Saturday evening links of, whatever

by | Jan 15, 2022 | Daily Links | 337 comments

Yep.

It’s that time of year where everything slows to a crawl, because everything fun is over until March, and it’s cold.

 

Links even suck this time of year.

 

“Do not panic. There are enough life boats for everybody.”

 

Sigh. At least it comes with a decoder ring.

 

Uh, safe from what, exactly?

 

Why not? Nothing else has stuck so far.

 

For the kittehs.

 

Time to ease into the evening. Peace out, Gliberati.

 

About The Author

Spudalicious

Spudalicious

Survey says I’m a Paleolibertarian bitches. That means I eat “L”ibertarians for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Soave tastes a little fruity. Wait a minute, that doesn’t sound quite right…

337 Comments

  1. Timeloose

    Very cruesy set of links.

    • UnCivilServant

      Spud’s just coasting along.

      • TARDis

        These links are heading in matelotage waters.

      • Surly Knott

        Nor way is Swissy letting this sail past.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Fjording along for a narrow passage are we?

      • juris imprudent

        We’ll just get a flash from those green eyes?

      • Ownbestenemy

        The do have that varsågod feel to them.

    • juris imprudent

      Very cruesy

      Motley-esque?

    • Fourscore

      “I really can’t imagine four more sea days back to back without much to do,”

      In the days of yesteryear I was lucky enough to make 3 cruises across the Atlantic. 2 to Europe and one return More like 8-9 days with little to do, no bar and with 700 of my newest friends.

      If I saw a line I got in it, it was going somewhere, to eat or the ship’s store. Every trip by coincidence was in August. We spent a lot of time on deck in a brisk wind, huddled down behind any protection, smoking cigarettes at a cost of .90 cents a carton. On the payroll so that didn’t hurt.

      • cyto

        Interesting…

        The crew doesn’t seem to mingle with the guests much… But I always suspected that the entertainers on a ship did really well for themselves, being on stage and in a completely safe location (nobody back home is finding out) and having limited options….

        So…. True? Does anyone working score on the boat?

    • Swiss Servator

      *MASS NARROWED GAZE*

      for the lot o’ ye.

  2. Timeloose

    OT but my last post was late to the old thread.

    Just drank my last Mad Elf but have switched to the Troges Nugget Nectar.

    It’s Nugget Nectar season!

    • Nephilium

      I am being good, and will attempt to continue to be good until the weekend trip to Columbus (which happens to coincide with Superbowl weekend).

    • DEG

      🙂

    • R C Dean

      I do like Mad Elf. Been awhile since I had one of theirs.

  3. hayeksplosives

    I’ve always been semi horrified at the idea of a cruise. The ocean is great, but being in a floating hotel with no reasonable option to say “Nope” and walk away at any point is way outside my comfort zone.

    Closest I had to a “cruise” was a ferry from Athens to Santorini. I rented a “first class” cabin, advertised as having an in-suite bath. Haha, no. It was a sink. Still had to get up and walk down the corridor to the public toilet.

    And all the emergency doors, clearly labeled that they must be kept open, were painted shut. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to survive the trip.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Our cruise was mixed reviews. It was free. It was Alaska and the inner passage. It was old fart city, a couple of divorcees, and I just lost my grandma.

      The one bar on boat that was worth going to was a smoking bar.

      • rhywun

        Yeah, because non-smokers are squares.

      • UnCivilServant

        I will keep to my rhomboid ways.

    • Gender Traitor

      I think I’d enjoy a river cruise. Since I’ve lost a lot of interest in ever going to Europe, a lovely float down the Mississippi in a good old fashioned paddle wheeler might be just the thing.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I still wanna do the viking cruises on European waterways.

      • TARDis

        I did too… until I saw the prices. For that kind of money, all the wait staff better be young female hotties clad only in G-strings.

      • Spudalicious

        The only thing that has every interested me was a barge canal cruise.

      • juris imprudent

        Now you’re talking. Canal du Midi tops the list, if international travel ever returns to normal.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        Would love to do Canal du Midi. Hopefully take some of the Normandy fam with us.

      • hayeksplosives

        Oh, I’ve done a ton of river cruises on the Mississippi and the St Croix. Lovely , easy, comfy paddle wheels. And only a couple of hours in general.

        Do it.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        I’ve been on cruises precisely twice, and loved both of ’em. My major take-away from both of ’em would be “don’t be stingy about the shore activities, but don’t necessarily book ’em through the cruise line, either (they bone you for ’em).” We arranged a private tour through a non-cruise-line-affiliated company in Montenegro, for example, and it was one of the shore activity highlights of that trip. The stuff through the cruise line was okay, but in general nothing really special. You’re spending mucho dinero anyways, so might as well get exactly what you want.

      • Surly Knott

        I did a 4 week vacation in England in 99. One week was a ‘hotel barge’ cruise on the Thames. 6 nights, 60 miles, Cambridge to Windsor. It was most excellent, and far and away the most relaxing portion of the trip. Sadly, most of that seems to be gone these days.

    • DEG

      Ferries are the closest I’ve been to a cruise.

      I once took the ferry from Nova Scotia to PEI. I arrived at the dock and got my car in line. Since I had time to kill and it was lunch, I went into the terminal to use the men’s room and get some lunch.

      I get in line to order food. I have never seen food service workers work that slow. Ever.

      Time passed.

      I was one or two people away from ordering when an announcement came over the loudspeaker that the ferry was coming in, folks should go back to their cars.

