I’m told my alma mater pulled off the first big upset of the NCAA tournament. Ohio University humiliated the Hoyas of Georgetown — and boy, I can still do that headline alliteration, ain’a? — 97-83. For the record, this pleases me. For reals, (shrug). I cannot care about this stuff. I didn’t care about sports when I was a student there, so I can hardly start now. But knowing that huge upsets are part of the DNA of this tournament, I guess I approve.
I have to say, it’s a little unsettling to think anyone cares about sports in Athens these days. A while after I graduated, the school added a program in sports management, and even that seemed strange. After growing up in Columbus, enrolling at a school where college football didn’t have the specific gravity of the Normandy invasion was like a dip in a cool lake on a hot day. I went to my share of football games, but I went Bobcat-style — after a few bloody Marys, leaving right after halftime. We came to see the band, the Marching 110, then went uptown for more drinking. I went to one basketball game. One of our party smuggled in a large bullhorn. We sat high in the Convocation Center and made prank announcements on the bullhorn, carried throughout the crowd by the dome’s freakish acoustics. “Number 32, your pits smell,” went one. Number 32, lined up for the foul shot, dropped his arms abruptly. Number 32, I apologize.
The Mid-American Conference in general is sort of a mess, I gather. I read a story awhile back calling it “the little conference that can’t,” pointing out that no MAC team has, well, let’s let the lede sum it up:
The last time any team from the Mid-American Conference won an NCAA championship, the year was 1965. The president was Lyndon B. Johnson. The team was Western Michigan. The sport: men’s cross country.
So you see the sort of culture that prevails in Athens. Which makes OU’s win over Georgetown even more surprising. Now they have the Big Mo, however, so: Go Bobcats. I’ll drink a bloody Mary in your honor this weekend. Supportin’ the team, Athens-style.
If nothing else, OU hosed the brackets.
I want this week OVER. So, bloggage? Here’s a little:
She-who sported a new hairstyle this week on Fox. She looks like she’s edging into Mormon-wife territory, a cross between submit-unto-your-husbands and ’60s-era Loretta Lynn. I mention this because it’s the most interesting thing she’s done in a while. Not that i wish to be trivial.
I always avoid celebrity editions of “Jeopardy!” It’s like asking to have your dreams dashed.
“Breaking Bad” starts its third season this weekend. What fresh hell awaits Walter White? I can hardly wait to find out.
More fleshed-out posting resumes next week. I hope.
Mindy said on March 19, 2010 at 9:28 am
The ‘do on She-who rather looks like an updated mullet. And the shiny lip gloss makes her look even scarier. Eww.
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Peter said on March 19, 2010 at 9:29 am
Gee, maybe those Jeopardy sketches on Saturday Night Live were more accurate than I gave them credit for….
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coozledad said on March 19, 2010 at 9:50 am
A guy on one of my old mail routes appeared on Jeopardy. He ran an ashram between Durham and Chapel Hill,and as I recall, he did pretty well. According to the local alt newsweekly, he was doing pretty well at the ashram, too. Baghwan Shree Rajneesh well.
They did a lot of mailings to prisons as a specific component of their outreach, and the slogan on the mailings was “We’re all doing time.” They just forgot to add “only some of us are doing ours between the legs of several doe-eyed acolytes, sucka.”
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ROgirl said on March 19, 2010 at 10:06 am
If you think Anderson Cooper was bad, you should have seen Wolf Blitzer’s catastrophic appearance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVC28oemocA
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John said on March 19, 2010 at 10:12 am
Does She-Who have a Potteresque Lightening Bolt scar? First it was the bangs hanging down and now it’s a big hair wave. What is she hiding?
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on March 19, 2010 at 10:15 am
You say mullet like that’s a bad thing.
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Deborah said on March 19, 2010 at 10:26 am
Nancy, I visited UO about 5 years ago, I was supposed to do some design work for a student center renovation at Ohio State and OU was building a new student center building that we checked out. I must say I thought it was a beautiful campus, lots of trees. We ended up not doing the design work for Ohio State, they never signed our contract. That was when I worked for a different design firm then the one I work for now. Ohio State (excuse me, THE Ohio State) campus was not as beautiful, but it has it’s moments too.
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Bob (not Greene) said on March 19, 2010 at 10:30 am
Jeez a 30 second commercial on the web just to see that? Kinda like Country Condi. My favorite thing about that clip? The headline under Sean Hannity “House Vote Likely on Sun”. Coming from Fox, I’m guessing that the vote will be to determine whether or not the Sun rotates around the Earth.
