Brother Bear
Part 2 of 3: About 6 months later, we were back up from Florida again and took GD to her second movie, “Brother Bear”, being sure to bring her “booster”. We bought the popcorn and she watched the movie while eating prodigious amounts of popcorn and sipping coke from a paper cup. She did not even notice the tragic events that were part of that movie. She absorbed it as a spiritual message.
After returning to her house and the adults were talking about the violence that had seemed to have entered many animated movies (He parents took a bye on the actual movie.)
Her mother brought up the fact that seeming violence was part of the movies she had seen as a young girl.
She next uttered a sentence (“After all, Nemo’s mother had been killed at the start of that movie.”). That created a chilling response from this 2 ½ year-old pitcher –
This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to present your thoughts on any topic that comes to mind.
.
She shouted –
“Nemo’s mother is dead!”, pause,
“My heart is broken!, pause,
“You have ruined my whole life!”
GD ran into her bedroom, dived under the bed and sobbed uncontrollably for the longest time.
The pathos could have been cut with a knife.
This was from the little Miss whose nickname in her soccer (That’s football, EV.) league was “Killer” at age 9 8.
Stay tuned for Part 3, tomorrow.
Update: Changed 9 to 8.
TheZoo 
My dissertation study examined resilience and early sporting experiences in adolescent females … Gosh, I wish I could have interviewed Lil’ Killer 😀
Looking forward to Part 3!
Be peace ~ Today might be a long one …
Re: animated violence– I’ve got a few bones to pick with adults who claim that animated violence is not out of control (have they seen Tom and Jerry, or for that matter, the method of conflict resolution used for practically every Disney cartoon??), as well as adults who think that animated works are exclusively for children.
Yeah right.. My son’s been playing actual Football (your kind) and came home with the most beautiful shiner yesterday. At least our football leaves it’s marks mostly on the shins. 🙂
crazytempura, in Germany they discontinued Porky Pig on tv in the seventies because it was too violent.
From the BBC Live feed (as usual)
I will not be able to post much here, I have to get things done before I leave on a skiing week tomorrow. I’ll let BBC run in the background and try to keep you up to speed if there are dramatic developments. (More dramatic than they already are)
If the Egyptians manage to stay peaceful (and that’s not easy for them proud as they are and feeling made fools of) the soldiers will refuse to use violence against them, imho. Ben Wedeman is right:
And this comes as no surprise to me at all. Mubarak is an idiot.
Agreed about violence not being new in animation. As you pointed out Tom & Jerry. I think also of the extreme violence in the Road Runner. Bugs Bunny was pretty violent, when you think of all the things he did to torment his foes.
Please go to Sandmonkey’s blog for a very concise analysis of yesterday’s events. Sandmonkey rocks!
If I may add: Mubarak totally misunderestimates the Obama Admin and our European leaders. All are pretty fed up with Israel as well. And they may still welcome more pressure on the Israelis brought on by the changes in the Arab world.
zxbe. I loved the roadrunner!!!!!!!
They’re on their way:
EV… thank you for providing so much valuable information as the situation in Egypt progresses.
Thanks Raven!
Mubarak has left the building (ahem Cairo) according to BBC
BREAKING NEWS: Senior Western official tells the BBC Hosni Mubarak has left Cairo.
I’d also like to thank EV, and everyone for the updates on the situation in Egypt. I’ve not been able to follow the news as closely as I like due to a hectic schedule right now.
The Roadrunner and Coyote show enabled me to develope a life long appreciation for ACME products.
Now there’s a corporation that needs no beltway lobby.
I think ACME may have changed their name to Haliburton.
Army Backs Mubarak as Crowds Surge
If the NYTimes link requires a log in, go to Morning Maddow and click on it there.
zxbe,
You could be right, ACME and Haliburton seem to deliver like results to their clientele..
1331: Sources tell BBC Arabic that Hosni Mubarak is in Sharm El-Sheikh.
“Hosni Mubarak is in Sharm El-Sheikh”
In a Halliburton-built bunker…
ACME product catalog.
http://home.roadrunner.com/~tuco/looney/acme.html
COYOTE v. ACME
In the United States District Court, Southwestern District, Tempe, Arizona
Case No. B191294, Judge Joan Kujava, Presiding
Wiley E. Coyote, Plaintiff
v.
