The Watering Hole, Thursday, August 9th, 2012: “Toad Suck”?

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…and we have a winner! (photo courtesy yahoonews.com – Wiki Commons)

You can thank YahooNews for diverting me from my originally intended post in order to bring you today’s lighter-hearted offering:

“A new poll [conducted by genealogy website findmypast.com] across seven English-speaking countries has chosen Toad Suck, Arkansas, as having the “most unfortunate” town name in the United States:

Toad Suck reportedly takes its name from a once popular drinking location for boaters on the Arkansas River. The toadsuck.org site explains in more detail, “While they waited, they refreshed themselves at the local tavern there, to the dismay of the folks living nearby, who said: ‘They suck on the bottle ’til they swell up like toads.’ Hence, the name Toad Suck.”

I don’t know about you, but I think that maybe “Drunken Boaters”, or some such name, would have made a better choice than Toad Suck. Be that as it may…Toad Suck apparently hosts a celebration in early May called “The Annual Toad Suck Daze Festival“, the proceeds from which go toward scholarships to “…help assist the young people of Faulkner County to further their education,” according to toadsuck.org.

Here’s the top ten “most unfortunate” town names in the U.S., according to the poll:

1. Toad Suck, AR.
2. Climax, GA
3. Boring, OR
4. Hooker, OK
5. Assawoman, MD
6. Belchertown, MA
7. Roachtown, IL
8. Loveladies, NJ
9. Squabbletown, CA
10. Monkey’s Eyebrow, KY

I would have thought that “Intercourse, PA” would have been a strong contender. There was a “Hazardville, CT“, where my aunt lives, but it may have been absorbed as part of Enfield, CT. There’s also an “Oniontown, NY“, about 15 miles north of us up Route 22.

I’ll bet that you far-flung and well-traveled Critters and Zoosters must have run into some “unfortunate” town names in your travels. Got anything to beat Toad Suck?

This is our daily open thread — go ahead, get started!

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167 thoughts on “The Watering Hole, Thursday, August 9th, 2012: “Toad Suck”?”

  1. Wow. Your town’s really got a name problem if it ranks worse than “Monkey’s Eyebrow,” which somehow made it on the list above “Monkey’s Gonad.”

    Okay, there’s a good chance I made that up and there really is no such place. :)

  3. There’s also a Climax, Michigan, between Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor, both homes of big universities.
    Periodically the large exit sign for Climax would disappear off the interstate highway, undoubtedly to grace some frat house wall.

    Last weekend I found on the map a place named Malfunction Junction, up in the Redwoods, but no actual location was seen as I drove down that road.
    An apparent malfunction.

    Dixville Notch, in New Hampshire, is always good for a snicker too.

  5. I would have thought Toad Suck had those psychedelic frogs. Who would mind Loveladies? Oh yeah, it’s in NJ. Chris Christie.

  7. Odd Canadian Town Names

    Garden of Eden, Nova Scotia
    Asbestos, Quebec
    Swastika, Ontario
    Big Beaver, Saskatchewan
    Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan

  10. Off to the zoo today!
    First a pre-trip inspection:
    - Remove energy drinks from backpacks.
    - Empty pockets and confiscate knives.
    - Separate little Mr. Bad Boy from his girlfriend and seat him where he can be seen at all times.
    - Require aforementioned girlfriend to don another layer or two of clothing.
    - Ask 5 month pregnant (not the aforementioned girlfriend) teen age crew-member (again) to please “Slow down and take it easy girl…”
    - Liquid hand soap for washing foul mouths.
    - Smile, pray, and keep eyes on road.

  11. Weippe, Idaho
    Dickshooter, Idaho
    Athol, Idaho
    Bacon, Idaho
    Democrat, Idaho
    Gay, Idaho
    Harlem, Idaho
    Waha, Idaho
    Santa, Idaho
    Kooskia, Idaho
    Good Grief, Idaho
    Slickpoo, Idaho

    That’s all I’ve got.