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alice said on March 19, 2010 at 10:34 am
She: A brown football helmet with wings? It’s all poofy!
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ROgirl said on March 19, 2010 at 11:05 am
The inspiration for the She-Who do.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/hgl/assets/2569/carolbradysitcomsonline_blog.jpg
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coozledad said on March 19, 2010 at 11:09 am
The biggest difference between Loretta and Sarah, is that every now and then Loretta rocks. Even with the Wilburn Brothers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOlCK9tahPc
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Jeff Borden said on March 19, 2010 at 11:16 am
Anyone read the hilarious takedown of She-Who by Alan Grayson, the firebrand Democratic representative from the Orlando area? Our Lady of Wasilla was at a GOP fund-raiser down there and said some nasty things about Grayson, so he sent out an e-mail labeling her a “wild Alaskan dingbat” and proclaiming her to be the smartest national Republican leader since W. More of the e-mail:
In response to Palin’s attack on Rep Grayson, Grayson actually complimented Palin. Grayson praised Palin for having a hand large enough to fit Grayson’s entire name on it. He thanked Palin for alleviating the growing shortage of platitudes in Central Florida. Grayson added that Palin deserved credit for getting through the entire hour-long program without quitting. Grayson also said that Palin really had mastered Palin’s imitation of Tina Fey imitating Palin. Grayson observed that Palin is the most-intelligent leader that the Republican Party has produced since George W. Bush.When asked to comment about what effect Palin’s criticism might have, Grayson pointed out, “As the Knave’s horse says in Alice in Wonderland, ‘dogs will believe anything.’” Earlier, as the Orlando Sentinel reported, Grayson said, “I’m sure Palin knows all about politics in Central Florida, since from her porch she can see Winter Park,” which is part of Grayson’s district.
Grayson said that the Alaskan chillbilly was welcome to return to Central Florida anytime, as long as she brings lots of money with her, and spends it. “I look forward to an honest debate with Governor Palin on the issues, in the unlikely event that she ever learns anything about them,” Grayson added.
And, Nancy, thanks a lot for forcing me to watch Sean Hannity. I loathe the Fox News idiots and honestly think Glenn Beck is a dangerous man who is unleashing fears and angers he cannot control. But there’s something about the unctuous smugness of Hannity, stuffed into his suit like a fat sausage, a douche among douches. He makes my skin crawl.
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Sue said on March 19, 2010 at 11:32 am
Sean Hannity has bothered me for a long time, in a “where have I seen him before?” way. I finally figured it out: The scene where Nathan Lane tries to dress like a man on “Bird Cage”.
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Jeff Borden said on March 19, 2010 at 11:41 am
Sue, you are frigging brilliant. He does look a great deal like Nathan Lane!
Over at Rumproast, She Who’s new ‘do is being dubbed the Frontiere Flowbee. Wonkette, meanwhile, speculates she is wearing a wig. Given the millions this grifter has raked in since she was unleashed on a helpless nation, the poor lady ought to hire a better makeup and hair consultant.
Meanwhile, someone please tell me again how the United States has “the greatest health care system in the world” when this is happening in Arizona and likely to be repeated nationwide:
Arizona on Thursday became the first state to eliminate its Children’s Health Insurance Program when Gov. Jan Brewer signed an austere budget that will leave nearly 47,000 low-income children without coverage.
The Arizona budget is a vivid reflection of how the fiscal crisis afflicting state governments is cutting deeply into health care. The state also will roll back Medicaid coverage for childless adults in a move that is expected to eventually drop 310,000 people from the rolls.
State leaders said they were left with few choices because of a $2.6 billion projected shortfall next year. But hospital officials and advocates for low-income people said they were worried that emergency rooms would be overrun by patients who had few other options for care, and that children might suffer enduring developmental problems because of inadequate medical attention.
As Paul Krugman notes in today’s NYT column, America’s health care system is “unique in its cruelty.”
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brian stouder said on March 19, 2010 at 12:03 pm
I always avoid celebrity editions of “Jeopardy!” It’s like asking to have your dreams dashed.
Aside from dashed dreams – it’s always at least mildly surprising when you encounter some familiar personage in a new setting; or especially ‘in-person’.
While I’ve nothing to say about Ms Palin in particular, Pam told me that DAWG the Bounty Hunter is coming to WalMart here in Fort Wayne tomorrow, and she bet me that he’ll draw a BIGGER crowd than Sarah did a few months back (at Meijer). I say, if his excessively big-breasted wife is accompanying him, I’m THERE!
