The Watering Hole: January 27 – “Don’t Call Me Shirley”

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Leslie Nielson began his career as a serious actor, but with “Airplane!“ became one of the best deadpan comics in cinematic history.

I did weekend stand-up in the Borscht Belt during the mid to late 60’s, but could never have come close to meeting his delivery! That job paid in two nights, twice what my 9-5 did in a week. The under lying problem was benefits – I knocked up my wife after we got married and my employer did not appreciate Improv.

A comic is ultimately responsible for his family’s medical expenses and future. My spouse could not feature living out of a hotel room for three nights per week with a new-born. The choice was correct, the Belt dimmed by 1982.

If you desire, you can pick through all the YouTube references and reconstruct “Airplane!” in its entirety.

This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to add your thoughts on any topic that comes to mind.

226 thoughts on “The Watering Hole: January 27 – “Don’t Call Me Shirley””

  1. My former brother-in-law makes his living as a screen actor and producer, and Vic often takes himself way too seriously. The only way I found to cope with his air of self-importance was upon greeting him and smiling, silently asking myself “What’s your vector, Victor?” I still crack myself up thinking about it, especially what might have happened if I had actually said it out loud …

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  2. One of the best comedies ever made. Before he did “Airplane!”, Leslie Nielson starred in an ABC summer replacement series called “Police Squad!”, which was written by the same team that gave us “Airplane!”. It was then, and remains now, one of my favorite all-time TV shows. There were only six episodes filmed, and only four were shown during its original run. Then head of ABC Programming, Fred Silverman, who was supposedly some kind of “wunderkind” because he brought us “Happy Days” and its spin-offs, canceled it because, as he put it, “It was too visual. You had to watch it to get some of the jokes.” Well, Fred, that’s why it’s called “television” and not “radio.” “Police Squad!” was the forerunner of the “The Naked Gun” series of movies. If you can find it on DVD, do yourself a favor and spend three hours (or less) watching all six episodes. Even today, it will still make you laugh. For example:

    We see Frank Drebin driving ion a car, a la all those ’60s films where it’s obvious he’s sitting in a fake car with film running on a screen behind him. The same “effect” used when Rex Cramer drove to the airport in “Airplane!”

    DREBIN: “My name is Lt Frank Drebin, Detective-Sergeant of Police Squad. There had been a rash of beautiful blond women turning up naked and unconscious in laundromats on the East Side. Unfortunately, I was assigned to murders at small credit unions on the West Side. I was across town doing my laundry when the call came in. By the time I arrived, my boss was already on the scene.”

    He then crashes into a garbage can as he pulls up.

    I loved that show. Oh, and fun trivia fact. When they canceled Police Squad, they replaced it with two “special editions” of “That’s Incredible”, with Fran Tarkenton, John Davidson (I think), and Cathy Crosby. Now that was incredible. I never forgave ABC for doing that.

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  3. My favorite line from Airplane: “Looks like I picked the wrong time to quit sniffing glue!”.

    Our power has returned. If the R’s want to shut down the federal government they need to make investments in climate research. If they could learn how to make it snow they could close DC forever.

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  4. Back in 1982, I did the original film-to-tape color correction and transfer of Airplane II: The Sequel which was only fair as sequels go. The film-to-tape color correction process involves adjusting and manipulating light and color — and sometimes shot composition, but that’s another story — to theoretically give “the look” the production company desires. I worked on the film for about 2 weeks and then Dennis Virkler, the film’s editor, came in to our post facility to review my progress.

    We sat and watched the entire tape and Dennis made very few suggestions for any changes. When the last scene ended, he turns to me and says, “Well, I think it looks great, but can you make it funnier?”

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  5. I’ve just added to my blog an album of sorts of photos I’ve taken over the years of the V-Bar-V Petroglyph site along Wet Beaver Creek in Arizona’s Verde Valley, that fascinating and haunting place I mentioned here last week. Hope some of you who live down that way can find the time to pay the site a visit — it’s easy to get to but seldom if ever crowded, and any visit will prove to be well worth the time spent, that I can guarantee.

    Sinagua Petroglyphs

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  6. “Picked a bad day to quit amphetimes”.

    As a pilot, I can watch Airplane over and over and over.
    My girlfiriend can’t stand it.
    She thinks it is a stupid movie and none of it makes sense to her.
    That tells me a lot about her right there.
    I’ve tried to tell her that “Airplane” is a chick flick but she doesn’t buy it.

