Sorry I didn’t show up Wednesday. I discovered something Tuesday night: Alan’s purchase of my new Apple Watch gives us a year of Apple TV free, so of course I had to sign up and start binging “Ted Lasso,” which I keep hearing will restore my faith in humanity.
So far, it’s just a pretty good show, enjoyable in a very sitcom-y-but-not way, and probably what I need to get through the rest of January, which is…almost over.
And now, a few weeks behind schedule, winter has settled in. Temperatures in the 20s during the day, teens at night, snow on the ground, more expected. But with the arrival of February on Monday also means that we’re only days away from The Changing of the Light, which is to say, the moment in winter when you can see the first glimmers of spring. Weeks of terrible weather are still ahead, but the light is coming from a slightly different angle, the days are noticeably longer, and you know eventually winter will be driven from its fortifications.
Also, Groundhog Day.
Back to “Ted Lasso.” It’s nice seeing Hannah Waddingham in it, who looked so deeply, deeply familiar but it took a few minutes to figure out why: She was the meanest nun in that one season of “Game of Thrones.” Nice to see her looking all statuesque and beautiful and her age, but a really great version of her age. Strange to see an actress whose face is expressive and lined from all the expressions she’s made in her life.
Let’s see, what else? Oh, right: Late in the last post, LAMary said:
I also had a bug appear in my kitchen once that was so big and ugly my huntress cat wouldn’t go near it. Jerusalem Cricket is what it was. Hideous looking thing. I’ve seen quite a few since then (I was a newbie to LA then) and I’ve also explained to quite a few newcomers what the hell that hideous thing is.
When Kate was interning in L.A. last fall — or the fall before last, I guess — she came across one of those while cleaning someone’s garage. She screamed, and then took a video for us. It was horrible.
Finally, one link for all: We live in a golden age of cringe. What is cringe?
Cringe is best understood as a cousin of camp, though cringe differs from camp in that camp can still be enjoyable on its own terms. When you encounter cringe, you know it because you feel it physically: your eyes squint to avoid the grandeur of the discomfort a work induces.
Cringe made its national debut shortly after election night in 2016. You didn’t have to be a Trump fan in 2016 — Lord knows I wasn’t — to watch with horror as Kate McKinnon, one of the funnier performers on “Saturday Night Live” over the last decade, debased herself and the program by putting on her Hillary Clinton pantsuit and performing mournful, earnest rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” It was a shocking moment, an abdication of comedic responsibility in favor of a decision to paint Clinton not as a politician but as a kind of conduit for grief the show assumed was universal, rather than partisan.
Trump fans embraced their own cringe artifacts; the cringiest was the work of painter Jon McNaughton. Consider “National Emergency,” in which Trump, hands clasped in prayer, asks for guidance while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-N.Y.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) lift the Mexican flag while trampling on America’s. Or “Teach a Man to Fish,” in which Trump, not exactly known as an angler, shows a young man carrying a book entitled “Socialism” how to improve his lot in life. The suggestion that Trump is a religious and self-made man clashes with everything we know about him, but it does speak to the ideals to which Trump’s supporters nominally hew.
An amusing read.
Now to wait for the snow. Have a good weekend, all.
Mark P said on January 28, 2021 at 10:14 pm
Maybe my understanding of cringe is different from Sonny Bunch’s, but the best example I saw in his column was the column itself.
131 chars
Jakash said on January 29, 2021 at 1:27 am
Ah, “The Changing of the Light.” I had the distinct impression that I noticed it this afternoon, though it was just a slight difference in the angle of sunlight and the perceived intensity, certainly not accompanied for me by any glimmers of spring.
Or it could have been wishful thinking, given that *any* sunlight seems like a change of pace.
351 chars
Dexter Friend said on January 29, 2021 at 2:20 am
I just removed the Apple TV app from my phone as I will never pay for it. Before people moved from cable to streaming all the options, once in a while a TCM feature might get a nod on a blog. Not for years as I recall. Last night I watched “The Heiress”, Best Picture Oscar, 1949, with Olivia DeHavilland and Montgomery Clift, and Miriam Hopkins. It was excellent, and one of the few big winners I had never watched.
There certainly is support for removing pistol-packin’ (inside the Capitol) Marjorie Taylor Greene, a U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 14th congressional district. What a demented racist fool, demanding assassinating Pelosi.
