Some housekeeping.

First, an announcement and some general air-clearing: There may be gaps here in the next few days, and over the course of the summer. I’ll be doing some traveling next week for my book project, and I won’t necessarily be near wifi and all the rest of it. And then I will need to double down on the book project, so that might mean some dark nights or days. I think I will put up lots of photo posts this summer, sort of like T-Lo’s lounge posts, for general chitchat in the comments and something to look at in the bargain.

Next week I will be in a pretty place for a couple of days. (Mackinac.) So we’ll start with that.

And today, I’m a little wrung out. Slept badly, drove a long way (to Lansing), drove back. Thank God for the iPod, so I could sing, loudly, all the way home. I love me some public radio, but after a while, the only thing that keeps my heart beating is the original cast recording of “Oklahoma!”

Gonna give you barley, carrots and potaters, pasture for the cattle, spinach and tomaters — that’s my favorite line.

Hello, am I ever out of gas. So.

J-Lo, don’t ever change. Don’t ever change the batshit outfits and especially don’t change your makeup.

Taylor Swift, optimist, takes apart the contemporary music business. Of course I don’t believe she wrote a word of it, but nice try.

He shot his eye out, kid: Local TV weather guy loses an eye messing around with fireworks.  Not at my neighbor’s house.

 

Posted at 12:30 am in Current events, Housekeeping |
 

35 responses to “Some housekeeping.”

  1. jerry said on July 8, 2014 at 1:52 am

    Yesterday the Tour de France was in London. I had planned to go up in the morning but a grandchild watching emergency meant I didn’t leave until after lunch. The finish was in The Mall convenient for Charing Cross Station to which local trains run. I expected crowds but it was beyond my expectations. Trafalgar Square was crowded with stalls selling merchandise, offering beer (for a price), selling sunglasses (Oakley) and so on with masses of people milling around and watching progress on a large screen.

    So off to The Mall which was even more crowded. The Mall itself was lined by hospitality trucks and people. Impossible to get anywhere near seeing what was happening in the flesh as it was lined so thickly with people – the most eager had arrived at half past six in the morning for a finish expected shortly before four in the afternoon. St James’s Park, alongside The Mall,again was thick with vendor’s tents and people spread across the grass watching another big screen.

    All most impressive. And I was flabbergasted to think of the organisation to have shifted all the stands, tents, supplies down from Sheffield the previous day – with an equivalent effort for the start in Cambridge. And off the France when all was completed yesterday evening.

    Apart from the scale and sense of bonhomie and joy my particular pleasures were watching an American TV reporter fluently recording a piece for camera without notes while walking between the throngs along The Mall; the gentleman dancing a jig while carrying a sign proclaiming the Trinity to be a false doctrine (https://www.flickr.com/photos/41478019@N05/14595922414/in/photostream/); and buying a Tour de France T-shirt to take out to our grandson when we visit him in Australia!

    Apart from the rain at the end of the race a good visit.

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  2. Dexter said on July 8, 2014 at 3:08 am

    I really appreciate your report, Jerry. I am a devout follower of the TV coverage of the event. So far I have watched every minute. Jenkin Road in Sheffield sorted out the climbers. Neither Phil Liggett nor Paul Sherwen had ever heard of this steep hill “in the backstreets of Sheffield”. The best part is the feel one gets as to how the places really would look if one would visit.
    The Cavendish crash on Day One was depressing..no Manx missile this year, and Kittel now is in position to win many stages.
    The rain had turned the drought-stricken London streets to an oily mess for the riders. Only the special surface laid down to prevent Buckingham Palace horses from slipping in the rain kept most all the riders in the saddle.
    And now, France. Jolly good show, Jerry, ta now.
    Oh…I have watched 57 episodes of ‘Shameless’ so far…Frank Gallagher is still setting a fine example for us all. http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Technology/Pix/pictures/2011/1/10/1294658126230/Frank-Gallagher-007.jpg

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  3. Deggjr said on July 8, 2014 at 7:43 am

    “He loved everybody and everything in the whole world! Only he never let on, so nobody ever knowed it.”