    • Don’t care to see what Romney does with the tax deduction that is more than twice the median salary in the US

    • Do horses really like to dance? Is this just another form of animal cruelty for the pleasure of humans or as a way for humans to make money at the expense of an animal?

      • The controlled movements in dressage (by both horse and rider) are truly based on ancient battle training, where your mount must obey your signals or you can be killed. All the little dancing in place moves keep the horse almost literally on its toes and ready to move in any direction, even straight up, on its rider’s signal. Lipizzaners are the best example.

        • Since we don’t use horses for battle anymore, I don’t see the need to keep them dancing. This looks stressful. Forcing a horse to keep its head in an unnatural position for that length of time has to be uncomfortable for the horse. Guess that is why there are massage therapists for horses. It is a specialty within the profession.

      • I have her here with me now. She’s thinner, and her hind legs are definitely shaky. I haven’t seen her legs go out from under her, although my son said it was happening. I’ll keep an eye on her. She seems happy to be with her mama. :)

        Butterball the cat is none to happy with me now. Oops.

  14. Canadian Woman’s soccer team wins bronze! Yeah Baby! They where outplayed but France couldn’t put the ball in the net.

      • Thanks TtT. Now we will see if the US Woman and avenge the loss last year to the Japanese. Should be a good game.

        • The US/Canada game still being debated. Last exchange yesterday between my North Slope Big Oil friend (Canadian), his twin brother (exiled to Mormon Central, Utah) and another friend, the only English socialist on Bainbridge Island goes like this:

          English socialist: “Womens final tomorrow will be very good. US lucky against Canada – dodgy call on the gk, and dodgy call on the hand ball….Japan is a very good team, as they showed last summer….”

          North Slope Big Oil: “The ref warned the keeper twice times to stop time wasting ~ 18 secs (first half), 16 secs (second half) and the call that was made was 13 secs. The delay call was justified but not the hand ball on the free kick.

          I saw the picture of the Canadian girl knocking a US player down then stepping on her head….real class. Nothing like stacking your soccer team with 4th line woman’s hockey players.

          I hope the Japanese win, two contrasting styles of soccer.

          Enjoy the $5.00/gallon gas boys.”

          Deep in Mormon Country: “Wambach is quoted as saying she counted out loud the seconds with which the Canadaian gal held the ball. Naturally she made sure the ref was in earshot. The goalie was quoted as saying the lineswoman warned her at halftime. The ref should have warned the goalie once and then given her a yellow card. But no free kick and as a last resort she could have just added time to the end of the game.

          As for stepping on the head, [Tancredi, Canadian player] she was just cleaning her cleats. A co-worker made sure I saw that video several times. “

          • The next US-Canada match will be a must watch. Can you imagine that the Tancredi incident is not a big deal up here? Cleaning her cleats – that’s a good one. I also heard that some of the US team where complaining that Canada played very rough. I’ve watch more than a few US-Canada matches and the Canadians, it seems, have learned how to play to the US level. That is not to say ‘down’ to their level. Quite the opposite. The US are ranked number 1 and we played them hard and for sure deserved a better fate. But that is sport and Canadian woman did well enough to put that behind them and end the Olympics with a win.

  15. The Nubble
    Starve-Out, CA
    Pilot Knob, CA
    Coffin: Canyon, Peak (where else they are in Death Valley National Monument)

  16. Some things are better off left in a foreign tongue:

    Manteca, California (literally, Lard, California)

    Vacaville, California (literally, Cow Town, California)

  17. http://www.elistmania.com/images/articles/306/Medium/wetwang_uk1256084647.jpg – used to live 10 miles from here – nice pub.

    http://cuksigns.eu/assets/images/db_images/db_dicklick1.jpg

    http://yerjoking.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/funny-towns_06.jpg

    http://iliketowastemytime.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog_image/shitterton_dorset_uk_funny_city_names.jpg

    Not sure I believe this one:
    http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b386/sammydurstuk/towncalled.jpg

    • Again we see a “cover up” in a failure to report:

      More than 10 years before his arrest, officials at the school did not notify law enforcement or human services about an accusation that Moe inappropriately touched a 3-year-old girl while changing her diaper.