648 chars
Mark P said on January 29, 2021 at 4:41 am
MTG is one of maybe two in the House who is truly certifiable. I might have mentioned before about an interview where she was asked about her QAnon belief in a liberal pedophile child sex ring, with the occasional child murder so they could drink the little kiddies’s blood. Yes, she said, it extends even to some Republicans, and the police, and courts, too. And then, when she thought of the poor qchildren, her eyes rolled back so all you could see was the whites, and she began to cry. You’ve probably also seen the footage of her following and harassing one of the Stoneman Douglas High School survivors. She is a true piece of work, and she represents my own district. It’s scary to think my neighbors voted for her.
And now I have just seen something about Jewish space lasers starting the California wildfires. I must read up on that before I lose my own marbles.
It may not be actual lasers. It might be just PG&E beaming solar energy down from space.
974 chars
David C said on January 29, 2021 at 5:49 am
Working from home, the Changing of the Light has come earlier this year. A winter without going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark has been the best thing ever, Covid excepted. When my only complaint in a day is that I have to lower the blind half way so the sun isn’t shining on my screen it’s a good day. Usually this time of the year is when I finally start climbing out of my SAD. This winter it never came.
424 chars
Deborah said on January 29, 2021 at 6:19 am
I went to my regular Dr in Chicago a few weeks ago, as a follow up to my ER visit back when I was in NM. The nurse rattled through the list of questions they usually ask as a matter of course before the Dr comes in, but there were some new questions I’ve never been asked before about mood. They asked if I was feeling despondent or depressed, that kind of thing. Then before my cataract surgery the other day the nurse asked if I’d ever had thoughts about taking my own life. So I’m wondering if they are seeing an uptick in depression and suicide as a result of the virus. It makes sense that they might be screening for that these days.
As I’ve said my new vision improvement has taken away my usual winter gloom and I can’t wait for my other eye surgery on the 9th.
782 chars
alex said on January 29, 2021 at 7:59 am
I swore I’d never be bothered with such things as remote-control window blinds but I ended up getting one because of the January sun in my face in my home office. It was a good investment, even with so few sunny days.
To Jon McNaughton’s credit, he certainly has taken surrealism in an unexpected new direction. I find his work utterly revolting and yet it so perfectly captures the self-serving denial of the sort that plays to the psyche of the evangelical. He should try his hand at putting Jesus side saddle on a triceratops and mass-producing it for flea markets. Or perhaps that’s what he was doing before Trump came along.
633 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on January 29, 2021 at 8:35 am
Been done.
166 chars
Mark P said on January 29, 2021 at 8:48 am
Assasaurus Rex.
15 chars
Peter said on January 29, 2021 at 9:23 am
I kind of – KIND OF – feel sorry for Louie Gohmert. Here he is, week after week, giving cray cray speeches in the well of the House, spouting the bizarre theories, refusing to wear a mask and coughing on his fellow representatives, and where does it get him?
Cruz, Hawley, Bobert, Greene, Gaetz, Jordan, Cawthorn, Ron Johnson, Nunes, Blackburn – poor Louie is so far back of the pack he’s out of the top ten. Is this any way to treat a legend? If this keeps up Louie’s going to have to sit next to Don Young in the rafters.
And what about Steve King? Says a few bad things about the blacks and Mexicans (gee, I was just saying the quiet part out loud!), and he gets dumped from his committee assignments and drummed out of Congress. By the same people who are lapping up the new Q-Anon nutbags! Kind of makes you wonder why he would bother getting up in the morning anymore…
888 chars
diane said on January 29, 2021 at 9:39 am
Mark P. @4
A friend and I had thought it unfortunate that though we live far apart we managed to have the two worst Congressional Reps. We have been debating whose Rep. is the very worst Congress member, hers (Andy Harris of Md.) or mine (Boebert of Co.). And here you come along and sweep to the front of the race for the worst Rep.
336 chars
Mark P said on January 29, 2021 at 10:11 am
Diane — Yay me!
Wait, no!
28 chars
Jim said on January 29, 2021 at 10:18 am
Liked the article, and the illustration made me laugh out loud.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/29/trump-antipope-president-mar-a-lago-463238
159 chars
JodiP said on January 29, 2021 at 10:34 am
A local friend posts the sunrise and sunset times every day:
7:35 AM
5:17 PM
9 hours, 42 minutes of daylight.
That is 56 more minutes than 12/21……WOOT!
50 days till Spring!!
The best bit is seeing how much we have gained since winter solstice!
257 chars
Jeff Borden said on January 29, 2021 at 10:58 am
Spring generally brings heartache to the Chicago area with chilly temperatures, wind, lots of precipitation and, yes, the occasional truly nice day. I have a photo of me and a pal at a Cubs game in mid-May and we are dressed in parkas, wool hats and thick gloves. The one part of living in North Carolina I truly loved was the early, long spring. Once the summer heat arrived, it was thick and miserable ftor this Yankee.
Regarding the GOP, it’s fair to ask what exactly the party stands for these days. tRump betrayed all of its long-held “principles” in just one term. Commitment to democracy overseas? Buh-bye. Strategic alliances with allies? Nope. Fiscal restraint? Please. Free trade? No, ‘Murica First! Rule of law? Only when convenient. Respect for traditional norms and institutions? Not when there’s a SCOTUS seat open and all those Federalist Society robots seeking judgeships.
Republicans haven’t had an idea since 1980 and that one was rooted in visions of a long past USA. It’s a party that is so far beyond relevant it would be funny if not for the 40% of Americans who apparently loathe truth and worship authoritarianism and throw votes its way.
1168 chars
Jakash said on January 29, 2021 at 11:04 am
I’m often impressed by the wide net cast by nn.c, how there are usually correspondents on the ground near most big news events in the nation, but having representatives here represented by both of the craziest women in Congress is still surprising.
Dexter mentioned “The Heiress” on TCM, which is a very good film indeed. We’d seen that before, but following it last night was “The Children’s Hour,” which we’d not seen. Based on a controversial 1934 play by Lillian Hellman. IMDB: “A rebellious student at a girls’ school accuses two teachers of lesbianism.” Didn’t win any Oscars, but was nominated for 5. An excellent cast with a fine performance by Shirley MacLaine.
679 chars
Jakash said on January 29, 2021 at 11:21 am
Jeff B.,
Seems to me that Republicans have had several ideas since 1980. Only a few, but their Terrorist-in-Chief delivered on all of them. A reactionary Supreme Court that will cater to the rich while dismantling reproductive rights. Tax cuts for the rich coupled with slashed regulatory oversight in pursuit of their dream of a government that can be drowned in a bathtub. A desperate attempt to counter political correctness in order to prevent other people from being treated with as much respect as old white guys.
What many of them don’t seem to have realized was that tacit approval of domestic terrorism in service of their “goals” would result in terrorism on a scale that threatened *them* too. Now, McConnell would like to leave the guy he thought was his puppet in the rear-view mirror, but he’s afraid of the mob who’ll show up at his door if he’s too obvious about it.
896 chars
Andrea said on January 29, 2021 at 11:26 am
I LOVE Ted Lasso. I would not say that it heals all things, but I do not regret one minute I have spent watching it, which is more than I can say for most things.
Speaking of things I love, Brian Williams has a claim on my heart today as well, for his epic trolling of Trump and Kevin McCarthy. OMG.
https://twitter.com/fred_guttenberg/status/1355128920279048195?s=20
375 chars
LAMary said on January 29, 2021 at 11:29 am
My congressman, Jimmy Gomez, is asking that Q’s congresswoman get the boot, or at least kicked off the committee she was appointed to. NY Magazine has good article about her craziness. And Diane, you have my sympathy. If Boebert is your congresswoman you must live in a nice place. The western slope of CO is one of my favorite places. Too bad the politics suck so bad. Boebert is plenty crazy but I think the Q rep wins for her broad spectrum of insane ideas.
460 chars
Deborah said on January 29, 2021 at 12:26 pm
I just learned that Boebert got her GED after, repeat after (!) she started her campaign for a seat in Congress. So you can run for congress without a high school diploma? I had no idea the bar was so low. She dropped out of high school because she got pregnant and had a baby. I mean good for anyone who gets a GED after dropping out but it seems you might need that diploma before you start a run for Congress. Am I wrong?
424 chars
Suzanne said on January 29, 2021 at 12:44 pm
To run for the House of Representatives, these are the only qualifications:
“No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.”
— U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 2, clause 2
https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Constitutional-Qualifications/
472 chars
diane said on January 29, 2021 at 1:04 pm
LA Mary, the western slope of Colorado is indeed lovely and I am lucky to live here. Joe Neguse’s (one of the House impeachment managers someone who I think is a very good and up and coming Congressman) district and Boebert’s share a boundary. If I moved approximately 3 miles east I would be in Neguse’s district but there is a pretty dramatic increase in housing costs in that direction. For perspective, Boebert’s district goes for about 135 miles to the west of me, to the Utah border.