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  4. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 8, 2014 at 8:15 am

    Recipes will tide us over, chief. Enjoy your trip up there “somewhere in time” . . .

    A short story from an author of a century ago who helped build the craze for Mackinac Island (there’s many more stories where this one came from, but I like it in particular; the Devil’s Kitchen is a short walk on beyond the village just past the library and school buildings along the southern shore): http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23254

    I made jambalaya last night, which was good, but this morning the house has an odd not quite jambalaya scent coming downstairs.

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  5. Jenine said on July 8, 2014 at 9:34 am

    The jigging explainer was excellent and I enjoyed your other photos on flickr, too, Jerry. Thanks for some English vistas.

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  6. Connie said on July 8, 2014 at 10:24 am

    For a totally different photo: Prince Fielder naked. Click through for more athletes in the ESPN body issue. http://www.freep.com/article/20140708/SPORTS02/307080096/espn-body-issue-prince-fielder

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  7. coozledad said on July 8, 2014 at 11:25 am

    It’s all projection all the time with Republicans. When they accuse you of being both communist and fascist, it’s because they know they’ve already crossed that bizarre line.

    Were they working for Castro because they’re evil, or were they working for Castro because they’re a pack of idiotic numbnuts?

    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/07/cuba-might-have-planted-menendez-prostitute-tale.html

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  8. Jeff Borden said on July 8, 2014 at 11:36 am

    Geez, I don’t know, Cooz. The Daily Caller is a first-rate outpost for high-quality journalism, isn’t it?

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  9. coozledad said on July 8, 2014 at 11:43 am

    I’m just waiting for the House ratfucking committee to propose 3.3 million dollars to investigate their own ratfuckers.

    Looks like the rat’s dick is up their ass now.

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  10. alex said on July 8, 2014 at 11:50 am

    As that august news magazine Time pointed out today, conservatives can’t make up their minds whether Obama’s a weakling or a tyrant. Guess it doesn’t matter as long as it fits the pretext that it’s not about race.

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  11. coozledad said on July 8, 2014 at 12:12 pm

    Tail Gunner Ted (2014)

    A Canadian born child of Cuban emigre parents, Ted (John Cusack) tries to take over the United States by impersonating a standard right wing piece of grifter trash, and nearly succeeds in taking over a party that has spent six years trying to find new ways to say “nigger”.

    A cub reporter, Matty Boyle (Played by himself) becomes the unwitting conduit of Cuban spies, and feeds the Cuban government’s contact in the US, Tucker Carlson(also played by himself)information
    that senator Bob Menendez(Tony Hopkins) has been having sex with underage hookers (The Palin kids). Cruz becomes ensnared in suggestions that he’s a lying halfass Manchurian candidate shitslug, when The plot blows up with hilarious results, resulting in everybody having a good time, and vowing to get to the bottom of Benghazi.

    Rated R for vapid Republican posturing and shart sniffing.

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  12. brian stouder said on July 8, 2014 at 12:32 pm

    That movie would probably be very like Tammy, really. They could intersperse a narrative about a big fat moron who lives in a compound in Florida, and spends 3 hours a day talking to himself in a sound-proof room; and then spends each evening chasing oxycontin and paying women to pretend to like him!

    Aside from all that, though, I tripped across this article, which reminded me of Deborah (Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1927 gas station design is the subject) – and which has a certain NN.c-feel to it.

    http://www.petrolplaza.com/news/industry/MiZlbiYxNjg4NyYmMQ==

    an excerpt:

    But in the early part of the 20th Century, gas stations were neither commonplace nor figured out in terms of design. There was no standard. The few folks that owned cars might be able to find a “filling station,” or they drove to hardware stores to buy gasoline over-the-counter. So Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1927 design for a filling station must’ve seemed very radical indeed.

    and

    The station was intended to be sited in Buffalo, New York, a city known for its brutal winters. In that pre-OSHA era Wright designed the structure to include not one, but two fireplaces, one to keep the attendants warm, the other for customers, who could lounge in a second-story observation room while they waited to use the restroom.

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  13. Jeff Borden said on July 8, 2014 at 12:36 pm

    I’m not surprised that the professional pecksniffs in the conservative movement are cheering the Hobby Lobby decision because it’s pretty obvious that to them any woman who wants to use contraceptives is just a slut who wants to spend every waking hour screwing. I expect that kind of thing from Ricky Santorum and those like him.

    What I find somewhat surprising is the reaction of noted hedonist Rush Limbaugh. The man who has been married three times and was caught returning from the Dominican Republic (where sex tourism is fairly prevalent) with Viagra pills under someone else’s name. . .the man whose physique is testimony to his love of food. . .the man who smokes expensive cigars and lives like a French dauphin in a Palm Beach compound. . . is accusing men who support women’s right to have access to contraceptions of being only interested in sex.

    Wha? When did El Rushbo decide having sex was bad?

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  14. MichaelG said on July 8, 2014 at 2:04 pm

    For me Tammy has always been Debbie Reynolds.

    I made a half jocular reference to shootings and gun battles the other day but last weekend in Chicago, my God.

    I’ve also been following the T de F. Christian Vande Velde is a good find and is doing a fine job of commentary, especially as a rookie. Tomorrow’s “cobble stone” stage looks like it should be entertaining. The crowds in Great Britain and France sure make California’s crowds look sorry. The Brits are scary.

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  15. Dexter said on July 8, 2014 at 2:09 pm

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys-mbHXyWX4&feature=kp
    This movie some are calling a masterpiece opens nationwide in ten days. Richard Linklater has a lot of patience; this movie shows a family growing up over a 12 year period, and it took twelve years to film. Patricia Arquette.

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  16. Dexter said on July 8, 2014 at 2:15 pm

    MichaelG, that’s right…and if you aren’t really into Le Tour de France, still try to watch tomorrow…eleven cobble stretches in one day…oh my GAWD!
    These cobbles have the riders just wanting tomorrow to be over today already. Special bikes for everyone just for tomorrow. It’ll be great television if you like mayhem. Today’s finish was mesmerizing. It had me wondering if Mark Cavendish could have beatien Kittel today. Kittel looks like fucking Superman, so super-strong. Well, they say he’s human….

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  17. Dorothy said on July 8, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    We saw previews for that film, Dexter, when we saw “Chef” on Sunday. And previews for this too, (link below) which we will definitely be seeing. The Neon in Dayton has all the best movies as far as we’re concerned. It’s where we saw Nebraska and The Grand Budapest Hotel. I’m so glad we have it here!

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2718492/?ref_=nv_sr_1

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  18. Deborah said on July 8, 2014 at 4:09 pm

    Jerry, liked your photos, makes me want to go back to London, haven’t been there for ages (I think I was last there in 1999?).

    Love the film synopsis Coozledad and Brian.

    It’s raining in Santa Fe, yay! We’re going back to car camp in Abiquiu tonight, then tomorrow morning we’re going to Ojo Caliente to soak in the mineral pools, then the opera in the evening tomorrow. The opera here is pretty spectacular even if you don’t like opera. It’s outside, it begins around sunset which is glorious here. A friend of Little Bird’s got us $600 worth of opera tickets for $76 through her work. We’re paying for her friend and Little Bird to go, it will be a first for LB in Santa Fe.

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  19. brian stouder said on July 8, 2014 at 4:13 pm

    Deborah – please tell me again what car camping is.

    It sounds vaguely…rebellious (in the foot-loose sense); and fun!

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  20. brian stouder said on July 8, 2014 at 4:13 pm

    (with the right person!)

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  21. Sue said on July 8, 2014 at 4:24 pm

    Get busy, people:
    http://gawker.com/new-meme-everybody-is-going-crazy-buying-up-weird-gop-1601834499

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  22. Deborah said on July 8, 2014 at 4:26 pm

    Jeff B, here’s an answer to your question in your comment #13 http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/07/08/rush_limbaugh_s_outrage_at_the_contraception_mandate_explained.html

    Brian, car camping to me is when you sleep in the car instead of a tent. We have a Jeep that we put a camping mattress in the back. It’s not like a normal bed but it’s not horrible.