  19. Pizzlewig Creek, Calif.:

    Formerly Sweet Pizzlewig , locally said to be for a woman “deficient in virtuous ways,” who once lived there. An obscenity is to be suspected.

    Ripgut Creek, Calif.:
    Named by an early cattleman after his clothes had been torn there by bushes.

  20. My niece lives in Hygiene, Colorado. It’s within view of Mount Ida, but (as one might expect) quite some distance from Wetmore.

    On another matter: from Rachel Maddow last night in her segment on yesterday’s Democratic Party ‘victories’ in Republican primaries, she quotes newbie MO Senate candidate Todd Akin who boldly and proudly states that “At the heart of liberalism really is a hatred for God.” He must listen to Pat Robertson, I guess, who recently said that atheists hate God. Wish I had the opportunity to point out to these bozos that while it’s extremely difficult to ‘hate’ something that doesn’t and never has existed to begin with, it gets easier all the time to at least strongly dislike assholes who use a non-existent god as a means to induce fear and hatred amongst the shriveled intellect which has come to define the American right wing.

    Here’s the thing: I’ll become a believer if, should Romney get more than, say, ten votes nationwide, the Great God in heaven immediately deposits, say, $100 million in my IRA so I can afford to get the fuck outta this intellectually destitute sinkhole called Amurka once and for all! Should be no problem for God to pull off such a teensy trick as that, right?

    With the proceeds I’ll buy a nifty island somewhere in Polynesia and donate it for a Zoo commune. Commence holding breath!

  23. If the Birthers cease and desist with their ridiculous claims, I’ll stop with Romney hiding his income tax returns in 2002 Massachusetts Governor’s race, that proved he lied about his residency eligibility to serve.

    Maybe I will.

  25. QOTD:

    “Entrepreneurs and business people around the world and here at home think that at some point America is going to become like Greece or like Spain or Italy, or like California — just kidding about that one, in some ways.” — Mitt-in-mouth Romney, speaking in Iowa Wednesday. Romney compared California’s economy to Greece’s economic crisis.

    • I guess when you know you’re not ever going to get their electoral votes, there’s no reason to consider them as part of your America.

  27. I really fail to understand this odd expectation that it’s supposed to operate at a profit, and even pay for itself. The US military (another government agency, like the post office) operates at a $600b (yes BILLION) loss EVERY year.

    Postal Service reports $5.2B loss in 3rd quarter – Yahoo! News

    Postal Service reports $5.2B loss in 3rd quarterBy HOPE YEN | Associated Press – 4 mins 45 secs ago
    Share0EmailPrint

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service on Thursday reported a quarterly loss of $5.2 billion and warned it will miss another payment due to the U.S. Treasury, just one week after its first-ever default on a payment for future retiree health benefits.

    • We should have the military be required to fully fund their veterans benefits until the death of every veteran.

    • So what – a postal service is in the Constitution and is a service government provides its citizenry. I thought about that every small mountain town in Montana we drove through, each with its own post office…..

  28. What Is the Real Terrorist Threat in America?

    Steve Coll provides a reality check:

    “The entire [post-9/11] decade-long domestic death toll from terrorism (that is, where a political or ideological motive was apparent) was thirty. By comparison, the rate of annual deaths from mass shootings by non-ideological deranged killers—such as the gunman who attacked moviegoers in Aurora, Colorado, last month—runs more than thirty times higher (on average, about a hundred deaths each year). In all, there are about fifteen thousand murders in America each year.

    Of the three hundred domestic-terrorism cases studied, about a quarter arose from anti-government extremists, white supremacists, or terrorists animated by bias against another religion. And all of the most frightening cases—involving chemical, biological, and radiological materials—arose from right-wing extremists or anarchists. None arose from Islamist militancy.”