      I said to hell with it, got out of line, and went to my car.

      I was unhappy. I didn’t have to wait long for the ferry to dock and unload. There were a lot of cars in line to get on the ferry.

      I thought I was going to have to wait for the next ferry, except I was one of the last ones loaded up. After leaving my car, I went to go see if there was a place to get food. Yep, there was a small cafeteria.

      It was like night and day. The workers got their shit done and got the line moving. The food was OK.

      After I ate, I went on deck to take pictures. A nice one of PEI.

      • UnCivilServant

        Nice optical illusion, it looks like the land is floating above the horizon.

      • DEG

        Thanks! The conditions were just right for that.

      • grrizzly

        I took a ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn cause it’s a popular thing to do in that part of the world.

      • Swiss Servator

        Beware of pugnacious, drunk Finns!

    • Tundra

      We went on a cruise for our honeymoon 30 years ago. And we’ve never even considered it since.

    • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

      I don’t want to be i on someone else’s schedule so I have no interest in a cruise. I’ve chartered a sailboat in Greece and that was the best vacation ever.

  4. Ownbestenemy

    Timeloose. Still getting hang of Elite Dangerous though, God of War came out on PC. Righteous indignation against the Gods or fly amongst them is my dilemma

    • UnCivilServant

      To fund my smithing hobby, I had to cut back on expenditures for other hobbies. So I’m not buying additional video games for a while.

      I have too many expensive hobbies.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Ever sense the teens said they can pay their own food, I have spending money.

  5. hayeksplosives

    Imma go ahead and say it: Derek Carr’s ice blue eyes and black eyelashes are dreamy.

    ~swoon~

    • LCDR_Fish

      hola HE – left you a note at the forum.

      • hayeksplosives

        Will check!

      • Don escaped Cancun

        didjaknow that the Carrs are from Wichita Falls ?

        decades ago they moved to California en masse

        one of my work friends went; his mother was a Carr and died very young, so his father brought him back to TX

        all of those cousins look the same to me

      • hayeksplosives

        I did not know that!!

        I like Wichita Falls. It’s its own quirky little culture.

      • Ted S.

        It’s where people go to escape Anarene.

      • Don escaped Cancun

        yes, indeed: the pool

        McMurtry and Bogdanovich are dead now

        I worked for a year in Graham; my son’s heritage goes back to the Comanche there

      • Not Adahn

        All the best storms for chasing start in WF. No idea why, I was just the guy with a car.

      • Don escaped Cancun

        an F5 ripped through there in 1964

        but only seven were killed somehow

      • UnCivilServant

        Hey! That was half the town.

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        Dad was in the Air Force (early 50’s) and stationed at Wichita Falls and Presque Isle, Maine. He said that to coldest winter he ever experienced was in Wichita Falls.

      • Raven Nation

        Okies?

      • hayeksplosives

        WF is north Texas, but it pretty much the same as southwest Oklahoma where i was born and raised.

        I suppose technically I am an Okie since I went to California (albeit via Sweden and Minnesota first).

      • Don escaped Cancun

        close enough; it’s right across from Lawton

        there are better regions, but it’s still oil patch to some extent

        my love of the town stems from the hh100.org held there

      • hayeksplosives

        Ever go to Bill’s Fish House, just over the border (Texas side)?

        Best catfish evah.

        They also fry up some damned good mountain oysters.

        There is a small airstrip behind the restaurant to accommodate wealthy Texans and Okies who still want to reconnect with their roots sometimes.

    • Gustave Lytton

      So the brother of the supposedly most dangerous terrorist woman in the world is just living in the us and has access to firearms. Nothing to see here.

      • Don escaped Cancun

        it’s reformed; I wonder if they tend to be less militant in their politics? I would have much preferred a story about how some Jews (with Uzis?) melted down a dude who tried to take over their sabbath

        Fort Worth had several killed at another church 30 years ago that was, after Luby’s, a key piece of evidence in the fight to restore the 2A in Texas.

        Since, such perps have been taken out by congregants in White Settlement and Sutherland Springs.

      • Chafed

        Reformed congregations tend to be left wing. This guy is threatening the (((people))) most likely to empathize with him.

        It’s shit like this that makes me believe I should carry in synagogue.

      • Don escaped Cancun

        that was my guess; it’s a new congregation, suburbans I would not expect to have long family histories of marksmanship

        the synagogue in my parents’ neighborhood is Orthodox Zionist, pretty much as redneck as the nearest Baptists, but the congregants are professional, middle class….maybe they don’t wear their Uzis on their sleeves…shrug: none of my business, of course

      • Chafed

        I belong to a Conservative congregation. We pay for armed security at the entrance. Some days, I still feel like I should be carrying.

        Orthodox congregations are interesting. I suspect few, if any, are carrying. But they wouldn’t be shy about armed security and warm relations with the local cops.

      • R C Dean

        “I should carry in synagogue”

        If you carry elsewhere, yeah.

      • Shpip

        So the brother of the supposedly most dangerous terrorist woman in the world is just living in the us and has access to firearms.
        Well, if he hasn’t committed a crime himself (until now, anyway) then you can’t restrict his rights.

        I was on the receiving end of this when I was a lad. I spent two years in culinary school, graduated at the top of my class, and then no restaurant would hire me because of my sibling who was in prison for something he did when I was still in high school.

        All I’m saying is, you shouldn’t judge a cook by his brother.

