To be fair, I *am* actually busy with tasks. Getting ready for New Year’s dinner with Prime and my local family, doing a ton of loudspeaker measurements for a soon-to-be-overdue article, preparing some lectures on photoacoustics for a course the university asked me to “guest,” You know, the usual.
My big adventure is trying to curb the destructiveness of my second dog. Rosie resembles the Tasmanian Devil, and has so far destroyed an electronic picture frame, a dog bed, a sofa, two lamps, several trash bags with garbage, two bags of rice, a box of Keurig pods, then she opened the cabinets and tore up several boxes of dog biscuits… you get the picture. So I took to crating her when I’m not home. The first time, she figured out how to pop the sides off and escape, promptly trashing the house. I fixed that and secured them better. Then she figured out how to move it around by slamming herself against the sides (she’s about 70 pounds of fearless muscle). Once she moved it close to the shelves where I keep flour, she managed to tear open the thick wire mesh enough to poke her head out and start ripping the bags open. Each time when I came home to the destruction, I would yell at her, “BAD DOG! BAD ROSIE!!! BAD BAD BAD!!!” She reacted to that by starting at me vacantly and wagging her tail. “I know you’re not going to hit me.”
Birthdays hit hard, though, and todays include the guy who gave Newton the clues; the guy whom Fauci styles himself as, but was the real deal; my favorite of the Warner Brothers players; Madeline Kahn’s spirit animal; my spirit animal; a sexy, sexy man; a guy who proved that ponderous and vacuous lyrics won’t hurt some great albums; a guy who proved that being a large, untalented, sloppy drunk is no impediment to a movie career; a pretty fucking excellent drummer; and a woman who proved that being vacuous and inarticulate is no impediment to a career in TV news.
Nor is it an impediment to Links.
For a minute, I thought this was about the Eagles.
There are so many ironies there that my brain is beginning to rust.
Well, this should encourage investment in reconstruction and the economy.
I love this guy, but let’s be honest: it’s a grift.
It’s stupid, but states have the right to pass stupid laws. Let the consumers feel the impact of legislative stupidity, which is still better than regulatory stupidity.
Every time I think Minnesota can’t get more retarded, they say, “Hold my peppermint schnapps.”
I like how the retroactivity provision makes it unconstitutional right from the start. Here’s the non-paywall version.
“On the plus side, I’m getting laid a lot. On the minus side, her new beard tickles.”
“Arabber” is a peculiarly Baltimore term, and it’s a shibboleth to see who’s actually from there. They’re definitely a fond memory from my childhood, but that was before gunfights were the lingua franca of Baltimore commerce.
If you’re going to understand the development of jazz, there’s vital people to know along the way, who are sadly not as famous as they should be outside of real enthusiasts. Recency bias is a real thing. So The Old Guy goes out of his way to drop in music by Don Byas, Jaki Byard, Al Hibbler, and the like. Sidney Bechet was the real bridge between traditional jazz and what became swing and (later) be-bop, sort of a musical therapsid. And he had the most powerfully smooth tone imaginable on the clarinet. He was also reputedly a gaping asshole. But EVERY player who came after him bore his mark.
the guy whom Fauci styles himself as, but was the real deal
Happy birthday Josef Mengele!
legit LOL.
my favorite of the Warner Brothers players
I actually guessed correctly, although I’d go with Glenda Farrell.
I was guessing Yakko.
Just wait till TSA lobbies to be able to give you their DNA.
For once, they got hit harder than we did in Glibs Gulch. Just some sleet and maybe an extra inch of snow.
Relevant
Greg, now 54, told me that their marriage was always, overall, a happy one. They supported each other over the years as Franny wrote poetry and taught writing while Greg built a career in fund-raising. He had headed into marriage assuming that sex would always be part of their lives together; instead, by the time they were in their 40s, their sex life had almost collapsed altogether.
Why do I suspect their marriage was actually a train wreck?
Poetry and fund raising.
Making my career in financial services seem like I’m providing the basics that a society needs to function.
ponderous and vacuous lyrics
Happy birthday Neil Peart!
a pretty fucking excellent drummer
Happy birthday Neil Peart!
And JI, IIRC you were one of those interested in craft chocolate: my wife’s nascent chocolate blog: https://www.chocolatemoxie.com
That site is running out of my home network, so loading times for images will be poor.
