Thanksgiving Day Cheer
Okay, the football gods did not smile on fans today. Texans at Lions and Washington Football Team at Cowboys is about the worst schedule the NFL could put up. There was a Steelers and Ravens game for the night slot that would have been interesting, but, alas, it was rescheduled to Sunday because of the Coronavirus. Blecch.
But, hey, there is a lot else to be thankful for. Especially here, thanks to all of you. And so we are thankful for all of you!
Also food. Mrs. bmaz is cooking up some great grub, and I know there is some awesome looking stuffing, some turkey (not the turducken I requested, but it will be fine). That, and that some part of it involves some of my personal stash of bacon from Zingermans (thanks Marcy!), is about all I really know. There is Blueberry Crumb Pie from the Rock Springs Cafe (as good of pies as you will ever taste), and vanilla bean ice cream. Some nice red wine, and that will do it.
What are you folks eating and thinking about? Have at it! Music today is the classic Wasted Words by the Allmans. Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving folks. May you have a joyous one, and stay safe.
As entertainment, you could check out the two complaints Powell filed yesterday, in Georgia and Michigan. (Both available on her site “defendingtherepublic.org”:
https://defendingtherepublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/COMPLAINT-CJ-PEARSON-V.-KEMP-11.25.2020.pdf
https://defendingtherepublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Michigan-Complaint.pdf )
Oh, I’ve seen. Not very competent lawyering.
Mike Dunford’s thread on the Michigan complaint is worth reading. Starts here:
https://twitter.com/questauthority/status/1331968615713824772
and continues for quite a few tweets (and not a few snickers and giggles).
Lol, that’s pretty great.
They are hysterical. I wonder if losing her mind affected her ability to spell, to incorporate relevant documents, of to make a coherent argument.
As to music, I listened to Allman Brothers Eat a Peach extensively when I was in college. A classic.
As I said on an earlier thread(and also just now on Rayne’s post), I would like to give thanks to the mods for their tireless and sometimes unappreciated work.
Yes. This. Thanks to all the mods for bringing it all to us.
Yes. I can’t even imagine the work load…especially with the current news weirdness.
Hear, hear! Can’t imagine this place without Rayne’s salty quips and bmaz’s soft and gentle bedside manner (*snort!*)
Uhh…I abject.
So stained.
Many thanks for Zingermans! Had some with breakfast this morning . . . mmmmm.
And no slights intended to the folks at the Rock Springs Cafe, but if Mrs Dr Peterr doesn’t bake for them, it can’t be the best.
Re the sports stuff, RIP to Diego Maradona, one of the GOATs of international soccer/football. All that a lot of folks remember is his “Hand of God” goal in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals against England, but he was so much more than that. Just a few minutes after that goal, he made an end-to-end run past and through what seemed like the whole English team to score what was later voted the goal of the century.
Truly a wonder to behold on the pitch. Argentina will be grieving for a month at least.
*ding*
ding. Thanks for mentioning Maradona- such a fantastic footballer. Watched him in England, back when.
I know I haven’t been around here much lately, but know that the entire community here is incredibly important to me. I’m also thankful that a number of very promising-looking vaccines are on the near horizon.
Turkey breast just went on the grill, and I’ve started the scratch-made green bean casserole. Lisa made the drunken cranberries last night and is starting the sweet potatoes in rum in a minute or two. I’ll throw together the dressing when the turkey is nearly done.
Once it’s all ready, our daughter will come by for a distanced pickup of a share of all the goodies for her household. Gosh, I’ve missed out on so many grandbaby hugs…
Maybe your daughter can drop off some dirty diapers when she picks up the goodies, so that you’ll at least have that aromatic aspect of the grandbaby experience wafting through your house today.
Just a thought . . .
I’m good, thanks. I still have one horse stall left to clean anyway.
Good to see ya, Jim. I’m not on twitter myself, but I do look at the threads, and always smile when I see those adorable grand babies!
They are really cute!
Seeing Jose Andres on Colbert last night made me thankful for folks like him and his crew at World Central Kitchen, who work in places hit by natural and man-made disasters with two simple missions as he put it last night: “we give the hungry something to eat and the thirsty something to drink.” Kudos, too, to the good people of Operation BBQ Rescue, including our own Jim White, who do much the same thing on a smaller scale.
On whatever scale, blessed are all who offer food and help to those in need, not just on Thanksgiving but every day.