      • UnCivilServant

        That’s bad enough that I want to give you a narrow gaze. And I am a glutton for punnishment.

      • rhywun

        They’re now saying it’s not her brother. Dude said, “Nope, not it.”

        Apparently it’s someone pretending to be her brother, or something.

        This might get more convoluted.

      • Gender Traitor

        According to ABC, the FBI has not confirmed the hostage-taker’s identity. Anyone who supports Siddiqui’s cause might call himself her brother even if they’re not related.

        So, her “brother-in-arms” or something, maybe.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Yikes

  6. UnCivilServant

    I’ve been listening to an audiobook of “Rising Sun”, to see how it holds up.

    It doesn’t. I’ve had to tell myself “Treat it like an embryonic cyberpunk setting” to even take the events seriously.

    • UnCivilServant

      It is awfully written, many elements are laughable, especially the ‘facts’ bandied about by the Japanophilic John Connor (about whom I can’t help but crack skynet jokes). It’s like the author knew nothing about japan, crafted a fiction in his head that he fell in love with, and fused it to a leftist’s hatred of america. The characters are a veritable cornfield of strawmen with cardboard cutouts dotting the space in between.

      • Raven Nation

        Crichton?

      • Raven Nation

        I suspect Clancy’s Debt of Honor might have similar problems.

      • UnCivilServant

        I don’t doubt it.

        Wasn’t that the book that delusionally pretended CNN was a patriotic news station?

      • Raven Nation

        Don’t remember that part – but you may well be right.

        The rough outline is that a horrific car accident opens the door to US trade sanctions against Japan which leads to Japan attacking the US. America wins (USA! USA! USA!). At the end of the book, a commercial Japanese pilot crashes a 747 into the capitol just before Jack Ryan is to be sworn in as veep. He survives and becomes POTUS.

      • juris imprudent

        CNN was a patriotic news station

        Isn’t fiction supposed to contain some believable elements?

      • UnCivilServant

        Wouldn’t he have first needed to be sworn in as VP for him to autopromote? If the office is still technically vacant, he’s not in line for pres.

      • UnCivilServant

        JI – Well, that whole subplot was about CNN blatantly lying on behalf of the administration.

        So I guess they were donkeys?

      • Raven Nation

        UCS: yeah, that was a subplot in Executive Orders. My vague recollection (assisted by wikipedia) is that the previous veep had resigned, Ryan was sworn in in a private ceremony and the Capitol gathering was for the congress to publicly recognize that. The subplot was the previous veep claiming his resignation was not valid and so he should be POTUS.

    • Ted S.

      I just watched the movie last night.

      The idea they could do that much video processing was ridiculous.

      And having the circuit breakers right out in the open in an apartment building’s parking garage also seemed unrealistic to me.

      • UnCivilServant

        I don’t remember if I ever saw the film version.

  7. DEG

    Passengers aboard a Norwegian cruise ship are stuck at sea this week after the cruise line decided to cancel the cruise mid-voyage due to COVID-19 concerns.

    Oh boy.

    I just heard from the most-Covid-crazy of my relatives. This relative and her husband went on a cruise just before Omicron started spreading. Everyone on board vaccinated and tested before getting on board. “I joked we were safer on board than on land! lol” Oh boy.

    “Smart” pistols designed to limit who can shoot them are poised to hit the booming US firearm market this year, taking aim at spiking gun deaths as federal lawmakers remain deadlocked on any new restrictions.

    Not interested.

    Law enforcement organizations are expressing concern and skepticism of Biden’s reported plan to resort to the use of executive orders on police reform, saying it is “not a sustainable” means of achieving long-term change, and a political attempt to distract from the administration’s week of defeats.

    Skeptical of Biden? These folks must be insurrectionists.

    The agency explained in a news release on Thursday that frunevetmab – the active ingredient in Solensia – is a cat-specific monoclonal antibody designed to recognize and attach to a protein called nerve growth factor that is involved in the regulation of pain.

    How long until we find out this drug is actually a problem?

    • UnCivilServant

      frunevetmab

      What language is that even in? It doesn’t even have the ‘pharma name vibe’.

      • rhywun

        Well, it ends in ‘ab’. Like the subject of every recent pharma commercial I have seen.

      • db

        I know a guy who spent his career in designing monoclonal antibodies. He says their names all end with “mab” because it stands for “monoclonal antibody.” The names are mishmashes of abbreviations of properties of the drug, as I understand.

      • rhywun

        because it stands for “monoclonal antibody.”

        Huh.

        And then they come up with a cute name playing on the initial syllables.

    • commodious spittoon

      “Smart” pistols designed to limit who can shoot them

      Something something Simon Phoenix killing Dr. Cocteau.

      • UnCivilServant

        Simon didn’t kill him. Simon’s henchthug kill him.

        Took me a while to realize Cocteau was played by the patron saint of bureaucrats.

      • commodious spittoon

        Exactly. By future governor Jesse Ventura, in fact.

        And yeah, Humpy was the perfect choice for that role.

    • Ted S.

      Did you run their nosesiinin their idiotic false belief that the vaxes would protect them?

      I’m assuming they’re the sort of people who would ridicule those unvaxed who get the coronavirus.

      • DEG

        Heh.

        They (my relative and her husband) had Covid. They had been following all the rules and more. I didn’t say, “I told you so”. I simply hoped they got well soon.

        After they had Covid, they continued to wear masks and follow all the rules. “We don’t want to asymptomatically spread it!” They decided they wouldn’t travel until they were vaccinated. They posted pictures of their post-vaccination “wounds” on their travel blog.

