Too late: Those still putting digital advertising ahead of paid digital subscriptions are in danger of extinction. The smartest ones will continue to manage down the print business so as to optimize the profitability it can contribute until it is no longer profitable. Hastening its decline would be a mistake. I was thinking about brand identity and brand loyalty the other day apropos of absolutely nothing but the ongoing demand to make the newspaper something other than a paper full of news. Make a series of micr0-sites! Publish directly to Facebook! Pivot to video! Pivot to longform! Put everything online! … Continue reading ‘Hastening its decline would be a mistake’
The Smithereens liked to say they’d play anywhere they could get an audience. This set proves that. The emcee reminds me of Linda Richman of SNL fame. It’s a pity that she didn’t say the Reens were like butter. Continue reading Sunday Morning Video: The Smithereens Live In Jersey
I’ve been on an emotional rollercoaster all week. I was on top of the world, ma, with Doug Jones’ win and then on the bottom with Pat DiNizio’s passing. I prefer to be somewhere between those two extremes: it’s exhausting y’all.
They shot a Dixie Beer commercial in my neighborhood yesterday. I hate film crews. There’s always some officious twerp with a clipboard yelling at people. I had to deal with clipboard guys in my past life as a Jackson Square business owner. I learned that if you gave them an inch they’d take a country mile even if you were in the city.
One time a clipboard guy wanted to plug into my shop electricity. No way: the wiring in the Upper Pontalba was dodgy and one could blow a fuse merely by plugging a space heater in the wrong outlet. When in doubt, demand compensation. That usually runs them off but on one memorable occasion they bribed me. It’s the Louisiana way, y’all.
FYI, Dixie Beer was purchased recently by local plutocrats/Saints owners/GOP donors Tom and Gayle Benson. Every time old Tom farts, the local media wets itself. I yawn in disinterest myself although the family fight over his empire was quite entertaining.
We’re staying in New Jersey this week with our featured image and theme song. The featured image is a painting by Reginald Marsh who grew up in Jersey and the theme song comes from the Smithereens. Anyone shocked by the latter? I thought not.
I hope that y’all don’t get the blues before and after the break because it’s time to jump. Skip the Dixie Beer: it’s swill.
“Scars are souvenirs you never lose. The past is never far.” – Goo Goo Dolls, “Name” “My parents’ basement.” Those three words kept coming up this week as I met with student after student who planned to graduate Saturday. The phrase has become a metaphor that indicates success or failure, with fear driving 20-somethings desperately away from it. Am I going to find a job or will I have to live there? Will this job pay me enough or will I have to stay there? My dad keeps telling me I can’t move back in there, so I need to … Continue reading Graduation Day
It’s time for the Other Scout to play a return engagement here at First Draft. She was a mere kitten when last we featured her; now she’s old enough to be messed with by her humans, Christy and Greg. Continue reading Friday Guest Catblogging: Ornamental Kitty
…time to pound the table, as the saying goes. So, while we’re all pretty relieved that at some point Roy Moore presumably will announce he wants to spend more time with his children, the wingnuts march on…a net neutrality vote by the FCC is scheduled for today, a deal is in the works to move the mother of all horrible tax legislation out of the conference committee…and in the House Judiciary Committee, die hards are pushing their latest nothingburger, a bizarre claim that a couple of FBI agents who were removed from Robert Mueller’s investigation last summer managed nonetheless to … Continue reading When The Law AND The Facts Are Against You…
Hi, people – I got permission to do my post quite a few days early – I’ll take off next Monday as penance.
Let’s drop in on last night’s Freeperville live election thread, shall we?
Vanity – Turnout, Turnout, Turnout….vote for Judge, Roy Moore. [LIVE THREAD]
Posted on 12/12/2017, 4:00:51 AM by JLAGRAYFOX
It’s really quite simple…..An American citizen, woman or man, is innocent until proven guilty by a judge, jury of their peers and a solid conviction of said accused crime.
Allegations & Accusations carry no meaning whatsoever, until they are duly proven to be true & factual in a recognized court of law.
Alabama, voters, cast your votes today for Judge, Roy Moore, a good, honorable, religious man, an American patriot, who loves his country and all the people in it. This, my friends is a “Critical Path Election”!!!
You, your family, your loved ones, your great state of Alabama, your country, the USA, POTUS, Donald J. Trump and your “Future” rests in the hands of your vote today!!! Go, Judge, Roy Moore, Go, POTUS, Donald J. Trump, Go, Steve Bannon…on to victory over those politicians, Democrat, “Doug Jones”, etc., whose policies would hurt & destroy this great American Republic!!
Let’s hope. We need a win. We have been losing seats right and left since the election. Many in Oklahoma and other red areas. That needs to stop and hopefully today will be the win we need to stop the bleeding.
32 posted on 12/12/2017, 7:59:30 AM by napscoordinator (Trump/Hunter, jr for President/Vice President 2016)
“Suffer the little (female) children to come unto me”?
To: JLAGRAYFOX
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!
That’s easy for you to say…
This election has me more on edge than I was in November. Lots of sleepless nights and higher Blood pressure.
Good thing they can’t deny you insurance now for your pre-existing conditions, huh?
Unfortunately if Moore loses there will be a push to moderate and abandon the MAGA agenda even more, especially with Amnesty. So this really could be another make or break election for the country.
109 posted on 12/12/2017, 4:05:29 PM by qam1 (There’s been a huge party. All plates and the bottles are empty, all that’s left is the bill to pay)
Douglas Jones, First of His Name, Senator of the State of Alabama, Scourge of Klansman, Rightful Owner of Roy Moore’s Horse and Protector of the Realm, come sit on the Iron Throne, you glorious brave motherfucker: Alabama Senate election 2017 live updates: Democrat Doug Jones wins Alabama Senate race Unlikely victories in the face of impossible odds are unlikely because the odds are impossible; still, isn’t it so much better to have fought? I was yammering away on Twitter earlier today about John Kerry and 2004, and oh boy have I backed losers in campaigns before then (McCain in 2000) … Continue reading You Fight Every Fight Because Sometimes You Win
Go on now, Alabama. Do this: It’s Election Day! Polls open at 7am. Confirm your polling place at https://t.co/5dkGHic81c and make your plan to vote now, Alabama. pic.twitter.com/5SMD0aWNMp — Doug Jones (@GDouglasJones) December 12, 2017 And as always, as ever, by the Holy Hand of Howard Dean, First of the 50 State Strategy, this is how every Senate seat held by a Republican should be fought. If you don’t show up for every fight, for every seat, every time, everywhere, how on earth can you possibly ask people to vote for you? For your party? If you don’t contest every … Continue reading Fight Like You’re Gonna Lose and It Don’t Matter
I love sweet potato fries and kept fucking them up in the oven until I found this recipe. I made them for Thanksgiving and even Kick, who will not suffer a sweet potato to remain in her presence, gobbled them right up. They actually crunched. Tangentially related: I cannot abide a thick, mushy french fry. I know people love those big fat steak fry things and I don’t get you, steak fry people. It’s a baked potato, basically, so why not just eat that? I like a baked potato but I do not like a large baked-potato-basically thing masquerading as … Continue reading Tuesday Foodblogging
(Video Clip at Link) President Donald Trump relived Hillary Clinton’s infamous comments slamming his voters last year, telling a crowd of supporters on Friday that “we’re proud deplorables.”
Trump spoke at a rally in Pensacola, Florida, where he touched on a variety of subjects, including urging Alabamas to vote for Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, who has faced multiple accusations of sexual misconduct.
He also got around to one of his favorite subjects: rehashing his election victory in 2016 over Clinton. Clinton referred at one point on the campaign trail to half of Trump’s supporters as being in a “basket of deplorables,” calling them racist, sexist, and homophobic.
Clinton later apologized for the remarks.
“We won because of people like you,” Trump said to the crowd, saying he took the job on behalf of the “forgotten men and women” of the country. “Guess what? They are forgotten no more.”
People didn’t think voters like them existed, Trump said.
I just googled myself, which I don’t often do, then I found this. Who the hell are these people? Yeah, I’m a “Trump Donor” so I’m on these crazies’ list.
Are you? I know political donations are public but this is…fill in the blank.
I just had a vivid mental picture of this asshole’s wife screaming at him as he saws down her favourite maple in the front yard.
Also, your next-door neighbours might have something to say about that 400 yard field of fire-clearing thingy…
To: LibWhacker
Buy chainsaw and clear all your fields of fire out to 400 yards.
I don’t think my suburban neighbors would appreciate me hacking down their rosebeds.
12 posted on 12/2/2017, 5:43:55 AM by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
In that case, alternate plan – sell everything, buy gold, and move to a deserted missile base. Set up a 4,000 yard perimeter. Stock up on cyanide capsules.
Stop thinking these people are persuadable, interested in your process, or possessed of any good will of any kind at all: Why don’t all news orgs publish their editorial policies around use of anonymous sources, quotes and, well, everything? One way to combat accusations of “fake news” is a radical transparency around the editorial process. Pull back the curtain. https://t.co/DQlhX4nFlR — Richard Stengel (@stengel) December 9, 2017 You can do that. Sure. It’s pointless, but so is everything else. God almighty. I know in the minds of the tote-bag audience there is a massive vast unwashed group of people out … Continue reading They’re Always Gonna Hate You. That’s Not Gonna Change.