Acme Company, Defendant
Opening Statement of Harold Schoff, attorney for Mr. Coyote: My client,
Mr. Wiley E. Coyote, a resident of Arizona and contiguous states, does
hereby bring suit for damages against the Acme Company, manufacturer and
retail distributor of assorted merchandise, incorporated in Delaware and
doing business in every state, district and territory. Mr. Coyote seeks
compensation for personal injuries, loss of business income, and mental
suffering caused as a direct result the actions and/or gross negligence
of said company, under Title 15 of the United States Code, Chapter 47,
section 2072, subsection (a), relating to product liability.
Mr. Coyote states that on eighty-five separate occasions he has purchased
of the Acme Company (hereinafter, “Defendant”), through that company’s
mail-order department, certain products which did cause him bodily injury
due to defects in manufacture or improper cautionary labelling. Sales slips
made out to Mr. Coyote as proof of purchase are at present in the posses-
sion of the Court, marked Exhibit A. Such injuries sustained by Mr. Coyote
have temporarily restricted his ability to make a living in his profession
of predator. Mr. Coyote is self-employed and thus not eligible for Work-
men’s Compensation.
Mr. Coyote states that on December 13th he received of Defendant via parcel
post one Acme Rocket Sled. The intention of Mr. Coyote was to use the
Rocket Sled to aid him in pursuit of his prey. Upon receipt of the Rocket
Sled Mr. Coyote removed it from its wooden shipping crate and, sighting his
prey in the distance, activated the ignition. As Mr. Coyote gripped the
handlebars, the Rocket Sled accelerated with such sudden and precipitate
force as to stretch Mr. Coyote’s forelimbs to a length of fifty feet.
Subsequently, the rest of Mr. Coyote’s body shot forward with a violent
jolt, causing severe strain to his back and neck and placing him unex-
pectedly astride the Rocket Sled. Disappearing over the horizon at such
speed as to leave a diminishing jet trail along his path, the Rocket Sled
soon brought Mr. Coyote abreast of his prey. At that moment the animal he
was pursuing veered sharply to the right. Mr. Coyote vigorously attempted
to follow this maneuver but was unable to do so, due to poorly designed
steering and a faulty or nonexistent braking system. Shortly thereafter,
the unchecked progress of the Rocket Sled brought it and Mr. Coyote into
collision with the side of a mesa.
Paragraph One of the Report of Attending Physician (Exhibit B), prepared by
Dr. Ernest Grosscup, M.D., D.O., details the multiple fractures, contusions
and tissue damage suffered by Mr. Coyote as a result of this collision.
Repair of the injuries required a full bandage around the head (excluding
the ears), a neck brace, and full or partial casts on all four legs.
Hampered by these injuries, Mr. Coyote was nevertheless obliged to support
himself. With this in mind, he purchased of Defendant as an aid to mobility
one pair of rocket skates. When he attempted to use this product, however,
he became involved in an accident remarkably similar to that which occurred
with the Rocket Sled. Again, Defendant sold over the counter, without
caveat, a product which attached powerful jet engines (in this case, two)
to inadequate vehicles, with little or no provision for passenger safety.
Encumbered by his heavy casts, Mr. Coyote lost control of the Rocket
Skates soon after strapping them on, and collided with a roadside billboard
so violently as to leave a hole in the shape of his full silhouette.
Mr. Coyote states that on occasions too numerous to list in this document
he has suffered mishaps with explosives purchased of the Defendant: the
Acme “Little Giant” Firecracker, the Acme Self-Guided Aerial Bomb, etc.
(For a full listing see the Acme Mail Order Explosives Catalogue and
attached deposition, entered into evidence as Exhibit C.) Indeed, it is
safe to say that not once has an explosive purchased of Defendant by Mr.
Coyote performed in an expected manner. To cite just one example: At the
expense of much time and personal effort, Mr. Coyote constructed around the
outer rim of a butte a wooden trough beginning at the top of the butte and
spiralling downward around it to some few feet above a black X painted on
the desert floor. The trough was designed in such a way that a spherical
explosive of the type sold by Defendant would roll easily and swiftly down
to the point of detonation indicated by the X. Mr. Coyote placed a generous
pile of birdseed directly on the X, and then, carrying the spherical Acme
Bomb (Catalogue #78-832), climbed to the top of the butte. Mr. Coyote’s
prey, seeing the bird seed, approached, and Mr. Coyote proceeded to light
the fuse. In an instant, the fuse burned down to the stem, causing the
bomb to detonate.
In addition to reducing all Mr. Coyote’s careful preparation to naught, the
premature detonation of Defendant’s product resulted in the following dis-
figurements to Mr. Coyote:
1. Severe singeing of the hair on the head, neck and muzzle.
2. Sooty discoloration.
3. Fracture of the left ear at the stem, causing the ear to dangle in the
aftershock with a creaking noise.