    I liked Leslie Nielson best in his role in the movie “Forbidden Planet”

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  7. More snow to shovel this morning. It is now piled so high that it is becoming difficult to find a place to put more snow. My driveway keeps getting smaller and smaller. If there isn’t a melt soon, I don’t know where I will go with more snow. Too much snow this year and it’s still January. February usually brings the biggest amount of snow during one storm. My shoulders are aching from tossing snow onto piles. I shouldn’t complain. At least it is not a mud slide. That would be more tragic. I’m done complaining.

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  8. Wish we could get some of that snow here. 6700 ft elevation, 7 miles from the base of the Rockies, and we’ve had three snows so far this season: one inch, five inches, and two inches, all of it long melted save for the occasional white patch. Not enough to water the grass, even. Last year by this time we’d had close to five feet of snow, total. Something weird is going on, I’m thinkin’. And since, as we all know, there’s no such thing as global warming or climate change, I gotta wonder what’s behind it.

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  9. From my friend, Charlie, who works in the Pentagon and lives in Fairfax. As I remember, it’s about 20 minutes from their house to the end of the Metro Rail Orange Line on an ordinary day:

    ~1.5 hours from my office to the Vienna Metro station. Arrived there at 4:50pm and didn’t drive into the garage until 1:30 this morning. We left the office at 3:30pm and I walked into the house exactly 10 hours later.

    I was going to rag him about waiting so long to leave work but it turns out his wife (also working in the Pentagon) had an interview in the afternoon, which she couldn’t possibly ditch.

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  11. We’re light here in the mountains as well, frugalchariot.
    Only one significant snowfall so far, and most of it has melted.
    On the heels of last summers bumper crop of grass and forbs, this summer could be bad for fires.

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  12. Hope for an early monsoon, Raven, one defined by rain rather than dry lightning. I’ve seen so much fire damage, this last decade, atop, along, and below Arizona’s Mogollon Rim that any hint of winter dryness spooks me bigtime. I’m not nearly so familiar with the mountainous part of New Mexico that’s contiguous with Arizona’s eastern forested margin, but I’m well aware that the fire hazard has no idea where the state line has been drawn.

    As I say, hope for an early — and wet — monsoon. Of course, that still leaves April, May, and much of June — no lightning, but far too many idiots with matches. Fingers crossed.

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  14. I’d think Denver would be a cold place this time of year, but I was listening to David Sirota earlier, and the news on that station said their high today would be 56. I look on weather.com, and that’s what it says. It’s 49 there now, and tomorrow’s high is to be 61.

    We’re finally getting some average temps down this way, with highs in the 50s and lows in the 30s.

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  15. I was going through a book I have called “The 776 Stupidest Things Ever Said”, and they have a “tribute” to Sam Goldwyn, who was known for mangling things up the way Yogi Berra does. Sam is known for saying “An oral contract ain’t worth the paper it’s printed on” and “All this criticism is like ducks off my back.” But my favorite has to be “I want to make a picture about the Russian secret police: The GOP.”

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  16. Oh…
    That’s what I get for going to bed so early Zooey.

    I used to go down around that stretch of the border, back in the 80’s.
    There was an area with very large clear quartz crystals to be found.
    The last time there was so much weird traffic at night, tethered blimps and planes flying overhead that I got the willies and never went back.

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    • Raven, I was up WAY too late last night, but I got lucky and my classes were canceled today. I’ll be getting some reading done today. Really, I will. 😉

      Must have been the aliens landing at the border, huh?

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  17. Zooey,

    It’s hard to find various quotes because of the silly way the authors structured the book. I did find this old one from George Wallace, during a speech to a largely black audience:

    “Sure I look like a white man. But my heart is as black as anyone’s here.”

    I need to go shovel the rest of my driveway. See you later.

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  18. Yes, I know Sarah Palin is persona non grata here but she’s SO funny! She bollixed up the whole “Sputnik” analogy from the SOTU, twisting history to suit the view from her front porch.

    Palin then goes on to suggest that what America needs is a “Spudnut moment,” (SRSLY) explaining that there’s this successful small business in Washington state, and that America needs to do…what? Have lots of successful small businesses? Stop preventing successful businesses like The Spudnut Shop from being successful? Palin never really explains how this is supposed to work, but I think the equation goes something like this: “Sputnik moment” + “Something that sounds like Sputnik but isn’t” = I WIN!

