A friend of mine here has a truly encyclopedic record collection, and when we were chatting online about the Westminster dog show, he recollected a garage-sale find of many years back, an album of songs about dogs. Children’s music, mind you, not country-western weepers about a latter-day Ol’ Yeller. Did he have any on MP3? But of course. Enjoy the one about terriers:
(No, it’s not as good as this one, I fear.)
And you dachshund lovers do the same:
So. I wish I had more to report today, but it was one of those. Woke up to -5 temperatures, which at this point is just one of those OK-so-no-early-dog-walk days. It was sunny, though. Just have to white-knuckle it through to Saturday, after which: Photo posts only next week. I will try to make them interesting photos, but no promises. I know I had time off only two months ago, but I’m feeling the need for this one — not to get away from work, but to get away from winter. I know you understand.
That said, there’s still some good stuff to share.
My friend Dave Jones, doing a pretty standard Winter Olympics column (hey dudes, figure skating isn’t so bad), which nevertheless has some very funny moments:
Even when the women aren’t classically beautiful, they are interesting looking. I mean, from what world is Meryl Davis? Were she only born 40 years before, Gene Roddenberry surely would have signed her for a single episode to be one of those women Captain Kirk used to fall in love with when he beamed down to warring planets and they’d look into each other’s eyes and the soundtrack would turn to quavering fifth-octave mellotron. Meryl Davis is evidence we are not alone.
And finally, an ad for a personal-care product. I’ll say no more. I’ll just lay it down on the table and …slip out of the room.
susan said on February 13, 2014 at 12:45 am
What was most amusing about the gun oil commercial is the little google-generated ad that showed up at the bottom of it: “FREE NRA Duffel Bag Join NRA”
Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
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Dexter said on February 13, 2014 at 1:15 am
Some people… 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4jU8IQK5b0
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Sherri said on February 13, 2014 at 1:56 am
I know there are some car fans here. The earth opened up and swallowed some ‘vettes: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/automobiles/sinkhole-beneath-national-corvette-museum-devours-8-cars.html?_r=0
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Mindy said on February 13, 2014 at 7:46 am
Gun oil, har har. The same product is probably packaged in a pink bottle and called Tender Moments.
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Basset said on February 13, 2014 at 7:49 am
Shoulda been a sailor coming home.
I’ve been in that museum, it’s across the street from the Corvette factory. That whole area is riddled with caves and sinkholes and Mammoth Cave is not far away. Tour guide at the cave told me years ago that the two questions most asked by visitors there are “how many miles of undiscovered passages are there?” and “is the whole cave underground?”
Meanwhile, this:
http://www.wiltshirebusinessonline.co.uk/news/11002574.Brian_Epstein_s_Bentley_up_for_sale/?ref=var_0
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on February 13, 2014 at 8:07 am
Yes, folks, that was my weekday boss who had to sign off the story still getting our offices calls from CNN, the BBC, and the Playboy Channel. And we had truancy court yesterday, and before it started he was standing in the back of the room telling me about all his qualms and all the questions he still had, but why he had no choice but to approve it. He’s less bothered by this lady per se than the next few weeks, which we’re both sure is going to result in a modest wave of new filings for name changes to . . . who know what, next?
http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20140211/NEWS01/302110024/41-year-old-Pataskala-woman-changes-name-Sexy
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alex said on February 13, 2014 at 8:19 am
So, that kid in Tennessee named Messiah… for short do they call him Messy?
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Basset said on February 13, 2014 at 8:25 am
Far be it from me to question the Newspaper of Record, but I believe there’s a mistake in that Corvette story – there were no 1983 models produced, not because of quality issues but because that’s when the plant was being moved from St. Louis to Kentucky. I seriously doubt GM, the makers of the Vega and the Citation, would have even slowed the line down to deal with quality problems, although the Corvette has had its share of those.
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beb said on February 13, 2014 at 8:27 am
Name changes, like tattoos and sex change operations, are forever. And how will the children feel when they tell their children, ‘get in the car, we’re going to see Gramma Sexy.’
The thing about the Corvette sinkhole is how big it was. It wasn’t one small part of a room that collapsed. It was the whole freaking atrium!
