Sorry for the late update today. I stepped in a bad website last night and Safari is now wearing cement overshoes. I have to do some work under the hood. Back later, but until then, open thread.
LATER:
OK, well, that was quick. I dunno what happened, but now I’m behind, so I’m afraid I won’t have much more.
They’re digging for Jimmy Hoffa again. “Again,” as in, “the third time since I’ve lived here, and I’ve lived here only eight years, and he’s been missing since 1975.” So many of these circuses seem to feature an aging mobster purportedly making a clean breast of it, you’d think the FBI would have figured it out by now. The latest one, sort of an Uncle Junior type in tinted glasses (the kind my daughter and her friends consider “pedo shades”), is selling autographed photos of himself and a self-published book. And still, on they dig.
OK, 8 a.m., I have to get out. Have a good day, all.
jwfromnj said on June 19, 2013 at 7:56 am
Ahhh Nancy, I didn’t figure you for the free ringtone site type. So much for the exalted Mac’s virus resistant image. Hope it gets sorted out. I said ring tone but the typical danger sites are porn, ring tones, mp3’s, and conservative conspiracy pages. 😉
255 chars
nancy said on June 19, 2013 at 8:04 am
It was a celebrity-gossip site, the sort of thing I fall prey to late in the evening, which is when all this happened. (I like to stay up on the latest plastic-surgery news.) Dunno what happened, but it took three restarts to totally wipe its scum off the Mac’s shoes. Bookmark permanently deleted.
298 chars
Deborah said on June 19, 2013 at 8:00 am
And beware font sites.
22 chars
Deborah said on June 19, 2013 at 8:01 am
Make that free font sites.
26 chars
jwfromnj said on June 19, 2013 at 8:05 am
I’ll toss up a topic for discussion: What has everyone been watching on TV?
I watch Hannibal largely because I’m stunned NBC allows the gore. I was enjoying the Americans but it’s on hiatus.
My newfound boob tube joy is “Longmire,”on A&E. The setting (New Mexico standing in for fictional Absaroka County, Wyoming) is gorgeous. The negative space drives home the setting.
What a cast: Robert Taylor, Katee Sackhoff, Charles Dutton, Lou Diamond Phillips, Peter Weller, and Gerard McRaney.
It’s on netflix and the A&E website. My wife didn’t want to watch but after one episode it hooked her, wondering who “they” are and how they found Deputy Vic Moretti who is apparently running from her past as a homicide detective in Philly. Also Walt (Taylor) and Henry Standing Bear (Phillips) share a secret about Walt’s murdered wife. Worth a watch.
861 chars
coozledad said on June 19, 2013 at 8:41 am
What little I read suggests this guy’s information on Hoffa’s whereabouts is secondhand. That’s good enough for the FBI?
If you’re going to flush a high profile figure, you don’t let one hand know what the other one’s doing anyway. And speaking of flush,
Hoffa probably wound up in some of the first batches of Jimmy Dean Ass n’ Lips®.
339 chars
alex said on June 19, 2013 at 8:42 am
TV? What’s TV? My dish has been failing so much lately I might as well stop paying for the damn thing.
102 chars
Julie Robinson said on June 19, 2013 at 8:59 am
Uh-oh: as states begin to force Amazon to collect sales tax, Amazon responds by severing its Associates programs in those states. Would that eventually include the Kickback Lounge? http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/06/18/193244080/amazon-cuts-ties-in-minnesota-ahead-of-new-sales-tax?utm_source=NPR&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=20130618
355 chars
beb said on June 19, 2013 at 9:00 am
Venture Brothers, Adult Swim Sundays at midnight. (Technically Monday at 00:00Am)
It’s like a fan-boy/adult version of Jonny Quest, only better written and much better animated.
I like Longmire (based on an excellent series of novels) but when they moved it to Monday’s this year, for some reason I never remember that it’s on.
Finding Hoffa’s grave, like painting dirt on Obama, is the unholy quest for some. Even if he had just run off to Vegas with Elvis he would have died of old age by now. And if he was murdered would there be an forensic evidence left after 35 years?