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  21. Speaking of ‘life on earth’ – where’s the lizard photo that pachy and you were discussing the other day? We like photos of co-habitants of our world.

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  25. Shayne, the pony express doesn’t exist anymore! – Zooey

    I know it doesn’t Zooey!!!!!! That’s why it’s taking so long for your check to get there. YEESH.

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  29. It looks like that asshole who shall remain nameless left Greta speechless with her stupidity and all she could do to stop herself from insulting the dimwit was change the subject. Kind of awesome.

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  32. We need that lizard picture. You’ll have to do your school work on your own time. That’s why we pay you that big buck. I hope that doesn’t spoil the surprise. 🙂

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  33. Carrier Pigeon, Zooey – I believe Shayne said something about a Carrier Pigeon on its way.

    (I apologize didn’t realize it was carrying your paycheck when I consumed it for supper. What can I say – we are called ‘birds of prey’. And our prey, mostly, pigeons).

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  47. House, where did you locate that photo?

    It wouldn’t take me directly to the photo but the url to the site

    http://www.zagony.ru/admin_new/foto/2011-1-11/

    can be translated into English (sort of)

    The ‘singles ad’ translates thus:

    Alex, 29 years old. Acquainted with a girl for serious relationship!
    You can wink at Alex right now.

    —
    So if you could find the photo – maybe the translator would assist.

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  50. I remember the day the Challenger blew up. I was stationed at Shemya, AK (a small island near the end of the Aleutian Island chain). I went into work and asked my supervisor if the shuttle launched okay, and he looked at me, astonished and said, “Nope. It blew up.” I thought he was kidding. He said that he wasn’t. I asked if they were re-showing it and he said, “Oh,yeah! About every thirty seconds!” Sure enough, a few seconds later, I saw it for myself for the first time.

    It took about another half hour before the jokes started.

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  58. vinylspear says

    Desktop calender
    Feeds the mind the whole year long
    One page at a time

    Ok, it’s been a tense day, it’s spelled “calendar”

    Put some aluminum foil on that baby and your Haiku works just fine. 🙂

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  59. Ooh la la, we have delicate sensibilities. Well aren’t we hoity toity. Remember to raise your pinky fingers while you type people. I must go dress more appropriately and put on my pearls. 🙂

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  61. There hasn’t been a time travel comment yet today. Are you guys planning some secret voyage and not telling me about it? … sniff, sniff …

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    • Speaking of the TARDIS, Hooda, why aren’t you off exploring the time of dinosaurs and getting involved in the intrigue of the Czarist Russian court?

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  64. I listened to “the person we won’t mention” clip and I had to wash out my ears afterwords. I wasn’t looking at the computer, just listening to the clip and I couldn’t make any sense out of the conversation. It reminded me of the time when I was sitting in a Vietnamese Restaurant and a Hispanic man can in to pick up his take out order. He could barely speak English and owner of the Vietnamese restaurant could barely speak English yet they had a conversation in mixed languages. I had no clue what was going on and I’m not sure either of them knew what was going on except he got his food and she got her money. That’s how “the person we won’t mention” sounds. My response to the video is WTF was she talking about?

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  65. “Palin then goes on to suggest that what America needs is a “Spudnut moment,” ” Bad…man.

    Oh Gawd! I was enjoying a cup o’ noodles when I read that….

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  68. Hooda: “I suspect genius can’t be taught.”

    True enough, but I suspect the concept that genius IS teachable (“only $24.95!”) is readily saleable to non-geniuses. That’s called a huge market, great profit potential. 😉

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  69. Shayne, are you ‘talking’ about the Zoo commune time travel or that phone-booth type ‘machine’ that is much larger on the inside, that takes those people places?

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  74. “The unmentionable person” video brought back to mind something that happened to me in fourth grade, something I never lived down until I moved out of state following my HS graduation. The year was 1950-51. The teacher was a bug-eyed (true!) lady named Miss Larson. We’d just had lunch, and were back in the room goofing off, waiting for the teacher. In she walked. She chastised us for all the racket, demanded quiet, and that we settle down and open our books to page ____.

    Then it started. I felt a gas bubble, begging for its freedom. The room was quiet, no way to let it slip. I adjusted my sitter, squeezed as best I could to discourage exit. I weighed maybe 80 lbs, was skinny way back then. Not much to squeeze together. But I tried. And tried. No luck.