I’ve yapped (and yapped) around here about Michael Burlingame’s visit, and I’ve gotta say – I’m glad I read his massive book before I experienced his lecture/speaking style. He is very decisive (not to say brusque) in his spoken opinions; and flatly – even rudely – dismissive of others’ work. For example, he was harsh toward Lerone Bennett (not surprisingly – but I liked Bennett’s book nonetheless) and John Stauffer’s book Giants (the book that compares Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass, which I believe Jeff tmmo liked as well as I did). He refers to authors with whom he disagrees as “wrong-headed” or “hopelessly wrong-headed”, and then rolls forward. But experiencing his Green Monster (the two volume biography he wrote has green covers) doesn’t contradict the points the offending authors make, as much as overwhelm them. He doesn’t dismiss the criticisms that these other authors explore, but examines and illuminates them, with lots of NON-exculpatory details. By way of saying, the guy is gracious, even-handed, and thought-provoking across 2,000 pages; but he’s no-nonsense go-to-hell in person!
Friend-of-Nance Laura Lippman is another author that I’ve encountered, and let me say she is the polar opposite; she speaks and reacts in just the same voice she writes with. I suspect it’s because her editors (both newspaper and publishing) would never allow a 2,000 page exploration of anything; she’s used to saying what she means in the fewest possible words, whether in print or in person
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paddyo' said on March 19, 2010 at 12:23 pm
“Chillbilly” — love it. That’s one I had somehow managed not to have heard. . .
And hey, She-Who is getting closer to that reality-TV series . . . all it’ll take is a cool $1 mil . . .
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i21cea1586dd4edf544f940a674a874b5
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beb said on March 19, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Speaking of Celebrity Jeopardy, Jon Stewart did an 11 minutes send-up of Glenn Beck that was fricking awesome, ROTFLMAO stuff, proving that Jesus is Osama bin Laden and that Jon can cry in cue, too. Also his blackboard demonstration that conservative libertarians are lying ayrians who worship Bert from Sesame Street.
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Bob (not Greene) said on March 19, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Jeff B.
I used to wonder sometimes if Glenn Beck truly understood what he was doing. I used to get the feeling he thought he was some kind of Howard Beale character, and that this was just some kind of showbiz game that he was going to wring every last dollar out of. If it started that way, I now think it’s all gone to his head and he believes what he’s saying.
He’s so outlandish and just makes up so much crazy stuff you wonder how anyone can take the guy seriously. But I think he’s a threat.
History — recent history — has clearly taught the lessons of the fragile-minded but highly motivated psychopaths looking to amass power by surrounding themselves with people searching for any answer to the question, “Who is responsible for the fact that I haven’t been able to cash in or exercise power?” The search for and demonization of scapegoats. If that isn’t right out of Fascism 101, I don’t know what is.
Those on the left are so leery of calling a spade a spade, that Glenn Beck’s been able to get away with his act for too long. But this guy is a dangerous fascist, pure and simple — with arm bands and jackboots and torchlight parades and concentration camps. There, I said it.
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Sue said on March 19, 2010 at 1:14 pm
‘As Paul Krugman notes in today’s NYT column, America’s health care system is “unique in its cruelty.”’
One of the arguments that I have not heard enough of re health care reform: if insurance companies, at any time in this long process, had made even one good faith gesture (like modifying or removing the use of ‘pre-existing conditions’ as a means to deny coverage), we might not be (possibly) having this vote at all. It’s the realization that the companies will do nothing – nothing – unless they absolutely have to that lends such urgency to this. If you have insurance now your guarantee of having it in five years or three years or next year fades by the day. The companies have gone through private policy holders leaving only the healthiest and wealthiest insured, and still can’t make enough money to cover both their shareholders and their lobbying costs; time to go after small business group policies now.
During this whole process they have gone about their business, raising rates by 40%, denying people coverage based on having had acne as teenagers, basically thumbing their noses at citizens and congress alike. Maybe they know something we don’t know. They seem to feel awfully safe.
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Dexter said on March 19, 2010 at 1:21 pm
The bit that keeps showing up on the sites and shows i visit and watch is Beck’s incredulity at Bruce Springsteen’s lyrics. “Born in the USA” was on Bruce’s 1984 album. It has taken Beck 26 years to figure out the heart-felt lyrics Bruce wrote.