Jose Andres should be nominated for the Nobel Peace Price. And Joe Biden should promptly give him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
He’s fed millions and been a model for others who can help, an encouragement to billionaires who don’t, and a savior to the hungry people he’s fed, one meal at at time.
See also “Rashford, Marcus” who shamed Boris Johnson and his Tories into restoring money not once but twice to provide meals for kids who qualify for free school meals who are not going to school.
Alas, our US politicians like Mitch McConnell are beyond shaming, so we have to try other means around here.
My understanding is that Biden has tapped José Andrés to consult on food issues. I have a suspicion that Chef Andrés has some very astute and useful things to say about rebuilding our food systems so that they are much more equitable to the people who do the back-breaking work, much safer for those people, and will provide fresher and more nutritious eating for the rest of us.
As the saying goes, “You can fix all the world’s problems in a garden.” We can fix much of what’s wrong with our economic and social systems if we start with agriculture and food.
World Central Kitchen (https://wck.org) for those who have something to give.
Wow. That is a great idea.
I knew that Andres had been doing some campaign stuff for Biden, but was not aware of anything formal in terms of transition or administration work. Good choice!
Starting with agriculture and food in local terms also means addressing climate change on a global scale. The changes caused by the climate crisis are really affecting a lot of subsistence farmers, who are finding it harder to farm what they’ve always farmed because of the increasing changes hitting them – more rain here, droughts there, hotter summers, colder winters . . .
I’d love to sit at a dinner table Jose Andres and John Kerry as they engaged each other on this.
Completely concur regarding Andres. Especially about the awards.
and for those on twitter, highly recommend following and re-tweeting the United Farmworkers account, @UFWupdates. gives an up close and personal view into the reality of how our food is grown and harvested, and the often harsh lives of our true essential workers.
Yes, good call.
No turkey for me, it’s just a regular day here; where I am we had Thanksgiving day a few weeks ago, to celebrate – somewhat bizarrely imo – an invasion/liberation.
No covid worries here and I’m not hungry. All of us who are living comfortably should recognise our luck in life and not think we’re superior to those who have little – I’m talking to you, conservatives*.
*OK, not all conservatives
I’m watching the Lyons game atm. 20-14 and it’s better than nothing. I’m grateful for that. Grateful for a quiet house and 2 sleeping cats. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
I was confused by the fact that Olympique Lyonnais isn’t in European competitions this year, until I realized that the score line was way too high.
Giving thanks to all here, both hosts and commenters. I’m grateful for your efforts and information. What’s left of my sanity after these four years is attributable in large part to the truth and analysis I find on this site.
Cheers and best wishes to Marcy, Rayne, bmaz and the entire EW community. Hoping to be on my second bottle of pinot — and my second helping of Mrs. Coyle’s braised turkey breast with mushroom stuffing — by the time the Cowboy’s lose to the Washington No-Names in today’s matinee matchup.
Hear, hear!
Thanks to the moderators and everyone else here for the constant education and edification.
It has been my great good fortune to have grown up and lived in New Orleans my whole life. Today it was announced that Robert E. Lee Blvd has been renamed for Allen Toussaint. It’s a major thoroughfare that runs roughly parallel to the Lake Pontchartrain shoreline, about a quarter mile to the south.
Mr. Toussaint was someone that I ran into on a regular basis because he apparently lived nearby. (we shopped at the same grocery) He was a very kind, soft spoken man, always nattily attired but not pretentious in any way. His immortal ‘Fortune Teller’ ended with these great lines:
“Now I’m a happy feller,
I’m married to the fortune teller,
and I get my fortune told for free.”
Doesn’t every wife tell her husband his fortune for free?
I wanted to include this video because I heard him in an interview once say that this was probably his favorite song that he ever wrote, a reference to his happy childhood in rural Louisiana.
youtube.com/watch?v=oGAFOz5GA8I
Oh, and there’s one other thing that I’ve been wanting to say to a wider audience following that beatdown of the Bucs by the Saints a few weeks ago:
That Tom Brady fellow is a fine NFL quarterback but he’s no Drew Brees.
Allen Toussaint for Robert E Lee? Now *that* is something to give thanks for! Wow.
Gotta love those interesting grocery store meetings, especially when the person is “not pretentious” about themselves.