Then there was this on Slashdot
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/06/18/236203/altering-text-in-ebooks-to-track-pirates
The summary suggests that punctuation would be altered in each copy of the book, to form a unique signature or watermark. Others suggested that order in lists would be altered – “peter and Paul” in some copies “Paul and Peter” in others, while stile others suggests subtle changes in font size, line spacing, number of traveling spaces at the end of sentences. All to prevent piracy of eBooks. I first thought was: “there goes the concept of “definitive text.”
1169 chars
brian stouder said on June 19, 2013 at 9:04 am
We lose satellite when there’s a big-enough storm.
Here’s something that my ‘today in history’ calendar tells me: 60 years ago this evening (at 8 pm and then at 8:16 pm), Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed. Possibly something for our latter-day legions of 20-something NSA subcontractors to pause and ponder
323 chars
Kim said on June 19, 2013 at 9:05 am
From yesterday’s thread – MarkH, go see Steve Earle. He’s a fine musician and storyteller. An aside: a friend from way back has done all his album covers, since the vinyl days.
176 chars
Minnie said on June 19, 2013 at 9:24 am
Yes, Steve Earle is very much worth seeing. Heard him play and read from one of his books at a very small venue. He’s the real deal.
Kim, those album covers are among my most favorites. Your artist friend is inventive.
222 chars
Kirk said on June 19, 2013 at 9:30 am
Re: computer problems caused by free ringtone, porn and other websites (I got my work computer bogged down in a free ringtone website the other night as I was searching for some song lyrics, which, of course, weren’t there as the link had indicated):
Why do these sites wreak such havoc? Do the site’s operators do it on purpose? Is there something inherent in these sites that causes problems? If I were the proprietor of such a site, why would I want to mess with potential customers?
Just wondering.
509 chars
Peter said on June 19, 2013 at 9:54 am
Deborah: font sites? Wow, I would have never guessed. Thanks for the warning.
79 chars
Kim said on June 19, 2013 at 10:23 am
To put a name to the Steve Earle work: Tony Fitzpatrick. The Chicago folks among us at the NN.C watering hole probably know well his work as an artist, actor, poet, playwright. First album cover was for Jonathan Demme’s excellent film (and) soundtrack, “Something Wild.” I think the second was for the Neville Bros.’ “Yellow Moon.”
400 chars
brian stouder said on June 19, 2013 at 11:23 am
Deborah – I was reading a trade paper (Chem Info) and tripped across this New Mexico “Death Map” story, and thought of you:
http://www.abqjournal.com/main/212100/news/residents-say-death-map.html
The lead:
GRANTS – A federal agency needs to either move the tailings from an abandoned uranium mill near Milan or relocate the owners of about 75 nearby homes, the residents told a top U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official on Tuesday. Residents told Ron Curry, EPA’s Region 6 administrator, that a cluster of cancer cases in subdivisions near the Homestake Mining Co. uranium mill show a need for immediate action by the agency. They pointed to a draft EPA report published this month showing that residents near the mill face a cancer risk 18 times higher than that considered acceptable by the EPA.
I mean, wow. Leaving aside the water discussion, I hope Grants is a long way away, and down-wind of you (although really, you strike me as a glowing personality!)
991 chars
LAMary said on June 19, 2013 at 11:29 am
My son has used my laptop to look at song lyric sites a few times and I’ve had to clean up the cybermess it left.
I watch Mad Men, reruns of Law and Order, Jeopardy and I have been known to have one Housewives franchise or another on while I’m doing something else. I’m now fixated on false eyelashes. These women wear them all the time. They wake up in them. They go to the beach wearing them. Their children wear them.
423 chars
Prospero said on June 19, 2013 at 11:52 am
If you’re the sort of person that despised the vile Richard (III) milhous, there is a very funny novel by Robert Coover called The Public Burning, which deals with the execution of the Rosenbergs, who may or may not have passed nuclear weapons secrets, not because they were traitors, but because they believed, naively, that sharing the deal on nukes might horrify the scientific community to the point that nukes wouldn’t be built. Then again, the charges against the Rosenbergs were made on flimsy evidence and may have been made of whole cloth. Milhous made political hay from the case, as he did with Alger Hiss, Whitaker Chambers and the Pumpkin Patch, with the aid of the malevolent Roy Cohn. Coupla sorry ass excuses for human beings.