OK, Ronald Reagan’s people tried to hijack the song for the 1984 campaign, also…what a joke that was.
OK, this is really not worthy writing about, because we all know Beck is not just an idiot, he’s a misinformed stupid crackpot, as well.
I posted this comment to tell you this: Beck also JUST discovered that Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” was not a patriotic song, in Beck’s definition of patriotic. The song was written seventy years ago.
I’ll give Beck a little credit, though, as he said he was taught the song was a patriotic song in a sort of “my country right or wrong” sort of way.
I was taught to sing it in the grade school choir, and I was about 12 before I understood it.
Now Woody Guthrie, and especially Bruce, are right on top of Beck’s shit list.
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Julie Robinson. said on March 19, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Not only is Dawg coming to the Fort, so is Karl Rove, Sunday at noon. When I mentioned that this would make it difficult for the faithful to attend church, my normally mild mannered husband said, “all they need is the gospel according to Karl”.
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Dexter said on March 19, 2010 at 2:26 pm
brianstouder: Is your info an update? The site promoting Dog’s book-signing tour has this:
FORT WAYNE, IN
Monday, March 22 @ Noon
WALMART STORE #1804
~~~~~~~~~~
Walter White, we are ready for you. In the real world, what’s with all these “portable meth labs” that are getting busted? Usually , some chemicals catch fire in an old minivan , almost always rolling down the road, and somebody gets the hell burned outta them, but geez, after a few dozen stories like this, why can’t people learn?
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brian stouder said on March 19, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Dexter – I don’t really keep up with Dog (Dawg?) – so I’m blaming my wife for saying he’d be here tomorrow rather than Monday!
She knows I’m a ‘goer’ when someone interesting is around, and she also mentioned that the Turd Blossom was going to drop in (so to speak); although I’ve no interest in seeing him. Anyone who’s ever had to shoo away a door-to-door sales person, or who has encountered a particularly slick and dishonest 10 year old has already heard everything that guy could ever say
edit: tonight’s agenda – school carnival at Towles Montessori. Pammy was in charge of advanced ticket sales (you’d be surprised how involved that becomes!) plus baking and decorating cakes for the cake walk. Last night our house smelled like Betty Crocker had moved in, and today she hauled all the goodies to school in her minivan, which now smells like a bakery truck. And, entre nous, today I completed my 49th year on the planet, and when asked what I wanted – I used the same joke I always use (“just put a bow on it”)
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MIchaelG said on March 19, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Well shucks, Happy Birthday, Brian.
She Who looks like she’s wearing one of the late Fess Parker’s old coonskin caps.
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Sue said on March 19, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Hmm, Sean Hannity is being attacked by Debbie Schlussel, who should be one of his bestest friends in the skeebly-sphere. Wonder what this is all about?
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201003190002
edit: MichaelG, I think there’s a bump-it tangled up in there somewhere.
http://www.bighappiehair.com/
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nancy said on March 19, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Debbie Schlussel: …while millions of dollars went to expenses, including consultants and apparently to ferret the Hannity posse of family and friends in high style.
To “ferret” them? Jesus Christ, can’t anyone here talk this language?
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joodyb said on March 19, 2010 at 4:05 pm
ugh. she must know that ‘do ages her at least 10 years. is this the ultimate capitulation or what? speaks volumes, in my book.
your school spirit/support summation the team rings true this day, especially in immediate wake of Gophers loss to Xavier. at which point i went out on a mental limb and professed my allegiance hence to any Buckeye State-based team. and i’m 2 for 2, right? so far, so good. at least oHIo is almost always well represented at the start of the Big Dance.
Ferret? what does that even mean? is she trying to say “ferry”?
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brian stouder said on March 19, 2010 at 4:36 pm
while millions of dollars went to expenses, including consultants and apparently to ferret the Hannity posse of family and friends in high style.
No no no – don’t ANY of you folks keep up with trendy deviant sex acts? At the end of a long day of bloviating/insinuating/prevaricating, the slick-haired, striped suited son of a bitch and his posse are way past gerbils; the Hannity posse of family and friends wanted to be ferreted, and in high style!
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alex said on March 19, 2010 at 4:45 pm
You’d think Hannity could afford to mink himself.
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Sue said on March 19, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Someone work the word “weasel” into this and we can call it a day.
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Jeff Borden said on March 19, 2010 at 5:37 pm
Dexter,
Wait until Glenn Beck learns the Pledge of Allegiance was written by an American socialist for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. (He’ll have to read the superb “Devil in the White City” and I imagine Glenn doesn’t read much.) Or that the phrase “under God” was inserted in the mid-1950s to differentiate our glorious holy nation from the godless wastes of the USSR.