As a card-carrying lurker since Scooter Libby days (and before), I have a lot of gratitude to express to everyone here—a core of remarkably astute and absolutely indispensable commenters, some authoritative and multidisciplined headliners, and of course Marcy as the all-seeing eye and the glue that holds the enterprise together. I thank you all, and please NEVER doubt the essential nature of what you do here. Wishing you all a lovely, thankfully stress-free (in the larger political/ existential /survival sense–whew, dodged a potentially fatal bullet there) Thanksgiving.
Hey Dimmsdale, thank you. But you are more than a lurker we’ve seen your input over the years. And thanks for that.
I’m so glad “We the People” prevailed. Scroll through the playlist below and enjoy some amazing diversity!
“39 Best Thanksgiving Songs for 2020 – Fun Thanksgiving Dinner Playlist”
https://www.countryliving.com/entertaining/a22530294/thanksgiving-songs/
How does Matt Patricia still have a job After the Kittehs suffer this bloodbath at home in Detroit?
Who knows, perhaps he’d be replaced by Jason Garrett.
While we’re on hot-seat speculation, how long does Harbaugh have left at Michigan? 3OT needed to beat Rutgers, and celebrating like it’s a Rose Bowl win? Bo’s turning over in his grave.
I think Biden’s first PMOF should go to Andres, if for no other reason than to point out what he’s about versus what DJT’s about with his PMOF for Rush Limbaugh.
No clue who they could or would hire, but is clear Patricia has lost the enterprise.
Too soon for real names, but it might be fun to speculate since I’m pretty sure Gase will be available after the season. We’ll have to see who’s available on the carousel (Romeeeooooo!).
About to make the cranberry curd filling for the hazelnut crust I made last night, then a pumpkin pie. Turkey etc. this evening. Flipping stations between any football and the Gonzaga-Kansas basketball Game. (Mr Pitcher played at Cal and my father played after WWII). I just hope we don’t leave the rolls in the oven again this year. Every darn time !!
Hope your day is delicious.
family 2 states away, i am doing turkey solo. a local cafe served up nummy to-go dinners that served two. i ate the first half yesterday and fell into a food coma. today i am pacing myself. long walk along the water. chocolate pecan pie for morning snack. turkey & fixins for mid-afternoon.
if you hear a scream next monday, it is me getting on the scale for the first time after weeks of covid and election stress eating and drinking to assess the damage done. December 1st shall begin the slow boring slog back to a healthy weight and peace of mind.
Ugh, you have company here….
Word.
My scale is the jeans I put on monthly to get groceries, and as much as I hate all that lycra I must give thanks for it. I admire that you picked a date — and so far in advance of the eviction!
I did have this odd experience last week of becoming drowsy after a normal period of awake time, like at bedtime. Wut iz melatonin pulsatility?, says body after years of mainlining cortisol.
I ate solo (well, the dog certainly thinks HE counts) and didn’t even have turkey today, yet find myself in a turkey coma nonetheless and cannot get out of my own way. So I’ll just add a big THANK YOU and LOVE Y’ALL HERE.
I hear you.
I spent the last two weeks prepping to step on the scale tomorrow, so that today wouldn’t be so bad. The neighbors across the back yard might look over and see me walking laps around the kitchen and dining room every night, and wonder what’s going on.
It was a nice idea . . . we’ll see how well it worked.
Gotta love you too, Eureka and Rosalind and all the other commenters who hang out around these parts.
What to be thankful for? The fridge and freezer are full, as is my belly after a nice meal. The dwelling, I’m getting enough income to cover the monthly payment and it’s tight against the weather. Keeping current with the bills. Car runs, has good tires and a full tank.
Got through my case of corona back in March-April – a relatively minor case but unmistakable regardless. Had it when the media were telling everyone to stay home and not go to the doctor unless you were dying, lest you contaminate the place. So I stayed home and gutted it out – no taste, no smell, chest congestion and cough. Had the sequela of massive bedspins back in June-July. Thought it was an inner ear problem until I read about it as a sequela to corona later. Lost a couple days where lying in bed and not moving my head was the way to go. Thankful I wear glasses. I had a spell of it come on suddenly one night when I was walking on a gravel road, took a header down an embankment and landed on my face. Got a good knot on my head, a couple cuts (a nice bar-fight scar, not blatant but visible, from the one) and my eye looked like I’d gone 15 with Apollo Creed. But for the glasses I likely would have lost my eye; the lens of my glasses got deeply gashed. Still cough, but some of that is likely resultant of having been a smoker for 15 or 20 years – quit 2 weeks before 9/11 but I’ve had something of a cough ever since.
