Random stupid things on your mind. Post them.

[Eddie Coyle]

had some ribs yesterday, as a matter of fact.

        As did your avatar...I'm guessing.

[Treading Water]

no, i'm not a vegan.  the 1/3 of my food that's regular food is comprised of whatever i feel like eating.  had some ribs yesterday, as a matter of fact.

and no riding for me, sir.  i was the captain of that big rig.

Was that Captain Vandeven of the Mothership?  You weren't the NightSparrow, were you?

[MV/Liberace!]

You weren't the NightSparrow, were you?

I was the night-something, but sparrow it wasn't.  Let's just say I left spare duct tape and broken dreams in every town I visited.

[Eddie Coyle]

           In the summer of '82, the beach near me had 5 drownings. The last one happened in front of me(8/22) and was a 14 year old kid whacked out on Angel Dust who just ran into the water until he vanished. His case became the "Officer Friendly" talking point about drugs at school. But that summer stood out, because 5 drownings in such a small area ain't good.

          There's probably been 20 drownings there combined since that summer. One every other year.

          But we've had 3 since July 17 and I'm certain I just witnessed number 4. The multitude of ambulances/state troopers/search lights being a hint.

       

[b_dubb]

If you took Brave New World, 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 in blender and turned it on you would get a close approximation of contemporary America. throw in some Harrison Bergeron and you've pretty much got it

[jazmunda]

           In the summer of '82, the beach near me had 5 drownings. The last one happened in front of me(8/22) and was a 14 year old kid whacked out on Angel Dust who just ran into the water until he vanished. His case became the "Officer Friendly" talking point about drugs at school. But that summer stood out, because 5 drownings in such a small area ain't good.

          There's probably been 20 drownings there combined since that summer. One every other year.

          But we've had 3 since July 17 and I'm certain I just witnessed number 4. The multitude of ambulances/state troopers/search lights being a hint.

       

That's why it's so important to teach kids to swim early. My youngest daughter is nearly 2 and she can almost swim and is very confident in the water.

Having said that Beaches and tides are another story altogether and even the most competent of swimmers can have trouble in bad conditions. Always swim at patrolled beaches and never swim whilst intoxicated. That is, unless you are in a spa with a swimsuit model and then it is worth the risk.

[Eddie Coyle]

That's why it's so important to teach kids to swim early. My youngest daughter is nearly 2 and she can almost swim and is very confident in the water.

Having said that Beaches and tides are another story altogether and even the most competent of swimmers can have trouble in bad conditions. Always swim at patrolled beaches and never swim whilst intoxicated. That is, unless you are in a spa with a swimsuit model and then it is worth the risk.

       That spa scenario? I wouldn't be the one at risk. Poor, poor girl!

       The intoxication issue is the cause of at least two of the recent drownings, one was a guy going overboard on a booze cruise that was passing by. It's notoriously choppy water, due to the ships coming into the Harbor.

       Times have changed. When I was a kid, like 8=9 years old, we'd swim to an old barge about 400 feet from shore. It's forbidden now.

[Sardondi]

Yes Goldstein. Focus of the two minute hate. Or in our case Al Qeda focus if Fox News

Aw, come on, man. You cannot be serious. That is if I understand you correctly. I'm assuming that was just a throwaway line, a half-hearted attempt at tossing off on FNN that kinda got away from you, because, well, I mean, seriously, you really intend to say Fox=evil Big Brother and Al Qaeda=the noble and brave Emmanuel Goldstein‽ Really?

Look, I'm not even gonna count this one. You were pressing. Wait for a good pitch.

I think today is more like Brave New World than 1984.

I was pondering the same, but it felt like a "compare and contrast" exam question and made my head hurt, so I, uh, quit. Is there an animal on the farm that's so lazy that it gives up all its rights?

If you took Brave New World, 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 in blender and turned it on you would get a close approximation of contemporary America. throw in some Harrison Bergeron and you've pretty much got it

Oh, baby, don't get me started. (Okay, too late, I've been started for the last three years, etc., I know, I know.) "What's scary to me is that I recall in the 60's the fear was that "one day America could be like this." Then by the 90's it was "We're starting to see some of these precise things." And now is, "It's actually started to become a part of the fabric of our daily lives; the only difference is that it's not yet fully implemented."