The funny thing about conservatives is how they are always fighting these old battles. If you argue with them about news coverage, you’re likely to have them hurl the name Walter Duranty at you because he was a closet communist. The guy was the Moscow bureau chief of the N.Y. Times from 1922 to 1936. I suppose it is progress that Beck is bitching about an LP released in 1984 rather than, say, Country Joe & the Fish back in 1968.
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Dexter said on March 19, 2010 at 8:56 pm
JeffBorden: your response:
http://www.freewebs.com/jimmyjaz2/Mr-Burns-Excellent.jpg
Also, I just heard the great Henry Rollins being interviewed on XM202 Sirius 197.
He reminded me that “This land…” was written by Irving Berlin in 1918, but when Berlin revised the lyrics in 1938, Woody wrote his anthem as a protest to the tone of the version that Kate Smith started booming across the country.
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Dexter said on March 19, 2010 at 9:32 pm
Mr.Borden, I found a site with photos of Chicago…stuff I have never seen.
Scroll down 2/3 of the page and check out the pic of the kids in the trees peering into Wrigley Field during the 1932 Yankees-Cubs World Series.
http://tinyurl.com/ykkswx6
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Kirk said on March 19, 2010 at 10:43 pm
Any Molly Ivins fans out there? A one-woman show starring Kathleen Turner as Ivins makes its debut next week in Philadelphia.
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basset said on March 19, 2010 at 10:44 pm
I share the proprietress’ attitude toward sports; I was at IU in 1976 when the basketball team went undefeated and won the NCAAs, didn’t go to a single game. Even for the non-fan, though, Wrigley is worth visiting just to enjoy the vibe and eat. Hebrew National dogs with mustard, pickles, onions, and kraut, pizza, six or seven or nine or fourteen Old Styles, sun, burp, stretch, fart – gotta love it.
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brian stouder said on March 19, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Hebrew National dogs with mustard, pickles, onions, and kraut, pizza, six or seven or nine or fourteen Old Styles, sun, burp, stretch, fart — gotta love it.
But only if the wind is blowing out
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Kirk said on March 19, 2010 at 10:59 pm
I’ve been a sports fan almost all my life, and I agree that Wrigley is a great place to visit. But I haven’t been there in a long time, and I keep hearing that it’s increasingly infected by yuppie dorks. Any truth to that?
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Dexter said on March 19, 2010 at 11:13 pm
I suppose the Ricketts are yuppie dorks. Billionaire owners of the Cubs.
I got a kick out of Ricketts saying he goes “way back” in his personal history of Cub games..to the 1980s. That’s when I quit going.
I remember when I met my old teammate Willy Steinmiller (who made a career of working for the Sox and the various Chicago soccer teams over the years as a clubhouse manager) in the Wrigley bleachers in 1969. He complained how the bleachers had been taken over by this new breed of “kids”. But gee, bleacher tickets were one dollar in 1969, two dollars all through the 1970s…and today are $75 for “Top Tier Games” (there are four classifications of pricing) What type of “kid” has that kind of dough, along with at least fifty bucks for refreshments per game?
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Kirk said on March 19, 2010 at 11:15 pm
On the other hand, I attended a Cubs-Reds game last summer in Cincinnati to mark the 50th anniversary of my first trip to a major-league game and ran into numerous Cubs fans, who were just nice folks who liked baseball.
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basset said on March 19, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Meanwhile, in this bracket, Ohio U. got pounded in the first round:
http://www.theawl.com/2010/03/real-america-march-tuition-madness
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Denice B said on March 20, 2010 at 12:02 am
Breaking Bad Marathon tonight. Can’t stay. Much watch.
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MIchaelG said on March 20, 2010 at 12:48 am
Loved Molly Ivins and miss her greatly. Also had a serious letch for Ms. Turner twenty some years ago. Crimes of Passion, Body Heat.
And thanks, Dexter for that Friedman link.
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Dexter said on March 20, 2010 at 2:12 am
MichaelG: Those photos are just stunning, eh?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why are M&Ms so damn much better than Reese’s Pieces?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was so pleasurable riding the bicycle Friday. The last days of winter faded into three perfect days.
Let me be the first to welcome Spring. It arrives in a scant 24 minutes…close enough. Spring has sprung, 2010. Hooray.