    The escape came in a high pitched squeak, lasted about five seconds. “Eeeeeee…eeeee” The guy next to me, just across the aisle, said, “You done it, dintcha.” Miss Larson could barely cover her rage. My face had to be as red as the rising desert sun.

    Then came this morning, nearly sixty years later. I heard “her” voice, and wondered what Miss Larson would say to THAT! I looked at my monitor and said, “You done it, dintcha,” and laughed for a good long time.

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    • Okay, since there was so much talk about it, I watched the ‘Spudnut’ verbal diarrhea.

      Srsly, I had no idea that spending on the Sputnik project caused the fall of the Soviet Union. You know what we need more of? Spud guns. Not only is firing off one of those tater gems great fun for the whole family, but it keeps those free market potatoe growers in business generation after generation. Ya know what I mean, Greta? Also. Too. Freedom fries!!

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  78. Some people chase dreams. Some, butterflies. Puppies chase their tails and kittens chase strings. And the unfortunate chase irrelevants.

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  83. I remember the Challenger explosion quite clearly. I was working as a civilian Air Force contractor at WPAFB in Ohio. Someone came running through the office area saying the shuttle had just blown up. We were all very stunned. Very hard to be believe it’s 25 years. I recall that day so clearly.

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  86. Not gunna watch that video. Not gonna watch. Not going to watch.

    NO! No! NO!…

    maybe later.

    b a d m o o d m a n is a bad influence. He stirs the cauldron.

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  90. Hooda, you did consult the UD on the hoona, didn’t you?
    You may want to change your moniker…

    hoona

    it means someone hot

    he’s a big chunk of hoona!!!

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  91. How well I remember the Challenger and the causes that led to the disaster. Morton Thiokol warned about possible problems with an O ring seal due to an extremely low temperature the night before, but NASA took a chance to avoid additional costs to reschedule a flight that had already been rescheduled 4 times from the original launch date. In hindsight we can say the cost to reschedule would have been small compared to the cost of lives and the cost of the setback to the Space Program at NASA that we, the American taxpayers, ultimately payed.

    I just happened to be in the electronics section of a local, pre Walmart variety store with half a dozen TV’s showing the launch. I was flush then and I had cash to spend. I was looking for any new electronic gadgets that might be of use to me – a 42 year old 2nd semester college student. I was proud of the small part I had played in the very 1st moon landing, I was a veteran because I loved my country – I was an American. Watching the chaos in the sky while listening to the silence blaring from the TVs, I wept.

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  94. Pachy, you are exceedingly talented in painting with words. Thank you for imparting that imagery of Challengers fateful day!

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  95. Why thank you ebb, you gave me pause to reflect the days of yore when I was renown for my oral skills. I was a good speaker back then, too. 🙂

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  96. ebb, that was “reflect upon” meant above. What I typed was a Freudian slip because I have been musing over the irony of the asymmetrical reflection of the crossword puzzle I just got today in a local freebie weekly paper. This puzzle is symmetrical on each half of a vertical axis but not on the horizontal axis. The author gives an extended clue to what is being attempted in this puzzle that has shaded squares that when filled in will give an additional clue to the final answer of the puzzle about an historical occurrence on this date. Before starting the puzzle I checked in here to see Zooey;s link to the Challenger story.

    You of all should see the irony of that “Zebra’s head” providing me the answer to today’s puzzle before I even started it. I’ve also just experimented with a Chorum Coke – I satisfied my taste for chocolate and my quest for alcoholic intoxication by stiling in some chocolate drink mix with some Bacardi’s Gold and Coke. A vanilla Coke and buttered popcorn sounds good to me right now too.

    You’d never guess what I’ve been up to. Does anybody else feel like a pizza? With mushroom and pepperoni?

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  97. FYI…

    Rahm Emanuel can run for mayor of Chicago. The Illinois Supreme Court unanimously ruled today that Emanuel is eligible, overturning an appellate court decision, and ending months of legal back-and-forth.

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  99. Did I mention I made a radical decision today and had the cable TV disconnected? It’s the best for me both mentally and physically. It’s sorta like the night I came home to discover my wife had left me, the unusual quiet echoed through my head. I sought to silence the clamor in my mind with my Black friend Jack. Valium came into my life not long after.

    I’m a lot better now!