    And certainly not Sikhs.

    http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2012/08/the-real-terrorist-threat-in-america.html

      • Tom Waits.
        The only man I’ve ever seen use a drop light as a singing prop.
        Rather effectively I might add, he’s the only one that could pull that off.

  30. Right now, there are storms all around me. I see the lightening and I hear the tunder. So far, it is not raining on my property. The electrical activity makes me nervous so I will be shutting down the computer for awhile.

  31. OMFG.

    So Fox’s defense of their own deplorable behavior is to dredge up stories (that aren’t even comparable to what Fox did) and say “see, they did it too.”

    I get so sick of the 3-year-old mentality of Fox.

    Bad Times: Paper feels backlash for hating on Lolo Jones | Fox News

    Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones got jumped by The New York Times for relying more on her sex appeal than her feet, but now it’s the self-styled “paper of record” feeling a bitter backlash.

    Jones, a 30-year-old Iowa native and devout Christian who has famously kept her virginity even while posing for racy photos, was the target of a poison-pen hit piece by Times sportswriter Jere Longman on Saturday. The article compared Jones to former tennis pro Anna Kournikova, who was known for her looks and not her prowess, and charged that Jones, who is of African-American, French, Native-American, Norwegian descent, owes her fame to “exotic beauty” and not her accomplishments.

  32. Watching women’s gold medal soccer game between Japan and US online now……………………………………… buffering………………………………….. buffering……………..
    buffering…………………………….. buffering…………………….. buffering…………………. buffering…………………………………………….. buffering…………………………….. buffering……………………………………………

  36. Wonderful Soccer game…. And I don’t even like soccer…. I am looking forward to the women’s indoor volleyball later….

  37. Did y’all hear about the American men’s relay racer that broke on his leg and kept running to hand off the baton? Amazing.

    • They are finally starting to take notice of that lying bastard and see Romney for what he really is which is a elitist snob that only cares about himself.

  40. I just got me a teeny little apartment all my own in Clarkston, WA. They’re even going to let me keep my dog. :)

    I can move in on 8/15!

  41. Publisher Pulls Controversial Thomas Jefferson Book, Citing Loss Of Confidence

    Citing a loss of confidence in the book’s details, Christian publisher Thomas Nelson is ending the publication and distribution of the bestseller, The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You’ve Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson.

    The controversial book was written by Texas evangelical David Barton, who NPR’s Barbara Bradley Hagerty profiled on All Things Considered Wednesday. The publishing company says it’s ceasing publication because it found that “basic truths just were not there.”

      • David Barton is Glenn Beck’s go-to “historian,” in fact, Barton doesn’t have any historical training all. His sole academic degree is a bachelor’s in religious education from Oral Roberts University.

        • A bachelors in religious education?
          He’s what, qualified to teach a Sunday school class?

        • Point taken. Oy…

          A Bachelor’s in religious education from Oral Roberts’ U is worth less than a junior high graduation certificate, IMHO.

    • I’m still looking forward to the lawsuits filed by the Alabama Public television executives who were fired because they refused to air a “documentary” produced by Barton. I don’t know if they can name him as a co-defendant but it will be fun to see his work shredded in a court; ala The Panda’s Thumb in the Kitzmiller vs. Dover case.

      BTW. Barton is also Batscat Bachmann’s favorite “historian” and he’s been in the middle of the horrific assault on education by the Texas School Board.

      • I had seen that before and just watched a couple minutes to remind myself of just how slimy/slippery Barton is. Like many fundies, his picture should be next to the word “obfuscation” in the dictionary. “Quote mining”, “argument from authority”, and “moving the goal posts” are also applicable. Heck! If one makes up one’s own definitions? One will never, ever, have to admit to being wrong much less a bald-faced liar.

    • No snob appeal in a state school? Considering the dumfucks the Ivy League have put out there, I’d say mummy and daddy are wasting their money on their little dahlings education.