Level 2 Chocolate Taster?
Level 2 Chocolate Taster?
It’s a thing: https://www.chocolatetastinginstitute.org/
During the ‘vid, they opened up their classes to online, so you didn’t have to travel to the UK to get certified. My wife was one of the few (only?) people in the classes that was just a chocolate enthusiast. Most of the other students were in the industry, some of them had established chocolate brands.
She didn’t pursue level 3 because that requires traveling to a cacao plantation, between the travel and the course fees, too expensive.
Good morning. Old Man and others!
I’m definitely feeling the post holiday confusion and cheese. Currently in an Uber on the way to the Seattle Airport. Heading to Oklahoma for the post Christmas/ New Year’s festivities.
After reading about your doggo challenges, I will not complain about the minor inconveniences of having a cat…
If your cat gives you any problem, Rosie will be glad to chew on him a bit until he shapes up.
If I could get them to:
1. stop chewing cables and cords
2. sleep past 6 am
3. not zoomie at 3 am
I’d call it victory
My six toed cat tore the ever living crap out of my Stickley recliner. Not happy. But she’s cute. https://ibb.co/zh38byw3
D’aw. Very pretty kitty! 😻
That’s a properly demonic-looking black cat! Respect! 👍🐱👤
Both my black cats to date have had long fur, and the “fluffy” puts a damper on the whole Mephistophelean mojo to which every black cat aspires.
She looks like a menace, with that Clint Eastwood squint.
What are polydactyls like?
“Can we deport Ilhan there?”
“a pretty fucking excellent drummer”
For once I agree with the old man. I’ve seen him with Zappa and Missing Persons.
Drive to Chattanooga underway. Dad began arguing there’s “no gayness in the NHL” when hearing an NPR story on a hockey romance between rivals.
Rather funny, the Aspie’s thoughts on both women and gays.
I love the serene look of superiority each of her masters left and right are wearing.
And why wouldn’t they look smug? They have the Lt. Gov. submitting to them (as their religion requires, I might add). Even her hands are in a posture of supplication.
She and a lot of others, need to get out of Somaliville and see the real Minnesota of lutefisk and lefse.
20 miles away (in any direction) and life is a lot different.
Land of snow plows and ice fishing beckons.
It’s making me wonder how Peggy would look in a lambskin discipline hood and a ball gag…
*not kink shaming*
The picture of Gov. Alfred E. Neuman, oops, I mean Tim Walz, is great.
“What, me worry?
LOL yes.
My goodness the Kamala and Tim show would have made epic comedy. We just did not deserve them.
Because there’s no such thing as too many Daily Rays of Sunshine:
https://x.com/mattvanswol/status/2004624666581737514?ct=rw-null
Thanks RC but I’m not sure if those are real elves. Some look too big.
Folks are nice, generous, even with their own money.
Why do you hate America 🇺🇸?
Yes. And the CDL.
“Well, this should encourage investment in reconstruction and the economy.”
Why wouldn’t it? The people who funded Gaza in the first place did so as a fortified base for killing Jews. So Hamas remaining in control and rebuilding their military infrastructure should draw funding from the same people, right?
What a surprising development.
Cross training with the Nigerian Islamics.
“Tyler Perry hit with $77m sexual assault lawsuit from Madea costar who alleges director grabbed his penis
The model-turned-actor Mario Rodriguez, who had a small role in Perry’s 2016 film Boo! A Madea Halloween, claims in his new lawsuit that Perry groped him without his consent and also subjected him to unwanted sexual advances, according to the complaint viewed by the Daily Mail.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-15415505/Tyler-Perry-sexual-assault-lawsuit-Madea.html
I don’t know which number is more outrageous, 77,000,000 or 2016.
Tyler Perry is sweet? Say it isn’t so.
He gave me the vibes.
“North West shows off her extravagant diamond ‘shark teeth’ grill made by celebrity jeweler
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s daughter North West shared her third Instagram post on Thursday.
The 12-year-old — who launched her Instagram profile less than one week ago — showed off a new custom-made set of grillz by celebrity jeweler Johnny Dang.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-15414771/North-West-diamond-shark-teeth-grill-jeweler.html
Top-notch parenting.
TV Johnny – is he still selling grills out of the Sharpstown Mall?
And Kim gave each of her kids a puppy for Christmas.