497 chars
Jeff Borden said on January 29, 2021 at 1:24 pm
Jakash,
I believe we’re discussing the same thing. Sadly, the GOP has been wildly successful in packing the courts at the federal level and gutting regulations while funneling that sweet, sweet cash to the donor class. My point was having achieved those goals, they have nothing new to offer.
A smarter conservative movement –and I do NOT consider the current Republican Party conservative in the least– would be looking at market-driven solutions to global climate change, health care reform, broadband access, economic disparities and other issues directly affecting the American people. Instead, they cling to a vision of 1950s America.
The front page of today’s NYT offers a crystalline example. General Motors, one of the largest automotive manufactures in the world, has committed to eliminating the internal combustion engine in its products over the next 15 years. This is a tectonic change. And yet one of the primary howls coming from Republicans in Congress about Biden’s approach to climate issues is how it will hurt the fossil fuel industry. (Christ, even the Democratic senator from West Virginia is howling over the impact on coal, even though there are now more yoga instructors in the U.S. than coal miners.)
The U.S. was in the right place at the right time when the Industrial Revolution hit. A relatively new nation with nearly limitless natural resources, an ambitious federal government and no ties to the guilds and unions prevalent in Europe, where the transition was far more painful. Now, we appear to be lagging as the new world emerges because we cannot free ourselves from the nostalgia of our glorious past. (Even though that glorious past was not very glorious for people of color, immigrants, the poverty stricken, etc. Gosh. . .kind of like today.)
1796 chars
Deborah said on January 29, 2021 at 2:11 pm
The western slope of the Rockies, through Colorado is indeed beautiful. I have been to Rifle, CO where Boebert has a restaurant. That was before her time, she would have been a high school aged dropout at the time we spent the night there in one of our road trips back/forth from Chicago to NM. There were lots of gun related venues back then as I recall, thus the name of the town. If I’m remembering it correctly there was also a beautiful lake where we were going to picnic, but there were so many loud obnoxious motor boats roaring around in it, it wasn’t very peaceful.
Expanding the courts on all levels is going to be an effective way to counter the Republicans efforts to control it.
I’ve been reading a lot about climate change lately, thank goodness it’s coming back to consciousness in the press etc. I watched a lecture by a Harvard professor at the graduate school of design a few days ago about how at a huge scale cities can ameliorate the effects of climate change. We are way past the tipping point, there’s no way to stop it now but we can make changes that can lessen the degree of devastation. And by “we” I mean it’s going to take massive governmental efforts on an immense scale that can’t be done any other way to have any impact.
And on a completely different note, I went to Sur Le Table a bit ago and now I’m the proud owner of a Staub Dutch oven. It was less than half off, they’re having a grand sale. It still was about $40 more than I wanted to spend but it’s worth it. I also got a Danish dough whisk, so I’m all set for my next bread making adventure.
1586 chars
Deborah said on January 29, 2021 at 2:29 pm
I might be misremembering about a lake near Rifle, CO, that might have been another place/another time. I googled it and can’t find any mention of a lake there.
160 chars
Deborah said on January 29, 2021 at 2:53 pm
Here’s a fantastic Twitter thread I happened to run across https://mobile.twitter.com/4T9NER/status/1354664298824392706 Twitter at its best.
Edit: to get the full thread you might have to click on additional “show this thread” It goes on for a long time but worth the effort.
276 chars
alex said on January 29, 2021 at 3:19 pm
Boebert reproduced? Eeewww. But no surprise that she’s popular with a lot of people who couldn’t finish high school.
116 chars
Jeff Borden said on January 29, 2021 at 3:44 pm
Some of you are familiar with an enema in human form named Matt Gaetz, a tRumpanzee of note from the Florida panhandle. He drew a crowd of some 800 people in Casper, Wyoming to a rally calling for the impeachment and/or defeat of Liz Cheney for the unpardonable sin of voting for impeachment of the Orange King. In Wyoming. Where the Cheney brand is very, very strong. Ordinarily, this would amuse me as I find the entire Cheney family to be hideous. Dick, of course, for whom I have set aside a bottle of Oban which will be opened when he croaks, but Lynne and Liz are terrible in their own individual ways, too. Instead, the news makes me realize how much trouble our nation is facing and how deep-seated are the lunatic beliefs of so many citizens.