That same artist did the dust jacket for Steve’s novel I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive, that features the ghost of Hank Williams (the real one, not the obnoxious yahoo, Bocephus). He’s also written a volume of poems that I enjoy, called Doghouse Roses.Good book. Beautiful work. I just looked at a SE tour date website, and the show in Jackson Hole is with the Dukes, so I’d say don’t miss it Mark. Get hold of copies of Guitar Town and Copperhead Road. Great albums. And here’s a Steve Earle song for that woman that was just let out of death row in Indiana at 40 something after being sent there at 16. Agree or disagree on the death penalty, anyone would have to admit the lyrics are superb and the melody is haunting (and what is wrong with a country that sentences a 16 year old to death, for anything?):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tc700Yi8KQ
I like Something Wild quite a bit. It’s pretty hilarious for a while, but nobody plays “wound too tight and menacing” better than Shoeless Ray Liotta (see him in Unlawful Entry, scary as hell).
Longmire is a vg hour of TeeVee, and Katee Sackhoff is fantastic. Tough as Starbuck. The writing and acting is excellent all around, and the locations are gorgeous.It’s good enough I was happily amazed when it came back. Maybe A&E could restart Terriers and Life, the last great “cop” shows to sink beneath the waves of LCD America. My favorite at the moment is definitely Defiance. It’s like an amalgam of Firefly and Babylon 5, but post-apocalypse. Very thoughtful, with a really creepy villain. Falling Skies is hokey, like WWII movies, but it’s good. Elementary is well done too, and not just because Lucy Liu is in it. It does have the built in Bones and Booth problem. And I still find the repartee on Bones very entertaining and pretty risque for television.
As for why people fuck with other people’s computers, I’d quote the Boss:
They wanted to know why I did what I did
Well sir I guess there’s just a meanness in this world.
I wonder how many of the people that expect the EPA to clean up the mess left by the uranium profiteers were cheering Goober-nor Goodhair on when he was talking about shuttering the EPA a couple of years ago. Maybe the Koch Kriminal Konspiracy will buy the tailings and Mortimer and Randolph will move them to Detroit under cover of night. Do GOPers realize the EPA was Nixon’s one good idea? Track the robber barons down and fine them into bankruptcy to fund the clean-up. That would be the real John Galt way, wouldn’t it?
3295 chars
MarkH said on June 19, 2013 at 12:23 pm
Thanks for the word on Steve Earle, everyone.
jw – hooked on Longmire as well here, especially as it takes place in my home state. Missed the first few episodes last season, but not anymore. Much discussion among residents and politicos here on the fact that it is filmed in New Mexico, a much more friendly film-industry state than Wyoming. Canada, specifically Alberta, is too, as can be attested by two recent movies filmed there, suppposedly located in Wyoming: Brokeback Mountain in Sheridan and Robert Redford’s An Unfinished Life, in Cody. Ironically, or oddly, Brokeback Mountain had its world premiere in Jackson. Although Wyoming has a state film bureau, they are not very aggressive in cutting the money deals the industry wants to generate location filming. A lot of head-scratching and complaining goes on, but not much else happens.
Key line from Vic Monday night: “They’ve found me.” And, is Henry a secret hitman? Walt’s OK with that?
One last nit-pick: If they’re going to try be authentic, they need to get some pronounciations down, most notably for the fictional county, Absaroka. When anyone mentions the county, they pornounce it as it might appear: “ab-sah-ROH-ka”. Anyone who lives in NW Wyoming and Charlotte’s area in SW Montana, where these mountains are, would more likely say “ab-SOHR-ka”.
1327 chars
Jakash said on June 19, 2013 at 12:32 pm
Kim,
We went to a bookstore last week (The Book Cellar) where Thomas Dyja was discussing his book, “The Third Coast”. That was very enjoyable and interesting, but the other interesting thing, to me, was that a significant portion of the audience consisted of local notables of one sort or another. NN’s buddy, Eric Zorn, some folks I didn’t recognize who are involved in building preservation, etc. Anyway, during the question-and-answer period afterward, a minor disagreement arose between Tony Fitzpatrick and Neil Steinberg, also in the audience. Having seen, heard and read Mr. Steinberg enough to know that he’s not shy about supporting his opinions, I thought it was very funny that, next to Mr. Fitzpatrick, he ended up seeming kind of like a shrinking violet, at one point. Not that there was any obnoxiousness, or anything — there wasn’t — just that Fitzpatrick has such a forceful and imposing personna. It was fun to see him in that setting.