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  23. LAMary said on July 8, 2014 at 4:27 pm

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/08/1312573/-Sarah-Palin-calls-for-impeaching-Obama-this-time-over-immigration?detail=facebook

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  24. Sherri said on July 8, 2014 at 4:44 pm

    Along with many other things I don’t understand about the current Republican party, this mania they have about how President Obama has “made laws up” is way up there.

    I was listening to an episode of “To the Best of Our Knowledge” the other day, and they had an interview with the self-proclaimed first Tea Party activist. She’s from the Seattle area, so I’ve read interviews with her before, and already know she’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, but the interviewer asked her what specific things the federal government does that she thought they should not be doing, since she thinks everything should be done by the states. Her suggestions, after a joking “everything”? The Departments of Agriculture and Education. Now, I know the Department of Education has been a conservative bete noire for decades, but Agriculture? Unfortunately, the interviewer didn’t really press her on details to see if she had any clue on exactly what those departments do, but really? Food safety should be left up to the states? If it ever is, remind me never to go back and visit my family in the South.

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  25. Dave said on July 8, 2014 at 4:51 pm

    There is, as the article states, a modified design of this Frank Lloyd Wright gas station in Cloquet, MN. I saw it once when we drove by because one in our party wanted to see it. We should have gone in but, as I recall, it was Sunday, and not open.

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  26. brian stouder said on July 8, 2014 at 4:53 pm

    Sounds marvelous!…although I’d be edgy about wildlife out and about

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  27. Jenine said on July 8, 2014 at 5:19 pm

    I was a Santa Fe Opera usher! (Not a 60s pulp novel title.) The sunsets are all that and the venue seems to attract great talent both on stage and in design.

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  28. Deborah said on July 8, 2014 at 5:36 pm

    Brian, when I click on your link I don’t see anything about a FLW gas station?

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  29. Jolene said on July 8, 2014 at 5:58 pm

    Sherri, there is probably nothing about what passes for contemporary conservatism that drives me crazy more than the idea that everything should be left to state and local government. I’m sure it’s true that some issues can be handled with more agility and more fidelity to local concerns by states and cities, but, historically, the states’ rights chant has been about freedom to oppress minorities, poor quality education, and, in general, extreme NIMBYism such as we are seeing in Murietta, CA. If we have to have one or the other, I’ll take the intrusive Feds over the local sheriff every time.

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  30. Sherri said on July 8, 2014 at 6:13 pm

    “Leaving it to the states” is the equivalent of your mom saying “We’ll see.” It’s saying no without saying no.

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  31. LAMary said on July 8, 2014 at 6:19 pm

    http://www.cloquet.com/pages/community/f.l.-wright-gas-station.php

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  32. brian stouder said on July 8, 2014 at 6:25 pm

    Mary – that’s the same subject, but a different article.

    Let’s see if I can successfully link the one this time…

    http://www.petrolplaza.com/news/industry/MiZlbiYxNjg4NyYmMQ%3D%3D

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  33. Deborah said on July 8, 2014 at 10:17 pm

    Nope Brian, still doesn’t work for me.

    I’m writing this while sitting in the Jeep in the rain on our land in Abiquiu. We’re so happy it’s raining but it kind of makes it a dud of a camp out. Oh well.

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  34. Connie said on July 8, 2014 at 10:57 pm

    Brian’s link takes you only to the front page. If you use the search bar there to search Frank Lloyd Wright the article link will come up.

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  35. Deborah said on July 8, 2014 at 11:25 pm

    I was able to link to the one LAMary posted about the FLW gas station and I google mapped the location because I’m taking a road trip with Little Bird up to Minnesota for my nieces wedding in a couple of weeks. It turns out the station is way up north near Duluth and I’ll be 50 Miles west of Minneapolis, much further south. I would very much like to see the gas station someday. This wedding is for my niece who listed an online gun shop as a place she’s registered. Should be interesting and we hope to be outta there before they bring the guns out and start shooting at the reception.

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