        I haven’t replied yet. I think I will either ignore it or make an analogy to the Japanese soldiers that didn’t believe the War was over.

        I didn’t say anything to them about my having Lil Rona with pneumonia, so I don’t know how they would react. Her husband I could see being like that.

      • rhywun

        They posted pictures of their post-vaccination “wounds” on their travel blog.

        That crosses a line for me.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Ugh

    • grrizzly

      It’s crazy how the entire industries believed in the second half of 2021 that the vaccines would stop the spread of corona. The CDC and Fauci have been saying since July 2021 that the vaccines don’t stop the spread. I understand from the business point of view why you want all your entertainers to be vaccinated if you are the NHL or NBA and the vaccines keep everyone healthy and uninfected. Same for the cruising industry and their employees and passengers. How did so many people get brainwashed in sincerely believing that if the authorities called an experimental potion a vaccine then it would fix everything as long as everyone is injected with it?

      • rhywun

        How did so many people get brainwashed

        By the largest propaganda effort in history.

      • Tundra

        More than 100 years in the making.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I think the cruise lines know the deal.

        They’re doing anything to maintain cash flow while not antagonizing the public health gods who want everyone to believe in the totems. Cross the CDC and get shut down.

      • grrizzly

        Sure, the cruise lines have to assuage the CDC and the rest. But I suspect that they lose money big time when so many cruises have to be cancelled midway.

  8. rhywun

    Uh, safe from what, exactly?

    Fun?

  9. Tundra

    Hiya Spud!

    Damn, I’m not a PF bobo, but that’s a great goddamn song!

    How are things in Idaho?

    • Spudalicious

      Cold and overcast. Perfect weather to hunker down with the animals!

      • rhywun

        ?

      • Chafed

        Written with California circa 2022 in mind.

      • rhywun

        Hold my beer.

        /New York

      • UnCivilServant

        “Don’t let me be misunderstood”?

  10. DEG

    “The Great Gig in the Sky” is a great song.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      +1000^

    • LCDR_Fish

      This is another old PF song that I originally downloaded randomly via napster or FTP my freshman year in college. Don’t think I’ve ever heard the full album, but the song is gripping – and unlike a lot of their other stuff (that I’ve heard).

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKt0XCHjUj4

      • hayeksplosives

        I replied to your message in Forums. ?

      • LCDR_Fish

        Saw it. Thanks.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Neat

    • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

      I love Baldy. He rocks my world.

  11. Ownbestenemy

    Bringing over a friend that…we found out was actually distant cousins. He is getting a divorce and his soon to be ex-wife isn’t happy we are inviting him over. First, we don’t take sides however, dude is blood. Second, you are needy. Not in a bad way. She’s deaf but a lip reader. Which means every conversation has to be directed at her.

    I just want a few beers, some chicken wings and watch the hockey game.

    • rhywun

      Oh, that reminds me the Rangers are on in two minutes.

      But I have to watch the Bills later.

      • Ownbestenemy

        My Kings are wrecking the East coast teams but struggle versus their own division. Good news if they can work through the playoffs to the Stanley Cup finals.

      • Tundra

        My Wild are a weird team. I don’t see SC this year, but there are definitely bright spots.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I’ve enjoyed the season so far. Probably going to the Kings v. Knights game coming up. Corner seats, 15 rows up

      • Tundra

        Atta boy!

        I’ll be there on 12/31. Any games?

      • Ownbestenemy

        December 31? Or Feb 31?

      • Tundra

        1/31

        Not sure where the extra 2 came from…

      • Lackadaisical

        LETS GO BUFFALO!!!!

        /500 Commercials for Peacock

        But seriously, GO BILLS MUTHERFUCKERS@!!!

      • rhywun

        /500 Commercials for Peacock

        That was the Bengals game.

        Bills game will be 500 commercials for Paramount+.

      • Swiss Servator

        The Bills game is already over (in a good way).

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Why would his soon to be ex care if you fraternize with him? Is she going to be there as well?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Family friends. It is what it is. She is moving to Ohio for some other dick I suppose.

      • Lackadaisical

        A dick who is an asshole, or a guy who is slanging dick?

      • Ownbestenemy

        I try not to pry.

      • Tundra

        Jesus, dude. Every divorce results in this bullshit. My SIL (with whom I’m not blood-related) freaked out whenever I hung out with my BIL (not blood related, but was absolutely a mentor) until I told her to fuck off.

        People are weird.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I guess I’m not petty enough.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Yep it’s fucking stupid. I hate it.

    • Chafed

      Why is the soon to be ex unhappy you are having him over?

      • Ownbestenemy

        I dunno. Taking sides? I grew out of this 25 years ago so it is foreign to me.

      • Chafed

        Good luck. Hopefully you don’t get blow back via your wife.

      • Ownbestenemy

        My wife is one of us. Her view is “I was friends with him and he is blood”

      • Chafed

        ?

  12. Yusef drives a Kia

    My buddy just dropped out of the tournament, So I’m solo, I’m glad it’s charity, now I’m nervous.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Play harder now. Show em what you can do

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Slow is smooth, Smooth is fast, odd sounding but true, I don’t want to represent Manistee, my best guys are Hiberenating, so I’ll put on a good old Man show I suppose.
        Thanks OBE!

    • Tundra

      Kick some ass. Raise some money.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        money and canned goods, I got some nice stuff rather than food bank crap, maybe make someones day, I live here, i should help.