It could be worse. It could have been worse.
My Stillers are doing exceptionally well in spite of King Roger the Clown parking his fat, overpaid, overfed ass on the pan of the scales to try to make things turn out differently. If there’s any team that would have a legit claim to being victimized by corona it’s my Stillers. As JuJu tweeted last night, they lost their bye week and now something close to a bye week because other teams couldn’t get their act together. I suspect they’re using it as motivation instead. I would like to go undefeated but 16-0 is not that important. I really want them to win the last game, to go 3-0 in the postseason, 4-0 if necessary.
I predicted, maybe in this room, maybe elsewhere, early this season that this year might just come down to a Super Bowl between Tompa Bay and my Stillers. A Brady v. Ben steel cage grudge match. Might still come to pass, especially since Drew Fookin’ Brees is up to 11 busted ribs. I suspect the AFC championship will come down to Chefs and Stillers, site TBD.
Then again, it might not. The Bucs haven’t been able to get out of their own way since Noted Lunatic Antonio Brown moved in at Casa Biebs. I watched a bit of the MNF game this past week and Brown was back to his old posin’ and struttin’. Self-indulgent bullcrap. I’m willing to bet he’s working his way up to his old status from his Pittsburgh days: clubhouse cancer. Arians calling out Biebs for missing on his passes is fun, as is watching Biebs growl, snarl, and gnash his teeth after getting torched in the media. Not really his fault, which kinda makes it even more fun. The Bucs’ O-line sucks and defenses are doing the old tsunami to force Biebs into early, quick passes.
I think the marketing boys want to see Mahomes again.
In the news today, Young Mr. Manziel has crawled up out of the smoking crater that held the remains of his short career to express his regrets at being an asshole. Strike that. At being a drunken, obstreperous asshole who seriously disrespected the game, didn’t put in the work necessary to being in the NFL and both disrespected his teammates and wasted years of their careers. My one regret about his career is that he somehow avoided being physically destroyed by Stiller immortal James Harrison. The saddest parts of the whole Manziel saga are that (a) he’s already largely forgotten and therefore (b) kids coming up will not have his negative example available to them – out front and in detail – so they can avoid following the pathway to Hell he marked out.
All in all, a lot to be thankful for.
The Bucs O-line does really suck. And they lost one of the more consistent players, AQ Shipley, to what appears to be a career ending neck injury early enough last week. Good player, is sad.
Manziel wore out his welcome in the CFL too, and IIRC he was involved in the brief pro league earlier this year before getting benched. All of that is a little surprising to me since Texas A&M is not known for tolerating prima donnas with the Corps of Cadets.
Maybe he behaved better there, *because* they don’t tolerate that kind of thing.
Maybe they liked winning and national TV exposure and dollars so much they looked the other way.
Hello scribe!
Good to hear from you. So sorry you’ve been through the corona. But glad you are on the mend.
Happy Thanksgiving, US! I am grateful that I am able to read you all here, the posts and the comments, thank you for your work and thank God I found you 3 years ago! Sometimes you are like an island of sanity among a sea of troubles for me. With my best wishes for health and prosperity!
Merci to Marcy, the moderators and the regular commenters here. I come here to learn and seek a greater understanding of my southern neighbours.
It’s been a very challenging year, losing a kidney to cancer and having to deal with a pandemic while recuperating plainly sucks. I felt so helpless and scared, catching the virus while visiting your surgeon would have been the end of moi.
Last three months have been iffy health wise, kidney related, not cancer. Doing much better now.
Trout and veggies tonight, watching this year last stages of the Tour de France.
Thanks for the great ride.
Hey, you know you have friends here always. Glad things are on an uptick. Hell of a pandemic time to have to go through this, but you will get there. Happy holidays.
What bmaz said.
And trout sounds absolutely delicious. After all the heavy turkey etc. today, some lighter fish is definitely on the menu in the near future.
The trout was glorious. The veggies shined with butter. Oh so thankful.
Took a post-meal walk around the neighborhood to stretch my legs and work off the big meal, and was distressed to see the number of big family gatherings going on around here. Some may be extended family bubbles (i.e. people who regularly check in with their older parents in ordinary interactions), but more than a few had out-of-state license plates on all the cars parked nearby.
My medical friends are all holding their breath, waiting to see how bad things get in the next 10-14 days. Here in KC, the hospitals are on a knife’s edge trying to keep things from being overwhelmed, and they all say it won’t take much to push everything over the edge.
Scribe, glad you got through it as well as you did.
Yeah, with the mass-migration events against all expert pleading, this Thanksgiving arrived with a sense of knowing, quiet dread. Said one (the one who means the most to me), “We’re going to be paying for this for the next month.”
Add in last night’s SCOTUS decision (with related cases upcoming) and it’s just not looking good.
Had a backyard glass of wine with a friend who is working on vaccine trials. She had all the usual caveats about lack of long term case studies, possible issues with the representativeness of the pool of subjects, etc., but she says all in all it is looking like everyone involved is doing a very solid job.
With the speed involved it is always possible issues will arise, but so far so good.
The vaccines themselves seem to be stunningly good all things considered. It is still the distribution that concerns me, especially Pfizer and Moderna ones, which have to be maintained at super cold temps.
We are not being prepared for the upcoming vaccine side effects.
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6520/1022
I’m waiting for the people who got the vaccine to turn into zombies or something.
This is 2020, after all.
Backyard glasses of wine are always a good thing.
When we moved into our home, we did a bunch of tree trimming, and I started burning the little branches in my firepit while cutting larger branches for later burning. At one point, I looked up and saw a fire truck driving toward the house. The next thing I know, a couple of firefighters come strolling into the yard, looking at the fire. “One of your neighbors called, fearing something was wrong,” said the captain. They looked around, noting not just the firepit but also the hose laying there in case something went wrong. “You’re not doing anything illegal, but for the sake of neighborhood harmony, if you wait until the evening when you can sit around the pit with a glass of wine, that would probably work out better.” I had the sense that they had gotten calls from this unnamed neighbor more than once, and this was their way of trying both do their jobs in terms of responding to calls as well as not harassing folks who are doing what they are supposed to do.
Always stop at Rock Springs on the way to Flag or Sedona. The pie and the pickled garlic are legit! Happy Thanksgiving!
Hey, their Chili is spectacular too! And welcome to Emptywheel.
Rock Springs does seem a little out of the way if you’re not driving to Sedona or farther north. The eats sound delicious.
Not going to say I have never just driven up there for a couple of pies and come back down the hill, I have. But I generally do stop in on the way back from Flagstaff or Sedona. Used to be on the way back from Lake Powell, but we finally got rid of the boat up there.
From the sound of it, I might drive up there for the chili and pies, but it looks like a hike. Going there would also be a good excuse to visit Sedona.
When I worked in public schools with third and fourth-graders, each fall I read GUESTS, a little book of historical fiction by Michael Dorris. Not a sermon, but a good story with living characters.
The narrator, Moss, a Native American boy, is disgusted with his parents for inviting “those people who came on boats” to their yearly harvest festival. This festival has ALWAYS been the same and is one of Moss’s favorite times of the year. These boat-people smell bad, never bring their own empty bowls and are bound to ruin the whole thing.
When Moss confronts his father, accuses him of spoiling their favorite time together, his father reminds him, gently and clearly, with something like: “Moss. This is who we are. Would you have us be something else? These people are hungry. They are strangers. So they are our guests.”
I’ve been retired for twenty years and still, everywhere I go, am the student. Everyone I meet is my teacher. Thank you all for being here – with your wit, your expertise, your knowledge and your big big hearts -at this ongoing feast.
Trump’s tiny desk and awkward use of the presidential seal – never mind his rant – would be inexplicable, were it not that he normally dresses the same way, and thinks misshapen things make him look large and presidential. In fact, the setup makes him look like the obtuse, petulant man-child he is.
To coin a phrase, he chose…poorly.
I thought that Donnie-in-the-desk setup was photoshopped the first time I saw it. And still, he hasn’t put the caricaturists out of work.
As to the rant, CNN was just (re)airing it. I shake my head at the tv (~ He is such a psychopath~) and leave to walk the dog. Enjoy the moon. Do some dishes. Return. HE IS STILL GOING ON. Gosh, I hope this wasn’t live-aired in realtime. Happy Thanksgiving, America.
Did I somehow miss Melania renovating the Oval Office? I’m not sure what room the message was broadcast from, but from the carpet marks it looks like a bunch of stuff got hauled out of a hallway and then everything was set up. Except, of course, the pen to sign whatever he had in the folder.
Also missing was any shout out to the troops and other civil servants around the world defending his ass. At least W flew to Iraq with the plastic turkey.
