La la la la la la
It’s a lovely day out. The sun is shining. The sky is blue. The birds are singing.
That’s all I’m going to talk about from here on out.
Tip Jar
It’s a lovely day out. The sun is shining. The sky is blue. The birds are singing.
That’s all I’m going to talk about from here on out.
Ophelia;
This might not compare to the beautiful day, but you need to know that you are making a difference.
I get it.
Thanks for pointing out something I did not care to see.
You could talk about zombies… everybody likes zombies!
:)
I dunno. I’ve seen some zombie survival guide discussions get pretty ugly. And that was before our position was overrun by undead.
I’ll second Steve. Whether I fit strictly into either “getting it” or “not getting it” the whole elevator thing has been enlightening. Even if there’s been a heck of a lot of mess to get through to find the nuggets.
It’s freakin freezing out here in Melbourne at the moment, but I won’t bore you with that. I wish my dog cared more about the weather though, he’ll still demand a walk!
Yep. They’re singing. But do you know WHY they’re singing? Let me TELL you why they’re singing.
No, maybe not. Have a lovely day instead.
Ha! I don’t think you could survive that….but please don’t.
The birds will remember you for your crimes.
Since this is a bit of a place holder post, a few random thoughts….
http://socialtimes.com/infographic-reveals-the-best-time-to-post-to-your-blog_b69069
An article on the best time to post a blog to get the most hits.
Also, since we’ve all been discussing feminism and the like in the last few days, I’ve been wondering about Beyonce’s new clip “Girls: run the world.” wtf. I don’t know where to begin with all that is wrong with it, can someone point me in the direction of some writing on that sort of thing. It’s this weird conglomeration of ideas, and empowerment that’s not really empowerment, and ignoring reality. Now that may be obvious, it’s a pop song, but pop songs have some sort of social currency or something, so it’s worth talking about, I think.
On a more subtle front, I picked up Aloe Blacc’s latest album. It’s a solid classic soul sounding thing, he has a great voice, but jesus, the lyrics!
Taking issue with a hip hop artist who is calling women bitches etc is quite easy and obvious, but I actually find this sort of more subtle sexism somehow more worrying. Especially when it’s from artists who are otherwise doing things in what I would say are the “right way.”
Possibly very much on a tangent for this part of the interwebs, but anyhoo.
Ghah, apologies, the lyrics quote formatted funny.
@ David M
This is why I haven’t bought a new CD since… 2008?
I saw a couple of bats the other night. LA LA LA LA.
Hey, in good news the Ninth Court of Appeals has ruled for an immediate lifting of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”.
Hey really?
Hey hell yeah!
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-07-06/-don-t-ask-don-t-tell-ban-must-take-effect-court-rules.html
Yes really; yay!
I love seeing bats. Haven’t in awhile.
@11: heh, joe. It’s not necessarily a new phenom though, is it?
I was reminded just a minute ago about Neil Young’s Harvest. A man needs a maid, apparently.
In not so good news, gay partnerships would still not be recognized by the military. So if your husband/wife is sick and you need a few leave days… you’re shit out luck. No BAH either unless you have actual children together, from what I remember.
Well… cripes, I was going to say something snarky @julian but fuck it. It is still a win, and we can complain later.
New rule: when good news comes in you have to sleep on it BEFORE you piss on it.
The last time I saw a bat I tried to ask it what it was like to be it.
It responded that I would never get it. :-)
Oh, and Ophelia? Since you’re just going to talk about birds and stuff, I’m going to take this opportunity to talk about my issues. All of my issues. At length and in great detail.
That’s cool, right?
Yes, I always think when I see them, what is it like to be you.
Yes please Joe. For thousands and thousands of words.
I’m fighting with Russell Blackford and Jerry Coyne simultaneously at Facebook. It’s like one of those ludicrous dreams, but not funny.
Sorry.
Oh, and you probably want her to bring you a coffee right? What…too soon?
Play nice with those two please Ophelia. You’re all on my heavy rotation blog list, and I’d hate to see it get messy.
I wonder what you’re fighting about? ;)
I was especially wondering what it was like to be a bat on a night full of fireworks. Certainly the cat was no fan.
@25: Zing!!
I must admit that there’s been a few occasions in the last few days where perfectly normal requests for coffee have made me double take.
I’ve also been replaying GTAIV for the first time in a couple of years. I had a little chortle when I got the option to “try my luck” with a date and the character asks to come in for coffee.
Thanks Ophelia, although “thousands and thousands of words” might take longer than the booze will hold out. Did I mention that I think I caught a drinking problem in Puerto Rico? Anyways, on with the show!
I knew there was a reason I’ve avoided Facebook like the plague! The Internet is for anonymity and my personal convenience, and people generally leaving me the hell alone. Like cell phones, come to think of it.
I have two cell phones you know. I have one that I actually answer, and a second phone that is currently in a landfill. I give out the number for the second one, and check the voicemail on that one about once a week. Makes my life so SO SO much simpler when I know that when I hear a phone ring it is only for important calls, and all the crap gets filtered through the dummy line.
I seem to recall that my attitude on this subject was created long ago, back in… 1987 or thereabouts. I read this little passage in The Cat Who Walked Through Walls by Robert A. Heinlein:
Isn’t that simple, easy, and weeds out the riff-raff? Make them pay for your time up front, and if they had a good reason to contact you they can have their money back. If not, too damned bad and maybe they’ll think a little harder about YOUR feelings next time.
La la la la la la
la la la la la la
la la la la la la
I thought they were for Angry Birds.
There is so much to learn…
Hey julian, let me take you under my wing, teach you all the wisdom I’ve gained over the years of screwing everything up royally… on the principle that if you make every mistake and correct it, you end up perfect. :)
Yay! I have a mentor.
Something’s been bugging me since I joined. What’re we supposed to do with these bananas? Is it the same thing as with these porcupines?
We are very happy to present the official weather page of Butterflies and Wheels, your source of sunshine in an internet world fully of storms.
Very happy to hear about the ruling on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell obviously.
@Improbable Joe (#29): Heinlein’s The Cat Who Walks Through Walls is sitting on my bookshelf right now, and you’ve made me want to start reading it.
@Ani Sharmin:
If you start reading that book, I have two words for you that will help you sleep when you reach the end: PIXEL LIVES!
Hey julian… or do you mind me calling you ‘Julian’?… the bananas should be sliced over muesli or made into milkshakes. The porcupines should sort of be left alone. I’m not sure they are good pets, for their sake and yours, and the other uses people have suggested are just disturbing and best not even considered.
To move on to more of my issues…
I have three cats and a dog living with me. They are more than pets, they are my kids. Seriously, they mean as much to me as anyone else in my life, and I talk to them and care about them like they are smart kids, and they usually answer back.
The oldest one is Randall, also known as Boobie, Boobs, Boobster, and very rarely Boobielicious. He’s my son, my one and only boy, the cat of all cats. He’s the most vocal of the children, and he and I have long and often unproductive conversations that last 20-30 minutes. He’s a huge fan of belly rubs, sliced chicken and turkey, and mayonnaise. His favorite toys are your garden-variety twist ties. He’s a maniac for the damned things, and every so often I wake up with a furry mess banging against my face. It is Randall, and in my half-awake state I feel like he just loves the hell out of me so I reach out a hand to pet him…
… and as I move my hand I realize that Randall has dropped a damned twist tie right into my palm, and he’s down for some 2AM fetch play.
Out loud laughter. Hehehehe.
Muesli reminds me, when Kellogg’s started selling their cereal Müeslix, I wrote them a letter — I told them they could call it Müslix with an umlaut, or Mueslix without — but what the heck is üe?
Crazy days and nights — now it’s all milk under the umlaut.
Yesterday, in the office, a woman colleague called out “Coffee dear?” Oooo, I did smile.
Then later, walking down the path to put the chikkins to bed for the night, some bats used my head for target practice. They do it every night.
Life is so good.
In other news, the UK high court is deliberating a case that, if won, will hold that the catlik church is liable, as a de-facto employer of priests, to pay compensation for sex abuse. Worth watching that one.
I am so glad I stayed out of all this; it pains me to discover that ‘sexist asshole’ is still a line on so many smart people’s CVs.
Meanwhile, on the topic of singing, try this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izBbP2kro-c
Wouldn’t it be nice for everyone if this approach just worked, free and easy, whether the answer was yes or no…?
Thanks Dave.
I’ve had that trumpet sound in my head for weeks and for the life of me I couldn’t remember where it came from:-)
The sun is out, it’s windy, possible rain later. LaLaLaLaLa.
Ps, get off and stay off facebook, it’s not good for anything.
The clouds are out, the rain has fallen, the birds and frogs are singing, I have an excuse to stay inside and not mow a damned thing today…
Cheer up! Turn the frown upside down!
:þ
I’m waiting for my invite to Google+ before leaving facebook :P
Speaking of bats, apparently* their population is way down this year in the northeast. It’s made our insect population balloon ridiculously. I did see one two weeks ago, though!
[…] though it’s a sunny day and like another country here, just as it is where Ophelia Benson holds court, I think I remember recently having read about Christopher Hitchens’ book god is not Great: […]
Bats and fireworks – the gulls didn’t like them, I know that much; they were flying around screeching long after dark, which they never do unless disturbed. It was sad to hear them – the screech is different from their normal cry and I think it means “Help, help, I can’t navigate in the dark, I’m going to hit something and die, help, help…”
This is the issues thread – does it bug anybody else when people look down their noses at the dictionary, like having commonly understood meanings of words available for people to reference is some great blow against poetry (Which is generally horribly written by those who disdain dictionaries)?
I look down my nose at poetry… like much in philosophy and theology, it seems to often be an exercise in taking something simple and taking forever to say it, using big fancy words. Possibly while wearing a powdered wig. In my head there are powdered wigs, quills, and occasionally a skull with a candle on it.
It’s a Brand New Day.
I am sooooooooo glad I stayed away from all of the sturm und drang.
But I don’t think I’m ever going to take the elevator again — EVER!
“I look down my nose at poetry… like much in philosophy and theology, it seems to often be an exercise in taking something simple and taking forever to say it, using big fancy words.”
Modern poetry
Simply consists
In cutting up prose
Into shorter lines
And tossing in
Odd sesquipedilian words
At
Random.
It’s the older guys, with wigs and quills,
Who can make words dance, and bring you thrills.
Who knew that rhyme and meter matter,
And chopping up prose just makes it flatter.
Modern poetry isn’t in academic halls
Its written on the bathroom stalls
Between the picture of someone’s dick
And “For a good time call Nick”
Anguish constipated in its pune
Writes upon walls that look opportune
OT: interesting review of Nazis on the Run: How Hitler’s Henchmen Fled Justice, by Gerald Steinacher (OUP).
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0709/1224300361267.html
Seems that the escapes were organised by the CIA, the RCC and the Red Cross.