Such "incrementalism" can define how massive changes occur seemingly without notice. It is that "slippery slope" in which the move downhill is seen as impossible because the movement is just a millimeter here and a tad there, until suddenly friction and inertia is overwhelmed and it's a tumble to the bottom.

I fear the ship capsizing, in which the ballast and the cargo have been shifting almost imperceptibly. Early on someone might have noted a little difference in how things were when they were initially stowed away, but nobody is really alarmed. Or if they are, they have no rank or are considered cranks, drunks or too old to cut the mustard any more, so no one listens to them.

Until one day, there's this storm, and a big wave catches you square abeam. Not necessarily a freak wave, not a killer or a tsunami; but still a hard, big wave of the type that you need to have prepared for, and for which your cargo needs to be stowed low and broad with an immovable center of gravity.

Except yours isn't. Not anymore. Because over the voyage you've had these almost microscopic little shifts. And cargo loads are coming apart a bit, and not lashed tightly. Ballast is shifting to one side or the other and you're no longer perfectly center line . It doesn't even have to push you over all that far, to 35°, 45° or even 50°. Because if your center of gravity is off, if it has shifted, all it takes is a gentle shove. When the wave hits of course it's frightening at first, but you know from history and training that if you loaded you ballast how you were supposed to, and if you stowed your hold right, you can recover, because your ship is designed to take it. 

But it's not, because recovery assumes that your center of gravity is rock-solid, and, because of all those little movements and jerks and shifts and slides, it's no longer rock-solid. And so you capsize in seconds instead of slowly recovering. 

[Nucky Nolan]

man.  greg gutfeld on FNC is just not funny.  at all.  i'm getting tired of listening to leggy news holes reflexively cackling at his lines regardless of their comedic value (which usually is negligible).  it's fucking insufferable.  i wish they'd just stop with this whole, "greg is the funnyman of FNC..." business.  it's annoying.  he's just not funny.  i'd probably want to punch this guy if he ended up in my group at a bar or something.

Greg Gutfeld is weird. He tells too many "jokes" about abused, enslaved Asian house boys (among other bizarre things), and it's strange that no one ever asks him why he repeatedly makes such asides. The faux libertarian act is old too. He's about as much of a Constitutionalist as Lindsey Graham and John McCain are. Andy Levy is the real thing, though. "Red Eye" should feature him more than they do. His beliefs and humor are more palatable (YMMV). Of course, the producers know that I like him, so they cut down on his air time.

[MV/Liberace!]

He's about as much of a Constitutionalist as Lindsey Graham and John McCain are.

that's exactly how i see gutfeld.

[ItsOver]

Gutfeld and Beckel should be cellmates in lock-up.  Beckel looks like he needs a steady girlfriend.

[Cynnie]

Are ya'll trying to convert me ?

[Eddie Coyle]

          Travel warnings my ass! I'm still going to Bahrain this weekend to see the Furthur festival.

[b_dubb]

Aw, come on, man. You cannot be serious

I remember Goldstein merely being a target for the State to focus everyone's collective rage. In fact I remember it being acknowledged in the book that Goldstein didn't even exist and never had. As for the comparison between Fox and Big Brother, FOX (or any big media outlet) cares only about increased ad revenue. That the masses are being subjugated by an indifferent State is accidental. The Machine works because the only question anyone asks is "how does that make money?". 1984 "gets" how the media shapes public perception

[Eddie Coyle]

       Bruce Springsteen, in terms of stage performance, has become so awkward and forced in recent years. Maybe it began in earnest when he became a gym rat circa 1990, but I'm watching his 2009 performance at that Jann Wenner circle jerk at MSG...and Springsteen just comes across as a blockhead trying too hard. Again, the word "forced" comes to mind. Attempting to convince himself he's having fun.

     

         

[Nucky Nolan]

Gutfeld and Beckel should be cellmates in lock-up.  Beckel looks like he needs a steady girlfriend.

Gutfeld might be up for the challenge. He often sounds like a charter member of GLAAD.