963 chars
Sherri said on June 19, 2013 at 12:37 pm
We’re watching Longmire, too, and it keeps growing on us. We’re also working our way through the boxed set of China Beach, which is finally out on DVD. Still good after all these years.
185 chars
Prospero said on June 19, 2013 at 12:37 pm
Oops, Doghouse Roses is a volume of short stories, not poems. The acknowledgements include “Tony Fitzpatrick, painter, draftsman, printer, poet, actor, amigo, hero”.
165 chars
Dexter said on June 19, 2013 at 12:44 pm
http://tinyurl.com/mxgox4u
Steve Earle link above…but I am in no jovial mood…I have just found out I am a sick, sick hombre.
http://nbcnews.to/10vfuzn
159 chars
Julie Robinson said on June 19, 2013 at 12:46 pm
We’re still trying to make it through House of Cards* and I’m about 2/3 done with the new Arrested Development. We enjoy Colbert and Stewart thanks to Hulu+, and assorted PBS shows. Guilty pleasure watching is Wheel of Fortune, which plays at the same time as after-dinner tea and the newspaper.
*It always depresses us. We may never finish.
345 chars
brian stouder said on June 19, 2013 at 1:15 pm
. Dex – wow. The motive of these folks is just about the equivalent of pasties on Anna Nicole Smith. That is to say, it’s only just short of a flat-out money grab, with ACA coming online. Maybe baldness can be declared a disease, eh?
Julie – if I can find the dvd’s (and I think I can), I should lend you the original House of Cards PBS series, which is superb; and more than a little humorous!
413 chars
Prospero said on June 19, 2013 at 1:48 pm
I think Jack Nicholson pronounces Absaroka pretty closely to the native version in The Missouri Breaks. I think Henry killed the man that stabbed Mrs. Longmire, with whom I believe Henry was romantically involved before Walt was, and that that is the source of their friendship. But Henry is not a hit man. Certainly capable of killing for love and vengeance, but not for money. And damn, I can’t stand that smarmy, privileged dickhead Branch. And he’s crooked (see episode 3 of season 2). He really reminds me of W. I’m hoping to see him take a beating from Vic at some point. Anybody that missed episodes of Longmire and wants to catch up:
http://www.aetv.com/longmire/video/
Speaking of China Beach, great show, way before its time. Dana Delany has a show on now called Body of Proof, based upon a Helen Mirren British series about an ME. Delany’s performance as a prickly perfectionist lifts the series above the ordinary, and the rest of the cast is also vey good, including Jeri Ryan.
And along with Katee Starbuck, another BG alum has a series on TNT. Mary McDonnell (a wonderful actress), President Roslin is the lead in the Closer sequel Major Cries, with all of Chief Brenda Lee Johnson’s detectives back working for their former nemesis, Captain Sharon Raydor. Now that is an extremely good ensemble cast of actors. GW Bailey as Provenza, Paul Michael Chan as Det. Tao, and Tony Dension as Andy Flynn. The backstories and relationships from years of The Closer are voluminous and enrich the writing a great deal.
I was not an original watcher of Arrested Development, but thought I’d give the new shows a shot. Made it through 17 minutes and 25 seconds and couldn’t take anymore. If there is a finale when the family gets gunned down en masse, I might watch that. Fracking awful, even with Portia de Rossi for eye candy.
We’re sticking with The Killing, in large part because of the philistine idioocy of most of the criticism of the show’s first two seasons. Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnamon are mesmerizing performers. And I watched Forbrydelsen, upon which The Killing is based, and anybody that insists it’s superior is probably an artsy hipster manque. Watched the first season of Girls, couldn’t subject ourselves to a second. Ditto what I said about a denoument for Arrested Development. And the Hitler Channel has a winner with Vikings. Wickid pissah.
2385 chars
MarkH said on June 19, 2013 at 2:10 pm
Pros, I meant ‘hitman’ in loose terms. It was clear that if Henry pulled it off, it was personal, for the reasons you mentioned. It was also clear that Walt, if be believed it, was going to leave it alone.
