199 Comments

  1. Sean

    Now I want to play with LEGOS.

    • R.J.

      I was wishing Lego Star Wars had a demo version. I agree games over a certain price point should offer a demo.

      • Compelled Speechless

        My daughter is about to turn 5 and all she wants for her birthday is Lego sets. Granted they’re the super girly ones, but I’m over the moon about getting to help with them. She also wants me to introduce her to Star Wars. I think I may show her episode 1 this weekend since that’s probably the only one appropriate for that age. I will do my best to not let her know that Disney Star Wars exists.

  2. Animal

    Is anybody really made to play the bassoon?

    • SDF-7

      You haven’t encountered the roving bassoon mobs, prowling the streets and alleys to make people play at gun point?

      It is a slim reed to hang their hopes on, but they believe that wood will win.

    • Surly Knott

      These guys made very good use of one.

    • Sensei

      Let me tell you a little story.

      My son loves music and used to play the violin. In our highly competitive affluent town of many Asians and Southeast Asians he was never going to make the orchestra.

      He switched to bassoon and loved it. He also easily made the orchestra both here and in college. Orchestras go crazy for players as there is high demand and few people play.

      They ain’t cheap. The crap ones are utter crap. A used decent student bassoon is $6k.

      • rhywun

        Bassoon and oboe are my favorite instruments. I could see choosing one of those when I was kid – violin players are a dime a dozen.

      • Sensei

        You know what the bassoon is termed in Romance languages and Japanese which uses the loanword from Italian?

      • rhywun

        lol I do now. Also German.

      • grrizzly

        It’s the same in Russian. The pronunciation though has little resemblance to the English word.

      • Tonio

        Ha!

      • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

        If I had to do over again, I’d have learned bassoon in addition to viola (the awesomest orchestra instrument played by the most successful and attractive people)

      • Compelled Speechless

        Just when I think I couldn’t have a bigger crush on her you have to show me that she’s good at that. There’s nothing sexier than a woman with musical talent (who’s not a smug over-the-top Mariah Carey wannabe singer).

      • Compelled Speechless

        Just when I think I couldn’t have a bigger crush on her you have to show me that she’s good at that. There’s nothing sexier than a woman with musical talent (who’s not a smug over-the-top Mariah Carey wannabe singer).

      • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

        That’s a really fun video – thanks!

      • db

        Our high school band room had an octocontrabass clarinet. Damn thing was like 9 feet long. No one ever played it. One day we took it out of its case (probably the first time it had been opened in a decade) and marveled at it. As I recall no one had any reeds large enough for it, so we never got to hear what it sounded like?

      • db

        uh…

      • db

        I guess actually the one we had was a contrabass clarinet, because apparently only one octocontrabass clarinet is known to have existed, and it probably wasn’t at my high school.

    • Sensei

      We’ve also got a post that I believe captures all the Glibs with bear avatars.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Speaking of capturing animals, I found the mystery green bean eater. It’s currently sitting in my trampoline, having not yet realized that I opened the door for it to leave.

        Cute little baby bunny, probably a month old at most. It snuck through the holes in the fence that I have blocked off well enough to keep the adult rabbits out, but not well enough to keep junior out.

        Trashkiddo #2 had a ton of fun watching the bunny and screaming “bunny bunny hop hop!” between excited giggles.

      • Sensei

        That’s what they do. And in turn feed predators.

      • Tulip

        Aww

    • Tundra

      Are you kidding?

      My saxophone teacher tried for years to get me to switch to bassoon but I was too fucking stupid to listen.

      It’s an amazing sound.

  3. juris imprudent

    Bassoon player doesn’t look like my brother, so maybe my brother wasn’t made to play bassoon.

  4. Nephilium

    I’m a big fan of demos. There’s been a few games I’m glad I passed on based on the demo, and several that I picked up after giving the demo a shot. Being able to carry over progress from the demo to the full game is a big boost for me.