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James said on March 20, 2010 at 8:17 am
Funny…
I did this cartoon months ago about Sarah Palin and “Bumpits”
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prospero said on March 20, 2010 at 10:26 am
Intelligent grown-ups running the government. Who’d have thought? Did anybody notice Obama took the Stovepipe Gang out of the chain of command?
Dexter, it’s always a pleasure riding the bike in Hilton Head, even when the weather doesn’t cooperate. But you’re right, Spring rules.
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prospero said on March 20, 2010 at 11:23 am
Wrong Athens, Nancy. In Athens GA, sports rules, except for music, and of course Howard Finster. Best football player that ever lived. Best female hoops player that ever lived. Several of the best bands that ever hit the face of the earth. The folk artist that defines folk art. And then there’s Lamar Dodd, and Henry Grady, Ralph McGill, and Reg Murphy,
the ultimate American newspapermen. Sportsmen all, I’m guessing.
There’s some perceived dichotomy between sports and intelligence, which in itself is ignorance on parade. You can’t succeed at sports without particular intelligence. You can’t be REM instead of U2 without superior intelligence. Jock is as stupid a sobriquet as nerd.
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beb said on March 20, 2010 at 11:34 am
The reason people don’t realize how subverse Woody Guthrie’s “This Land” is, is because they mostly only hear the rousing chorus, and not the verses which criticize how unfair our land is. Same with “Born in the USA” Of course with Springstein’s speech impediment no one ever knew what exactly he’s singing.
I think the word Schlussel is looking for is “fete” not ferret.
I’m a big-time fan of Molly Ivins. The Katherine Turner one-woman who about Ivins sounds like a great time.
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prospero said on March 20, 2010 at 11:35 am
Meanwhile, is T. Jefferson restless in his grave because Tejas doesn’t like him anymore? Apparently, those educators think Phyliss Schlafly was a Founding Father.
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Jeff Borden said on March 20, 2010 at 11:51 am
Thanks for those great Chicago photos, Dexter. They’re wonderful.
I’ve been a season ticket holder for the Cubs since 1990 on a “combination plan,” which are the games played at nights, weekends and holidays. As they have added more night games each season, the number of games in our package continues to grow, so I spend considerable time there every season. I also try to see at least four or five games at Sox Park, too.
The prevailing wisdom around here is that Sox fans are “real” baseball fans while those who watch Cubs games are there to party. Like most prevailing wisdoms, it isn’t that simple. The people who sit near me in the upper deck reserved section of Wrigley include true, diehard fans who listen to the games on the radio and keep score, who discuss the prospects at the AA level and know who will be pitching a week from Sunday. Conversely, I have had fans near me who never watched a moment of the game because they were too busy flirting, texting, taking pictures, gossiping, etc.
As luck would have it, I’ve witnessed the same behavior on the South Side.
The real difference between the teams is the pre- and post-game experience. Wrigley is surrounded by bars, taverns, restaurants of every kind. U.S. Cellular has none of that, but the Sox encourage fans to tailgate before games, which is kind of cool. And the food options at Sox Park blow Wrigley out of the way.
You will find yuppie dorks, obnoxious drunks itching for a fight, fans who live and die with every pitch and those who don’t even know what the score is at both ball parks.
Wrigley is a gem. There are some obstructed views, but generally, there really are no bad seats. U.S. Cellular is fine if you are in the lower level. The upper deck is way too far from the field, but it is not the terrible, awful, no good stadium some detractors claim.
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prospero said on March 20, 2010 at 12:52 pm
I’ve seen Arlo quite a few times, and he includes these verses:
As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said “No Trespassing.”
But on the other side it didn’t say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I’d seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?
It’s simply astounding how obtuse people can be.
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moe99 said on March 20, 2010 at 1:00 pm
I was reminded of a previous post from this week about the use and abuse of language by journalists when I read this NYT blog piece:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/with-cancer-lets-face-it-words-are-inadequate/
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prospero said on March 20, 2010 at 1:00 pm
I think those were two White Sox fans that went after the Royals’ first base coach on the field, with a box cutter. Wouldn’t you think nobody that’s a fan of the Pale Hose would actually make comments about another team’s fans? Do they park their trailers outside Comiskey?
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Jeff Borden said on March 20, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Prospero,
You refer to a bastard named William Ligue, a tattooed, lightly employed loser who first called some of his friends to tell them to watch him on TV, then leapt over the retaining wall with his son to beat on an old first-base coach for the Royals. It was no small thing. The coach continues to suffer from hearing problems as a result of being punched in the side of the head of this redneck trash and his kid. They did not use a box cutter or it might have been a homicide, but they did grievous damage to the old guy and to the reputation of the Sox and their fans, which is not fair.