      • Lackadaisical

        I live here, i should help.

        Good way to live.

      • Tundra

        Yes.

        Well done Yusef.

      • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

        Or raise some ass and kick some money.

  13. Lackadaisical

    “It’s that time of year where everything slows to a crawl, because everything fun is over until March, and it’s cold.”

    I’m glad I’m in Florida. Its perfect right now.

    • Shpip

      Glad you’re enjoying Palm Harbor. I don’t think I’ll ever move back to the bat area, but it was a pretty cool place to grow up.

      Two things: assuming you like beer, give Stilt House on Alt-19 a try. DeBine (about a half-mile up the road) is solid, too.

      Second, on some Saturday or Sunday, gather up the family and head up A-19 to Tarpon Springs. When you get to Dodecanese Blvd, hang a left. You’ll be at the Sponge Docks. Tourists get sent to a place called Hellas. Locals eat at Mykonos. Their founder / patriarch passed away last year, but nothing else has changed: all the daughters, nieces, and granddaughters work front of the house, all the menfolk are in the kitchen except for one kid who buses tables and does bread service. Vibe is very 1950s family joint. Everything on the menu is tasty, but I always wind up getting the Thalassina Skaras (mixed seafood grill).

      After your meal, walk down to Hellas’ bakery and get some assorted desserts. I like galaktoboureko. Just don’t lollygag — there’s limited parking at Mykonos, and while they aren’t assholes if you want to shop a bit after your meal, don’t be that guy and abuse the privilege.

      • Shpip

        er… “bat area” = “bay area”

      • UnCivilServant

        To go there, I’d have to see a lot of cleanup done first.

      • Ted S.

        I think he’s talking about Tampon Bay.

      • Lackadaisical

        I’m doing something right

        DeBine (about a half-mile up the road) is solid, too.

        Been there twice already, Play boardgames every Thursday night there. Good beer.

        hen you get to Dodecanese Blvd, hang a left. You’ll be at the Sponge Docks. Tourists get sent to a place called Hellas. Locals eat at Mykonos.

        WE actually went here when we visited the area last year. Mykonos was good. His GDaughter is hot, but definitely wasn’t there when we went. 😀

  14. Lackadaisical

    Watching the Bengals about to get beat by injuries and the refs.

    • Lackadaisical

      Not to say the refs are against the bengals, just that it is a three-way game. I wonder who has the most yards, the bengals, the raiders or the refs?

    • Nephilium

      I’ve got the game on in the background. I’d like the Bengals to pull it off.

      • Lackadaisical

        Same here, can’t have some Vegas team beating my Midwestern brothers.

      • Ownbestenemy

        They are fake Vegas. You are good.

      • Chafed

        Who wants to tell him?

      • rhywun

        This.

      • Nephilium

        The Bengals pulled it off, breaking a post season win drought that was longer then even the Browns had.

        The Browns and Bengals have both been long suffering fandoms. There’s supposed to be a bitter rivalry there, and maybe it will develop into one as time goes on. But it’s not the Ravens, and it’s not the Stillers. Since the Browns are out of it, I’ll pull for the Ohio team.

      • Lackadaisical

        Congrats to Cincy! Hopefully their injured recover soon.

      • Ted S.

        The Lions now have the longest drought of not having won a playoff game.

        I linked to an article pointing that out on the Packers forum I frequent, and somebody responded, “Longer than Cleveland?” LOL

      • Nephilium

        We just beat the Stillers last year in the playoffs! Crying Big Ben was awesome.

      • Ted S.

        Yeah, I posted a link to the Wikipedia article on last year’s playoffs, and responded “Longer by a hair”.

    • Ted S.

      Didn’t the whistle blow before one of the Bengals’ TDs?

      • rhywun

        That’s the one deliberately wrong call that is allowed/required per game, I guess.

      • Lackadaisical

        yup, bad whistle. But also probably wrong to give them the TD, \_O_/

    • Ted S.

      Congratulations on not failing.

    • Spudalicious

      By the book, righteous shoot.

    • Lackadaisical

      Yeah, hard to get too much of a more justified shoot there.

      Sometimes the world gets better one bullet at a time, unfortunately for Ricardo.

      • cyto

        I feel bad for Ricardo. No idea what he was going through, but he clearly made a last minute choice to suicide by cop.

        And I feel bad for the officer. This dude made a choice that means he has to live with having killed someone from now on.

        Not sure what else he could have done in that situation.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Excellent.

    • Chafed

      Here’s hoping this isn’t straight political payback.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Miyares is good. I would have preferred him over Youngkin for governor.

      Herring was a god-awful AG and an all around piece of shit.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Virginia State Senator Louise Lucas claimed Miyares fired the entire Civil Rights division, however the AG’s spokesperson said only two staffers from that division were let go on Saturday.

      Lucas is as corrupt as they come. She’s been scamming since time immemorial.

    • rhywun

      He is also the first PoC Attorney General in Virginia history!

      *looks at pic*

      Uh, OK.

      But yes, these are the kind of actions that would be unthinkable in my state.

      • UnCivilServant

        We’d have to fire more than thirty people in the AG’s office.

      • Lackadaisical

        Pale is a color, right?

    • EvilSheldon

      Far be it for me to be an optimist, but this looks like a very good start. Move fast and break shit!

      • rhywun

        Yeah, it’s almost Ron Paul .gif-worthy.