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Suzanne said on February 13, 2014 at 8:28 am
The best moment I’ve seen so far in Olympic figure skating was a Canadian pair skating very well in their short program while the NBC announcers were droning on and on about how they had changed their short program just weeks ago and what a terrible idea that was. Nerves, you know, this IS the Olympics and they won’t be ready and they won’t be able to manage it, and on and on. The pair skated nearly flawlessly and ended up in 2nd or 3rd place. No falls, no bobbles, no problems.
So far, the NBC commentators detract from the action, at least from what I’ve seen. Which is why I now watch with my Twitter feed going to see all the hilarious comments.
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beb said on February 13, 2014 at 8:30 am
Basset, I still miss my little red Chevette. Nice little car, good room inside for plus size people…
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nancy said on February 13, 2014 at 8:31 am
Jeff, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in years of being a reporter, it’s this: You call people what they ask to be called, whether it’s Glen, Glenda, African-American or Sexy. It’s not just good manners, it’s firmly rooted in English common law. You get to determine your own name.
Actually, one of the most casually cruel acts I ever witnessed in jurisprudence was in Columbus, when a man transitioning to the other gender asked to be legally known as Brenda, or something. The judge flat-out denied it, even though she was standing in front of him in a dress and heels. His justification: It would be cruel to your children. Someone’s always thinking of the children.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on February 13, 2014 at 9:16 am
Nancy, the judge mentioned that. The memory of it kept him grounded. He suspects there’s more of a financial plan here than an intention to use the name personally, but it wasn’t going to lead him to turn down her request if there’s no intent to defraud or evade debts, and those are the only grounds you can deny a name change petition on, he’s quite certain.
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brian stouder said on February 13, 2014 at 9:17 am
The other day, our local right-wing radio lip-flapper was whining and lamenting the pothole that the anti-gay marriage chuckleheads hit in the Indiana statehouse – and his Big Question was: why do gay people politicize things like marriage?
Why do they have activists dedicated to this, when marriage is marriage, afterall? (and – he worked “the children” in there, somewhere, too)
As I cursed him (and his bobble-head amen-corner of callers) and changed the channel, I was saying ‘because thoughtless, reflexive discrimination and disenfranchisement is so much better for our society, right?”
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Connie said on February 13, 2014 at 9:42 am
Basset, I saw a story yesterday that said it is the one and only 1983 model made.
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LAMary said on February 13, 2014 at 9:45 am
I bet you sing that terrier song to Wendy all the time. The Best in Show version, not the creepy one. There’s that other song about terriers in Best in Show about doing it terrier style as well. I know my dogs enjoy being sung to. I used to have a little mutt named Sophie who sang along on the wo wo wo parts of Volare.
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brian stouder said on February 13, 2014 at 10:12 am
…and now all I can think of is an ’83 Volare (being pitched by Ricardo Montobaln)
(however his name is spelled!)
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Charlotte said on February 13, 2014 at 11:08 am
My late brother had to change his name in his early 30s — took our Mom’s surname — because it turned out our dad had been “borrowing” Patrick’s name and SS# for decades to get loans and open credit accounts. “I certainly wasn’t the one opening an account at Marshall Fields when I was two,” he said. That was the last straw. Luckily, in California at that time, all you had to do was show up at the DMV, fill out a form, and voila, new name.
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Deborah said on February 13, 2014 at 11:28 am
I think I’ve mentioned this here but I legally changed my name after I got divorced. I combined the beginning of my married name and the ending of my maiden name, it’s Irish sounding which is what my maiden name was. When I got married again many years later I kept my name. My husband’s name and my name start with the same letter. Little Bird has her father’s name (my former married name) which is German, no one knows how to pronounce it when they see it written.
When I changed my name I had a lawyer who was the husband of a friend of mine, he only charged me $75, which were the court costs. I had to stand before a judge and swear that I wasn’t changing my name to avoid financial obligations. And he asked about my daughter, what she would think about my having a different name than her’s. It didn’t bother Little Bird in the least, we had many conversations about it before I went through with it. I’m glad I did it, I like my name. Changing it helped me process who I was after my divorce.
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Scout said on February 13, 2014 at 11:29 am
Dave Jones’ column was a stich – thanks for sharing because it’s something I never would have seen otherwise. Likewise the GunOil ad. Awesome.
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LAMary said on February 13, 2014 at 11:37 am
I’m thinking of shedding my ex’s name. My maiden name is unusual and I always have to spell it for people. I might take my mother’s maiden name because as far as I can tell there isn’t anyone else in the US with that name. My aunt who died a few months ago was the last of them. There is one guy in Dusseldorf with that surname.
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brian stouder said on February 13, 2014 at 11:48 am
I think that would make a good movie title.
One Guy in Dusseldorf
and it could be anything from a musical comedy to a low-key spy movie
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LAMary said on February 13, 2014 at 12:02 pm
The guy in Dusseldorf is named Oliver Thorwester. That sounds more musical comedy to me.
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brian stouder said on February 13, 2014 at 12:26 pm
(cue Coozledad…)
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crinoidgirl said on February 13, 2014 at 12:41 pm
Sid Caesar has died.
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MichaelG said on February 13, 2014 at 12:47 pm
You’re absolutely right, Basset, however there’s always a tag story:
http://www.examiner.com/article/sole-survivor-1983-corvette
Gun oil. I’ve never heard of the stuff and I must admit the NRA ad through me so that I was scratching my head while watching the commercial until the very end. I still don’t get why the NRA ad was tagged on there. Gun oil. I don’t know whether it’s gross or clever.
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MichaelG said on February 13, 2014 at 12:48 pm
Threw me.
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Sherri said on February 13, 2014 at 1:22 pm
It’s true that that whole area of Kentucky (and middle Tennessee) is riddled with caves and sinkholes. I can remember growing up sinkholes occasionally swallowing a house or a road. There’s a big cave (Dunbar Cave) in my home town where they used to hold dances back in the 40’s.
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Judybusy said on February 13, 2014 at 2:13 pm
Speaking of names, it’s public radio pledge drive time. This morning, a couple, Evelyn and Bruce, bought a membership for their granddaughter, whose name was Hypatia. Yes, Hypatia. For those of you who don’t know who that was, per Wiki, she was an Alexandrine Greek philophoser (I misspelled that, but keeping it cuz it’s funny) who died in 415 A.D. Pretentious twaddle, or clever reference?
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mark said on February 13, 2014 at 2:39 pm
“Pretentious twaddle, or clever reference?”
I choose ‘coincidence.’
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Sherri said on February 13, 2014 at 3:02 pm
We’ve got nothing on Brazil when it comes to unusual names: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/02/world/americas/his-friends-know-him-as-petroswickonicovick.html
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Basset said on February 13, 2014 at 3:44 pm
Sherri, you’re from Clarksville? Seems to me you mentioned it awhile back and that fact fell out of my head.
Have been to Dunbar Cave a few times – I like the Civil War graffito left by a Confederate spy who slid into a Union social event there during the occupation and left his mark, something along the lines of “Captain so and so CSA was here, nyaaaa ha ha”…
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Judybusy said on February 13, 2014 at 3:50 pm
Sherri, fascinating article! I’ve been to Brazil a few times and none of the people I knew had those weird names….but I mixed with an upper-class crowd as an exchange student. Also, so amazing that Germany and Iceland regulate names.
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Sherri said on February 13, 2014 at 3:57 pm
Basset, yes, I grew up in Clarksville, and family is still there. I did my undergraduate at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, another place with a lot of caves. I don’t do caves myself, being far too claustrophobic.
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Basset said on February 13, 2014 at 3:59 pm
Went caving a few times when I was at IU but don’t think I could do it now. Basset Jr. started at Tech, then transferred to MTSU and got his apparently useless history degree there.
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beb said on February 13, 2014 at 4:05 pm
Judybusy@29 – also the name of a pornstar Hypatia Lee.
LAMary if you are considering changing your name may I suggest “Brown.” It’s short, easy to remember void of any specific ethnic identity. I might add my wife chose it.
