Recently got an email from a company based outside the Anglophone sphere of influence:
Finishing does 2009 and we are again thankful for once to deep interest and love of a customer.
It seems to be regret and miss something while feeling that we were always short,
but this year was a [...]
Hard times call for desperate measures:
Green Balloon Juice!
The Spousal Unit is taking me to a performance of the NUTCRACKER, the kind that backs a handful of professionals with the local children’s ballet school and a recorded orchestra. Happy thoughts, y’all.
[...]The way this week has been going, I think we can all agree on one issue: Moar sweet, delicious COOKIES!
Bad Horse’s Filly writes:
Since we will have no Thursday Night Menu next week, this week I’m going to give you my traditional Christmas morning breakfast. These are simple to make and [...]
In the December 14 New Yorker, Atul Gawande has another fascinating article on health-care-reform incrementalism. If genius lies in seeing the unexpected connections, it’s surely genius to compare our current broken, fragmented, frustrating medical-delivery systems with the state of American agriculture at the turn of the last century:
According to [...]
Jeesh, seems like everybody’s still cranky from a long, bad week.
I know the word “anime” acts upon certain hip individuals as an emetic, but for those of you who enjoyed Spirited Away and/or Howl’s Moving Castle, I want to recommend the short (16 episodes, 4 DVDs) series Kamichu!. It’s the [...]
Thank you, Bad Horse’s Filly:
A little bit of comfort food (at least Ravioli is in my house) for what has been a very cold and busy week. I make fresh pasta for special occasions – my spinach lasagna being one of them. I have only made fresh ravioli once, [...]
From Bad Horse’s Filly:
Continuing our theme of quick and easy recipes for the holidays, here’s a slow-cooker meal you can set up the night before and have ready at the end of a busy day of holiday events. This is a recipe from a restaurant in Ouray, CO that [...]
Two stories, from two different sources (neither of them explicitly political), about two quite different men who share one thing: They are each very, very angry at the American government for its handling of the Iraqi occupation.
In Vanity Fair, Adam Ciralsky tells us of Erik Prince, “Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, [...]
An article in the New York Times (We May Be Born With an Urge to Help) suggests that the ongoing anthropological argument about the relative importance of aggression versus cooperation on the development of human society may be swinging in favor of the DFH preference. As a blogger, I [...]
DougJ already linked to one of James Fallows’ excellent Atlantic posts on the Media Village Idiots’ deliberate misunderstanding of President Obama’s goals during his Asian trip. But I thought this quote from an unnamed government official in Manufactured Failure #6 : The Wrapup deserved to be highlighted:
“From inside [...]
Pratchett released Unseen Academicals six weeks ago. If you’re a Pratchett fan, have you read it yet? And if so, what do you think of it?
I liked it, more than I had feared, especially since all I know about Foot-The-Ball I learned from TBoggs and translations of the [...]
I suspect good progressives are too hip ever to have watched Judging Amy, but the new infotainment-friendly Sarah Palin strikes me as the runaway offspring that Tyne Daly was too embarrassed to tell Amy Brenneman and her siblings about…
Andrew Sullivan complains “She wants to be a celebrity, not a [...]
I don’t know why Erick Erickson hasn’t already announced a fund-raising drive to bring this… unusual… artwork celebrating President Obama’s visit to China back to a venue where it can really be appreciated…
(via WGNtv.com Chicago)
Perhaps the Red State Strike Farce simply can’t decide [...]
Truly, this blogoverse is an amazing space. Twenty four hours ago, I did not even know there was such a musical category as ‘paganfolk’, and yet a commentor’s request concerning the translation of Japanese katakana led to a discussion of medieavalist music which led me to spend way too much [...]
Bad Horse’s Filly writes:
I’m off with family, getting ready for my youngest brother’s wedding. I’ll be the one in the pretty bridesmaid dress, my 3-year-old niece and I playing princess in our matching dresses while mom and dad get hitched. But I didn’t forget you guys. I thought a fish [...]
Soonergrunt posted this late last week, and I’m just sorry it didn’t get front-paged sooner:
I don’t have all the answers. I have said before that I have very little faith in anybody who speaks about Afghanistan as if they know exactly what to do, or they have a single, un-nuanced [...]