4. Full or partial combustion of whiskers, producing kinking, frazzling,
and ashy disintegration.
5. Radical widening of the eyes, due to brow and lid charring.
We come now to the Acme Spring-Powered Shoes. The remains of a pair of
these purchased by Mr. Coyote on June 23rd are Plaintiff’s Exhibit D.
Selected fragments have been shipped to the metallurgical laboratories of
the University of California at Santa Barbara for analysis, but to date no
explanation has been found for this product’s sudden and extreme malfunc-
tion. As advertised by Defendant, this product is simplicity itself: two
wood-and-metal sandals, each attached to milled-steel springs of high
tensile strength and compressed into a tightly coiled position by a cocking
device with a lanyard release. Mr. Coyote believed that this product would
enable him to pounce upon his prey in the initial moments of the chase,
when swift reflexes are at a premium.
To increase the shoes’ thrusting power still further, Mr. Coyote affixed
them by their bottoms to the side of a large boulder. Adjacent to the
boulder was a path which Mr. Coyote’s prey was known to frequent. Mr.
Coyote put his hind feet in the wood-and-metal sandals and crouched in
readiness, his right forepaw holding firmly to the lanyard release. Within
a short time Mr. Coyote’s prey did indeed appear on the path coming toward
him. Unsuspecting, the prey stopped near Mr. Coyote, well within range of
the springs at full extension. Mr. Coyote gauged the distance with care and
proceeded to pull the lanyard release.
At this point, Defendant’s product should have thrust Mr. Coyote forward
and away from the boulder. Instead, for reasons yet unknown, the Acme
Spring-Powered Shoes thrust the boulder away from Mr. Coyote. As the
intended prey looked on unharmed, Mr. Coyote hung suspended in air. Then
the twin springs recoiled, bringing Mr. Coyote to a violent feet-first
collision with the boulder, the full weight of his head and forequarters
falling upon his lower extremities.
The force of this impact then caused the springs to rebound, whereupon Mr.
Coyote was thrust skyward. A second recoil and collision followed. The
boulder, meanwhile, which was roughly ovoid in shape, had begun to bounce
down a hillside, the coiling and recoiling of the springs adding to its
velocity. At each bounce, Mr. Coyote came into contact with the boulder,
or the boulder came into contact with Mr. Coyote, or both came into contact
with the ground. As the grade was a long one, this process continued for
some time.
A sequence of collisions resulted in systemic physical damage to Mr.
Coyote, viz., flattening of the cranium, sideways replacement of the
tongue, reduction of length of legs and upper body, and compression of
vertebrae from base of tail to head. Repetition of blows along a vertical
axis produced a series of regular horizontal folds in Mr. Coyote’s body
tissues — a rare and painful condition which caused Mr. Coyote to expand
upward and contract downward alternately as he walked, and to emit off-key,
accordionlike wheezing with every step. The distracting and embarrassing
nature of this symptom has been a major impediment to Mr. Coyote’s pursuit
of a normal social life.
As the Court is no doubt aware, Defendant has a virtual monopoly of manu-
facture and sale of goods required by Mr. Coyote’s work. It is our con-
tention that Defendant has used its market advantage to the detriment of
the consumer of such specialized products as itching powder, giant kites,
Burmese tiger traps, anvils, and two-hundred-foot-long rubber bands. Much
as he has come to distrust Defendant’s products, Mr. Coyote has no other
domestic source of supply to which to turn. One can only wonder what our
trading partners in Western Europe and Japan would make of such a
situation, where a giant company is allowed to victimize the consumer in
the most reckless and wrongful manner over and over again.
Mr. Coyote respectfully requests that the Court regard these larger
economic implications and assess punitive damages in the amount of seven-
teen million dollars. In addition, Mr. Coyote seeks actual damages (missed
meals, medical expenses, days lost from professional occupation) of one
million dollars; general damages (mental suffering, injury to reputation)
of twenty million dollars; and attorney’s fees of seven hundred and fifty
thousand dollars. Total damages: thirty-eight million seven hundred and
fifty thousand dollars. By awarding Mr. Coyote the full amount, this Court
will censure Defendant, its directors, officers, shareholders, successors,
and assigns, in the only language they understand, and reaffirm the right
of the individual predator to equal protection under the law.
Thanks vinylspear, I’m running low on dehydrated boulders…
Perhaps the ACME ultimatum dispatcher is what is needed for Mubarak?
http://home.roadrunner.com/~tuco/looney/acme/ultima.html
Re: “The Food Safety and Modernization Act is best known for sections that aim to prevent foodborne illnesses, allow the Food and Drug Administration to order recalls and make it easier to trace contaminated food to its source. But the law also protects workers at food companies regulated by the FDA from being fired, demoted or denied promotions or raises if they speak up about what they think are violations.”