Missouri Breaks is a favorite, a classic McGuane script. Almost always enjoy watching Brando, but ultimately can’t tell if he helps or hurts this one. Still entertaining watching him with Nicholson.
407 chars
Sherri said on June 19, 2013 at 2:30 pm
Alas for Dana Delany fans, Body of Proof was cancelled and won’t be returning next season. I enjoyed the new House of Cards, but the original British House of Cards was better, in part because the amazing Ian Richardson played the main character. There was three mini-series: House of Cards, To Play the King, and The Final Cut.
My favorite new show this year just ended its first season a few weeks ago on BBC America: Orphan Black. If there’s any justice in this world, Tatiana Maslany would receive an Emmy nomination for playing a bunch of clones, and managing to make them all so distinctive that you forget that the same actress is playing them. In addition, the show has Matt Frewer, aka Max Headroom, if you remember that short-lived show from the ’80s.
764 chars
Deborah said on June 19, 2013 at 2:35 pm
Well now I’m going to have to watch Longmire. I looked it up on Google and it’s filmed in the Taos NM area.
And wow Brian, that’s scary to find out there are homes near uranium mines around here. Grants is Southwest of Santa Fe, between Albuquerque and Gallup. A Gallery owner we know in Santa Fe bought a house really cheap because it had been tested for Radon and came out positive. Everyone told them they were crazy to buy the house, but they weren’t concerned and had the place supposedly “fixed” but then their dog started having seizures. They left town after that, the gallery is closed too. I have no idea what happened to the house.
645 chars
brian stouder said on June 19, 2013 at 2:37 pm
Sheri – I’ll have to tune in, just to see Max!
And indeed, I have (or had) all three Playing the King series, and the Grey Poupon guy absolutely makes the series!
Or at least, one may well think that, but we couldn’t possibly comment
239 chars
brian stouder said on June 19, 2013 at 2:39 pm
Deborah, I (sincerely) apologize – but the radiated dog got me laughing…!
75 chars
Julie Robinson said on June 19, 2013 at 3:01 pm
It looks like the British House of Cards is streaming on Netflix, but Sherri’s info makes me wonder what the next American season will be called. To Play the President?
168 chars
Dorothy said on June 19, 2013 at 3:04 pm
Mary’s comment about false eyelashes on children got me laughing!
65 chars
brian stouder said on June 19, 2013 at 3:08 pm
That was a goodie!
25 chars
jwfromnj said on June 19, 2013 at 3:38 pm
Mark H – Henry most certainly tracked and killed Walt’s wife’s killer. That’s why Walt had the guy at the NCIC looking for hits on Henry. Prospero raised an interesting theory re: the late Mrs. Longmire.
Vic is facing a shitstorm from Philly but she will stand tall, and I bet the one who has her back turns out to be Branch. What I’ve noticed and perhaps Mark can shed light on it the dialog tends to avoid contractions. Henry never uses an “‘” he say cannot, will not, etc. Walt to a lesser degree. Is that Wyoming speak?
on another subject, and I used to make $50 per service call, for PC based systems download CCleaner and Malwarebytes. Put them on a flash drive. Let them do their thing, and use the CCleaner registry tool too (don’t bother backing up your registry since it’s likely corrupted anyway). Those two programs are free and worth millions. For the MAC crowd, I have nothing…
899 chars
Prospero said on June 19, 2013 at 3:43 pm
The gardens at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home, is a canary in the climate change coal mine.
I’ve watched all of Orphan Black on Amazon. Really original idea. Perfect for erstwhile fans of Dollhouse and bears a literary sort of connection to Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go (and how did Never come from the author of Remains of the Day?) Both are truly great novels, I think, but as disparate thematically as two books can be.
Matt Frewer played an unforgettable character, an Aussie maniac named Taggart on the late, great Eureka. We enjoy Warehouse 13, too. Fans of Ray Harryhausen should check the new Sinbad series on SyFy, but I remember him best as Trashcan Man in the excellent, encyclopedic TeeVee version of The Stand. Frewer’s character in Orphan Black is called Dr. Leekie, and he is a scientifice conman villain propounding a scam about self-evolution, like willing oneself to grow more utile appendages, stuff like that.