    Plus I’m still here, so I’ve got that going for me. And I love zebras and llamas and birds and lizzards, mice and rats, ravens and wolves. And especially kitty cats.

    I can also report that Chorum Coke has a kick.

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    • Wow, congratulations, Pachy! About the cable TV thing. We’re glad you’re still here, too.

      Chorum Coke has to have a kick — as a reward for being so gross. 😀

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  102. I was watching the Challenger launch on an early version of NetVision – 8 frames per minute on a corporate link. I knew what happened within 15 seconds of the event. An entire corporation went into shock in an instant. It took the masters another 30 seconds to cut the feed. It was a moment much like 9/11, but with a limited audience. I heard a gasp rise in an entire building.

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  103. I’m sorry, Gary but I can’t stop laughing. On the Right side of things if a colleague pisses you off, you think about getting a gun. On the Left side, you piss back. Yeah, it’s childish but a lot safer.

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  105. Before passing judgement on the peeing professor I would be interested in knowing both professors’ ethnicity and religion, plus some details on the nature of their dispute.

    Just curious.

    6 hours and no TV.

    Anybody got a smoke?

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  106. Zooey: Bah-dum, bum; ching!

    I’m not sure “bladder-control” is the kind of thing for a tenure refusal. (Someone’s going to have to find a way to categorize that under “collegiality” and keep a straight face while doing so.) Anyway, I’m a philosopher, not a mathematician.

    So how do YOU spell “relief?”

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  108. News of the day, for me at least: the first ever printed hard copy of my book, The Incessant Voice of War, arrived in today’s UPS delivery. Looks damn good, at least on cursory view. We’ll see how it does on closer inspection, but so far so good.

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  109. Frugal:

    (1) So this is past Galley-proof and at the final, pre-run stage of examination?

    (2) Will this be coming out on Kindle? (The whole damned thing exists as an MS Word file, doesn’t it? So creating it as a Kindle book is absolutely transparent and automatic.)

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  111. Oh, duh: Congratulations, Frugal!

    People who haven’t squeezed their squishy-bits hard enough to actually hold the thing in their hand can sometimes fail to appreciate just how hard you had to squeeze to make this moment happen!

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  112. Zooey, I have over 3000 movies on VHS I recorded when I worked for a cable company. I’m thinking about watching some Charlie Chan mysteries but can’t decide whether to start with the Warner Oland series or the Sidney Toler series.

    Have you any thoughts on that? Zooey? Zooey? Walt?

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  115. Pachy, you might try Hulu.com for your TV fix. The tapes are their own problem, because they will degrade with time (fairly rapidly, in some cases.) You might consider a transfer machine, and shift as many of them as you’re able over to a more stable DVD format. An up-converting DVD player and HDTV will then play those discs with superior quality to when they were orginally copied to tape.

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  116. I read this morning where Don Imus called Rachel Maddow “a gutless coward” over the Olbermann firing and my first thought was, “Wow, Don Imus is still living?”

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  117. Yeah, this is the ‘galley proof’ (what’s a galley?); my assigned task is to either approve it or bitch about something. So far, I’ve not found anything to bitch about so things are looking good. After approval, off it goes to the presses, to Kindle, to “all online channels.”

    Thanks, everyone for your support. It’s much appreciated, trust me!

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  118. Frugal, I hope you do well with your book. Congratulations!

    Cats, thanks for the Bernie vid. We’ll probably hear more about it tomorrow on Brunch With Bernie!

    Monday, I logged the cable news ratings here from Keith’s last week. Normally, he would get a bit more viewers than Rachel, and Monday night, O’Donnell did better than Rachel, 1,533,000 to 1,377,000. I would expect many tuned in to see what he would say about Keith. Then of course Tuesday night the SotU speech took over everything. All day I’ve been waiting to see what Wednesday night’s numbers would be. O’Donnell got 1,080,000, while Rachel did significantly better at 1,275,000. Although it’s very early. if the trend continues, it means Rachel Maddow becomes the prime time leader of MSNBC!

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  119. Yes Zooey, I think you’re right. Some people may adjust their viewing slightly, if they prefer her to O’Donnell. So far, Ed is about the same as O’Donnell in the 10PM spot, and Cenk is pulling Ed’s numbers at 6PM. I don’t see much of an effect of a boycott, so far.

