I am embarking on a major stuff-reduction project this week. I don’t expect to finish it by New Year’s Day, but if I can make a dent by then, and a goal by springtime, I’ll be happy. Along the way, I will tweet, and post, some of the oddities found along the way.
Today’s exasperation: Journalists rival only the Special Olympics for plaque-passing and ribbon-pinning. I hope, in this project, to find the inner strength to pitch Major Awards like this.
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 26, 2013 at 12:01 pm
Events of Public Importance!
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 26, 2013 at 12:02 pm
(My wife uses these for dishes at Thanksgiving dinner; she says they make good trivets.)
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Peter said on December 26, 2013 at 2:00 pm
Holy cow – Jeff TMMO ™ is the only one who’s replied so far?
Wow, people are really enjoying their holiday.
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brian stouder said on December 26, 2013 at 2:10 pm
My go-to metaphor is always The Wizard of Oz – and indeed, one can absolutely see the Wizard his-own-self pulling that Events of Public Importance award right out of his velvet bag, and handing it to our lovely Proprietress…
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paddyo' said on December 26, 2013 at 2:10 pm
Thanks for the inspiration, Nance — I also have a box of old and similarly (un)important citations that have never and will never be tacked up on any wall of mine. I think I’ll save my surviving sibs and nieces/nephews the trouble whenever my last day comes . . .
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Prospero said on December 26, 2013 at 2:59 pm
Ring ding diddle diddle i de o
Ring diding diddle i o
He said, ‘Lad I don’t know where you’ve been but I see you won first prize
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wWz_7qdrPs
My Goober-nor. Gutdom, what an embarrassment. Does she actually not see what a jackass she makes of herself? Well, everything is relative. She didn’t actually quote $Palin about who got the gun and who got the rack.
I’ve still got my letter sweater, and all of my BSA merit badges. Somewhere along the way, I lost my Eagle Scout pin, but I do still have my Order of the Arrow sash. I keep the merit bsdges because my mom sewed them onto the sash. I’ve been moving this stuff around for more than 50 years.
One of my brothers gave me the Musical History box set (The Band), and another gave me the 30th anniversary edition of Born to Run, which includes a London concert at the Hammersmith Odeon on DVD. Great presents.
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brian stouder said on December 26, 2013 at 3:06 pm
I got a 2-cd set of Pearl Jam’s Lost Dogs; already had it, but my old cd was ‘scratched’ or otherwise corrupted….very good stuff, indeed.
And Shelby (the 15 year old) got Lorde’s Pure Heroine – which I believe is “heroine” in the female/heroic sense, and not in the controlled-substance sense (as discussed in the last thread).
I really like that new young artist
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alex said on December 26, 2013 at 3:43 pm
Fort Wayne’s famous spooging Santa’s got nothin’ on Chicago’s newest Christmas attraction: http://jezebel.com/massive-snowman-bouncy-house-has-a-giant-vagina-for-an-1485947293
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MichaelG said on December 26, 2013 at 3:44 pm
RE Yesterday’s post: Brian’s McDonalds burger photo is rather gross. Check out those fingernails. Or, better yet, don’t.
Deborah, please not so hard on those of us who are over 65. Next somebody’s going to want to cut me loose on an ice floe.
Finally: Prospero, I’ll even you out. You cohabit with a woman to whom you are not married. I’m married to a woman with whom I do not cohabit.
I could fill a dumpster with all the stuff I need to get rid of around here.
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Jolene said on December 26, 2013 at 3:47 pm
The article at the link below re end-of-year holiday giving just popped up in my newsfeed. Am posting because I thought its fairly hard-headed approach was interesting and because some of the organizations rated most effective were completely unknown to me. Thought they might be new to some of you too.
The author advocates overseas giving to get the biggest bang for the buck, but also mentions a couple of US organizations that seem to be doing a good job of helping disadvantaged kids get a better start in life. I was particularly attracted to Nurse-Famiy Partnerships. As more and more research points to the importance of early parenting and early education as a foundation for later success in school, the value of support for stressed or inexperienced parents becomes increasingly obvious. This idea seems to connect with the question Jeff raised on the previous thread re concern for the security of children in various family configurations.
Take a look to learn about some interesting organizations.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/12/26/the-wonkblog-guide-to-holiday-giving-2/
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brian stouder said on December 26, 2013 at 3:48 pm
Alex – that’s the funniest thing I’ve seen today!
And MichaelG – yes; the fingernails put me right off
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Jenine said on December 26, 2013 at 3:54 pm
Using plaques as trivets, I like that application. Practical and takes the pompous right out.
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Scout said on December 26, 2013 at 3:55 pm
Did this Major Award come with a plastic leg lamp?
Happy day-after-Christmas to all!
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Prospero said on December 26, 2013 at 4:03 pm
Lorde is very good, and she’s not a ninny like most of the young female popstars. And she wears normal clothes. Her real name is Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O’Connor, and she’s a Kiwi. She’s only 17, but she has a big voice. More like Joss Stone than Stefani Germanotta. And I believe she wrote Royals, which has a sophisticated melody and chord changes that are pretty adventurous and fairly trenchant lyrics. I like her attitude. More like a rocker than a popster. The tennis court song is really good. She’s got old timey movie star looks, like Anne Bancroft or Lauren Bacall. My favorite as far as young musical women currently is Haim. That bass player has serious attitude and the girl on the cherry SG can really play. There hasn’t been a really good girl rock band since about Fanny, those Millington sisters. Well, they predated the Runaways. Go-gos and Bangles had their moments. Walk like an Egypgtion is a great rock ‘n’ roll song, and Susanna Hoffs absolutely sizzzles on the cover of Hazy Shade of Winter
Today is the anniversary of the death, in 1999 of the incomparable Curtis Mayfield. Shaft is OK, but Suoerfly is the real deal.