MarkH: I thought Missouri Breaks was terrific, especially the way Nicholson’s character gets deadly serious when he turns his mind to revenge. And I like Brando’s turn as the psycho killer. Have you seen the movie version of 92 in the Shade with Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Margot Kidder, the beauteous ex-Mrs. McGuane, Burgess Meredith, Harry Dean and Sylvia Miles? A great cast with some marvellous scenery chewing.
That “friends because they both loved and lost the same woman trope” is affecting, and I’ve thought that was the deal with Walt and Henry since early on. It’s done well on NCIS (my guilty pleasure), with Gibbs and the FBI agent Fornell sharing an ex-wife.
1893 chars
Deborah said on June 19, 2013 at 3:47 pm
LA Mary, ridiculously false eyelashes seem to be a thing, I’ve seen a few young girls around here with them. It wasn’t something I saw in Chicago though. They’re thick and hairy like tarantula legs around their eyes, completely as fake as can be. Odd.
251 chars
Prospero said on June 19, 2013 at 3:58 pm
I never much liked Safari when I got this Mac so I use Firefox, and I shouldn’t say this, but… Nah. Not going to tempt fate. It’s like “Wilt’s not very good from the FT line”. If an announcer mentioned it, he was sure to make his free throws.
Anyone see LeBron’s tantrum last night with 40 sec left in overtime. Defensive player made a great play on the ball and bounced it over the endline off LeBron, who was in the process of committing a monstro offensive foule. LeBron seemed to think he should be going to the line, because, well, LeBron. He was whining big time. It was embarrassing.
That was Matt Frewer as Trashcan Man:
“My life for you.”
658 chars
Prospero said on June 19, 2013 at 3:59 pm
Deborah@36: It’s a cult, the Daughters of Elvira and Peggy Bundy.
65 chars
Prospero said on June 19, 2013 at 4:35 pm
Michael Hastings, the reporter that wrote the Rolling Stone article in which Stanley McChrystal drunkenly hoist himself on his own petard, died in a car crash in LA this morning. Interweb nutjobs are already all over the place implying the government or the Democratic Party was involved. Why? Because President Obama wasn’t happy to be able to dump the insolent, overweening McChrystal? What are these psychos talking about? Because supporters of Hillary Clinton want to protect Shrubco miscreants? Seriously, suggest a remotely feasible motive, you paranoiac nitwits.
Here’s a friend of mine that most likely was killed by agents of the Raygun administration, because of the Raygunista crimes surrounding Iran-Contra. That’s what I think from everything I’ve learned from Danny’s friends and family, and that’s what Eliot Richardson thought when he investigated the death.
This shinola about Hastings accident is more idiotic than the Vince Foster insanity. Which GOPer member of Congress was in his yard shooting bullets into melons? Oh yeah, it was Dan Burton, that delighted in calling President Clinton a scumbag before his own extracurriculars came to light. Was there a single GOPer of the pack after Clinton that wasn’t subsequently caugh with pants around ankles? Henry Hyde? Nope, youthful indiscretion at 50.
1585 chars
mark said on June 19, 2013 at 4:59 pm
It takes a certain talent to raise your own nutjob conspiracy theory while in the midst of ridiculing nutjob conspiracy theories.
129 chars
MarkH said on June 19, 2013 at 4:59 pm
jw – I caught that dialect thing, too, but only really noticed it with Henry. Can’t say it’s endemic to Wyoming, though I know one or two here that may speak without contractions. My view is that it’s either a script or a Lou Diamond Phillips interpretation of modern Native American-speak. Before I settled in Jackson Hole, I had the good fortune after my arrival to have worked all over the state, the region actually, including Montana, Utah, Idaho and a brief stint in New Mexico, all during the ’70s-’80s oil boom. No consistent way of speaking that I could pick up. Generally just knew some wonderful people out here.
Have not seen 92 in the Shade, Pros, but did know that McGuane directed and wrote the script form his book.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072594/combined
Have you seen Rancho Deluxe? A McGuane sript again, directed by Frank Perry starring Jeff Bridges, Sam Waterston, Harry Dean Stanton, Elizabeth Ashley. Filmed in ’74 in and around Livingston, MT. Bridges and Waterston are modern day cattle rustler/slackers running afoul of the locals. There is a great scene filmed at the Wrangler Bar where Bridges and Stanton are playing Pong. The house band is Jimmy Buffett’s, aided by McGuane on mandolin and then-resident Warren Oates on harmonica. This is the film where Bridges met his wife, Susan while she was working at nearby Chico Hot Springs.