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  120. As a former typesetter and book reviewer (and editor and publisher), I’m familiar with galleys. Some of the paperback houses actually sent real galleys (rather than bound proofs) to reviewers, but those were from linotype proofs and I doubt anyone does them today. They were on newsprint and usually contained what would end up as 2-3 pages in the final. A pain in the ass to read, frankly.

    I’ve got galleys of a friend’s science fiction novel that I have to keep forever, apparently, or she’ll kill me.

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  121. frugal, I’m assuming this will be out in hard cover? I’m looking forward to bothe reading it and helping you get to the best sellers list. Congratulations!

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  122. Well, I heard some people saying they were through with MSNBC, because Keith left, but I think they’re calmed down now.

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  123. House, do you know where I can watch Cenk on MSNBC?

    Cenk sounds like he has gum stashed in his mouth and is trying to talk fast enough for people not to notice.

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  124. Cenk should be getting a page with a player if they’re going to keep him. Dylan Ratigan has a player for his show. I don’t think there is one yet. I used to see clips for other shows on Ed’s player, like earlier clips from the daytime shows, but now his player only has his show.

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    • They better get a player up for Cenk soon! I’d rather watch him…I think.

      So far, I’m only watching segments of Matthews, Schultz, and O’Donnell.

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  126. The first pass will be soft cover, 726 total pages (it’s a thickee). If it should catch on, then I suppose a hard cover would be in the offing. One step at a time, though, in these days of an extremely transitional book publishing world.

    I know virtually nothing about the world of books other than the fact that I’ve been one of its best customers over the last forty years, maybe more. I do always remember a line in the preface of one of my all time favorite books: The Desert, by John C. Van Dyke. It was first published in, if memory serves, 1902 or 03. When he sent the manuscript to Scribners, he included a cover letter which included this immortal line:

    “It will not sell in the hundreds of thousands – it is not so bad as that.”

    Immediately brings to mind Palin’s “Going Rogue,” which did sell at that level and beyond. 😉

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  127. Zooey, Warner Oland and Sidney Toler were actors who both played Charlie Chan.

    Gary I already have a machine to transfer VHS to DVD, plus I have a shit pot full of photos I need to scan. I was really only addicted to watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Comcast did a good job of putting programming I liked on channels not part of the basic package. The History Channel and MSNBC were two in particular. I did enjoy CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes and many PBS programs. Fortunately Rachael, Jon and Stephen are available on line as are most of the others I suspect.

    Gary, I have passed many an hour enjoying being engrossed in some mathematical problem and I have enjoyed many hours in private, engrossed in rehearsing lines for plays and music for singing. I’ve known several math professors who play musical instruments as well as English and History professors. I imagine there might be some correlation between different academic disciplines and musical interests, like say math types tend to wind instruments while history types go for strings. That gives me something to think about, Thanks! 🙂

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  135. Raven, when I walked outside at 6:30 this morning I was greeted with a flock of starlings landing on leafless branches of several trees across the street. I took it as a sign of spring ahead, with warmer weather, despite what the weather man says, and as a sign of a good day.

    Its been a good day.

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  138. Starlings are never going to go away – so just enjoy their antics – the swirling in unison, attempting to keep clear of raptors talons.

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  140. Thanks, ebb. Nah, frugalchariot is my “nominal de plum*” (*thanks for that one, Amos & Andy, circa 1940-something). Used my real name for the book. Probably shouldn’t have what with the CIA and all, but what the hell.

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  141. At TP
    AB7 is frighteningly paranoid. Were we to find out it had minor children – I’d be the first to contact Child Services for a welfare check on them.
    That much hate – over a three day period – not healthy. Not sane.
    It is rabid, that’s for sure. Sounds almost J.Bircher. Maybe a Koch minion?

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  142. Starlings are hardly any more aggressive than any of a number of native species. And they do eat a ton of bugs.

    Interesting to me that they are still up in your area, Zooey. They seemed to migrate out of the So. IL region around late Fall, not to reappear until the Spring. Maybe their presence simply was not so noisy, and I failed to observe them.

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    • Gary, I think my area is a little different because about 40 minutes South of here is the Idaho banana belt — around 800 feet elevation. I’m at about 2600. I think some birds only migrate as far South as Lewiston, and if we’re having decent weather up here (which we are right now), they come to hang out. All I saw around here when it was super cold were the ravens.

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  143. Starling were imported to this country to eat horse poop out of the streets. And that’s all I remember from my college days.

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    • Shayne, how is Vienna corned beef different from regular corned beef?

      I’m interested because I love corned beef, but something in it really bothers me (as in, it makes my chest hurt). I saw something on the food network about how to make my own, and I’d like to try it sometime when I can afford a brisket.

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  145. I was up til 0500 EST fixing .NET problems, the worsr problem being the removal of shit tracks in the MS dll’s. Actually, I laid in bed from about 2400 til 0300 wondering what to do. In short, I am off to my beauty sleep for whatever that will do. Tomorrow’s Daily is in the chute. My machine will be off the network about 25 seconds after this comment appears.

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  146. ah, uh Walt – ?

    Is it something we do or ‘say’ that musses up the works?

    (you can tell I haven’t a clue what WtM just wrote – other than he’s quite tired from physical and mental work…)

    Sleep well Walt. Dream the dreams that make things better in your world.

    And thanks for all you do.

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    • Actually, if it was only those three, I’d put Mikey at the front of the class, ebb, but Rachel really seems to enjoy talking to him, and she yanks him back in line nicely. He seems much more relaxed now that he’s not the figurehead of the RNC.

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  148. ebb, I am often without a clue around here especially when they get techie. Unfortunately because they know so much if I had a problem I wouldn’t know how to explain it because people who know all that stuff don’t understand that some of us have no clue. I have the same problem when I try to explain to my husband what is wrong with my car and he asks me what kind of noise it’s making. How the hell am I supposed to know that? 🙂

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  149. Well Zooey mostly I just wanted gummitch to eat his heart out because he went to the Vienna store when he was in Chicago. Usually I buy the one from Whole Foods that doesn’t have all the chemicals but I got this one at Costco and it came out really good. It is the kind of corned beef they sell on sandwiches a lot spicy. Of course right now I’m burping it up even though I washed off a lot of the seasoning before cooking.

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  150. Shayne, does that mean corned beef from Vienna Beef? Ohmygod, I bet that’s good.

    I seem to remember someone saying they drove by the Holy Temple of Hot Dog every day. I wish I could remember who that was, in case they might be willing to pick up a poster and a t-shirt for me. Dang. Who was that?!

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    • Shayne, I’m certain I have The Mad Cow already. *sniff*

      And yes, I hate not being able to explain what’s going on. It makes me feel stupid, and that pisses me off!!

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  152. oh, s… I hadn’t heard about the Ugandan activist being murdered –

    F “The damn Family ”
    F F’g religion.
    F just F the F’g world

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  155. Well gummitch, in fact I drive by there most Saturdays after my kids voice lessons. As soon as she’s not rushing me to get home I’ll stop buy there. What size just in case?

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  156. That gummitch is a “Smooth Operator”. “He’s a Smooth Operator”.

    “Diamond life, lover boy.
    he moves in space with minimum waste and maximum joy.
    City lights and business nights.
    When you require street-car desire for higher heights.”

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  159. No – scam is not the word.
    He jogged the ‘mad – cow’ memory – that’s all.
    You being such a nice person decided to assist him.
    You are Mother Theresa and St. Francis of Assisi all rolled into one.
    You are a good person, Shayne.

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  161. Z, there isn’t an animal that hasn’t been put on the ‘going to the commune’ list.
    Way back in the beginning she did mention sheep and goats. (you may recall it kind of started with them being the ‘lawn mowers’ of the land).

    hmm, if the ‘Polar Bear’ joins – BC would be the best spot. During the winter he could meander to his ‘home turf’/ north.
    We who migrate for the winter – go to our Belize jungle layout.

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    • There’s a Polar Bear
      In our Frigidaire–
      He likes it ’cause it’s cold in there.
      With his seat in the meat
      And his face in the fish
      And his big hairy paws
      In the buttery dish,
      He’s nibbling the noodles,
      He’s munching the rice,
      He’s slurping the soda,
      He’s licking the ice.
      And he lets out a roar
      If you open the door.
      And it gives me a scare
      To know he’s in there–
      That Polary Bear
      In our Fridgitydaire.

      ~Shel Silverstein

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  164. Shel was total genius! Multi-talented; grand sense of humor.
    How could one have such a great grasp on life and put it into such wonderful works?

    Shel we miss you…

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  165. Looking forward to reading the Polar Bear – thanks for the advanced notice.

    Goodnight – dream the dreams that dreams are made of.

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