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Judybusy said on February 13, 2014 at 4:39 pm
Oh Beb! Hopefully the parents were unaware of that, as any good NPR-listening person would be. Unless they hang out in places like this. 😉
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nancy said on February 13, 2014 at 4:49 pm
The porn star is Hyapatia Lee, not Hypatia. Don’t ask me how I know. OK, I’ll tell you: She’s originally from Indianapolis, and from what I hear, bears very little resemblance to her high-school self. However, the fact he sat next to her in homeroom seared the brain of the Fort Wayne reporter who learned this fact much later.
Her self-reported origin story is here, and very likely mostly bullshit, but there you go. It’s hard for women like this to have careers after they age out of onscreen penetration.
OK, on edit: That came out wrong. I have no problem believing this girl was sexually abused; it’s a depressing through-line in many porn actors’ lives. I do believe the multiple-personality thing is nonsense, but that’s just me.
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alex said on February 13, 2014 at 5:27 pm
I got to meet Hyapatia Lee. In the flesh. More of it than I ever cared to see. This was about 1980 or so when she was the shit.
She came to Fort Wayne to defend the dirty bookstore/peep shows/movie theater on Pearl Street that were under attack at the time by bluenosed old cranks who were trying to get a life. (Hurling abuse at people entering and leaving the abortion clinic hadn’t become a new fad yet.) Back then these were the only places where gay people could make social contact, which is pretty sad when you think about it. But, yes, we were out in force to defend our turf, and Hyapatia came to town to mock the picketing protesters and flash them with her boobies and suck face with a lesbian just for shock value.
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coozledad said on February 13, 2014 at 8:27 pm
I believe that one day porn may one day intersect with art, as it did in ancient times in the west, and more recently in Asia. One of the reasons it doesn’t is because our culture is even more fucked up about sex than the damn Romans. That’s a high bar.
Regulate it. Tax it. Protect these crazy motherfuckers. They used to be babbies.
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coozledad said on February 13, 2014 at 8:38 pm
An example. Requires no translation, even:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WRtn1xqeas
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Deborah said on February 13, 2014 at 9:14 pm
Coozledad, I saw Felini Satyricon when I was a sophomore in colleg. I went to a Lutheran College in Nebraska and an art professor drove some of us some students to Omaha to see the movie, the whole way back he was backpedaling about why he’d taken us to the movie. He was nervous about his position, In hindsight I get that.
Busy day, I had a bunch of errands to run since I’m going back to Chicago tomorrow. Of course In my addled state I dropped my iPhone and shattered it. I did this another time when I was about to travel, I think it was before I went to Beaver Brook, but can’t exactly remember. After that I went to Target and got a new iPhone 5c for a fantastic deal, and even got one for Little Bird too as part of the deal. I love this new phone, it’s so much nicer than my old one. I bought a fitbit too since I made out like a bandit on the phones. Of course I will probably find out when the bill comes from AT&T that I was scammed by Target somehow.
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Sherri said on February 13, 2014 at 9:41 pm
I’m a constant cell phone dropper, which is why I put every electronic device I own in a case as soon as I buy them. This is my new favorite iPhone case: http://www.speckproducts.com/iphone-case/iphone-5-cases/smartflex-card-for-iphone-5.html
So far, it’s kept my iPhone from breaking, despite multiple drops. It’s not as heavy-duty as the Otterbox cases, but not as heavy as they are, either.
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coozledad said on February 13, 2014 at 9:56 pm
Deborah: I’d almost forgotten how two-dimensionally that film was shot. Tableaux for the most part. Same with Greenaway. It’s funny how heavily film still relies on classical composition.
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alex said on February 13, 2014 at 10:01 pm
Enjoying Mitch McConnell schadenfreude.
Yertel, as Prospero used to call him, is about to find out what it must have been like being Dick Lugar last year. We can only hope his daffy opponent in the primary self-destructs before the general election and gives Lundergan Grimes a sweeping victory, but in the state that elected Rand Paul, who self-destructs every day, I’m not all that optimistic.
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Jolene said on February 13, 2014 at 11:24 pm
Another domino falls.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal-judge-strikes-down-va-ban-on-gay-marriage/2014/02/13/c65b7674-9528-11e3-83b9-1f024193bb84_story.html?hpid=z1
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