He did do a couple of troop things as to troops early on, at least briefly. Only saw a couple of quick clips, and he came across as annoyed and insincere.
I also remember seeing that DJT did have time for golf, so I guess it wasn’t a total loss of the day from his view.
I read that he did call the troops in the Middle East. Only, being Trmp, it was about 1am their time.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in America, from the very wet coast of Canada. And may I add my appreciation for the intelligent writing and engaging discourse offered here on a daily basis. Tis one of my favourite websites. One day I hope to have something of relevance to add to the conversations.
thanks to all here. i’ve learned an immense amount since discovering you all. and, especially to the moderators and the writers, even bmaz who kicked me to the curb more than once.
fresh dungeness crab, homemade caesar salad, bi-rite salted caramel ice cream, peet’s coffee.
Thankful for so many smart, sane screen names on this post..
And for the spirits that still conjure – lively, insightful, and curious – for me around EW’s, off the top of my head:
John Casper,
loose head prop (lawyer?),
jlopresti (scary smart, broad knowledge base),
the brilliant, valiant Mad Dog from earliest ‘Hurrah’, whose ability to locate information was phenomenal,
Mary (Perdue) lover of horses and the law,
phred – such a cheesehead ;^),
egregious,
br??(Toronto?) (‘oh, my stars and whiskers’),
Ishmael – wonderful perspective…
orionATL (who is still around, methinks?),
the incredibly erudite LabDancer,
alabama (mysterious, mordant comments; s/he seemed to know a lot of background re: intel),
scarecrow,
William Ockham… incisive. Logical. And still reading, I hope…?
And too many whose names will come to me later, but who have been brilliant, funny, and brave.
As weird as this year has been, thank heavens that EW is still here, and still looks the same on my screen. ‘Tis a relief, and a treasure.
phred came by yesterday, brightening my day.
Oh yes, Phred is definitely around, but has a job that takes away for periods at a time. William Ockham is still here, obviously, as is egregious, though probably less obviously. I fear for LabDancer, who was around a lot under a new screen name for a long time, then infrequently and has been absent for a good while now. Many of our other friends from the FDL days are still here quite often. Pretty weird we have been around so long. The yearly attrition hurts.
The FDL commenter I wonder about, still, is Evil Parallel Universe. They’d frequently show up after comments on a post were close to dead, and add a comment. (Thus “EPUing the post”.)
I have no idea about EPU. My recollection is he may have stated being around less frequently even before we left. Not positive about that though. I just checked, and he or she has not appeared in our threads since 2009, well before we left FDL.
They usually weren’t on ew’s posts – or not under that name.
And several have adopted a new name here from FDL. To my knowledge though, not EPU.
Anybody remember Hugh and his running list of W’s admin. scandals and misdeeds?
I seem to recall him. W was pretty mild, compared to the last four years.
I have an old bookmark but it seems to have link rot. I hope this version is OK to post:
h t t p://www.netrootsmass dot net/Hugh/Bush_list dot h t m l
I remember EPU and his namesake penchant for late-thread comments conversations…
Aw shucks, thanks PJ! That was really sweet of you to say : )
And rotl, I’m genuinely touched to be included on your list, such great company to be in : )
I’m thankful to still be a part of the EW community, a finer bunch of people cannot be found, in spite of my intermittent attendance of recent years. Mostly I lurk these days, but even at this late date, I can’t resist de-lurking long enough to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and to let you know I am thankful for all of you : )
OH MY, you folks should take a look at this picture of Trump at the tiny desk. It is even better than the original one, which was already hilarious.
From The Guardian: ‘Mini desk. Tiny hands. Small soul’: Trump mocked for giving speech at little table
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/27/mini-desk-trump-mocked-speech-little-table-diaperdon-twitter-president-furniture
From The Business Insider: Trump gave his Thanksgiving press conference from a tiny desk that looks like a throwback to a 2017 ‘SNL’ skit
HAHAHAHA !
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-thanksgiving-event-tiny-desk-like-snl-2020-11
Not much to add to all the brilliance on this site that lights my way in the darkest of times. ROTL listed all those names. So many people who I never met but come with me through my life. It’s been a tearful year. Lost my dad to copd in this pandemic. Scrambling to care for my mom since his death. Grown kids that I miss so much. And a new grandchild to make life livable in this mess. (Pregnant mom testing positive the week of her birth-so many terrifying scares). Knowing it didn’t have to be quite this hard.