      • cyto

        Need to do this at the federal level. They are completely corrupted, and Garland is doubling down on the corruption.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      I get discouraged by local politics sometimes but them I’m reminded that four short years ago NM had the only governor in the US (Susanna Martinez) with an “A” rating for both of her terms.

      Things can change.

      • Lackadaisical

        Sounds like an Aunty Tina.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Excellent work

    • Lackadaisical

      Sad when there has to be 16 different ways. Sigh.

    • Ted S.

      Embrace the power of “and”

    • Lackadaisical

      You mean it wasn’t a comedy?

      I ain’t gonna kink shame.

  15. Count Potato

    Not to get all Winston, but has anyone noticed a weird shift on the left? There have always been leftist radicals, like all those bombers in 70’s. But they were radicals. The Revolutionaries, as awful and misguided as they were, were at least revolutionaries. Over throwing the regime. For the people. Sticking it to the man. Smashing the system. Whatever. When they succeeded, the new boss ended up being worse than the old boss. But they did get rid of the old boss. Now, these “anarchist”, “resistance”, and “occupy” groups are for giving the establishment more power. They are protesting in favor of vaccine mandates. They are cheering for mega-corporations to fire their unvaccinated workers. It seems very odd.

    • Lackadaisical

      Helicopters are the only solution.

    • Lackadaisical

      It seems very odd.

      they embraced all of Foucault’s shit about power, and decided they’d rather be the baddies.

      • Count Potato

        Thing is they don’t seem to have read anyone, not even Marx, much less Foucault.

    • commodious spittoon

      They certainly went from BIG PHARMA IS INJECTING POISON INTO OUR CHILLERNS to even questioning whether we should be vaccinating single-digit-age children is grounds for Siberian exile.

    • Don escaped Cancun

      The only thing I’ve seen change in ten years is the velocity with which grass-roots notions can reach critical mass via social media. The instincts and reactions haven’t really changed; if anything, it’s more clear that almost all of politics is just a facet of social identity…..first principles hardly enter into any publication or discussion anymore (I hope you live next to more thoughtful people than I do).

      The shifts I see are just unprincipled partisan flavors of the month of these sorts:
      2020GOP: the VP can void electors! 2024GOP: the VP can NOT void electors!
      2013WendyDavis: the govt can NOT establish abortion clinic standards! 2033WendyDavis after publicly-funded-abortion-on-demand-passes: the govt MUST establish abortion clinic standards and PAY FOR IT!!!1!!
      Abortion: MY body MY choice! Vaccines: YOUR body MY choice!

      this shit never ends

    • Ted S.

      They think they’re the establishment. Or at least that they’ve got the power.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      I posted a comment on this a while back.

      The 60’s hippies and 70’s radicals are universally decried around here for their leftism. However, there were a lot of us 60’s refugees who were hard-core anti-government. My activism at the time was against the draft and the Vietnam war, both anti-government positions. My fundamental position has never changed (individual freedom) for over 50 years but my political position seems to have wavered all over the spectrum in that time.

      • Don escaped Cancun

        #MeToo

        I vote for whatever results in more freedom, always have. For me that means practical freedom, not theory or platforms or promises…..what will be the most likely real, net result.

        That normally just means jamming up the govt by voting against momentum, against large majorities, for split government, and for total traffic jams.

        When the government is a small as it should be, I’ll start voting by platform…..meaning: never

    • juris imprudent

      Yeah, Matt Taibbi had an interview/discussion with Walter Kirn on this point. Good stuff as usual, and a public post!

      • Ted S.

        Walter Kirn: One thing we know is that it’s not “mass formation psychosis,” because the AP fact-checked that with a New York University professor and found out that there’s no such thing!

        LOL!

    • EvilSheldon

      It’s not really all that weird. The Left is in favor of consolidating power in institutions that they control. The Right is in favor of consolidating power in institutions they control. Only the Libertarians seem to be interested in destroying the power.

    • Chafed

      I’ve noticed the same thing CP. They have abandoned any notion of civil liberties.

      • Count Potato

        It’s not so much that they abandoned any notion of civil liberties. They never had an ideology based on individual rights in the first place. It’s that they’ve abandoned almost any notion of Marxism. They are supporting corporations that use slave labor. They’ve gone from “Workers of the world unite!” to “Spank me harder, Daddy!”

  16. Lackadaisical

    LETS GO BUFFALOOOOO!!!

    • Lackadaisical

      Boooyah! Can’t leave Allen unguarded idiots. 🙂

    • UnCivilServant

      Do you get forum notifications?

      • Lackadaisical

        Yes, but I am an ass so I didn’t check yet. 🙂

      • UnCivilServant

        The questions I had are over in the forum thread. I just didn’t know if I needed to poke you out here or not.

      • Lackadaisical

        Huh, well apparently it is hit or miss. Didn’t get any of the other notifications when you tagged me, catching up now between plays…

      • rhywun

        It doesn’t seem like there are email notifications, which is what I was hoping for. I only see notifications when I go to the site.

      • Gender Traitor

        I got an e-mail from the forum this morning – subject line “You have been mentioned in forum post.” I’m guessing you have to be tagged in the reply to get them?

      • rhywun

        Shit, my bad. I do see emails.

        I may be losing my mind.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      Looks cold in Buffalo.

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        And as I typed this comment they showed the stats: 6F with a wind chill of -6F.

      • rhywun

        Going down to 11 here tonight. Brrr

      • UnCivilServant

        Here it is currently 2 degrees with a windchill of -8.

