobile event and I like stage-hopping, so the strain in our relationship seems destined to continue. Hoping to relieve the congestion, the producers have made some changes to the Fairgrounds. I hope it works. I’ll let y’all know if it helps in this space next week.
There was a plea bargain in the Danziger Bridge case on Wednesday. I’m neither happy not angry about this development. The convictions were reversed because of prosecutorial malfeasance that was rather minor in nature: the stupid commenting scandal. That makes it vexatious but I’m fresh out of outrage over the way this whole thing has been handled and how long the process has been: 10 years and counting. Call it rage fatigue, but whatever it is, I’ve got it. But my friend Stephanie Grace is still vexed with the judge.
This week’s theme song is one of the ultimate prog-rock opuses, epics, what have you. It’s a long-ass song, y’all. What else can I say? It has one of the best bass lines in rock history but one could say that about many Yes songs thanks to the late, great Chris Squire:
Oscar and Della love the ambient bird sounds at the beginning and end of the song. It nearly puts them over the edge.
I found this solo Rick Wakeman rendition of Close To The Edge quite recently. It’s a wee nugget even if he isn’t wearing his sparkly cape whilst playing.
How can I follow the Liberace of prog-rock? By going directly to the break, that’s how.
“Fuck You” Nation: Campus Edition
A number of months ago, I coined the term “Fuck You” Nation in dealing with the idea that we seem to have a constant sense that anyone who isn’t immediately for us in the way we want them to be should be told to fuck off. Truth be told, I should have figured this term out decades ago, given the cultural climate of my alma mater. The arrest of a 21-year-old UW-Madison student has sparked protests on campus, due in part to the circumstances of his arrest and the anti-racism message he was attempting to spread. Denzel McDonald is accused … Continue reading “Fuck You” Nation: Campus Edition
Tell Me About The Rabbits, Texas
Today on stupid judge tricks theatre. Continue reading Tell Me About The Rabbits, Texas
Friday Ferretblogging: Wakey Wakey Edition
Claire spends most of her time passed out in this little quilt tube she has. We went to the vet this week to check on her cancer, and though she’s no worse, the meds aren’t helping as much as they should. As long as she’s still popping out like this to play a bit, the vet said, there’s nothing to worry about. Still, somebody’s been getting some extra treats and skritches these past few days. A. Continue reading Friday Ferretblogging: Wakey Wakey Edition
Friday Catblogging: Lap Time For Oscar
This is a picture Dr. A took of Oscar on my lap: Oscar’s got it good; one might even say he lives in the lap of luxury: Continue reading Friday Catblogging: Lap Time For Oscar
Prince, R.I.P.
Unless you live in the Outback or a cave with no internet, you’ve heard by now that Prince died earlier today at the age of 57. I *liked* Prince but was certainly not a fanatical, uh, fan. It was, however, always comforting to know he was around cooking up another new musical enterprise or guise. I decided the best way to honor his passing is with two rather off-beat clips. First, the time he essentially took over the Arsenio Hall Show in 1991: The second clip commemorates the time Prince played the Super Bowl half-time show in a torrential rainfall. Continue reading Prince, R.I.P.
Malaka Of The Week: Jeff Weaver
Meet the Bull Goose Loony of Dudebro Nation. Continue reading Malaka Of The Week: Jeff Weaver
So Long, General Jackson…
…And no tears shed for his replacement on the $20 dollar bill. Sure, his defense of New Orleans is worth some mention of gratitude, if only because I couldn’t imagine a more horrible concept than Creole/British fusion cuisine (red beans and rice pudding?, etc.), but that’s more than offset by some pretty abominable political and economic policies. Plus, as this says, Jackson would likely be appalled by his appearance on a bill, given his preference for money as hard as his head. So, goodbye and good riddance, and I’ll look forward to the new bills featuring Harriet Tubman…even though, to … Continue reading So Long, General Jackson…
Pulp Fiction Thursday: Madball
This week’s pulp was written by Fredric Brown and set in the skewed world of carnys. This is one I might actually want to read. Does that make me a madballer? Continue reading Pulp Fiction Thursday: Madball
Wednesday Night Music: Nice Work If You Can Get It
I once had a co-worker who bragged incessantly about how hard he worked. His colleagues loathed him, and the bosses didn’t care for his particular brand of brown-nosing either. If he caught you taking a break, he had a stock line: Nice work if you can get it. Here’s a snazzy version of the Gershwin classic by Fred Astaire with the great Oscar Peterson on piano: Since one can never have too much Gershwin, here’s one more for the road: Continue reading Wednesday Night Music: Nice Work If You Can Get It
Milt Pappas & Pete Zorn, R.I.P.
Yesterday was a busy day on the First Draft obituary beat. There were two deaths of note: one a talented musician and the other an underrated major league pitcher and *possible* Adrastos relative. Let’s start with Milt Pappas first. I … Continue reading Milt Pappas & Pete Zorn, R.I.P.