Thinking back to firedoglake days. When I could not tolerate watching news that would not hold Bush accountable. So grateful that EW survived all those changes. So many memories with people I never met. Helping my brain find a corner of the world where truth and facts are king. I’ve posted many times and been set straight. And thankful that someone cares enough to put truth above fandom.
I give this site to my clients occasionally. Only the ones who think will slo through the weedy gritty hard gathered and thoughtful posts. I’ve begged a trumpet or two to read your work. One literally said he just couldn’t read your posts because they were “too long” and “hard to read”. Made me sad for American. No exceptionalism any where near my thoughts.
I am blessed to have kids that begged to find a compromise for thanksgiving dinner. My husband smoked the Turkey – first time. I made most the sides. My daughter in law and mother of my grand baby made pies. Each kid prepared a dish. We met at 5 pm (wearing masks) on my front porch and exchanged bags of home cooked thanksgiving meal.
Came home and zoomed our meal. Then played zoom games sharing the night together till 10pm. I was exhausted but so grateful. Thank you all for your commentary. What did happen to LHP (loosehead prop)?
Love you all. You don’t know me from Adam but I love you all very much! ❤️
So sorry about your loss, and I think a number of us have learned through experience just what a toll Elder Care can take; it’s so hard to watch decline, and as the complications mount up, it consumes a ton of time and energy. But it is so deeply a part of life.
Glad you had time with your kids.
We were outside, as well, eating pie in drizzle until we got too soggy and chilled. To warm up, I chased the one and only child at this year’s tiny gathering around the yard, and discovered how much work it is to try and run with a mask on! The child felt triumphant, and beat me every round.
Enjoy that baby – I hope that by May, you’ll be bouncing it on your knee.
I’m so glad that you deal with trauma. Thank God someone does; I don’t have the stones for it, so am all the more admiring of your fortitude.
Thank you EW team. You’ve kept me going through 5 years of caregiving. Although there are empty seats at our table this year, there are no empty hearts thanks to community like Emptywheel and team. You’ve kept me grounded. Hope everyone here is, despite covid, given moments of hope and encouragement this holiday weekend.
Fucking King Roger the Clown, screwing the Stillers yet again with some other team’s fucking up their corona control.
The crows* can’t keep their team corona free (or even close) so we lose the primetime T’day game. First it gets pushed to Sunday afternoon. Then, when Lamar comes down with it, they push it to Tuesday.
So we lose the Thursday-to-Sunday break we were supposed to have before facing the Washingtons on the 6th, atop losing the planned bye week back when, thanks to the Tennessees.
Should have made Baltimore forfeit. But, for some reason the way the CBA is set up: if there’s a forfeit, all the players on both teams don’t get their game checks. The team innocent of causing a forfeit gets screwed again.
Making it worse, if a string of events falls into place such that King Roger activates the enhanced playoff eligibility, the #8 team in the AFC today is Baltimore. In other words, by fucking up their corona control, they can get into the playoffs when they otherwise would not have.
And then they’d play … the #1 seed. Your Pittsburgh Steelers.
—
*Q.: What’s the difference between a crow and a raven?
A.: $500 and a day in court.
We had a raven who used to come by in the 9am hour, who’d beak-flip big chunks of moss off our shed roof and feast on any creatures underneath. It was no crow. [Also, this started during a highly tornadic storm — Isaias, as I recall — blowing up from Baltimore. Quoth the raven.] By comparison, a few weeks later I caught a bully blue jay attempting same, and he’d fall off the roof edge against the weight/tension of the attached moss.
[Since it’s been clear that King Roger will hold the Super Bowl or bust] Your — America’s — Steelers will charge on against 2020. The stories will just be more epic.
*OK, fine, I submit to the annoyance: FORGE, it should be “forge on”.
Attn: bmaz & other aficionados — multi-day auction coming up (~ Dec 1-4), “Idols & Icons Trilogy” (Rock and roll, Sports, Hollywood). By these folks:
Juliens Auctions (@JuliensAuctions)
https://twitter.com/JuliensAuctions
e.g.:
Big Rick: “Jimi Hendrix, Albert King & Eddie Van Halen Guitars Up For Auction [link to parts unfamiliar]”
https://twitter.com/BigRickBlues/status/1332157246038478855
Late to the party, as usual. On a personal level I’m grateful/thankful to have so far made it through 2020 relatively intact – able to keep a small business running remotely, no Covid scares, stable/happy family including adult kids finding their own ways, with success. The election wasn’t the sweeping, stinging rebuke we so hoped for, but at least we achieved the critical bare minimum of defenestrating Trump. And the glimmer of hope for taking control of the Senate has us writing postcards like crazy to GA voters.