Good luck with that. The reality is, and will be, when someone blows the whistle, they end up with a big target on their back. The employer will make that person’s life miserable until s/he quits or will manufacture a “good cause” termination. The person will be blacklisted, unable to gain employment in that, or any other field. S/he will likely have to return to college, get training in a different field, and use college professors as new recommenders.
If s/he chooses to sue the employer, the litigation will be a roller-coaster. The whistleblower will be attacked without mercy. Odds of prevailing are about 1/4 and the average settlement/judgment is $30 – $35k, with his/her attorney receiving 33%-40%.
I speak from experience. I was a whistleblower. I was targeted. I went back to school, leaving a profession I once loved, and began a new career after the age of 50.
I have an acquaintance who worked as an accountant for a credit card company. He found financial shenanigans, and was offered a payoff, and signed legal documents that he would never go public or work again in the credit card industry.
You’re not alone BnF.
Not swimming with the rest of salmon and doing the right thing can be a very lonely experience.
It also teaches you who your friends really are.
Often, just getting out with your life is luck.
Getting on with your life is even luckier.
Vinyl – it’s too early to be reading case law! All I could think about, while reviewing the opening statement, was what would be ACME’s response: the Assumption of Risk doctrine.
ACME, and other companies of its ilk, continually push for “tort reform,” calling such lawsuits as Mr. Coyote’s “frivolous litigation.” They push this on the public, claiming such lawsuits increase the price of goods, and con the public into voting in favor of capping the liability of the company, restricting the victim’s right to sue and collect damages.
In defense of ACME, a highly imaginative company whose products are often used for less than noble purposes; it could benefit from some scrutiny of professional victims such as Mr. Coyote, whose skulking and opportunistic habits prey upon happy hardworking citizens like Mr. Roadrunner.
“happy hardworking citizens like Mr. Roadrunner.”
Excuse me? What exactly does Mr. Roadrunner do? He runs on the road, all day. He adds wear and tear to our public highways – ever bother to count the number of times he has left the roadway in flames? He doesn’t buy fuel, thus pays no taxes to help pay for the damage he causes to asphault.
And he lives off of free handouts, continually chowing down on mounds of birdseed left for him by Mr. Coyote. No, Mr. Roadrunner is far from a hardworking citizen. He gets to run around all day long, doing nothing to contribute to society. (Running on the road is his idea of having fun.)
That’s why Nature created predators like Mr. Coyote, to work ceaselessly, day and night, to rid our society of freeloaders like Mr. Roadrunner.
Reminds me a lot of miss Amber in her 2 year old state. She had (still has) the tenderest of hearts.
Ah, but Mr. Roadrunner displays a remarkable proclivity for being able to pass through tunnels painted on boulders, and when said coyote tries to follow, the tunnel turns back into rock.
Methinks Mr. Roadrunner is Merlin reincarnated!
Mr. Roadrunner has lost weight and has had to resort to driving truck part time as a direct result of Mr. Coyote’s ceaseless predations.
If Mr. Roadrunner were transporting donkeys and mules as part of his drayage, would he be hauling ass?
vinlyspear, thanks for that Friday morning laff-fest!
Mr. Roadrunner is an upstanding member of the Teamsters Union, and they would be hauling him.
An Arizona Cardinal (NOT a football player)
Photo by Denny Green, Tempe Arizona
http://frugalchariot.wordpress.com/2011/02/11/388/
An Arizona Cardinal (NOT a football player)
Photo by Denny Green, Tempe Arizona
• • That’s pretty ironic, considering that the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals used to be….
Denny Green.
BBC world press photographs of the year. Warning: the first one breaks your heart.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12428938
And so does the last one.
“Mr. Roadrunner has lost weight and has had to resort to driving truck part time”
Oh great. An unlicensed bird-brain driving truck on our nation’s highways.
As Thom Hartmann pointed out the other day unions and trial lawyers are the two groups that traditionally donated to Democrats while big business donates to Republicans. That’s why unions and tort reform have been targets for Republicans since Reagan.
Republicans don’t care about the country or the people all they care about is their own power.
Mubarek is stepping down and the crowd goes wild. Woohoo.
According to BBC:Mubarak resigns (I’ve said that before)
BREAKING NEWS: Vice-President Suleiman: Mubarak stepping down.
Mubarak is gone.