You also might note that some dickwad at Wrigley reached over the wall to the visitors bullpen a few years ago and stole a cap from a Dodgers player. The Dodger and his teammates then climbed into the stands and began brawling with fans, creating a truly dangerous situation at a ballpark that often has many fathers and kids in the stands.
I love to enjoy a cold beer on a warm summer day or night at Wrigley and I will not deny that I have had a couple too many more than once, but then, I am a friendly, non-offensive drunk. There are too many shitheads with a chip on their shoulder who react entirely differently when their brains are swimming in beer. They stop beer sales at Wrigley by 9 p.m. or the 7th inning, whichever comes first, but there are so many bars around the ballpark that many fans enter hammered.
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prospero said on March 20, 2010 at 1:16 pm
And here’s the story on the mighty Bobcats’ victory, from the best basketball writer of all time, who covered the best player ever at the Garden.
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LAMary said on March 20, 2010 at 2:00 pm
I’m told by the in house Brit that in working class pubs int the West Country there is a game of putting ferrets down one’s trousers. Whoever can stand the ferret down the pants the longest wins. Perhaps that’s what’s going on with the Hannitys? Maybe they wear very stylish pants? It would explain a lot.
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Sue said on March 20, 2010 at 8:16 pm
Mary – are you sure the in-house Brit isn’t pulling your leg, so to speak? That’s exactly the kind of thing my husband would say to me, with a straight face.
And if it’s true, all I can say is: poor ferrets.
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Dexter said on March 20, 2010 at 8:21 pm
…just wanted to add that “to ferret something…” is fairly common…
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/ferret+out
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coozledad said on March 20, 2010 at 9:00 pm
I’ve heard of the ferret thing, and I thought it was about the most insipid, abusive thing people could indulge in until J-Lo strapped that dwarf to her ass:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/07/jennifer-lopez-oscars-201_n_489366.html
Actually, that photo isn’t all that bad.
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MIchaelG said on March 21, 2010 at 12:56 am
Cooz, I wasn’t sure which dwarf you had in mind until I clicked your link. I kind of had a mild letch for Ms. Lopez about 15 years ago when she was new on the scene. She wore that out quickly. Very.
Back when that name shortening thing began, first initial of the first name and first syllable of the last name (J-Lo), I immediately thought of a certain Russian figure skater. She won a couple of Olympic medals, maybe gold, maybe not. Anyway, she had the greatest name: Irina Slutskaya — I-Slut. It’s easy to see why the thing never really caught on. Just think of POTUS.
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MIchaelG said on March 21, 2010 at 1:01 am
I’m kind of surprised that as literate a crowd as this wasn’t familiar with the term “to ferret” or “to ferret out” as an expression meaning to work out or to dig out or whatever out a bit of information. I’ve seen it in literature for years. I don’t know whence it came, but in Briddish spy stories intelligence agents are sometimes known as ferrets.
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Dorothy said on March 21, 2010 at 8:51 am
Nancy I opened my new TIME magazine this week and immediately thought of you when I turned to this page: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1973280,00.html
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ROgirl said on March 21, 2010 at 9:18 am
Ms. Schlussel should have a firmer grasp of the difference between ferreting something out and ferrying someone around.
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Jeff Borden said on March 21, 2010 at 11:54 am
Debbie Schlussel is pretty much an untalented hack with a pathology towards Muslims, but anyone who shines a bright light into the dark cave of Sean Hannity’s dealings is still doing the Lord’s work.
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MIchaelG said on March 21, 2010 at 12:41 pm
You’re right, ROgirl. Maybe she meant “fete”?
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Deborah said on March 21, 2010 at 12:44 pm
The New York Times magazine has an article about Treme. I was surprised to learn that it is pronounced “Trih-may” not “Treem” as I had thought. I also didn’t realize that Treme is a neighborhood in New Orleans where a certain kind of music was born. Interesting. They fleshed out the John Goodman character a bit, he plays a novelist who teaches at Tulane, from the Northeast, not a native etc. Does that fit Ashley (not the Tulane part but the not being a native part)?