  45. That tomcat is out there. He can’t be bargained with. He can’t be reasoned with. He doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And he absolutely will not stop, ever, rattling that door,…until you FEED HIM! :D

    • It reads for me as an intuitive moment of realizing her newfound position, and the enormity of being the first female Speaker of the House. A moment of clarity about the women who came before, and now she has the gavel. Actually a very personal moment that will ripped to shreds by sociopathic politks. Too bad.

    • That picture is incongruous. The silhouette of a Winchester predates having 911 service by almost 100 years. The definitive modern weapon would be the AR-15 which would match the 911 system more closely age-wise.

      • Well, stupid people do stupid metal signs.

        I guess if little Tiffany get stung by a bee, and goes into anaphelactic shock, daddy will just give his baby three bullets in the noggin. :roll:

        • Rednecks don’t name their girls Tiffany, they go for Shirlene, Raylene, and Lorabelle.

        • Indeed. Any “good Christian” knows that Anaphylaxis is caused by demonic possession. Bang! Demon banished.

          On a much more serious note: I was at the store today and a little girl was suffering a severe allergic reaction. It seemed like everyone had the situation in hand and the ambulance was pulling up the moment I noticed the commotion. She was conscious but her tongue was protruding and she was obviously terrified. The parents and staff were speculating about which samples she had eaten so it sounded like they knew what the problem was and I just stayed out of the way.

          • Giving samples to kids in stores is a really bad idea — for exactly that reason! I don’t know what the parents were thinking, letting her run free in a store with samples, knowing she has food allergies. Yeesh.

            I hope she’ll be okay.

            • I think they caught it in time. She was obviously scared but was breathing O.K. and trying to talk. It could have been a new allergy of just something they thought was safe.

              I’ve gone through anaphylaxis three times so I know how fast epinephrine works. The first was a reaction to penicillin even though I had taken it before with no allergic reaction. The second was from jellyfish stingers picked up by my fishing line while we were about 15 miles from shore. Dad called the Coast Guard on the radio and they picked me up in a helicopter which actually scared me more than the allergic reaction. The third was from wasp stings on my ears, 4 on the right ear and 7 on the left! I’ve been stun by single wasps and bees since then without a reaction.

            • Yikes, that had to be unnerving — the shock and the helicopter! It is possible to acquire allergies, so just because you’ve taken something before, doesn’t mean it will always be safe. You probably had a reaction to the stings on your ears because of the number of them. Damn, that had to hurt!!

              It’s weird, but I’ve never been stung by a bee or wasp. People all around me get stung, and I never do. Not that I mind. :)

  50. There’s more and more speculation about Romney’s VP pick… Even to suggest Pawlenty may be in the running. Nate Silver on 538 posted some interesting stats that shows that Pawlenty may actually cost Romney about 1.3% of the popular vote.

    Just saw another headline that now the pressure seems to be on Romeny to go with Paul “Let’s Dump Medicare” Ryan. That may not sit well with the “Keep your hands off my Medicare” crowd.

    New polling is showing Romney slipping at this point. I think he’s now in McCain territory, and needs something to shake up his campaign, or he will find himself losing the election with a safe choice.

    As I’ve said before, if Romney picks a white male, he loses. That’s my prediction. It needs to be non-white and/or non-male. Personally I think he’ll pick someone who is Hispanic; and I’ve felt for a while it may be Rubio. Martinez of NM could also get the nod, imo. She’s said she’s not interested, but as I’ve also said before, there’s a difference between speculating about getting the call, and actually getting the call.

    So, I really hope he picks Pawlenty, and it’s landslide Obama.

  51. Poor Butterball, she still hasn’t come downstairs, so I took her bowl of food upstairs. She’ll be week from hunger in a couple months…

    • I guess it helps if all the havoc you’re causing in the economy is fucking legal.

      Does anyone think they’ve actually stopped doing that shit? Not me!

      • Does anyone think they’ve actually stopped doing that shit?

        No.

        “We are pleased that this matter is behind us,” Goldman Sachs spokesman David Wells said when contacted by ABC News.

        I’ll bet they are — a slap on the writs and a ‘now go out a play nice’ was a damn gift.

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