      • MikeS

        25 above and rising all night, here. Ha!

        -22 forecasted for Wednesday night. Fuck!

  17. robc

    Ft Collins is curing the seasonal affective disorder I didnt realize I had until this week.

    I dont care about cold, bright and sunny winter days are nice.

    • robc

      New Years week it was rainy and gloomy back in Louisville and I was miserable. Of course, I had covid too.

    • UnCivilServant

      I thought I didn’t care about the cold – until It felt like I was going to lose my toes.

      Anyone got a recommendation for good socks?

      • EvilSheldon

        Darn Tough.

      • Lackadaisical

        Smartwool, if you also tend to have sweaty feet or do hiking they’re great, very warm and comfy.

        Otherwise just regular wool socks. Don’t cheap out, your feet will thank you.

      • Gustave Lytton

        I want to like Fox River, but I’ve been having some issues with their socks.

      • Sean

        I’m a fan of wigwam socks.

        Ymmv.

    • Gender Traitor

      Cold, sunny mornings usually mean frost on my windshield and other car windows that I have to scrape off before I leave for work.?

    • Ted S.

      Penguins have tits?

    • kinnath

      real people

      very nice

      • rhywun

        Heh that’s hokier than I remember.

      • Ted S.

        At least that was the first season, before they brought in Peter Billingsley.

      • DEG

        That was the draw of abby winters. It was originally an Aussie outfit but I think has moved to The Netherlands.

        Some of Angela White’s early work was through Abby Winters.

  18. slumbrew

    Welp, if at the beginning of the season, you told me the Pats made it to the wildcard round with a rookie QB, I would have been happy. So there’s that.

    The decline by the defense had been concerning…

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      I don’t have a dog in this fight. Blowouts are not fun to watch.

      • rhywun

        I do, and I’m lovin’ this.

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        Teams that I don’t care about:

        Boston Patriots
        Baltimore Colts
        St Louis Rams
        Oakland Raiders
        San Diego Chargers

        Any others?

        (hears whisper in the ear)

        Really?

        Never mind.

      • Shpip

        Dallas Texans
        Chicago Cardinals

      • slumbrew

        Houston Oilers

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        At least the NFL allows teams to rename. How many lakes in Los Angeles? Utah is well-know for Jazz?

      • Gustave Lytton

        So does the NBA. It’s not the OKC Sonics.

    • hayeksplosives

      Now it’s halftime so Belichick has chalked put a pentagram on the locker room floor to await further instruction.

      • Lackadaisical

        Exactly. I don’t know how many virgins he has sacrificed to Satan, but I’m not about to celebrate.

      • slumbrew

        28-3 Superbowl comeback happened, but Mac ain’t Tom.

        The D just can’t stop Buffalo, either.

      • Lackadaisical

        Yeah, once I saw that second interception I knew He Who Shall Not Be Named didn’t get enough video footage.

        I guess the great resignation is hitting everyone.

      • slumbrew

        That first INT was just ask incredible defensive effort.

        Second wasn’t a terrible throw, just bobbled.

        It’s the D’s inability to stop Buffalo that’s killing them.

      • Lackadaisical

        That first INT was just ask incredible defensive effort.

        It was disgusting, completely robbed them. LOVE IT.

  19. Count Potato

    33 – 3

    Has the fat lady sung?

    • slumbrew

      Yeah, he’s good for a rookie but Jones can’t suddenly start slinging it and make that up. Even assuming the D suddenly started stonewalling the Bills, which isn’t going to happen.

    • rhywun

      39 – 10

      I’m willing to call it. I think.

    • Chafed

      Yes. This game has turned ugly.

    • hayeksplosives

      Nah, she’s still drinking Chardonnay and watching.

      (Um, not necessarily me….)

    • Chafed

      Tres told us earlier it’s ladies and, yes, he’s making them sing.

    • kinnath

      I love this one:

      “One almost envies these people who walk around unable to parse the simplest trivia regarding the purpose and function of fiction. A woman burns her husband’s slave alive for rebelling and seven years later we all recoil in terror when she does the same thing to a city!”

      • LCDR_Fish

        Weirdly i can’t quite match that one up in my head. What was your take?

      • kinnath

        Game of Thrones.

  20. slumbrew

    I was ready to be all, “WTF, Buffalo fans?! You threw a banana at Bourne after his touchdown?!”.

    I’m happy to see it was just another dildo. Because, Buffalo.

    • Chafed

      They’re not at all bitter about living there.

      • Lackadaisical

        As a native Buffalonian, I don’t get the dildo thing.

        Its an eminently livable city. between 50 and 15 years ago it sucked because no jobs, but it is pretty nice now.

      • Chafed

        My understanding is it continues to lose population. I have heard a number of people say good things about it yet it keeps bleeding people.

        I did a quick search. 2000 population was 298,000. 2020 population was 278,000. People are voting with their feet.

      • slumbrew

        It’s still New York. Shitty politics and high taxes aren’t limited to NYC.

      • Chafed

        The whole state is getting run into the ground. I left and never looked back. There may be good things about Buffalo but they aren’t good enough to get people to stay.

      • Lackadaisical

        The whole state is getting run into the ground.

        Correct. Glad to be out as well, but that has nothing to do with the inherent badness of the area. I am having a hell of a time finding a property as nice as what I had there…

      • slumbrew

        North shore of Long Island was a great place to grow up, too.

        Still not moving back.

      • Lackadaisical

        Huh. I thought it had gone up in the past year or two, but even the metro is down as well.

        It is a nice place with nice people, but it is sadly saddled with all of the fuckery that is New York State.

      • rhywun

        You left out 2010 – it’s gained people since then.

        I would consider going back there, if it was in a different state. There’s a lot to like.

      • Chafed

        Must have been all the Canadians coming in before Trump built the wall.

      • rhywun

        Proximity to Canada is one of the things to like. Or, at least it was when I was in college.

  21. JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

    I’m not gonna root for the Pats, but it looks like few if any of them have an insipid SJW message on their helmets, so maybe I should.

    • slumbrew

      I suspect Belichick is not particularly woke.

      He’s probably some shitlord who believes in meritocracy.

      • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

        He certainly hasn’t been equitable with Super Bowl victories in the last couple decades.

    • Lackadaisical

      I always assumed it was mandatory.

      Stop the hate bro.

  22. Lackadaisical

    NOW, its over.

    • Chafed

      Jeebus H. Vishnu. I can’t even imagine what Grumpy Lobster Boat Captain is going to do to his defense.

      • slumbrew

        The defense is supposed to be the Patriots strength and they just have up 7 straight touchdown drives. Incredible.

        Brian Flores doesn’t get a new HC job, we know where he’ll send up.

      • Chafed

        That could happen. I hear Matt Patricia is also looking for work.

      • slumbrew

        Already on staff.

      • Chafed

        I missed that. What’s his role?

      • slumbrew

        “senior football advisor”

    • rhywun

      Ugh, work calls and I miss another touchdown.

      • Chafed

        We know the score is giving you a massive woody but don’t go all Toobin on the call. No one likes a show off.

      • rhywun

        We don’t do cameras where I work.

      • Chafed

        Ah, another pantsless night at the office.

      • rhywun

        I live alone. I only put pants on to go outside.

      • Chafed

        Now I’m jealous.

      • Sean

        Living your best life.

  23. Chafed

    I don’t care how big a blowout it’s become. I don’t want to hear a sideline reporter telling me about the food.

  24. slumbrew

    GTFO of here with your “Beyond” KFC. Eat plants if you want to eat plants.

    • Chafed

      Screw you. I’m delighted to have more dining options.

      • slumbrew

        Fine, fine – enjoy your faux chicken.

      • slumbrew

        I’ll note that my aversion is not due to folks like you, OMWC & co., who want more options, but the number of people who want to reduce everybody else’s options.

      • Chafed

        Fair enough.

    • rhywun

      Local curmudgeon is not impressed.

      • Chafed

        Judging by the article, his mother didn’t love him.

  25. Brochettaward

    I have Firsted when other men have faltered. Firsted when other men would second. If you are justice, do not lie. I am The First Of All Firsters.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      “Arise, Firster of all Firsts! Call the Fair Lady of First! For a firey coal of Mt. Firstius has fallen upon the tail of Old First Cattius and without the hasty aid of the River Firstus, Castle Firsty shall surely burn down!”

  26. slumbrew

    It’s 7 degrees and the hound wants to go out again.

    I really have to teach her to use the toilet. Or, maybe, buy a place with a yard.

    • Chafed

      That may or may not work, depending on your dog. Ask me how I know.

    • slumbrew

      Good news.

    • Gustave Lytton

      About an hour later, FBI agents took in water and a pizza delivery bag.

      Luckily it was Reform.

      • dbleagle

        Probably not a Hawaiian Pizza ever for the Reform.

      • dbleagle

        ever=even

      • Gustave Lytton

        Or for the likely Muslim hostage taker.

      • slumbrew

        “that’s traif”
        “What?”

    • Chafed

      How does it compare to the competition from Tavor?

      • Gustave Lytton

        Haven’t been able to find a head to head comparison yet.

    • Sean

      Would. At a much lower price. ?

      Anyone got time with a RDB?

    • Chafed

      What brought that on?

    • MikeS

      The Pilgrimage of Grace sounds like a good song title.

      • MikeS

        …maybe a better album title.

    • rhywun

      there’s still a concern that people may try to self-medicate

      “Everybody knows the correct treatment is to sit on your couch and wait until you can’t breathe before calling 911. The science has spoken.”

  27. Festus

    Mornin’ Glibs! Claire Torry was amazing. I’ll be off work for a couple of more days. Wiped out on the ice yesterday morning. Nothing broken but Brian Stelter’s head looks like my right thumb if he were a little more colorful.

    • Festus

      It’s my gripping hand and Judi is away.

    • Sean

      Mornin Festus. Be careful out there.

    • Festus

      That’s one of the things that turned me away from signing up. We used to play ball against the boys from the local radar base. Jesus. They were insufferable Chets.

      • Ted S.

        Poor Dr. Chet.

      • Festus

        Yep. Even at 18 I saw it for what it was, not for what it could be. My inner cynic was strong. Too bad, I always dreamt of being a pilot.

    • Not Adahn

      Well, the last guy that had it probably forgot where he put it.

      • Sean

        How’s the coof? Feeling better?

    • Festus

      These lines in the sand keep getting washed away.

    • rhywun

      The government’s case included the argument that by allowing the unvaccinated Djokovic to remain in the country, it would incite anti-vaccination sentiments among the population.

      That’s… refreshing honesty, I guess.

      • Festus

        Refreshingly terrifying honesty.

    • Ted S.

      Now do the boat people trying to get into Australia, as I assume none of them can prove they’ve been vaccinated.