Mr. Sullivan decries the falling standards of modern Catholicism:
In Onaiyekan, you have a classic Benedict/JP II Archbishop: dumb as a post, sheltered from the actual debate in the West, incapable of argument, and pathetic as a spokesman. The problem with the theoconservative take-over in the Catholic priesthood is not [...]
Your weekly soul- and tummy-warmer, thank you Bad Horse’s Filly:
it’s always good to have a soup recipe on hand for when the cold weather returns. And there’s nothing better on a cold night than Creamy Potato Cheese Soup.
On the board tonight:
(1) Cream of Potato Cheese Soup
(2) Orange-Walnut [...]
I really wish Steve Gilliard were here today, because only he could do full justice to both Bloomberg’s victory and Corzine’s failure. And while Mr. Gilliard was, IIRC, no fan of Mayor Bloomberg, he would certainly have had some useful if excoriating advice for those goo-goos who are now shocked, [...]
From the NYT obituary for Claude Lévi-Strauss:
The accepted view held that primitive societies were intellectually unimaginative and temperamentally irrational, basing their approaches to life and religion on the satisfaction of urgent needs for food, clothing and shelter.
Mr. Lévi-Strauss rescued his subjects from this limited perspective… he found among them [...]
A small TV happy for me, and John Cole: TV Squad reports that TNT has secured the rights to Southland, primarily the rights to the seven episodes from last season and the six episodes that NBC made but refused to air:
If you want more episodes, the solution is [...]
He’s eight years old today, and has been living with us for the last three. When the Spousal Unit picked him up from the nice breed-rescue foster family in Pennsylvania, they told him [name redacted] was the “perfect” Papillon—good-looking, not noisy, reliably housebroken, used to [...]
I really wish Steve Gilliard were here to share his opinions on the Hoffman Surge in NY-23. There is a war between the native NYCers and the appleknockers cowhumpers upstaters with at least 200 years of history behind it, and the Ankh Morpork Big Apple team has all the good [...]
A note from Bad Horse’s Filly:
So it’s Friday and I totally forgot to send you the link for last night’s menu. It is one of my favorite recipes, Garlic, Garlic Chicken... I forgot yesterday was Thursday until I saw on my own blog this morning that it posted.
On the board [...]
Just finished the latest additions to the Lexicon, section I – P. I think we need more quotes being mean to Liberals. Also, I didn’t include Lucky Duckies, or John Stewart’s brilliant Leave It There (We’re Gonna Have to… ), or McNaughton, It’s A … [...]
Fuck the fucking Yankees. If they win tonight, I’ll have to re-run “Prince of Darkness”.
P.S. If Steve Gilliard were still blogging, I think he would say Sullivan hates Sarah Palin ‘cuz Levi Johnston never brung Andy a taco…
[...]
Via The Mudflats, the blog that did so much to bring attention to Sarah Palin’s less-than-starburstacular career before William ‘Wrong Again’ Kristol cruised Juneau:
To anticipate your next question, no this is not a joke, or some fabulous Photoshop creation by the Mudflats Art Department [...]
Because there’s a lot of frustration going around recently. Make stew, not sausage! Take it away, Bad Horse’s Filly:
In honor of the fall colors, it’s time to break out the slowcooker and make a traditional menu. How nice is it to come home from a day’s work or outdoor chores [...]
After Tunch’s Excellent Adventure (aka John Cole’s Very-Bad-No-Good-Terrible-Horrible Evening), possibly I was just primed to pick up this local news story…
It is, as they say, developing. But this much I know: All animal control officers and most veterinary facilities, here in Massachusetts, automatically scan “stray” animals for an RIFD chip. [...]
According to the NYT City Room blog:
A federal judge on Tuesday revoked bail for Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York police commissioner who is facing conspiracy and fraud charges. Judge Stephen C. Robinson of Federal District Court in White Plains said Mr. Kerik could not be trusted to [...]
NSFW, unless your boss is a hardcore otaku:
H/T Jezebel, where it ran over the weekend under the title “Fly Away Home, Gentle Underpants”
[...]Because the Esteemed Proprietor is off watching football and the Lexicon is still un-editable, I will share with y’all the Michael Gass Memorial Multi-Paragraph Blockquoting Fix:
Three Dots. Also known as “an ellipsis”. Used between every paragraph you want to link together in your blockquote, like so:
The ellipsis is a [...]
The last of this summer’s paltry tomato plants are well & truly frost-withered, and the final hastily-gathered bowlful of green fruits don’t look very promising either. But next week, the weatherpodperson promises, more 60-degree days!
Happy Friday night, y’all…
[...]I guess we’ll have to take ‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’ out of the Lexicon now, because once Jake Tapper starts using it any phrase is officially Lame & Worn Out.
(H/T Wonkette)
Also (thank you Bad Horse’s Filly) here is the Thursday Night Menu – Checkered Tablecloth Edition, slightly late, [...]
Good news for John McCain angry activists! The Boston Globe says that psychologists Tim Kasser and Malte Klar find “activism”, however futile, makes people feel better about themselves!
Psychologists curious about what fuels human happiness have looked at political engagement and political activism, and they’ve found that it provides [...]
Our “new” dog Gloria’s status is changing from foster to permanent, and she is totally taking advantage. Eight-year-old Zevon is limping from a hard shoulder check, Syd Viscous is reverting to his old abused Worm Boy persona, and don’t even ask what the three cats think. Gloria automatically goes to [...]
WordPress still won’t let me change so much as a misplaced comma in the Lexicon. Actually, WordPress is only allowing me to read the site about 60% of the time this week, just in case anybody thought the secondary front-pagers got some kind of special access. Either the Red State [...]
So, here are the proposed additions to the BJLex I’ve collected since Saturday:
Banana Republican
Brooks Brothers Riot
Calvinball
FTW (add as a synonym to ‘This’)
He-Man Woman-Hater’s Club – Chris Matthews, Beltway Chapter President
Heh, Indeed
Millblogger
Moderate – someone who gets all their news from network television
Movement Conservative [...]
Since I know there are professional developers out there, a question. Starting Sunday morning, whenever I attempt to Edit the BJ Lexicon, I’ve been getting the same message:
Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 33554432 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 122880 bytes) in /home/jcole1/public_html/bal/wp-includes/general-template.php on line 1524
I’ve tried it on two [...]
Because I can’t access the BJ Lexicon tonight, I’ll just share this tidbit here: According to the late local TV news, the late William Safire claimed to have introduced the terms “strawman” and “thrown under the bus“ into modern political discourse (along with his catchphrase, “nattering nabobs of negatavism”).
Of course [...]
Because the old thread is long and growing tired.
Pancakes for breakfast! Who’s got a great recipe / cooking technique / reminiscence?
[...]Latoya Peterson at Jezebel has the best concise explanation I’ve seen of the Great FOX News ACORN Scandal. She finds five key questions, and answers them, with an efficiency I can only wish the “established, professional” Media Village Idiots would use more often:
What does ACORN do?
Why did they [...]
Until John gets around to posting pet pictures, and/or Bad Horse Filly’s “Menu for the Weekend.”
*** Update ***
Thanks, Anne Laurie. I forgot, yet again. The menu:
Seared Ginger Tuna Rice
Mint-Papaya-Pineapple Salsa
Tossed Salad Sliced
Apples w/Caramel dipping sauce
And the cute:
[...]Cathleen Schine, whose novel The New Yorkers was a perceptive window into the difference between a person and a-person-who-lives-with-a-dog, reviews INSIDE OF A DOG: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know for the New York Times:
Dogs are, says Horowitz, “creatures of the nose.” To help us grasp the magnitude of [...]
“I have not the least expectation that the plan will be adopted. In South Carolina there is less enterprise, less public spirit, than in any other state; and that, Heaven knows, reduces it low enough.”
Theodosia Burr* was writing (to her father) about prison reform, not health care reform, and there [...]
Our new foster papillon “Gloria” got turfed from her last home because she made the dog-logical mistake of attacking their tiny, elderly Queen Bee girl dog. In the three-days-and-counting she’s been here with us, Gloria has given our elderly, imperious (and much larger, tho still smaller than Gloria) Princess Buta-Hime-Sama [...]