Question is MichaelG, which of us is doing the most damage to marriage?
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Hattie said on December 26, 2013 at 4:06 pm
My daughter has been going through some of my late mother in law’s stuff. I can’t even look at it, but she is stronger. She did find a good quality Revere Ware pot, though, which I’m glad to have.
And a very happy holiday season to all!`
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dr. no said on December 26, 2013 at 4:43 pm
My daughter earned a few of those Special Olympic plaques and medals; trust me, they were worked for with all of her heart, and will be neither tossed nor trivet-ized as long as I’m around!
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brian stouder said on December 26, 2013 at 4:53 pm
Agreed about Lorde’s classic good looks; and indeed, she’s quite the compelling artist
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David C. said on December 26, 2013 at 6:39 pm
My wife is pretty ruthless, and rightly so, in making me cull the stuff I’m not using. About the only thing I’ve been allowed to keep that I don’t really use is my old first baseman’s mitt. You just never know when you might be called on to play first, and I want to be ready.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 26, 2013 at 7:33 pm
I am now officially irresponsible and in Indianapolis, and don’t those two go together?
Having had a nearly five hour drive to edit and condense, I can take my overlong perambulation from the previous thread and say: let’s create a legislative environment nationwide where any household that is raising children birth to 18/21 can receive certain benefits and/or tax considerations, and allow registration of partnerships for term and lifetime periods with some modest federalist state-by-state variation in the tax and credit benefits for either state of living, with solemnization happening at the point of issuance (by the clerk, not after you leave the office and find an officiant, sacred or secular). Add civil protections for faith communities to hold sacred services of holy matrimony as their doctrine provides, but de-link those from the ability, direct or indirect, to get that state/county license solemnized.
I’ll vote for ALL of that. And soon, so we can move to the real question: what are we going to do to provide for children brought into the world? Gay marriage/marriage equality will neither hurt nor help that issue, and it’s the one I’m obsessed with. If we need to redefine marriage so we can get back to discussing new definitions of family and how to support them, I will withdraw any and all objections to get to that conversation . . . speaking socially, not in reference to our own confab here.
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alex said on December 26, 2013 at 9:06 pm
I am now officially irresponsible and in Indianapolis, and don’t those two go together?
Only if you’ve been elected to the statehouse by people who put their own bigotry ahead of their own best interests.
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Prospero said on December 26, 2013 at 11:44 pm
The Bouncy House with the vagina reminds me of an old joke about, “If you can find my carkeys, we can drive out.”
Jeff@19: On one side of the political debate is the GOP, whose deficit reduction strategy was to cut off S-Chip and food assistance programs that help kids in poverty. They will not back off that sort of selfish, heartless behavior. Those kids are the unfortunate post-born that the Republlican Party seems to think are far less important, less valuable than the pre-born, or even the zygotes wasting away in laboratories. They made up a cutesy name for those kids, Snowflakes.
Happy birthday to Ozzie Smith, the Wizard.Usually the term “greatest of all time” is fairly useless in any discussion of sports, but calling this play the greatest of all time is not very far off the mark. It doesn’t even seem possible, despite clear video evidence.
Lorde’s song Team. Superb melody and inventive lyrics, internal rhymes. Buzzcut Season is another good one. Her voice and her songwriting , the more I hear of it, is starting to remind me of Tori Amos, who I like a lot. She’s refreshingly articulate and seems pretty bright and thoughtful, too.
When Ben Stiller decided to do a Walter Mitty movie, why didn’t some kind person point out that he was opening himself to comparison with the comic genius, Danny Kaye. He’s not even in the same universe.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 27, 2013 at 12:03 am
Don’t forget that Walter Mitty is a creation of Columbus, Ohio’s own James Thurber.
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Brandon said on December 27, 2013 at 3:28 am
My daughter earned a few of those Special Olympic plaques and medals; trust me, they were worked for with all of her heart, and will be neither tossed nor trivet-ized as long as I’m around!
dr. no: Right on!
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Dexter said on December 27, 2013 at 4:06 am
I never got with Netflix because I pay for premium cable as I love HBO and Showtime. So my daughter and her husband get me a Galaxy tablet plus a year sub to Netflix. Today I hooked up the Netflix to my BluRay to try it that way, worked perfectly, so I watched the first episode S1 of “Lillehammer”. I am gonna like this series. I now have about 15 more episodes to watch to catch up.
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coozledad said on December 27, 2013 at 6:47 am
Frank Capra and Jimmy Stuart was Marxerers!
http://wonkette.com/537531/history-shocker-ayn-rand-helped-fbi-find-communist-influence-in-its-a-wonderful-life
Thank God J. Edgar Hoover knew a White Russian hooker to put on the case.
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coozledad said on December 27, 2013 at 9:22 am
Yet more white trash unable to control its stupid savage impulses.
http://gawker.com/racist-arrested-after-breaking-important-knockout-game-1490171488
The Romans and Greeks were right. Germanians and Cisalpine Gauls are good for nothing but slavery.
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