All of which seems to bring a sort of survivors’ guilt. Our truly minor inconveniences pale compared to so many folks have fared so worse: illness and death, lost livelihoods, utter precariousness of housing and food access.
Add to that the glum notion that our democratic institutions have suffered and continue to suffer great injury (we came perilously close to descending into utter fascist chaos – imagine America after four more years of Trump – yet some 50 million people are convinced that Biden cheated). And the festering racism that taints or society every day.
Not sure where I’m going with this, but … cheers (?!) to you all.
In football news:
Trying to get rid of the idea (and actuality) of people calling Ford Field “The Litter Box”, Detroit Lions management today fired Matt Patricia and whoever their general manager was.
In the Vanderbilt game today, the goalie from Vandy’s women’s soccer team successfully kicked a field goal, marking the first appearance (and by implication points scored) by a woman player in a “Power 5 conference” game.
I listened to and passed along a bad report. The Vandy kicker did the kickoff to the 2nd half but did not kick a FG.
Seriously, Fuller likely would have kicked a PAT, or even a FG within 25-30 yds or so. But Vandy was so beyond horrible, there was never any chance for her to even try.
It is all good; Fuller did everything she was asked to do.
bmaz, Grosjean’s crash, he’s okay but oh crap what the fook was that….
Truly scary.
I just read the story (and saw pics) at SFGate. Credit for his health was given to the halo, the seatbelt, and the speed of the response. Half a car and he only has minor injuries.
I have no idea how, totally bonkers.
His video message from the hospital:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAxgcycpGIM
I see he has a blood pressure cuff, heart monitor leads, and O2 tube (probably a monitor).
The car went in between the first and second guardrail, the tub pretty much stopped in the space of two meters, the back separated like it should. The negative G’s he experienced must have been enormous, Anthoine Hubert peeked at 34 Gs during his fatal crash in Belgium. I’m expecting to see numbers around 70 Gs. Glad he’s hooked up this way, and he has TV!
The much maligned Halo saved his life, it split the guardrails and protected his head from being, ya.
Hard one for me, I was in Watkins Glen in 73, Cevert lost his life 500 feet from where I was taking my pictures in the esses. Saw the car before they had extricated Cevert from it, I turned around and walked away. Today’s crash is a bad flashback.
I need a drink.
Yes as to all. I guess Jules Bianchi was not all that long ago, but this is so rare these days in F1. But, yeah, bad flashbacks.
I gather he got burns on his hands (even with gloves) from going over the (very hot) barrier, and some on the backs of his ankles as well. The firesuit deserves a lot of credit.
F1 will never be perfectly safe, it just cannot be, but it is really good now. There are soooo many drivers from back in the day that would still be alive with these kind of safety protocols.
The safety stuff has gotten down to the fun level: the drivers on the LeMons circuit have suits, roll bars, and halos. (I know a guy who retired from it when he hit 70. He enjoyed it.)
So right Bmaz
NASCAR is dangerous enough
But F1 is insane.
Watched Niki Lauda’s crash at Nurburgring in 1976
And then he came back
looks like Hamilton is going to transcend Lauda and Schumacher
But you have to wonder how Lauda would have performed in these solid state FI cars
https://youtu.be/VjnNn-TXXcw
great interview with James Hunt
I have never seen that before. Thanks, it is really great. Hunt was a classic. I was pretty young, but had drinks in the Observation Bar on the Queen Mary with Hunt (he had a couple of beautiful Belgian friends with him) at the LBGP in 1976. That interview is so totally him, he was a very thoughtful guy.
KC and Tampa Bay
This is pretty great football
Thought you might like that
Just guessing, but you two are kindred spirits
He’s remarkably focused and skilled
At the time, Niki Lauda was simply unbelievable
and as Hunt says, his crash was due to mechanical failure
not driver error
Those two were the best of friends
Lauda told Hunt to move on because he was too reckless
And, in spite of the lost time and injuries, if Nikki had run in Japan in the wet, it very might well be that he still would have won the Drivers Championship, not Hunt.
I think the movie “Rush” overplayed it a tad, but not much, they really were real friends.