  5. The Other Kevin

    You guys keep talking about a bassoon, but I don’t see a short dog anywhere in that video.

      • rhywun

        No, that was a tuba.

      • Tulip

        The Kennedy Center does a tuba Christmas concert every year. All tuba players are invited. I have seen tuba players from 9 to 91. It’s fun.

      • thrakkorzog

        They do Tuba Christmas all over the world. I participated in the Dallas one back when I was in HS.

    • C. Anacreon

      “It is bassoon!”

      / F Troop

  6. Drake

    I’ve had about enough of this week.

    Going to see Brad Paisley tonight at an ampitheater next town over.

    Tomorrow it’s off to the new range to shoot a new gun.

    • The Other Kevin

      I’ve seen him several times. He puts on a great show.

      • Drake

        Cool. Could use some fun.

    • ron73440

      I went to high school with him for my junior and senior years he graduated in ’91, ’89 for me.

      We obviously ran in different crowds and until I saw this video and realized a lot of things looked familiar, I didn’t know.

      • Drake

        Nice

    • Fatty Bolger

      Not huge into country, but I do have his rendition of You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive in my music library.

    • Nephilium

      In the next couple of weeks, I’ve got tickets to Flogging Molly/The Interrupters and the NOFX Punk In Drublic beerfest/concert. I’m very much looking forward to both.

  7. rhywun

    Video games are rapidly moving toward a $70 standard, with even this year’s Call of Duty fully embracing the new price tag.

    When I bought my first console in the late 90s – the SuperNintendo was already on its last legs – game cartridges were regularly pushing 70 dollars. People forget when prices go down.

    And this is all while wages haven’t budged since the era of the GameCube preview disc. (The federal minimum wage of $7.25 has remained unchanged since 2009.)

    Oh fuck off. People aren’t struggling because of the fucking minimum wage.

    • The Other Kevin

      I don’t know, teenagers are more likely to buy games and make minimum wage.

      • Sean

        I don’t think anyone is making minimum wage these days.

        Not with fast food starting people at $15-$17/hr.

      • Gender Traitor

        With employers desperately seeking anyone willing to work, I bet even teenage HS dropouts are making well over minimum wage, maybe even at McDonald’s.

      • DrOtto

        The McDonald’s by us starts at $13.

      • Ownbestenemy

        All fast food places here in Nevada are 13-16 an hour.

      • The Last American Hero

        20 by us with a 3k signing bonus

      • thrakkorzog

        Around here, all the traditional “minimum wage” jobs are hiring at $11~13 per hour. The main people arguing for increasing the minimum wage are unions where the pay scale is based around minimum wage times X. Increasing the minimum wage wouldn’t really affect teenagers, but it would give union workers a raise.

      • Nephilium

        Teenagers aren’t the ones that people want to hire at $12-$15/hour for fast food (paid daily!).

      • rhywun

        teenagers are more likely to buy games

        I’d like to see a breakdown of that, cuz I suspect it’s mostly adults buying games.

      • Tonio

        And the fact that many teenagers receive games as gifts from parents, grandparents, etc, muddies the waters. It’s hard to measure the age of the end-users of those games vs the purchasers.

      • thrakkorzog

        General consensus is that most of the guys that were playing GTA and Halo in their dorms twenty years ago are still playing. Good stats are hard to come by though.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Probably true of MMOs. They aren’t drawing new players and riding their initial base

      • thrakkorzog

        Depends on the MMO, I’ve heard a lot of people switching over to FFXIV to the point where the main complaint I’ve heard is the login queues.

        What I mean about getting good stats about gamers is that usually the stats will include anyone who has played any sort of game on an electronic device. So the person who plays Angry Birds on their break counts the same as someone who stays up all night playing Counter-Strike or Civilization.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Yep. Heyday of NES, AAA games were 50 bucks a pop. Used game stores filled the market nicely as did Blockbuster and other video rental stores.

    • kbolino

      AAA video game companies release crappy derivative games that somehow suck up massive budgets. They raise the base price to $70 because they hope to snare in unwary parents and relatives.

      • Compelled Speechless

        I’m curious what the release of Unreal Engine 5 and direct competitors will do to this market. From what little I know about game development, historically most of the cost has been from things like paying artists to make assets like textures, flora and work on separate lighting and physics engines. UE5 has a massive asset library built in, tools to make creation of things like characters and buildings much faster and amazing lighting and physics engines built in. All this is so easy to use that there’s like 50 new UE5 demos on Youtube per day being made by one person. It seems like this and similar engines popping up could be massively disruptive to giant game development studios and all of their labor overhead. The $70 price tag may not last that long. I may also have no idea what I’m talking about.

      • kbolino

        If you replace UE5 with Unity, then you could change to past tense.

        It’s possible that UE5 will expand the revolution that’s already begun, though.

      • kbolino

        Worth noting that part of the success of indie games primarily written in Unity is down to the ease of commissioning bespoke art and music. It’s not so much that there’s a wide asset library (which does exist but if relied on too heavily results in all games looking and sounding the same) but also that you can get someone talented to do some gig work for you pretty quickly and cheaply.

      • Compelled Speechless

        I still see that as a good thing for a few reasons. People that would never be able to play the corporate publisher game well enough to be put in charge of a project can now potentially see their vision come to life with a fidelity that rivals the big boys. The ONLY place games are getting anything even resembling new ideas right now is from indie and smaller studios. Even then, it’s pretty barebones. Every major publisher’s FPSs, open-world or RPGs are completely interchangeable at this point, all recycling the exact same tropes, lame excuses for gameplay loops and sidequests and even stories. See any of Razorfist’s videos on the subject for amazing takedowns of the entire industry’s laziness and creative bankruptcy. If there is a way out of the cycle, it’s likely to come from decentralization and the destruction of the bloat and bureaucracy in the industry at large.

        The asset library limitations are only a problem if they a) don’t work to constantly expand it, which they say they’re commit to and b) don’t provide tools to make creation of assets cheaper, faster and easier, which is another thing they’ve heavily advertised it as doing.

        The gig work aspect I basically see as an unambiguous good, though I might feel differently if I worked in the industry. It’s should be another way around the creative stifling the big studios that can help otherwise hidden talents rise up. Music for example is one of the biggest strengths of indie games studios. Almost any game music I can think of noticing in the last 15 years or so has come from smaller games making unconventional choices. Think Braid, Bastion or Cuphead. Nintendo is the obvious exception since they have several incredible composers that always do memorable work.

      • rhywun

        Probably 99% of my gaming is indies. AAA studios churn out very little that I’m interested in.

  8. Tres Cool

    Bassoonist has a very severe mustache.

  9. Scruffy Nerfherder

    Watch Taibbi unsuccessfully try to navigate the Cape Horn of culture issues.

    https://taibbi.substack.com/p/on-the-blowback-to-what-is-a-woman?s=r

    After publishing a review of Matt Walsh’s What is a Woman? this week, the expected avalanche of blowback from activists and even a few friends did arrive. Most went straight to the word “bigot,” while others decried “platforming a fascist.”

    Let me explain my thoughts on this subject, since some seem to feel that laughing when a professor is caught calling “truth” transphobic is equivalent to supporting genocide.

    Note to Matt, there is no winning on this issue with the activists unless you just enthusiastically accede to all their insane demands.

    • rhywun

      Yup. The days of congenial argument are way past.

    • kbolino

      Fun fact: the Weimar regime had the same opinion about “platforming fascists” as the modern left does.

      It didn’t work.

      • Compelled Speechless

        Well at least our leadership has the good sense not to debase their currency for frivolous reasons leading to supply shortages in the food and energy sectors eventually giving way to a massive populist uprising and a power vacuum that people with authoritarian leanings can use as an excuse to institute a totalitarian ideology such as fascism. Thank god we have the wisdom to dodge that bullet.

  10. Sensei

    You’ve gotta hype the Desta better!

    Desta: The Memories Between stars a nonbinary protagonist exploring their past

    • rhywun

      Oh lord. ?

  11. Tonio

    Neph is having a life, yet again, so I will host Friday GlibZoom tonight starting at 20:00 Eastern time. I finally found my notepads with pithy signage, such as “STFU Sloper,” and I plan to deploy them profligately.

    • Nephilium

      Appreciate it Tonio!

    • pistoffnick

      …profligately…

      Look at Mr. Thesaurus over here!

    • Grosspatzer

      Could have used a few NERDS!!! Wednesday.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Wife will be hoped up on pain killers and sitting in the dark. I may show up…but only if Tonio is properly sauced

      • R.J.

        Agreed!

    • Mojeaux

      Will not be there, sorry.

  12. DEG

    Desta is in their 20s, and they’re returning home as an adult having left some of their relationships in a weird state. In dream sequences, Desta will hear from people in their life who’ve had an impact or taught them something. The game is also about Desta coping with their father’s death, and themes of loss — but, once again, this is a strategy game that includes lots of mechanics on top of the narrative.

    Pass.

    • rhywun

      themes of loss

      Including xer marbles?

  13. DEG

    Too local news: Sununu’s Russian booze ban a bust

    Within hours of Russian tanks rolling into Ukraine last February, Gov. Chris Sununu rushed to the ramparts — symbolically speaking — and put the Granite State solidly on the side of President Vlodomyr Zalenskyy and Ukraine’s embattled citizens.

    “This morning I signed an Executive Order instructing @nhliquorwine outlets to begin removing Russian-made and Russian-branded spirits from our liquor and wine outlets until further notice,” Sununu tweeted. “New Hampshire stands with the people of Ukraine in their fight for freedom.”

    On a NHJournal podcast soon after, Sununu reiterated it was important to him that New Hampshire — “the little old Granite State” — do its part.

    “People are sacrificing and giving their lives. And it’s important that folks know that we are seeing those atrocities and we do stand united with [the Ukrainians] who have to bear the brunt. We want people to know that it can make a difference to stand up.

    “Let’s push those Russians back to Moscow!,” Sununu said.

    Some 100 days later, however, Stoli is back on the shelves and Sununu’s ban on Russian-branded booze is largely forgotten.

    • Grosspatzer

      Russian response to booze ban:

      “More for me!”

    • thrakkorzog

      A perfect example of government in action. Ban all the stuff that nobody buys and punish the Latvians for Russian behavior.

    • Ted S.

      I hate when they peruse charges.

      • R.J.

        I saw that too. Thought maybe my brain was just misreading.

  14. Drake

    The DoD had 46 Biolabs operating in the Ukraine.

    Heard this crazy conspiracy theory – directly from the DoD.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      United States, through international collaboration, has also worked to address other biological threats throughout the former Soviet Union. Subject matter experts in biology, biodefense, public health, and related fields were engaged from across the U.S. government. These efforts advanced disease surveillance and enhanced peaceful biological research cooperation between former Soviet Union scientists and the global scientific community, consistent with international norms for safety, security, nonproliferation, and transparency.

      The United States has also worked collaboratively to improve Ukraine’s biological safety, security, and disease surveillance for both human and animal health, providing support to 46 peaceful Ukrainian laboratories, health facilities, and disease diagnostic sites over the last two decades. The collaborative programs have focused on improving public health and agricultural safety measures at the nexus of nonproliferation.

      The question remains as to why the DOD would be involved in this effort. Shut the bioweapons labs down, then leave. And the “nexus of nonproliferation” phrase seems like weasel words.

      • kbolino

        Man they’re really stressing that word “peaceful”.

        Gee, I wonder what the U.S. Department of Defense is responsible for. Oh right, waging war.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        It’s definitely in the “thou dost protest too much” category.

        And transparency? Give me a break.

      • kbolino

        Oh, they’re being very truthful there: the international norm for transparency is hide everything, selectively leak what’s most advantageous to you, and when somebody who’s not approved gets a hold of the internal documents, prosecute them vigorously.

        In the vast majority of cases, the primary purpose of classifying information is to hide things that shouldn’t be hidden.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Yep Carlin was right…the changing of language is dangerous. We should have kept it the War Department.

      • Compelled Speechless

        The reason the government gets away with literally everything they do comes down to euphemisms.
        Murder > War > Strategic Operations
        Theft > Taxes
        Kidnapping > Incarceration

        If they used the same words that were used when literally everyone else did the exact same behaviors, the unwashed masses might see them for what they truly are.

        The good news is that they can’t ever get anything done because they only have time and energy to put into shaping language to shape the narrative. The bad news is that they still spend a shitload of your money and take all your freedoms even though they can’t ever get anything done because they only have time and energy to put into shaping language to shape the narrative (and to give and take lots and lots of bribes.)

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        If they used the same words that were used when literally everyone else did the exact same behaviors, the unwashed masses might see them for what they truly are.

        Look at Mr Optimist over here!

    • Ownbestenemy

      So new modern MO is info leaks…claim conspiracy for the news cycle…and quietly release that it is true months later.

  15. Shpip

    Stuck in the Sunshine State for Date Night? Never fear, the Michelin Guide now has your back.

    And don’t think it’s all hoity-toity expensive joints. Michelin has their “Bib Gourmand” list, which is great food at a great value (i.e., two courses and wine or dessert under $49). My favorite name on the list: Miami’s Phuc Yea.

    • Nephilium

      One of the newest breweries to open in the area is named Schnitz Ale Brewing. Located across the street from Das Schnitzel Haus (same ownership as well).

    • Sensei

      Nice name!

  16. Ownbestenemy

    Doing the husband thing…drinking at a bar while I wait for the old lady to get done.

    It’s stupid hot here. I’m done with it. 112, no wind and throw in the large influx of California refugees just makes this place miserable.

    • Animal

      <— Looks at the 66 degree reading on the outdoor thermometer
      <— Looks outside at the beautiful sunny day
      Le sigh.

      • Ownbestenemy

        The bar is milfs on lunch break. Bartender is a friend of ours who beings out the leg lamp every christmas…plus she has legs up to her chin.

  17. C. Anacreon

    I keep wondering why no one is pointing out — especially after the press marveling about Liz Cheney seeming like a gifted prosecutor
    — that the 1/6 hearings don’t have anyone speaking from a ‘defense’ perspective. Shouldn’t they hear from someone during prime time that can answer the one-sided “proof” and point out the obvious lies ? Of course, even if they allowed it, there’d no doubt be technical difficulties blocking the broadcast until that testimony ended.

    • Ownbestenemy

      That was all rhetorical right?

    • The Other Kevin

      What are they calling it? A trial, hearing, presentation?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Commission right? With apparently the ability to make legislative recommendations from their “findings”

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      You bring up the correct point. This is a prosecution where the committee is judge, jury, and executioner. No defense will be made and no defense will be allowed.

      It’s pure show trial banana republic bullshit.

      • Ownbestenemy

        All with a high profile arrest 18 months after the fact of a republican candidate

    • kbolino

      The point of the hearing is to justify the narrative, no more and no less.

      They’re making Joe McCarthy look good, though they are far too insulated to realize it.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Justify the narrative and ram through legislation guaranteed

  18. The Other Kevin

    From the last thread: Which of you had Putin?

    Question left unanswered: If Putin is causing all this, what are we doing to resolve the situation?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Only reason that headline exists is because we have a controlled propagandist press and not an independent free press.

    • Drake

      Sending $billions in freshly printed cash to the Ukraine to prolong the war causing all this?

      • Ownbestenemy

        That we cannot by design account for how it was spent. We are witness to the largest transfer of wealth

    • The Other Kevin

      Biden said his administration “could continue everything we can to lower the prices for the American people,” but said it is “Congress” that “has to act.”

      Too bad Congress is busy doing other things that are probably really super important.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      So we’re going to war with Russia to fight inflation?

      • Ownbestenemy

        I believe we are actually in bed with them on this….

      • B.P.

        Time to update the graphic on my “Whip Inflation Now” T-shirt.

  19. Ownbestenemy

    Ginni Thomas supposedly asked lawmakers to overturn. So what. She is a private citizen that is exercising her first amendment rights lobbying representatives.

  20. Shpip

    Well, shit. One of my colleagues got the words jacuzzi and yakuza mixed up.

    Now he’s in hot water with the Japanese mafia.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I called my employee whose name is Nakamori….Nakatomi

      He laughed and said “welcome to the party pal”.

      • Sensei

        Assuming it s written the usual way it means “the middle of the forest”.

    • Mojeaux

      If my husband had said that to me, I’d have given him the side-eye.

      • db

        If any comment here needs a narrowed gaze, it’s this one.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Isn’t the gaze already narrowed?

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      I katana take this anymore.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Origato leave now before Swiss shows up.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Sensai please

    • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

      ?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Linky no worky for me

      • DEG

        You’re better off. There are face diapers in there.

    • kbolino

      Not just fined, they’re giving the money to the USCP bribe fund.

      • kbolino

        On this note, one of the things that I hope more people start to realize, is all of the myriad ways we’re being forced not just to bow to our enemies but to financially support them. From corporations donating to BLM, to how tax revenues and public debts get spent, the use of settlement funds drummed up by AGs, union dues going into politics, nonprofit donations getting slushed around, the direction of institutional and retirement funds, health insurance premiums routed to lobbying, etc.

        It’s making the Danegeld look good.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        It’s a frustrating situation. I feel like I have to scratch another handful of companies off my list every time THE CURRENT THING changes.

      • Compelled Speechless

        You might actually know the answer to this. What are the chances that he might be able to sue the NFL for attempting to fine him for this?

    • rhywun

      Lesson learned. Do not open your yap about politics – ever.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        That’s exactly what they want.

      • Compelled Speechless

        Exactly. Capitulation is the opposite of a solution in this case. If they want to make everything the domain of politics, than they’d better expect everything to be a massive fight. If boomer cons taught us anything, it’s that rolling over just means you might be lucky enough to be the last to face the firing squad.

    • C. Anacreon

      Sadly, what he said was obviously correct to at least half the country.

      We’re now full into authoritarian dystopia. Only the Party narrative is permissible.

    • Urthona

      The phrase “attempt to overthrow the government” raised my hackles a bit. It most certainly was not.

      • Compelled Speechless

        If our government was actually in danger of being overthrown by the Reichstag Fart, it absolutely deserves to be overthrown.

    • B.P.

      “I want to make it clear that our organization will not tolerate any equivalency between those who demanded justice in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the actions of those on Jan. 6 who sought to topple our government.”

      The political violence approved by the Right People is “demanding justice.” The political violence you don’t approve of but decided to compare with the political violence we approve of is sedition.

    • Q Continuum

      “topple our government[…]how close our democracy came to autocracy[…]attempted coup”

      By a group with no weapons. These people live in an alternate reality.

      • kinnath

        Last fall, I was visiting one of my friends who is very liberal. She was talking about how scary the Jan 6 riot was.

        I said, it’s not like they shot up the House floor. She looked confused.

        So, I pulled out my phone. Google says the Puerto Ricans shot up the House in the late 50s. Note the Jimmy Carter pardoned them in the 70s.

        Leftist bombed the Senate office building . . . . twice. Once in the 70s and once in the 80s.

        And we can’t forget the 18 months in the early 70s when leftists set off 2500 bombs across the county.

        Then I told her that I wasn’t that concerned about a bunch of middle-aged white people getting into fist fights with the capitol police.

      • B.P.

        I know people who inhabit this reality. Their entire lives revolve around one dude becoming president. They don’t even care about actual public policy. It’s just that one guy and how terrible he is. It’s bizarre.

    • Gender Traitor

      I try to get enough green foldy money from the ATM on Fridays to get by at the Saturday morning farmers’ market…but maybe I need to up that a bit. Heard about CC issues at our nearest Meijer grocery/discount location a little while back, but that seems to have been resolved…for the moment.

      • kinnath

        I have a 1,000 bucks in cash in one of the gun safes.

        The derecho two years ago killed power to pretty much the whole town and half the county. It also took out a ton of telephone lines.

        So no banks, no atms, no credit card transactions for most of a week. And no power, no cell towers.

        Some of the local grocery stores manage to set up generators and some point-of-sales terminals with cell phone interfaces to be able to see groceries to people.

        But cash was king for more than a week.

    • Tulip

      Always, since the start of the pandemic.

      • B.P.

        My pandemic experience was signs everywhere saying (cynically paraphrasing) “We only accept plastic because we don’t want to touch anything physical ever again for fear of taking ill.”

      • Gender Traitor

        Concession stands at the local minor league ballpark are still cashless only.

    • Urthona

      It sounds like finally some prayers have been answered.

  21. grrizzly

    Sounds like vrbo.com agreed to pay the difference between our hotel bill for a 9-night stay in London and the cost of a rental that was treacherously cancelled by the host on the day of arrival at the time when we were already flying across the Atlantic to London.

    • Sensei

      I’m impressed they stepped up.

      Did you ever get a good answer why? For example place caught fire, last tenants were a punk rock band and it’s uninhabitable.

      • grrizzly

        No explanation from the host. The apartment building looked totally fine when I walked by the place–we ended up staying at a hotel in the same area.

        It’s VRBO, which is owned be Expedia, who stepped up–not the individual host.

      • Sensei

        Yeah, I knew what you meant.

        Hopefully they follow through with you and even better either charge the host or cancel the host.

    • db

      less than one quarter Bidenvotes?

    • Compelled Speechless

      I have a really really hard time believing it was anywhere near close to that many.

      • Gender Traitor

        Have all major airports’ waiting areas, hotel chains’ lobbies, and fitness center equipment rooms been adopted into the Nielsen Family?

    • Urthona

      bull shit

    • Q Continuum

      No way in hell.

    • B.P.

      16.6 million people watched the Oscars this year. And that’s a big event for some people.

      • Ownbestenemy

        And 16.6 is actually low ratings

      • Urthona

        Yeah I guess 19 million people across 9 channels isn’t that big a deal.

        And many were captive audiences without cable .

        It’s just disgusting.

        A partisan propaganda effort by the ruling class only, selectively edited, with no rebuttal or challenges at all. And every single fucking network in the US fully covers it unedited.

        Just disgusting.

        Luckily these people are boring morons at least.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Right…do they count offices/airports/etc that have the channel tuned, but its just on? Bars? Dental offices? Etc. #s are always bullshit.

      • Gender Traitor

        …and it was only on one channel…as far as I know. (I didn’t watch.)

  22. Tulip

    Today I froze a little over a pound of green beans. Not much, but I only have one earth box of green beans and they are just getting started. I’m having a roasted beet salad and grilled pork chop for dinner. I have fresh peas and even more lettuce and radishes. I may pickle some radishes, plus I gave some to the dog walker. I love my tiny garden.

    Since I’m not spending on produce, I will stock up on other things, like flour, sugar, pasta, and some canned vegetables even as I try to use older stock. I did learn something from my experiment

    • R.J.

      Good. Are you pickling any vegetables?

      • Tulip

        Radishes? But just a quick pick!e, I’ll also do carrots, because I have some and won’t use them because of garden production right now. I typically don’t do fermented pickles for anything other than sauerkraut or hot sauce and i typically don’t can pickles.

  23. LJW

    My wife is watching Madame Secretary… So this is what Hollywood thinks Washington looks like. Noble crusaders!

    • The Last American Hero

      It’s what they think Hillary was like.

  24. MikeS

    Last call for Quordle scores

    • kinnath

      As long as you’re not shutting down the bar, I’m ok.

      • MikeS

        I wouldn’t dream of it.

      • rhywun

        Shit… that reminds me.

  25. Tulip

    Just want to say. I’m an economist, I’m seriously worried and stocking up on non-perishables. I’m keeping cash on hand.

    • Tulip

      And I just ordered a bigger canner.

    • kinnath

      I’m an engineer. I am beyond worried; I am resigned to disaster. I am stocking up on guns, ammo, gold, silver, non-perishables, and canning supplies. I already had a huge supply of booze.

      • Tulip

        I’m expanding my garden now. So I can grow more in the fall.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I had the “let’s put discretionary spending on hold” talk with the wife. We have a bunch of cash piled up for a down payment fund, but I do NOT like being in a rental with no arable land.

      • hayeksplosives

        I’m heading to the VFW swap meet again tomorrow to pick up more ammo.

    • Sensei

      Yellen is telling us not to worry.

      Krugman too. And he’s got a Nobel Prize.

      Kidding aside I’d like to know how you deal. In both school and work I’ve never met an economist who wasn’t a screaming lefty.

      • Tulip

        In grad school we had the gamut. Communists to libertarians. They were all civil. The communist once said, in response to a paper about people staying in their bubble, but I talk to Howard, who was a libertarian. So, it depends. I had students accuse me of being a communist and different students accuse me of being a right winger. I figure that meant I did my job.

      • Sensei

        My undergrad and grad Econ professors were all civil. And I enjoyed class on roughly half of them. However, you knew where they were politically. It was easy to tell especially dealing with Reagan’s economy.

        On the other hand on Wall St., naturally, they were 90% arrogant asses. Of course they were directly accountable to investors (as was I) so I understood.

        Didn’t make me like them any better.

      • Tulip

        Don’t you like prefer that to today?

      • Sensei

        Yes. Econ has completely entered the political realm.

    • Ownbestenemy

      We still have a hefty amount of cash on hand…I had no idea how much cash my wife takes in….

  26. MikeS

    DAILY QUORDLE ROUNDUP™©®
    (The ‘Desperately seeking NA’ Edition)
    #137

    Champs
    ScoobaSteve 18
    Ted S. 18
    whiz 18

    Grosspatzer 19
    Tulip 19
    Cannoli 20
    grrizzly 20
    rhywun 20
    robc 20
    The Hyperbole 20
    Grummun 21
    MikeS 21
    Ozymandias 21
    Sean 21
    trshmnstr the terrible 21
    Grumbletarian 22
    SDF-7 22
    kinnath 23
    one true athena 23
    Scruffy Nerfherder 23
    Tundra 23
    l0b0t 24
    db 26
    QuordleBot 26

    Chumps
    TARDis 116
    JG43 121
    Mojeaux 121

    We had one tie in the Quorney. Ozymandis and Grummun will face off tomorrow. We are also still waiting for Not Adahn to post a score. He needs a 24 or better to stay alive.

    A few busts pulled the average (32.1) down on what could have been a decent day average-wise. The T-line split was 17/10. Quordlemetrics: 1 0 4 8 (0).

    Sean is approaching a 2 month no-chump streak; he’s at 58 right now. Not Adahn also has a good one going at 46; 47 if he gets in a score today. Whiz is in third with a nice 32.

    Here’s wishing you a great weekend.

    • Grummun

      Ozymandis and Grummun will face off tomorrow.

      What?

      • The Last American Hero

        Ave you not seen the Travolta/Cage documentary? It’s like that but with Glibs.

      • MikeS

        You tied today, tomorrow is the tiebreaker. Maybe when Hype done doing whatever he does all the time, he can update the tourney page.

      • The Hyperbole

        It’s been updated for hours. I really need better help.