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basset said on March 21, 2010 at 1:18 pm
just search “ferret-legging” and you will learn more than you ever wanted to know.
meanwhile, some more thoughts on the NCAA Tournament:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g2EQoyBkLY&feature=related
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LAMary said on March 21, 2010 at 2:39 pm
See? I wasn’t making it up. You don’t have to make up things about UK. They eat something called spotted dick for crying out loud. The call cigarettes fags.
I hope when Katherine Turner does Molly Ivins she doesn’t work the Texas accent too hard. Molly’s accent varied in its Texasness depending on who she was talking to.
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Deborah said on March 21, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Say it’s true, that Stupak and his followers are actually going to vote YES! This is really going to happen. And it can continue to get better and better as time goes on.
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ROgirl said on March 21, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Michael G: if she was trying to say that a lot of money was spent on their travel expenses, then she should say so.
Deborah: the word “Treme” should have an acute accent on the final e to indicate that it should be pronounced “Trih-may.” I’m surprised the Times didn’t include the accent in the online version (didn’t see the print version).
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Jeff Borden said on March 21, 2010 at 6:37 pm
David Frum, the W. speechwriter who created the “axis of evil” line years ago but is now considered an apostate for his more moderate views, is declaring passage of HCR as the Waterloo of the GOP, even if the party does pick up a few seats this fall. From his lips to God’s ears.
I hope the economy improves by the fall and that the GOP fails to pick up many seats. This is a sick, sad, out-of-touch political party with zero to offer other than their abject opposition to the man in the Oval Office. With few examples, the modern Republican Party is truly the party of hate and fear. It’s reliance on the ugliest and worst of its followers is both pathetic and self-defeating.
As someone thoroughly disgusted by the corruption of the Illinois Democratic Party, I would have gladly cast a ballot for a sensible Republican, but once again, I will throw my vote for the D’s. Why? The GOP gubernatorial nominee is a mouth-breathing homophobe who says one of his first efforts would be to introduce a defense of marriage law here. And the senatorial candidate has sought the approval of She Who Wears Bumpits and vows to work for the repeal of HCR if elected.
So, Republicans? Go fuck yourselves. Call me when you have something to say that actually helps real people.
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coozledad said on March 21, 2010 at 7:47 pm
Jeff Borden: They already shot their wad. Playing the rube card netted a little short term success, but they’re all carnies. Not a community organizer in the bunch.
Boehner’s brown as a hog and the Misses Lindsey and Mitch are going to lack any credibility with the headbangers they’ve scraped up out of the shithouses of GA and SC. Hell, even Wendell Willkie had the sense to work with Roosevelt and refrain from demonizing him. The Republicans blew their own heads off this time.
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brian stouder said on March 21, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Jeff and Cooz – amen, and amen.
There is something absolutely timeless about this debate; the odd mix of boldness and timidity on the part of the (duly elected) ruling party and president, and the reflexive, reactionary mix of fear and phobia on the part of the opposition.
Truly, this is why reading history is such a comfort to me. This whole thing – (for examples) the charges of ‘usurpation’ and ‘unConstitional’ in the face of a further-sighted struggle to improve common people’s lives – for better and for worse, is as American as apple pie.
Honestly, I do believe it’s really all about President Obama. He sought the office in order to accomplish something worthwhile, and such people excite enormous fear. Place holders like our previous president, who seek the office the way a big game hunter might stalk a particularly desireable trophy for their wall, incite some contempt from people who see the wasted opportunity – but over time can be comfortably ignored*.
But everyone knew this really WOULD be either the absolute ‘Waterloo’ of the self-conciously historic Obama admninistration, or else the brilliant launch of a presidency for the ages.
As it is, it looks like we are close to lift-off
*unless you lost a relative (or a limb) in his war of choice (and indeed, needless wars are also as American as apple pie, but we digress)
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Deborah said on March 22, 2010 at 12:22 am
We have lift-off.
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moe99 said on March 22, 2010 at 12:27 am
Let’s hope the neo cons don’t go postal on us now. It’s really too bad that I am too scared of their reaction to celebrate.
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coozledad said on March 22, 2010 at 8:54 am
I’m going to try and scoop the Franklin Mint and put out a Tea Party commemorative figurine. Dressed in a continental army uniform fashioned from official NASCAR racewear, it stands a robust 12 inches tall on a stack of pewter balls. When you press its gut, it screams “Baby killer!” or “New York Liberal Barney Frank Cabala Jewy Jews!” “You lie!” Or what the fuck, you can program it to say any crazy shit you like. If you act now, you get a free personal massager version of it cast in latex that whistles Dixie.
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