1377 chars
paddyo' said on June 19, 2013 at 5:01 pm
Pros’ — also Matt Frewer of Max Headroom, a wonderful and sadly too-brief ’80s show wayyy ahead of its time . . .
As for King James, my nephew re-posted to Facebook yesterday a funny (although one-note, obviously) video parody of LeBron James flopping over on the YouTubes. I haven’t followed the NBA as closely as I did in my youth (or “ute,” as Joe Pesci would say), so I wasn’t aware that Mr. Takin’ My Game to South Beach was such an actor . . .
532 chars
Prospero said on June 19, 2013 at 5:33 pm
Matt Frewer was also a lead acto in a good CBC production called The PSI Factor I used to like. The Eureka episodes that focused on his character Trager were always wildly entertaining.
Rancho Deluxe is a favorite. Who would ever have thought Sam Waterston could be that drop dead funny deadpan. I always imagined that would have been a fun movie set to work on. I bet some Humbolt Co. Cali growers made a bundle off that bunch.
I think Henry’s eschewing contractions is a character thing. Lou Diamond Philips does stuff like that. I’ve been a fan since La Bamba.
Max Headroom:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYdpOjletnc
One of those Youtube commenters is right. Jim Carrey owes copyright money to the creators of Max, although I also think he sounds like Barney Fife in high dudgeon.
799 chars
Prospero said on June 19, 2013 at 5:36 pm
That LeBron video is hilarious. I think he learned from Bosh, a wizard at soccer style flopping since way back at GTech.
120 chars
Charlotte said on June 19, 2013 at 5:45 pm
The Livingston pronounciation is “AB-zor-ka” — but I hear that it varies around the area — I’ve also heard of some old timers using “AB-zorkie.”
There was a book came out last year about the whole McGuane-Harrison-Buffett gang, set mostly in Key West called Mile Marker Zero. I was doing some independent study stuff with Tom and Margie’s granddaughter this winter, and she came over one afternoon all shook up by it. No 14 year old wants to be reading about her grandparents’ 1970s experiments with drugs, booze and free love. Poor bunny. And of course, the two out of that whole group that are the closest now are Margie Kidder and Becky (McGuane) Fonda … but then again, Becky is universally beloved … especially the “kids” of my generation. I think she’s the only one who routinely remembered to feed them.
819 chars
Prospero said on June 19, 2013 at 5:47 pm
The House GOPers refused to allow debate on any animal welfare amendments when the Farm Bill goes to the full House. Bipartisan amendments on horse slaughter, horse soring, and protecting egg-laying hens were left out of consideration, while the dangerous, overreaching “King Amendment” remains in the Farm Bill. The King Amendment seeks to repeal state laws regarding agriculture production and could nullify measures on farm animal confinement, horse slaughter, puppy mills, shark finning, and a wide range of other concerns including food safety, child labor and the environment.
What is soring? You probaby would rather not know, so make sure to be ready if you open this link:
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/tenn_walking_horses/facts/what_is_soring.html
That is more disgusting and barbaric than cutting off shark fins and throwing the sharks alive back into the ocean to die.
And that is just the shit the mofo bastards want to allow to be done to non-human animals. The Farm Bill as it stands cuts $20.5 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps families keep food on the table when they are struggling to get by. I consider all of this to be evil shit. Not just misguided, but literally manifestations of sub-human evil. You know all those GOPers backing this bullshit claim to be followers of Jesus. He’d be rolling over in His tomb had he not risen from it.
1422 chars
Prospero said on June 19, 2013 at 6:01 pm
Charlotte, don’t let the kid read about McGuane’s nailing his hand to Elizabeth Ashley’s door in Panama.
104 chars
Prospero said on June 19, 2013 at 6:27 pm
We call those tinted glasses Joe Pa glasses, as are probably favored by nutcases like this idiot GOPer that says that male fetuses spend some of their time in utero flogging the bishop.