751 chars
David C said on January 29, 2021 at 4:51 pm
For all the wingnut yappage about the Constitution, you would think a sitting member of the House would know congresscritters are removed from office by expulsion not impeachment.
179 chars
Peter said on January 29, 2021 at 5:40 pm
Deborah, I think, and I have to emphasize, have heard that the GED for Ms. Boebert is even more complicated:
When she won the primary the state GOP told her that she really needed to get her GED; she said she took the exam and got her certificate; the place issuing the GED said not so fast…
294 chars
kayak woman said on January 29, 2021 at 5:46 pm
I *love* your description of the changing of the light that starts to happen this time of year. That is exactly how I feel about it but I lack words to describe it.
164 chars
LAMary said on January 29, 2021 at 5:56 pm
Deborah, I was going to share with you that the Martha Stewart knock off cast iron/enamaled pans are on sale at Macy’s right now. I was looking for paring knives there in the kitchen section were some cast iron pans with the name of Nutley, NJ’s only famous person on them. Staub is a good choice, though. I’m very happy with the on piece of Staub I have.
Boebert and her hubby have had some run ins with the law, I think too. At the very least some domestic violence reports. They’re a classy pair.
And one more Deborah note: you might be thinking of Grand Lake or Granby Lake. Neither are very close to Rifle but both are gorgeous, surrrounded by mountains, very blue water, exactly what you think a lake in Colorado should look like. There are some man made lakes around the state and in my experience those attract lots of power boats. Chatfield Dam area southweast of Denver for one.
891 chars
David C said on January 29, 2021 at 6:16 pm
It’s been a couple of weeks since I saw Boebert’s rap sheet. It was mostly minor stuff if I remember correctly but she would never show up for her court dates. Try doing that if you’re black or brown.
200 chars
Jeff Borden said on January 29, 2021 at 6:57 pm
Boebert’s husband was charged with indecent exposure for showing off his johnson to some young women. . .one of whom reportedly was our little seditionist herself. She’s been accused of threatening neighbors and other shit like that. As LAMary says, they are classless trash. As David C. says, she enjoys a large measure of white privilege.
340 chars
Suzanne said on January 29, 2021 at 7:40 pm
It will be difficult to dislodge these lunatics in Congress. How do I know? Because in my area, many of these crazy conspiracies are pretty mainstream. Holocaust deniers, vaccine microchip believers, Antifa really the ones behind the Capitol attack proponents are people you meet every day. They are your financial planner, your hairdresser, your banker, your local business owner. These people, in many parts of the country, like mine, are no longer fringe. It’s people like me, watching with horror at the whole $**t show who are fringe.
541 chars
4dbirds said on January 29, 2021 at 7:45 pm
My first husband was from Rifle, Colorado and coincidentally his parents owned and operated a restaurant in the town.
117 chars
4dbirds said on January 29, 2021 at 7:45 pm
My first husband was from Rifle, Colorado and coincidentally his parents owned and operated a restaurant in the town.
117 chars
Sherri said on January 30, 2021 at 12:47 am
Sequim, WA, is a small town a couple of hours north of here that is drawing attention because its mayor is a QAnon supporter. But scratch a Q freak and the white supremacy is right there. What all the stories miss is that trouble in Sequim is not about QAnon, it’s about a group of people have been fighting the local Native American tribe that wants to build a drug treatment center. Mayor Q, who is elected by the other city council members, not the residents, is one of the council members who’s opposed to the center, and has just run off the city manager over it.
The Q people believe in it because it’s useful to them to believe in. It obscures their ugly with nutty.
683 chars
Dexter Friend said on January 30, 2021 at 1:33 am
LA Mary, we’ll give you Jim Jordan , even swap, for Jimmy Gomez, who thinks like I do. No? Hadda try…Jimmy has been on msnbc a few times and he makes sense.
I think we have some Q-nuts here in Bryan , Ohio. Six weeks ago I was walking Pogo-Labbie after dark, just out of full effects of huge lights of a power sub-station 2 miles out of the city limits, on a moderately busy road. My van was the only vehicle in the small dirt parking lot. A car slowly pulled into the lot and drove right up to my car. A thin middle aged woman exited her car and began peering in my windows. I yelled “what the hell are you doing? Get away from my van!”
She yelled back that she watched this parking lot for pedophiles. Stunned, I yelled “Oh Jesus Christ!” I began towards the van, dog walk over. She then began chanting loudly “Jesus saves! Jesus saves! Jesus saves.” As times passes, I believe she is one of the Q-anon weirdos. What crazy, dangerous behavior she showed. She left before I could get back to the parking lot.
1029 chars
Deborah said on January 30, 2021 at 7:01 am
This is an interesting NYT story about a woman in suburban Detroit who got caught up in the Q conspiracies, how it started with her and how she became disillusioned with it https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/us/leaving-qanon-conspiracy.html
240 chars
alex said on January 30, 2021 at 8:31 am
Suzanne, it’s funny you should mention financial planners.
I know of at least one around here who ingratiates himself with rubes by talking Agenda 21 nonsense (perhaps just cynically, but who knows) and frequenting various megachurches on Sunday mornings while his pre-taped infomercial programming runs on local stations. He used to pen ridiculous guest columns for the News-Sentinel that were so bad (think Soros and Rothschild conspiracies) that he got the boot, which is no easy feat when you consider how outlandish and incendiary the paper’s content became before it folded.
I heard a firsthand account of him showing up at an event honoring Richard Lugar after Lugar had been defeated in the primary in 2012. “Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement” he crowed as he passed through a receiving line. It was absolutely jaw-dropping at the time, but by today’s standards he’d probably be hailed as a Republican hero by the same Republican who told me the story and was so dismayed with his behavior that day.
1026 chars
Julie Robinson said on January 30, 2021 at 10:24 am
Alex, I know who you mean, and have been invited by him to many a steak dinner to talk about retirement strategies. Now that we’re 64, the steak dinner invitations have changed to Medicare supplements. We’ve never gone.
We got up early this morning to grocery shop for Mom, who informed me yesterday afternoon that she was almost out of cat food and a few other essentials. I had asked her every day this week if she needed anything, since we’re supposed to get a big snow storm overnight. It was slightly frustrating.
Anyway, I realized that since retirement, even if we get up early, we sit around drinking tea and reading the papers, not getting dressed and out the door. Which led me to wonder how Alan is adjusting to being retired. It’s been pretty smooth here. Dennis was READY.
I just learned that a couple we know both have Covid and received an experimental drug called, get this, Bamlanivimab. Doesn’t it sound a bit like Uz-beki-beki-beki-stan? Developed by Indiana’s own Eli Lilly.
1003 chars
alex said on January 30, 2021 at 10:38 am
Julie, I have an elderly relative who took advantage of a free steak dinner (not sure from whom) and she ended up getting taken to the cleaners. She had to file for bankruptcy and lives in penury but is too ashamed and embarrassed to do anything about it. She won’t even talk about it to family members who might be able to help her get good legal counsel and try to recover her money. But I suppose at age 88 she doesn’t have a lot of fight left in her.
Getting ready for the Blizzard of ’21. Shopping at the computer store rather than the grocery though.
559 chars
Nancy P said on January 30, 2021 at 10:56 am
Ted Lasso helped me survive the pandemic. I love it. Also, Dicktown (on Hulu) with John Hodgman and David Rees. We are the target demographic. I know that because there’s a sex joke about Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me.
216 chars
Julie Robinson said on January 30, 2021 at 11:43 am
Offering you something for nothing is a huge red flag that the person is a shyster. I’m amazed anyone falls for it in this day and age. Fortunately my mom is way too suspicious to be prey to these schemes.
One day this week we got seven different Medicare supplement offers in the mail. Talk about knowing your target demographic.
333 chars
basset said on January 30, 2021 at 11:45 am
Medicare supplement plans and car warranties are probably the spam we get most often, online, on the phone, and paper mail.
Meanwhile, today is the fifty-second anniversary of the Beatles’ rooftop concert: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w4rmia8yLD0
250 chars
Mark P said on January 30, 2021 at 12:11 pm
My wife’s phone got a spam car warranty call just a few minutes ago. Then my phone got the same call about a minute later. And it was our second notice!
I’m not sure how many second notices they give, but it must be a lot.
227 chars
Deborah said on January 30, 2021 at 1:09 pm
Way back when I was in college and became engaged we were invited to a steak dinner at the local “dinner club” in our rural Nebraska college town, by a guy who sold sets of knives. One of the other students at the college arranged the whole stupid thing, we only went along with it for the free dinner. The salesman was wearing a really bad toupee, just the epitome of the shyster traveling salesman. He put the thumbscrews on trying to get us to agree to exorbitant payments on a monthly basis. None of the couples in our group fell for it and the guy was furious. We got a big kick out of it, gave us a story to tell for years, still telling it.
647 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on January 30, 2021 at 1:48 pm
Suzanne, we could be neighbors. Conspiracy minded folk are all around, and have been for as long as I have been in public roles of any sort to end up having to talk to them. The goal has to be not empowering them; social media did make it easier for them to find each other, but blessedly once they do they don’t know what comes next. I worry less about Trump (who worries me a great deal) than the Boeberts and Greenes who have some fairly grim methodical actual ideas about what to do next . . . but even they manage to screw up their intentions by grabbing for the cash first.
579 chars
Sherri said on January 30, 2021 at 3:03 pm
The Boeberts and the Greenes, being women, are limited in their influence. They’re the latest incarnation of Sarah Palin, only dumber and meaner, as inconceivable as that is. They’re opening act material, not the headliners.
The danger is a man who can put an almost reasonable face on what they’re saying for the Beltway media, who can move easily from the Bible-toting gun owners looking for red meat to the cocktail parties of DC wearing a smooth smile at both. Cruz can’t do it because everybody hates him, Hawley made his move too soon and too ineptly, Cotton is holding his fire for now but lacks charisma. Tucker Carlson clearly wants to be that person.
671 chars
Brandon said on January 30, 2021 at 3:10 pm
The Biden administration is temporarily halting arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
256 chars
Jakash said on January 30, 2021 at 5:11 pm
For some reason, “rural Nebraska college town” strikes me as a phrase I’ve never seen before.
Sounds like a good setting for a sequel to “The Rural Juror” referred to in “30 Rock.” 😉
It’s amazing how Republicans manage to continue electing people even more despicable than the old standard-bearers like She-Who. I didn’t think somebody worse than Gym Jordan was even possible.
387 chars
Jim said on January 30, 2021 at 6:23 pm
LAMary: we took our kids to Grand Lake several years ago for the Christmas holidays. The house we rented was just right for us, and it snowed over two feet the first night. Granddaughters and the setter (mixed breed rescue) were in heaven!
Good news for me, when I move to Colorado at the end of the year I’ll be Rid of the odious Jim Banks.
Bad news is I then get the odious Ken Buck. Dammit!
399 chars
Dexter Friend said on January 30, 2021 at 8:12 pm
You might be shocked at the amount of plus-coverage money our secondary medical policy paid for Carla Lee’s care, which lasted from around June 10 to January 20, which is 7 straight months of bed-ridden care, several surgeries, procedures too many to count. Our insurance agent hooked us up with a great plan, then a couple years later during a review he told us we were fortunate by chance, as there are no longer such great policies around. Anyway, I would like to plug this very good insurance company. This is secondary insurance to supplement Medicare. They pay.
Manhattan Insurance Group, Inc.
10777 Northwest Fwy Ste 100
Houston, TX, 77092-7336 United States
(800) 669-9030
http://www.manhattanlife.com External Website. Opens New Window
Company Type: Corporation Independent
790 chars
LAMary said on January 30, 2021 at 10:59 pm
Not letting you take Jimmy Gomez. He’s a good guy. When Xavier Becerra became attorney general of CA, replacing Kamala Harris when she ran for senate, Jimmy got his seat. Xavier Becerra is brilliant and I was sorry to lose him but Jimmy is holding his own.
Jim, where in Colorado are you moving to? When I think about retiring CO is a place I consider. My ridiculously overvalued house in LA is my retirement fund. I have a brother in Littleton, near Denver but I want something a little more rural, I think.
509 chars
Deborah said on January 31, 2021 at 12:01 am
LAMary, I’m pretty sure the lake I’m remembering or misremembering wasn’t in Granby. My husband spent a summer in Granby between his Freshman and Sophomore year of college at a dude ranch in Granby and we’ve made many stops there on our road trips between NM and Chicago. While he worked there my husband learned a bunch of dirty songs that he can’t wait to teach young people after he’s had a few drinks at social gatherings, one of the songs was “Hair Pie”, you can imagine… Another story that he loves to tell is how the young men who worked there slept above where they kept the horses and when he took the train back to his hometown in central Illinois no one would sit next to him, and his parents made him sit in the way back of their station wagon after they picked him up at the train station. His clothes apparently reeked.
835 chars
Connie said on January 31, 2021 at 8:21 am
Did you tell us Kate’s band has a cover story on metro times?
https://www.metrotimes.com/city-slang/archives/2021/01/29/detroit-pysch-rock-trio-shadow-show-return-with-live-performance-of-new-ish-tunes
206 chars
Jim said on January 31, 2021 at 8:57 am
LAMary: Longmont. I wanted Frisco (really wanted it) but Longmont was closer to son and DIL in Boulder. As usual my will was not strong enough.
It is in a really good location for us across from a wetland section that can’t be built on. Long’s Peak is always visible and Longmont is flat and bike friendly. Very good for us, so I’m actually quite excited.
358 chars
basset said on January 31, 2021 at 9:49 am
Feminine Complex, the all-female 60s band mentioned in the Metro Times story, was from Nashville:
https://www.nashvillescene.com/arts-culture/article/13000720/relivin-love
https://www.reddit.com/r/vintageobscura/comments/3d92h4/the_feminine_complex_love_love_love_usa/
270 chars
LAMary said on January 31, 2021 at 2:36 pm
I was vaccinated at Dodger Stadium yesterday and out of there before the protesters showed up. Looking at articles about that crowd today I saw two photos showing signs that said, “mark of the beast.” The people getting vaccinated yesterday were mostly the over 65 group and from observing other people in the lines I would say that more than half were POC, the groups with the highest death rates: elderly and POC. The protesters were informed of the protest on social media and asked to not wear MAGA or Trump attire that might put off the “sheeple.” BTW, most of the people administering the shots were also POC. Mine was done by a student from LA Trade Tech, studying to be an EMT, hoping to become a paramedic, and far enough along in the training process to do injections. A neighbor of mine who is a nursing instructor at one of the LA community colleges was there with her advanced students giving shots. The whole thing was organized and well run. I was there late morning, and I think it was slower later in the day, but then the assholes showed up. The cops chased them out with no arrests but damn. The stupidity and self righteousness and delusion is thick in the air.
1181 chars
Deborah said on January 31, 2021 at 3:24 pm
I think the names Ava East, Kate Derringer, and Kerrigan Pearce are fantastic names for performers, they sound good together.
LAMary, Glad to hear you got your first dose. I read about that incident at Dodger stadium, those protestors blocking the way for people to receive their vaccines should be charged with something. That’s not practicing a right to free speech, that’s interfering with someone else’s right to medical resources to prevent their possible death. It’s not as dramatic as bursting into an operating room to prevent a patient from having heart surgery, but it’s not that far off. Unconscionable.
617 chars
Sherri said on January 31, 2021 at 4:27 pm
So, I’ve read the GOP letter by the ten senators proposing a package a third the size of the Biden proposal, submitted in the name of bipartisanship and unity. What I can’t find in the letter or anywhere else is any justification for why they believe their proposal is sufficient for the problem, or why Biden’s is excessive. Just, okay, we’ll agree to throw a little money at some of your issues, see how bipartisan we’re being?
I’ve said this to many people, who are used to wanting to work collaboratively and think the bipartisanship is important: bipartisanship is not a goal. Solving the problem is the goal. Finding shared values and building a coalition is how you can solve the problem, but it’s not more important than the problem.
What is the problem? What is the purpose? I’m willing to work with people who share the purpose to solve the problem, but I’m not wasting time with people who don’t just to be bipartisan.
956 chars
David C said on January 31, 2021 at 4:36 pm
If a similar group of nutbags showed up at Dodger Stadium and blocked traffic for a Dodgers game is there any doubt they would have been removed instantly? How do you decide it’s easier to tell hundreds of people who have been waiting in line for hours to go home than to remove the people blocking the way in? By not taking care of the problem yesterday they’ve guaranteed continuing problems.
394 chars
LAMary said on January 31, 2021 at 5:12 pm
They were all white, David.
I get the car warranty calls, the medicare supplimental insurance calls, reverse mortgage calls and I get mysterious calls in Chinese on my cell phone, my work cell phone and my land line. They are from a Brooklyn area code.
254 chars
Sherri said on January 31, 2021 at 6:15 pm
I get the Chinese calls, too, though usually from a Bay Area area code.
71 chars