If so, make them hork this down: I’m not sure about you, but I’m fairly certain that I’ve already witnessed the social transformation wrought by titans like the Waltons, Jeff Bezos, and the Koch Brothers. I already live in the world of their making. It’s inhabited by 70-year-old grandmothers stocking shelves for $8.00 an hour, spending what could be their last holiday ringing up Wal-Mart doorbusters while investors suck up resources from struggling communities. My world is filled with back braces and wrist wraps and time is measured out in double shifts and mandatory unpaid overtime. It’s a world where workers nurse life-long … Continue reading Has Your Mom’s Book Club Read JD Vance’s Fishwrap?
It snowed yesterday in the surrounding parishes but not in New Orleans. We just had sleet and gloomy skies. Baton Rouge and rural Tangiapahoa Parish had sustained snowfall. Here’s a message from Mike the Tiger:
The New Orleans media had a snow boner all day long. It was all they talked about. All the teevee people got gussied up in their anoraks and boots. They looked like models in the LL Bean catalog. My favorite snow boner moment came on the WWL morning news:
WWL-TV just interviewed a fireman in Folsom who looked and sounded like Gomer Pyle with a porn stache.
The featured image is a venerable postcard showing the 700 block of Canal Street after snowfall in 1895. The last time it snowed in the city was 2008, everyone took pictures of the streetcar in the snow as you can see from this tweet from my friend Katy:
Mindreader! If it has to be cold, why not beautiful snow ❄️ ? (As in this @NOLAPhonographs 2008 pic?) pic.twitter.com/1PIcOYqXTi
This week’s theme song is a “tribute” to the weather. I hate the snow, especially when it falls in a place without any snow removal equipment. I am not an ice person. I do not have a snow boner either.
Cold Rain and Snow is a traditional folk song best known as a staple of the Grateful Dead’s live shows. We have two versions for your amusement. First, the Dead at the 1980 Halloween show emceed by Al Franken and Tom Davis. Sigh. Second, a bluegrass rendition by Del McCoury using an alternate title. I like it with Cold better since I am, in fact, cold right now. I still do not have a snow boner.
Boy howdy. Yeah, boy as the bluegrass types are wont to say.
It’s time to jump to the break. If you have one, be careful not to trip over your snow boner. I should apologize for, uh, beating that joke to death but I won’t. Go ahead and jump.
Dr. A took this picture of Della Street on her lap early one morning. Della is all like “what the hell is wrong with you, human? I need my beauty rest.” Speaking of waking up, here’s another tune from The … Continue reading Friday Catblogging: When You Awake
Pretty much keeping with everything else the pretend president has done over the last year… Yesterday’s announcement managed to both little more than emptily symbolic as a practical matter while also being gratuitously mean-spirited and unnecessarily callous. In other words, par for the course. There was the odd conclusion where Trump clearly stumbled over words, leading to speculation about whether he’s hiding a full lower dental plate or maybe a bridge…just me, but…nah, probably not. I do wonder, though, if it’s starting to get to him, at least a little. Even pretending to be president requires a lot more effort … Continue reading Another Day, Another Facepalm
After decades of “Democrats In Disarray” headlines, it’s a pleasure to write this post title. Mind you, Democrats are still in disarray, but the usually orderly GOP is as disheveled as Steve Bannon and as chaotic as Donald Trump’s feverish little … Continue reading Republicans In Disarray
The Jayhawks are one of my favorite bands. They are not, however, known for their album art. I do quite like this wintry, snowy, ice peoply cover, which was shot in Hollywood Township, Carver County, Minnesota. Musically, Hollywood Town Hall … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Hollywood Town Hall
For all their blather about no-go zones because of Muslims in France, and feeling attacked at home because people look sideways at their bigotry, the modern GOP has profited handsomely by dividing this country and it’s worth remembering that in the wake of the SCOTUS decision upholding the Muslim Ban and the upcoming Masterpiece Cakeshop call, which I hope but do not expect to be unfavorable to the stupid bigots defending those cretins. You want to talk about a no-go zone? Let’s talk about the country the GOP is creating in the name of their laughably euphemistic states’ rights and … Continue reading Safe Zones
History was made when Trump’s private shyster, John Dowd, claimed that he “composed” this tweet on behalf of his client: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/937007006526959618 Dowdy is a creepy shyster but only Trump is stupid enough to admit to obstructing justice. Speaking of dowdy liars, Kellyanne Conway is backing up Dowdy’s lie with another lie. That’s right, a senior White House aide is providing Trump’s mouthpiece with an alibi. This is my favorite bit: “I was with the President on Saturday all day, frankly, and I know that what Mr. Dowd says is correct. What he says is that he put it together and … Continue reading Trumpy’s Dowdy Dignity Wraith
Athenae offered up wholesome thanks to everyone who supported the First Draft fundraiser. I’m offering up weird thanks: a few pictures from Saturday’s massive Krewe du Vieux party/fundraiser, the Brew Doo or is that Dieux? Beats the hell outta me, … Continue reading Weird Thanks From New Orleans