401 chars
Prospero said on June 19, 2013 at 7:53 pm
Here’s a very thoughtful and moving piece about receiving a cancer diagnosis, by the CEO of Sojourners, a liberal public policy and social welfare group that actually deserves a 501©4 tax designation.
Why Oompa Loompa Boehner would think it’s a good idea to block immigration reform. Well, economists say it would be good for the economy and reduce the deficit:
http://thinkprogress.org/progress-report/a-trillion-more-reasons-to-support-immigration-reform/
Heaven forfend. We can’t have that happening.
611 chars
Deborah said on June 19, 2013 at 7:56 pm
James Gandolfini dies at age 51. Wow. RIP Tony Soprano.
55 chars
MarkH said on June 19, 2013 at 8:39 pm
I could have sworn Gandolfini was older than 51. What a loss.
http://www.today.com/entertainment/sopranos-star-james-gandolfini-dies-51-6C10386818
Always heard the accent on the second sylable. Way oldtimers say ab-SOR-kee. There’s even a town with that name near you Charlotte, Hwy 78 south of Columbus, MT. Wiki says accent on the second sylable, FWIW.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absarokee,_Montana
411 chars
Kim said on June 19, 2013 at 8:40 pm
Jakash @ 19: Yup, that’s Tony! Talented, fearless and not one to pull a punch. Ever.
Deborah, I just saw that about Gandolfini. It sucks.
140 chars
MarkH said on June 19, 2013 at 8:51 pm
Pros, I agree about Waterston, played that role just right. And to think he did Cecil right after he played Nick in the Redford version of Gatsby. Way different roles, way underappreciated actor.
(One of) My favorite lines from Rancho Deluxe was this gem of a prediction of the future spouted by Cecil’s father:
Mr. Colson: “I’ve seen more of this state’s poor cowboys, miners, railroaders and Indians go broke buyin’ pickup trucks. The poor people of this state are dope fiends for pickup trucks. As soon’s they get ten cents ahead they trade in on a new pickup truck. The families, homesteads, schools, hospitals and happiness of Montana have been sold down the river to buy pickup trucks!… And there’s a sickness here worse than alcohol and dope. It is the pickup truck debt! And there’s no cure in sight.”
817 chars
Deborah said on June 19, 2013 at 9:53 pm
Ginormous pick-ups are all over Santa Fe. It can be terrifying to walk on the very narrow sidewalks they have here, right next to a street that has a 25 mph limit that these trucks go nowhere near that slow. This is one of my biggest beefs about Santa Fe. As long as you’re in the immediate plaza area you’re fine but when you step outside of that to do your grocery shopping on foot, forget about it. And don’t get me started about drunk drivers, a huge, huge problem here.
This morning we walked to the plaza to look for something, past our beautiful little park that is being renovated and we saw some folks shooting up. We encountered a police car shortly after that on our walk and expressed our concern to him. He said he would look into it, and it appeared that he did.
779 chars
MarkH said on June 19, 2013 at 11:20 pm
Welcome to the West, Deborah.
29 chars
Prospero said on June 19, 2013 at 11:25 pm
Mark@53: I’m convinced Waterston was channeling Buster Keaton in The Pale Face to some extent. Exceptionally subtle comic performance.
On a resort island 12 miles long with developed paved roads everywhere, we don’t have all the big redneck pickups. More absurdly, we have yahoo nitwits driving hummers, IH SUVs, Land Rovers, huge Escalades bigger than 24 ft. Boston Whalers and all sorts of Urban Assault Vehicles under the sun. On the bright side, there are a lot of people with actual hot rods and cars like vintage T-birds and Vettes. The jerks that drive the tanks will brake percipatately down to 0mph at every speed bump. Which is dangerous for bikers riding behind them in parking lots. I mean, if I can take the bumps with no discomfort on a hybrid bike, you’d thing a 5 ton vehicle would provide a smooth enough ride.
831 chars
Prospero said on June 19, 2013 at 11:29 pm
Anybody know any good recipes that use pickled garlic? I’m guessing Korean.
Also, any of y’all ever have to use one of those adhesive tear mender thingies on leather upholstery? I could use some advice. Three year old couuch gutdomit.
237 chars