[Nucky Nolan]

If you took Brave New World, 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 in blender and turned it on you would get a close approximation of contemporary America. throw in some Harrison Bergeron and you've pretty much got it

You're on the right track. I'd just add the film, "Idiocracy", to the mix. 

[b_dubb]

You're on the right track. I'd just add the film, "Idiocracy", to the mix.

I don't think America's present condition as all that humorous. Maybe if we had a President named Frito Lay Washington Diaz Johnson Frisbee-Dick

[Sardondi]

Best net header of the day:

"Hard-Hitting NBC Reporter Arrested For Beating Her Husband" http://www.jammiewf.com/2013/hard-hitting-nbc-reporter-arrested-for-beating-her-husband/.

[West of the Rockies]

       Bruce Springsteen, in terms of stage performance, has become so awkward and forced in recent years. Maybe it began in earnest when he became a gym rat circa 1990, but I'm watching his 2009 performance at that Jann Wenner circle jerk at MSG...and Springsteen just comes across as a blockhead trying too hard. Again, the word "forced" comes to mind. Attempting to convince himself he's having fun.     

       

Honestly, I'm surprised any of the long-standing rock stars can keep going on stage and singing the same songs over and over.  Can Mick really get into "Paint It Black" anymore?  Do those sentiments still resonate in his 70-year-old mind the way they maybe once did?  Bowie at least for a time said, "I'm not doing the old stuff."  I admire that.

Similarly, I wonder about athletes who just can't hang 'em up.  Can Kobe Bryant really imagine that there is much to achieve (or that he can achieve) next year?  From my own perspective (and discussing a different sport), the idea of standing in the sun out in leftfield waiting for a ball to come my way hasn't sounded like fun in 20 years.

[MV/Liberace!]

Are ya'll trying to convert me ?

ponyboysunset is hacking into your computer through bellgab.

at least she didn't break into your house.  she'd probably come in through the window, cutting the screen with a pair of scissors.

[stevesh]

Why does President Obama need to carry a cell phone on his belt ? Don't we pay for people to answer the phone for him ?

[b_dubb]

sad that most news stories seem like a fill in the blank except the blank is an officer involved shooting.  damn

[Sardondi]

sad that most news stories seem like a fill in the blank except the blank is an officer involved shooting.  damn

The one I'm particularly interested in now is where an unarmed (whether he was clearly so will be the issue) homeless man was shot and killed after he called a female PO "bitch". Many facts to develop yet, but initial reports sound like a shooting in a fit of pique. Hope it's not. 

[Nucky Nolan]

I don't think America's present condition as all that humorous. Maybe if we had a President named Frito Lay Washington Diaz Johnson Frisbee-Dick

I didn't say that the stupidity was funny. The comparison seemed to be applicable.

[onan]

I didn't say that the stupidity was funny. The comparison seemed to be applicable.

I don't know if my attitudes are changing due to age or system overload, perhaps both. But I am taking a very Carlinesque approach these days. I bought a ticket and I am sitting in the front row hoping to see some aspect of divine intervention put us back in place.

[West of the Rockies]

Just realized how out of the loop I am in terms of following sports.  The Dodgers are in first place?  The Giants are in last?  The Houston Astros are now in the American League?  Time was I could name half a dozen guys on every team and the starting line-ups on the teams I like.  Now I can't name more than a half a dozen guys in the majors....

[jazmunda]

Yes I ate at this place on the weekend:

[Nucky Nolan]

I don't know if my attitudes are changing due to age or system overload, perhaps both. But I am taking a very Carlinesque approach these days. I bought a ticket and I am sitting in the front row hoping to see some aspect of divine intervention put us back in place.

I wish that Carlin was alive to write routines about the security state. He went off on airport security before he passed on to the next life. It would be great to hear a comedian with the guts to mock the absurdity of frisking children and elders as if they were wearing T-shirts that said, "kiss me; I'm Al Qaeda". They can carry little knives onboard, though. :

[Nucky Nolan]

Yes I ate at this place on the weekend:

I got my immature laugh for the day. Part of my brain is stunted at the fourth-grade level.