I do hope their economy crashes before it gets struck down, though.
No kidding. Commies never learn, they can only be run out of power on a rail when their machinations reach their inevitable conclusion. California is a lost cause and just has to completely fall apart before it has any chance of being rehabilitated.
I finally it an OMWC birthday.
I get one Nineveh a blue moon.
I had heard that Dietrich was a whore but damn, she makes Lindsy Lohan looks chaste.
Stupid law? No they should have banned cotton seed oil and canola in the food supply. Shit is poison.
Silicone Saturday is still hungover.
https://archive.is/vaSE9
Ummmm, sounds like there are a lot deeper issues in your marriage than the fat shot.
https://archive.is/gapjg
My diagnosis: she’s not really in love/attracted to her husband but felt he was the best she could get when she was fat. Now that she’s not fat anymore, she wants to play the field.
Thanks,OMWC, for reminding me again why I don’t want to get a dog. (Typed while I’m watching “Lucky Dog” on CBS; obedience school is never too late for reforming an out of control mutt.)
So much this.
I could never deal.
Some are easier than others. I know a sweet little old thing who’d want nothing more than to sit beside her WFH owner.
Companion / toy breeds, not working breeds.
Just to be clear, Rosie spends many hours a day vigorously running around and wrestling with her brother. Energy blow-off is not the issue, she’s just Satan.
I have turned my wife into a cat person.
I am not adverse to taking a dog for a long walk for as much as shitting in my yard.
Ive been cleaning up shreds of a dog bed that Daisy, our great pyrenees, found in our woods. I guess it was from the previous homeowner. She dragged it out, slept on it for a few days, and then proceeded to tear it into pieces no bigger than a softball.
I cant imagine the havoc she’d wreak if we let her in the house. The worst of the puppy chewing is behind us, but she seems to particularly enjoy obliterating her toys, especially the ones designed for “heavy chewers”.
““It’s frightening, honestly,” said Katherine Kondor, a researcher with the Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies. “You can be radicalised sitting on your couch.”
In affiliation with the Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX), Kondor is leading a six-country project looking at how the extreme right uses aesthetics, from fitness influencers to memes and stickers, to spread their views across Europe.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/27/its-frightening-how-far-right-is-infiltrating-everyday-culture
Not defined: “far right”
Well, when everything not openly advocating for communism, trans surgery for 12 year-olds and blue-haired obese polycules is considered “far right”, it’s fairly easy to claim that mainstream culture is infested with it.
Far right = traditional culture and values.
Norway, one of the countries that has an immigrant gang problem, is worried about “right-wing” extreemism.
Ja, oom sure, Ole-ette.
Tell me about it.
It’s a few giraffes less than “extreme right”.
‘“The statute arbitrarily and irrationally targets color additives no U.S. agency — state or federal — nor any court has ever found to be unsafe,” the IACM said in a statement announcing its suit, adding that the ban lacks “scientific evidence.””
And? States whatever they want for arbitrary reasons all the time.
Yeah, that general police power of a state should never have been construed to be so broad as to enable a police state.
California lead warning has entered the chat.
They’ll take the lead out of solder for ‘health’ reasons and fight to keep poison in food.
The grain and seed oil lobbies are stronger than the unions
“I’m fully aware that I’m by no means the love of his life”
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/just-jane/im-not-hot-sexy-former-36392704
Well, he *did* marry you so unless he actually told you that directly, you may be making things up in your head due to anxiety. Then again, if he did actually tell you that directly, he’s a complete garbage person and you should hit the road and find someone who appreciates you.
“New York City teachers have found that scores of teenagers can’t read traditional clocks after a cellphone ban in schools statewide — because students figured the skill would be useless in the digital era, according to a report.”
https://nypost.com/2025/12/26/us-news/nyc-schools-discover-teens-cant-read-clocks-after-cellphone-ban/
OFFS!!
“NYC teachers discover teens can’t read…”
Could have stopped right there
‘
Suzanne Jimenez, the chief of staff at S.E.I.U.-U.H.W., said the organization was trying to fill a funding gap for the state’s health care industry. “We looked at how could we generate the revenue to fix this kind of hole, and this group of folks just made sense,” she said, adding that California billionaires were the “most fortunate people in this state.”
“It’s a goose, and it lays golden eggs. Let’s kill it and eat it.”