Omar Suleiman is making a statement now. “President Hosni Mubarak has decided to waive the office of the republic
Tahrir Square is exploding into celebrations.
As they are saying this has been a youth movement. When are the youth of this country going to get off their asses? After all it is their retirement benefits that the GOP is trying to strip away.
I just heard an idiot on the Stephanie Miller show saying George W. Bush should get all the credit for the Egyptian protests and Mubarak stepping down — because his attack on Iraq caused a “ripple in the pond,” which — 8 years later — caused the Egyptians to rise up and demand democracy.
I’m laughing my ass off.
Couldn’t have been a speech made in Cairo in June 2009, could it?
What did Stehanie say?
She did a fast list of the facts around us going into Iraq, and the facts around the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, and the guy just groaned and said, “You just gotta spin, don’t ya?”
Facts mean nothing to these people!
When did Mubarak step down? I just got in.
Z, I was listening to that too. I loved how she completely shut him down by asking why conservatives weren’t rooting for Mubarek to go.
President Obama to speak at 1:30pm EST. That’s two hours away.
When did Mubarak step down?
A short while ago, just before he got thrown down.
Leon Panetta looks only slightly less idiotic now.
Mubarak just had to get in one more “fuck you” before he left his “beloved people.”
I wonder how much choice he had? I can see Suleiman putting a black bag on the old man’s head and throwing him into the truck of a car.
Badmoodman: “• • That’s pretty ironic, considering that the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals used to be….
Denny Green.”
Really? Must be two of them then. I gotta admit I’ve never heard of the football coach one though. Not surprising, really, given my total lack of interest in sports. Still, the irony is interesting. I’ll ask the photographer if he ever heard of the other Denny Green.
Here is the live feed from Al Jazeera – http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/ .
I have a nagging feeling that U.S. forces will be posturing in the area in the form of aircraft carriers and other hardware.
I could bet that there has been a considerable increase in over flights of U-2’s and “the birds”
Zooey, you didn’t hear the roar from Tahrir? Just an hour ago or so.
house, you are absolutely right! Why not the Cairo speech? And the fact that the Obama Admin said from the very beginning that the grievances of the people had to be adressed. Mubaraks yesterday’s speech was a full blown rebuke for the attempts of mostly the US to make him step down. Right now the US doesn’t protect the strong men anymore. And this, not the warmongering, destabilizes such regimes. Wait for the Mullahs in Iran spin this as a “islamic revolution”. It isn’t and they will feel that,too. They won’t be able to quell the next uprising like they did the last one. And the despots in the Arabic world can start making new plans. Egypt falling is a huge thing, much bigger than Tunisia. Israel will have to reconsider their policies as well. The way Obama handled Mubarak will resonate in Israel. Big time.
No EV, I was taking my son to work. 😦
Hopefully I’ll hear a repeat today.
Are the women of Egypt to be included in this liberation?
The crowds are just going insane!! It’s so amazing!
Ok I’m rambling. I’ll try to bring my thoughts together a little better one of these days. We’ll see more of this. Hungary, Poland, Eastern Germany, that was a chain reaction as well.
Zooey, yes. Young Egyptian women are more modern than we think, we get distracted by their scarves.
I have to head over to sandmonkey and congratulate him.
What is it about crusty old men that they can’t just go off into the sunset gracefully?
McCain was the same way along with a host of tyrants throughout history.
I only hope that the people get what they desire, not just a new despot.
Missed the 30 seconds that ended the 30 years of Mubarak’s rule? Watch it again here:
Not until the plug is literally pulled – meaning no power to power the little hand held devices – then there will be an uprising.
“Youth” don’t really think about retirement. We oldsters will start the revolution in the U.S. and the younger generation may pick up the banner.
————————–
Egypt is Electrified – hugging, jubilation.
Their posters are great: one with a boot kicking Mubarak in the behind!
Viva la Revolution!
Yeah. Add to the list Sadaam Hussein, Dick Cheney…
All those poor autocratic rulers who have relied on the big dog to back them for all these years. Maybe this is what the world will look like as the US goes broke and can’t ‘stabilize’ the world with pet dictators.
I wonder if Glenn Beck is sobbing and shivering in the corner?
Calling Out Around the World…
Egyptians who paid the price:
http://1000memories.com/egypt
I think Glenn Beck will find some convoluted way to parallel the movement in Egypt to some sort of teabagger ideology.
On a blackboard of course…
Here is a ‘primer’ on the complexities of power structures in Egypt, and why Mubarak is out.
Glenn Beck is TV’s Rube Goldberg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg
Glenn thinks this has caused the world to go into a new direction.
On one hand I feel like saying “duh.” Of course it’s a new direction. Time will tell if it’s a good or bad direction. He assumes it’s for the bad. But then again, I think nearly every day he’s predicting the end of the world.
He’s also said his critics can go to hell. I guess he’s given up on the “restoring honor” thing.
Happy B-Day Thos. Edison:
Why do they always wait until the guys topple?
1757: AFP also reporting that the Swiss government has ordered a freeze on the assets of Hosni Mubarak and his entourage (see 1719 entry).
Srsly, Mubarak has had all this time to move money wherever he wants it to go.
Yet another massive gas explosion, this time in Ohio.
American infrastructure has gone to shit.
I hate the part of raising children that requires me to explain the ugliness in the world to perfect innocent beings. Last week I had to discuss the Holocaust with my son, he cried for half an hour.
My young man wonders why the Coyote doesn’t take all the money he spends on Acme and just buy some chicken.
MSNBC is saying the military has suspended Egypt’s Parliament, so basically this is a military coup. The Speaker of Parliament was supposed to succeed the President, not the Vice President. Suleiman said Mubarak ceded his power to the military, not according to their existing Constitution. We will have to wait and see if the elections help the people or the power structure among the military elite.
My young man wonders why the Coyote doesn’t take all the money he spends on Acme and just buy some chicken.
I think the wrong people are in charge Outstanding! Plus, if the young were running things, we’d all get to eat cake more often.
Zooey, that reminds me of that old Cosby routine with the punchline of having it rain for 40 days and 40 nights and wait for the sewers to back up. The terrorists don’t have to attack the US. Just sit back and watch the greed do the job for them.
Hooda, Osama bin Laden knew he would only have to attack us once — we’d take care of the rest of his work from within.
My hope lies with the Egyptian people, that they find a compassionate leader, one who cares about something other than wealth and power.
My expectation is that no matter how much things appear to change, the more they’re destined to remain the same. Same rule applies here, and everywhere. Always has, always will. Exceptions are rare as hen’s teeth. Power and money rule. Not sanity, not intelligence, not compassion.
Still, maybe this time will be different?
Because the Coyote and the Roadrunner are metaphores for the folly of mankind.
Zooey: “American infrastructure has gone to shit.”
YEAH, AND IT’S ALL OBAMA’S FAULT!!!!!
/s
Grrr, looks like I finally have to go in to work. Pfft.
February 11th
Mubarak picked an auspicious date to resign. On this day 32 years ago the Iranian revolution took place when the Shah’s forces were overwhelmed. And 21 years ago today Nelson Mandela was freed by the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Badmoodman,
That’s interesting, my wife and I seem to remember that 41 years, today, our second son’s birth would occur on April 1st instead of the 15th. He held on until the 15th but weighed in at 11 lbs 3 oz. The doc kidded her by saying that the newborn “is ready to drive you home” in the delivery room.
New favorite phrase:
“Farting into a mitten”
Thank you Hoodathunk!
Or the US could be waiting for the next ‘gotcha’.
Once the club duffer challenged the local golf pro to a match, with a $100 bet on the side. “But,” said the duffer, “since you’re obviously much better than I, to even it a bit you have to spot me two ‘gotchas’.”
The golf pro didn’t know what a ‘gotcha’ was, but he went along with it. And off they went.
Coming back to the 19th hole, the rest of the club members were amazed to see the golf pro paying the duffer $100.
“What happened?” asked one of the members.
“Well,” said the pro, “I was teeing up for the first hole, and as I brought the club down, that jerk stuck his hand between my legs and grabbed my crotch and yelled ‘Gotcha!’
“Have you ever tried to play 18 holes of golf waiting for the second ‘gotcha’?”
The Egyptians need to keep their ‘eyes on the ball’ – Mr Sulieman is rendition-torturer in chief and the man who has had his foot on the neck of the Gazan Palestinians on his side of the border….
They need to watch out for: “Meet the new boss, same as…”
The MSNBC live feed is showing a man in the crowd breathing fire. They are standing SO close to him, and I can’t watch anymore, cuz one of ’em is gonna catch on fire.
Thom Hartmann is at CPAC today, and he’s talking to these looney toons. Wow.
The woman he’s talking to now — missed the intro — is bitching about the debt, but wants to increase the tax cuts more and more, said Bush won every re-count in Florida, the civilians in Iraq were killed by terrorists, not us, and Donald Rumsfeld is wonderful.
*puke*
Can’t fix da stoopid, Zoo….
A simple Google search would have given that stupid cow the information, although it would not enlighten her.
Here’s the clue to her ‘thought’ process: DR is wonderful.
She obviously believes the US troops were greeted with flowers and candy – isn’t that what the rummy-one predicted?!
Kanan Makiya is quoted as having said, “As I told the President on January 10th, I think [the troops] will be greeted with sweets and flowers in the first months and simply have very, very little doubts that that is the case.” His support for the war followed an idealistic line, as recounted in the New York Times Magazine in 2007:
However, the article depicted Makiya expressing concern over the subsequent war, and comparing the number of Iraqi deaths since 2003 to deaths under the deposed ruler Saddam Hussein: “I’m an important arabic intelectual, and there is no picture of me at wikipedia.”
A simple Google search would have given that stupid cow the information…
Woman: “A simple what, search?”
Point taken, badmoodman. 😉
“I’m an important arabic intelectual, and there is no picture of me at wikipedia.”
Is that a copy-and-paste? Maybe it’s just me, but I’d be leery of some claiming to be an intellectual who can’t spell the word correctly.
Yep, I copied the whole thing from the link.
I’m off to get my taxes done. Laters!
some = someone.
aarrggh.
I’m off to get my taxes done. Laters!
Ugh, I did that yesterday. Not good.
Still waiting on Obama to speak. He’s always late!
Here he is!
The US is going to help in the days ahead.
Obama quoted MLK on how the soul cries out for freedom and that’s what transpired in Egypt.
I guess I’m not getting my taxes done today — they didn’t have the software update from the IRS regarding the new rules for student tuition. Gee, I hope the new rules are in my favor.
What did Obama say? I’m missing everything today.
Zooey: “I hope the new rules are in my favor.”
Are you a multinational corporation or a Wall Street Bank?
Frugal, I guess I shouldn’t get my hopes up…
I will be doing my taxes for the next month. It’s my fault, I tend to stuff all my farm stuff in a can and try sort it out at then end of the year. I did manage to do my mom’s taxes though.
OIMF,
Your mom’s taxes must have been real tough.
And the saga of the unknown author of the as yet unread book begins:
The Incessant Voice of War: The Black Rose Conspiracies
http://www.amazon.com/Incessant-Voice-War-Black-Conspiracies/dp/1609119878/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1297456823&sr=8-1
Scary scary!
Congrats, frugal!!
Will it be available for Kindle?
Compare and contrast:
GOP Governor (Ahhhnold): private jet and security entourage.
DEM Governor (Jerry/Moonbeam): commercial airline – no security – schmoozing with fellow passengers.
I actually got a grin out of doing mom’s taxes. My mom was a big time tax cheat, if she didn’t want to pay tax on something she just didn’t. I’ve had panic calls from her when she got caught and thought the IRS would put her in jail. During the early stages of her dementia, before I wrestled control of her finances away from her she had one year where her income was so small she owed no state taxes. She decided this meant she never had to pay them again and fought me bitterly every year over the issue. I’d have to sneak to pay her estimated taxes. Well last year she really didn’t owe the state any tax. It would make her so happy.
(dang back in the spam bin – or perhaps feeding WP – it’s gone)
frugal – C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S !
That’s wonderful!
Congratulations on the release of the book frugal!
On the l/side of the page, below the book cover, you can tick the box that states:
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle
Thanks ebb and OIMF. Fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch:
OIMF: “I actually got a grin out of doing mom’s taxes.”
Reminds me of a true story. Way back when, when I was just a lad, my granddad came down with what we now call Alzheimers. I’m guessing it was in 1950, or so, that he retired, sold his hardware store, and his decline started in earnest. His wife, my grandma, took over the finances when he was no longer able. She apparently didn’t file a tax return that first year, rather sent the IRS a handwritten letter that said, “Ted retired last year so we won’t be filing tax returns anymore.” Or words close to that.
They lived in a little tiny town on the prairie in southern Minnesota. One day, months later, the doorbell rang. She answered it, and there stood two guys in dark suits, white shirts, and ties. They were from the IRS. Grandma learned a lot that day. I happened to be there with my older sister; our folks were on the road to somewhere, left us with grandparents for a week or so. Never saw grandma so upset as she was that day. So intimidated! And all because she thought that when you were retired and not working for a living anymore that you didn’t have to pay taxes. She did from that point forward, of course, but one quickly learned to never mention the word ‘tax’ in her presence. Meanwhile, grandpa was the lucky one. He had no idea anymore; the only thing he couldn’t understand was where did he leave his pipe and tobacco pouch (which he’d given up at least ten years prior).
Life is fleeting, but taxes are forever. I learned that way back then.
Zooey, it should be available on Kindle soon, far as I know. But how all this shit works remains puzzling even when I try to keep up. Just glad I don’t have to rely on my cell phone, which is even more puzzling!
It’s a bitch to get old.
Frugal, congratulations!
frugal, that really is your book? Already?
Yep, zxbe, that’s it. Same as the one sittin’ on my shelf that’s two weeks old today already. I’ve sandwiched it between James Michener and Herman Wouk, hoping for a vibe or two.
Frugal, you must sit there grinning at that book. 🙂
Oops. Hooda and zxbe popped up at the same time. Forgive the confusion.
One small sale, one giant step towards best seller.
frugal, when I ordered mine I asked for the special, personally autographed copy that was reserved for Hoodathunk and they laughed at me. What up with that? D)
Woohoo frugal, that is so exciting. I hope it’s available on Nook too!
Hooda: “One small sale, one giant step towards best seller.”
As John C. VanDyke wrote in a letter to Scribners, his publisher for his 1903 masterpiece “The Desert” (and satisfied my instinct in the process): “It will not sell in the hundreds of thousands – it is not so bad as that.”
Ebb, I’m lovin the Gambel’s quail.
I love this man:
French political writer Émile Zola was pretty much penniless when he started writing. Of course communication wasn’t as good back then (turn of the previous centuries) as it is now. He went to the publisher a few weeks after one of his books had been published, and asked if he could have a modest few dollar advance. The publisher laughed and Zola thought he wasn’t going to get any advance. It turns out that Zola didn’t yet know that the buck was selling faster than they could print them he got an advance in the many thousands.
I hope you wake so pleasantly surprised frugal. 🙂
correction: the word “buck” should be “book.”
Hooda, Publisher says it’s ok to bring it with you in April or May on your dash to the Four Corners. Signing is free, along with Cornish Game Hens, roasted under pepper-allspice-juniper seasoning. Your choice of wine (so long as it’s available across the street at Tom’s Alpine Liquors).
zxbe — yeah, me and Emile Zola. YIKES! 🙂
But still, like him, I’d settle for enough to buy a nice breakfast.
“I read your book.”
“Oh, you’re the one.”
Congrats, Frugal! Let us know when it is available on e-readers!
(By the bye, regardless of which reader(s) it comes out on, the Calibre software will readily convert it into native format on any other reader.)
frugal, I do so love those offers one can’t resist.
Back to the original idea of the thread, anyone who thinks Disney cartoon movies aren’t something for kids to watch has never seen their version of Hunchback.
grrrr, are for kids.
Its early for Music Night but the title of frugal’s book made me think of this one.
badmoodman, two Nobel Prize laureates went to our high school. And as Joe Biden would say, apparently that’s a big effing deal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_laureates_by_secondary_school_affiliation
Based upon the fact that I don’t know Shayne or Badmoodman personally, but know that they went to the same high school, and that two Nobel Laureates went to that high school, I’m going to draw the only available conclusion:
Congratulations Shayne and Badmoodman on your Nobel prizes!
hooda, Hercules is pretty good too.
zybe, you guess. Actually I meant to finish the comment with. “What happened to us?”
frugal, Barnes & Nobel has it listed, pictures and everything, already. I am so excited I could plotz. That’s a shoutout to my other Niles Easter.
Thanks Shayne, yep that’s it. It should be available on Nook soon, far as I know. But then, I just now landed on an alien world I know absolutely nothing about so who the hell am I to say what the locals are up to?
I’ll ask around. Once I learn the lingo. Meanwhile, “Uh, Scottie? Beam me up. Ok? Please?” 🙂
Mmmmmm, my house smells like Mom’s meatloaf.
That’s what I had today, meat loaf!
Geez,
We had shrimp scampi, artichoke and beet salad plus garlic bread. We neither expect nor would like to have any guests tonight.
Oops! House Abortion Bill Proponents Forget to Cite Constitutional Authority
Of course, being that the video is only 1:16:41 long, it’s time prohibitive to watch, but I can imagine him saying this.
That is absolutely delicious, House.
Those pompous ass teabagger/repiggies made so much noise about how they were going have open hearings, allow amendments, cite Constitutional authority, blah blah blah, and they haven’t done any of it!!
And Anthony Weiner isn’t going to let them forget it. Bravo, Rep Weiner!!
“…failed to cite the appropriate constitutional authority…”
All those ‘Constitutional” scholars – and no one bothered to find the appropriate citation.
LOVE IT!