“Folks.” 🙄
“That’s a nice state you’ve got there.”
“Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democratic New York lawmakers haven’t extended President Trump’s “no tax on tips” policy to state income taxes — hitting bartenders and restaurant workers in the pocketbook all while preaching affordability…
“If we weren’t taxed on our tips, we’d be able to save more, we’d enjoy life a little more, maybe we wouldn’t have to pick up that extra shift.”
“It’s like losing money. So it’s hard, especially when everything’s so expensive in life right now. That’s my livelihood, that’s how I eat and feed my family.”
https://nypost.com/2025/12/26/us-news/hochul-wont-serve-up-trumps-no-tax-on-tips-policy-ticking-off-ny-restaurant-workers/
Accounting genius.
If restaurants (or tip recipients) no longer keep up with accounting for tips Missy Hochul may be in for a surprise.
Maybe find a job that allows you to “feed your family.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
My income is also how I eat and feed my family.
Make Dividends and distributions tax free!
Just yesterday I was reading one of those “I asked ChatAI about…” stories. It was about tax “fairness”, and the AI oracle puked up with a wealth tax scheme which could have been lifted verbatim from Robert Reich or a dozen other Eat The Rich gangsters.
Mr. $400K a year for sham teaching? Say it ain’t so!
“Baby clothes and toys for toddlers, including blocks, rattles, and a stacking toy, were also purchased and shipped to his home in Manhattan, records showed.”
https://nypost.com/2025/12/27/us-news/jeffrey-epsteins-shocking-amazon-purchase-history-revealed-in-dojs-latest-files-release/
If you have never gotten drunk and built Duplo you haven’t lived.
“Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass recently appeared on CNN with Wolf Blitzer and said that it’s ‘sad’ that Latino Americans would join ICE.
Her typically liberal comments match the sentiment of others on the left who can’t understand this either. A few weeks ago, liberal commentator Krystal Ball openly expressed the same ignorance.”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/12/los-angeles-mayor-karen-bass-says-its-sad/
Example #2,345,606 how progressives are racist.
It’s sad that people listen/believe what politicians say.
Fuck off, (literal) commie.
Fools and their money
Venture capitalist Finn Murphy believes world leaders could soon resort to deflecting sunlight into space if the Earth gets unbearably hot.
That’s why he’s invested more than $1 million in Stardust Solutions, a leading solar geoengineering firm that’s developing a system to reduce warming by enveloping the globe in reflective particles.
Murphy isn’t rooting for climate catastrophe. But with global temperatures soaring and the political will to limit climate change waning, Stardust “can be worth tens of billions of dollars,” he said.
——-
Solar geoengineering investors are generally young, pragmatic and imaginative — and willing to lean into the adventurous side of venture capitalism. They often shrug off the concerns of scientists who argue it’s inherently risky to fund the development of potentially dangerous technologies through wealthy investors who could only profit if the planet-cooling systems are deployed.
Gadflies, dilettantes, swindlers and flimflam artists. And, of course, the credulous and easily terrified.
WCPGW?
These idiots have no idea what they are fucking around with.
Damnit, used the wrong tag. That was supposed to be bold.
There is no good solution to an imaginary problem.
Global temperatures are not soaring.
He’s banking on grant funding.
As climate change and its impacts continue to worsen, Zou of Sightline Climate expects more investors to consider solar geoengineering startups, including deep-pocketed firms and corporations interested in the technology. Without their help, the startups might not be able to develop their planet-cooling systems.
“People are feeling like, well wait a second, our backs are kind of starting to get against the wall. Time is ticking, we’re not really making a ton of progress” on decarbonization, she said.
Crank up the apocalypse porn machine.
Bill Gates told me not to worry, nothing we can do about global warming other than trees/crops will grow faster.
If I can’t trust Ol’ Bill who can I trust?
solar geoengineering startups
Hey, I know something they can pick up on the cheap!
Live music is blaring on the streets of Tehran, women are ditching their mandatory hijabs and young people are dancing in cafes, as authorities allow a degree of social freedom not seen since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
At the same time, however, the government is carrying out a widespread crackdown on dissidents and has executed more people this year than in nearly four decades.
As long as the bread and
Jew hatecircuses continue nobody will be pissed at the ruling class.https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-eases-social-rules-amid-crisesbut-crushes-dissent-5111df3c?st=Bk9Kyk&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink