Althouse: A Saturday coffeehouse.

July 19, 2008

A Saturday coffeehouse.

Welcome! Talk!

My nephew made the cut at the U.S. Bank Championship, so I'll be motoring to Milwaukee and back for the 3d day in a row.

55 comments:

Anonymous said...: I've been grounded. No 'coffehouse' for me today, after yesterday's brewpub meetup.

Unless I sneak out later....; 7/19/08, 9:08 AM
Meade said...: I'm just glad you're still alive.; 7/19/08, 9:18 AM
Trooper York said...: Hey happy birthday to Titus who is celebrating his birthday today. I would tell him to blow out sixteen hogs, but he assures me he's a top so that's not on the agenda. Nevertheless I hope his birthday wishes come true.

I bet those rare clumbers look cute in those little birthday hats.; 7/19/08, 9:34 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: Contragulations to Nephew Althouse for making the cut.

Unrelated to golf, yesterday was my birthday. A friend took me to a nearby Cuban restaurant so I could try a mojito. My first one was pineapple and the second one was pomegranate. A person could get drunk on those, ya know, if you're not careful. The rice tasted like grits. That gave me the idea to add grits to steamed rice. I had their special which included lobster, mussels, halibut, and a bunch of other seafood crap including little squid sphincters. On the way out, a tree shorted an electric line creating dramatic and dangerous sparks. The fire department was called, apparently to observe it. Much excitement. I took pictures, but they didn't come out very well. All the sparks and flashing lights, the street cordoned off, made me feel real special. Hope it wasn't too much trouble.

That is all.; 7/19/08, 9:34 AM
AllenS said...: I'll be starting at noon. With or without you people.

Please don't tie my shoe laces together again. That's not funny.; 7/19/08, 9:35 AM
Bissage said...: [S]o I'll be motoring to Milwaukee and back for the 3d day in a row.

Good Lord, professor!

Get an oil change . . . and have them check your tires while they're at it.

Remember, safety first!!!

(Much as we all love you and the variety here at Althouse, I think I can safely say no one's looking forward to ditch-blogging or fisheye photos of the vending machines at the body shop.)

FOOOOOOOOOOORE!!!

swooooooosh!!!

WACK!!!; 7/19/08, 9:42 AM
Bissage said...: *golf clap*; 7/19/08, 9:42 AM
Trooper York said...: Hey I knew a girl from Scores who caught that from John Daly.; 7/19/08, 9:55 AM
knox said...: can't possibly top yesterdays thread; 7/19/08, 9:58 AM
Trooper York said...: Yeah I love the global warming stuff.; 7/19/08, 10:02 AM
knox said...: I actually am guilty of liking debate on Global Warming. Not that I have any clue what the hell anyone's talking about. But I suspect they don't either, so I figure we're even!; 7/19/08, 10:15 AM
Anonymous said...: Saw The Dark Knight last night. 10:00 PM showing. Packed.

I won’t say more except that, for some reason, I was reminded me this morning as we talked about the story, of Apocalypse Now.

A very impressive group of actors.

Anyway, I gotta go water my neighbors plants. They’re on a cruise of the North Sea, Dover to St Petersburg.

See ya’ll later.; 7/19/08, 10:32 AM
john said...: Zachary, Zachary, Zachary.

Now it doesn't feel so good. You woke up on the couch this morning with a splitting headache. Where are you? The last thing you remember was the Arby's drive-thru. No, now you remember coming to this apartment, having a few more beers (or were you doing shots too?) and someone putting on the Incredibles movie and then you passed out. Where are your cigs? Shit, did you really smoke 2 packs yesterday?

Zachary, your repbulican "friends" got you drunk and took you home when you said you were too smashed to drive. You fell asleep, but they didnt. You thought yesterday that conservatives were OK to hang with, maybe even more fun than your pack of libs. You even forced yourself to laugh at the Obama joke, though it felt wrong. But it was all a ploy. They had a plan for you this morning. The newspaper is folded open with the Krauthammer column on top. Palladian has called Dr. Helen, who is now on her way over.

Now what? You make an excuse, call a cab, you get out of there. Safe now in your own place but your guilt over sneaking off the plantation yesterday can't be washed off in the shower or purged with that quart of Tang.

But you face a bigger problem today - what to tell your real friends, the ones who were expecting you at the Batman movie last night. Oh well, just don't tell them, just like you never mention you like to watch the drag races on the Speed network.

Somehow you feel they know what happened, that someone saw you leaving that bar with those people, that there is a scarlet "C" etched on your forhead that no washing will remove. that you will be discovered, banished, and purged from their Outlook contacts. You know you can't beg, because forgiveness is never given to one who is perceived to stray. Shunning the right and shunned by the left, you are in a new dimension, Zachary. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. Zachary - you have entered the libertarian zone.; 7/19/08, 10:47 AM
vbspurs said...: A very impressive group of actors.

Totally agree. I found Aaron Eckardt (Harvey Dent) almost on par with Heath Ledger's, though no one could touch the latter. It's almost as if he were acting in a different movie -- a kind of Buñuel hommage to the Vanzetti Brothers.

I'll be reviewing it later today, at my blog, Quayle. :)

Cheers,
Victoria; 7/19/08, 11:06 AM
vbspurs said...: Get an oil change . . . and have them check your tires while they're at it.

Since gas prices have shot up, our local country radio station came out with some gas saving tips. I guess they don't mention tyre/tire pressure because that's one everyone knows.

Here they are:

1. Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold.

2. When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode.

3. One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY.

4. Lastly, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up.

Cheers,
Victoria; 7/19/08, 11:10 AM
vbspurs said...: Lastly, but most importantly, good luck to Cliff, Ann!

In retrospect, don't you wish you had taken a motel or modest hotel in Milwaukee for the duration -- then tacked on Sat/Sun if he made the cut?

The gas you must've spent and wear-and-tear on you must've been amazing.

Drive safely!

Cheers,
Victoria; 7/19/08, 11:13 AM
john said...: So Victoria, I'm confused. Do we fill up when the tank is half full, or do we wait a little while and fill up when it's half empty?

Oh, I get, it, this is one of those optimist/pessimist things.; 7/19/08, 11:14 AM
Trooper York said...: Those jalepeno poppers took care of my gas requirements for the weekend thank you very much.; 7/19/08, 11:16 AM
vbspurs said...: Oh, I get, it, this is one of those optimist/pessimist things.

Which begs the question, John, if we're trying to use these tips are we optimistic we will save gas, or pessimistic to follow them?

BTW, since I read these tips, I've been noticing a marked improvement in my gas consumption.; 7/19/08, 11:16 AM
john said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/19/08, 11:20 AM
john said...: Its not gas consunption I worry about. It's the opposite.

Guess I'm a pessimist. That, or it was the burrito I ate yesterday.

OT, did you get an email I sent through your blog (re Sippican)?; 7/19/08, 11:22 AM
vbspurs said...: Hmm, John, I got three, but I don't think one of them was yours!

(I did check later that day, though I so rarely check my email...I apologise guys)

Pls. resend though I had mentioned a caveat.

Also, Edmonds.com tested some of the gas saving tips out there.

I love Mythbusters, so I appreciate their effort. :); 7/19/08, 11:29 AM
1775OGG said...: I'm staying home today! It's moderation in all things from now on; but no fun in that, eh!

BTW: Why isn't Prof. Althouse staying over Saturday night in a sleazy hotel near Milwaukee, there are plenty along Port Washington Road near Whitefishbay!; 7/19/08, 11:36 AM
Palladian said...: "I love Mythbusters, so I appreciate their effort. :)"

I used to like that show very much, but I think it lost the plot. It was much more fun the first and second season when no one knew what the show was going to be and it was all shoestrings and fumbling.; 7/19/08, 11:55 AM
Kev said...: One of these days I'll post some music so that you can have jazz playing in the coffeehouse (which happens a lot in the physical world). I'm still waiting for the opportunity to record my own group, which is hard to do when most of us live in different places. But with any luck, we'll have done some recording by the end of the year.

In the meantime, feel free to make a soundtrack by going to these places and hit "preview all" (these are all things I've bought recently):

John Ellis
Esbjörn Svensson Trio
David Sanchez
Chris Potter

(I'm not a "barista," so I might as well play DJ...); 7/19/08, 11:56 AM
Ron said...: C'mon Victoria, confess...you really went to see Space Chimps didn't you? and then Mamma Mia?; 7/19/08, 12:21 PM
Luckyeldson said...: Hey, john! Where did you learn to write like that??

That is SO much better than 98% of the crap morons put up on the internet.

And that guy, Ron is pretty awsome, too. You both newbies?

Sweet Jayses! There's some hope for this site if the fucktards only went away.

Guess that's true about a lotta things.; 7/19/08, 12:23 PM
vbspurs said...: Space Chimps

They're sending Dubya into space?

Mamma Mia

Hey anyone want to hear another John-Cindy McCain having sex joke?

/channelling my inner moonbat; 7/19/08, 12:36 PM
john said...: Lucky!

Could it be you? Did you bring boy Robin?

You are right about the story; it seemed like a nice little joke but it died at the end. I should have pulled it and tightened it up a bit with a better finish. Too late, though, the delete button went away.

However, you may still have the opportunity. Do everyone a favor and click that little trash can if you see it.; 7/19/08, 12:57 PM
John Kindley said...: I'm glad to see that Althouse has continued apace in spite of my absence. I'm also gratified to see that Althouse herself seems to have been disproportionately influenced by my old comments: fer instance, in her post noting that when scientists push for consensus and "scientific" judgments based on consensus they're really pushing and engaging in politics rather than science; and in her posts observing that a "pro-choice" legal view can co-exist with clear recognition that abortion itself is, to put it mildly, morally suspect. She also seems to continue to give off libertarian vibes, although her continuing support for imperialism is a continuing disappointment.

My law practice has been taking off in recent months. It's made it more difficult to find time to regularly comment, as compared to before when I was merely dabbling in law while engaged in full-time disaffection. Now I'm faced more directly with how to reconcile being a real lawyer with being a conscientous anarchist. Lysander Spooner did it, but it seems that his actual practice of law was minimal as a result. Randy Barnett, a disciple of Lysander Spooner, tries to do it, but his road is made easier by being a law professor at Georgetown and by watering down substantially his Spoonerism.

Why should a lawyer be subjected to the prerequisite of humbling his own conscience by swearing an oath to uphold the Constitution, regardless of what crimes might be perpetrated in its name? A man can love, and zealously advocate for, justice, without necessarily loving the State and confounding it with his country. "Contempt" of court? Please. A judge's decisions, like those of any other man's, deserve only as much respect as they deserve. I understand the need to maintain order in a courtroom, but the term "contempt of court" bothers me -- contemptible judicial decisions, which are often a matter of life and death to those subjected to them, should be accorded no more respect than they deserve. The judge's black robes confer no more real authority beyond the moral worth of the judgments of the man wearing them than does the priest's.(But don't infer from this that I am so foolish as to be prone to talk smack in a courtroom gratuitously.); 7/19/08, 1:12 PM
Trooper York said...: Hey JohnK glad you are back. You Quakers are always a barrel of laughs.; 7/19/08, 1:15 PM
Ron said...: It's Lucky's magic gift that when he says 'fucktard' the cosmos presents him a mirror he cannot look away from...and he still isn't getting the point.; 7/19/08, 1:30 PM
John Kindley said...: Yeah Trooper. I'm glad you noted the one minor lame attempt at humor mixed in with the rest of that comment. I've always found outrageous and ridiculous displays of delusional grandeur to be funny, but that is lost on most people.; 7/19/08, 1:47 PM
Trooper York said...: Dude for a lot of people who post here that's their resume.; 7/19/08, 1:57 PM
Simon said...: John asks "Why should a lawyer be subjected to the prerequisite of humbling his own conscience by swearing an oath to uphold the Constitution, regardless of what crimes might be perpetrated in its name?" One might as well ask why public officers and legislators in the several states should have to do so. No one is required to take the oath. They do so having sought and obtained, ex proprio motu, an office that requires it of them.; 7/19/08, 2:13 PM
William said...: How establishment a sport is golf? The US Bank Championship. Not a good venue to open a tattoo parlor. Not that a small tattoo of Tiger or Allen Greenspan just above the rt buttocks would not be in good taste.; 7/19/08, 2:58 PM
Zachary Sire said...: Zachary - you have entered the libertarian zone.

At this point I'll enter any zone other than the one I woke up in. I wish there was a pill you could take that would make it all magically go away.

It hurts. Help.; 7/19/08, 3:39 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Yeah US Bank Championship Tournament. If a bank is the sponsor, the winner may ask that his prize be paid in cash.; 7/19/08, 4:17 PM
vbspurs said...: JohnK, nice to see you back!

A shame you returned during a vastly slow day on Althouse (she's away on materterine duties).

Me, I've had my car washed, took my dog out for a ride, and went to an outdoor juice bar where I had the Strawberry/Banana shake (yogurt) combo.

It's been a good day. Hope you guys are enjoying yourselves!

Cheers,
Victoria; 7/19/08, 4:29 PM
Simon Kenton said...: Victoria, I don't want to give you the VBJeebies, me being a respectable married man and all, but

I can drive an unsynchronized stick shift.

And a nice day to you too - the drought hasn't yet broken out in forest fires; one of the local does has triplets and her efforts to wean them are comical to everyone but the indignant fawns; the horsemint is out and aphrodite fritillaries are thronging it - although I have to say that 'throning' is kind of a euphemism for what the wanton butterflies are actually doing to those stamens and pistils.; 7/19/08, 4:50 PM
Joe M. said...: Mm. Slow day.

I continued my attempts to learn to play the bass guitar and failed to conquer the world. I may try again later. There's a plot brewing amongst friends to go see The Dark Knight for the second time, however, so my dreams of world domination may have to wait for another day.

,
Joe; 7/19/08, 4:57 PM
John Kindley said...: I just took my stepson to see The Dark Knight. The movie was too dark for a 10 year old. I found the action scenes to be a little too confused and therefore not as entertaining as they could have been. The dialogue, particularly the Joker's end of it, was pretty good. His view of anarchy, which he explicitly espouses in the movie in a dialogue with Two-Face, is interesting. He contrasts himself with the planners and schemers, in which group he includes both cops and mafia, in "justifying" a dastardly deed he'd committed. He simply "does," he says. Of course, what he does is evil. He'd say he does what he does without rhyme or reason, although he carries out his wicked doings with plenty of premeditation and malice aforethought. His anarchic vision and actions are apparently colored by his fundamental desire to see the world burn, and humanity with it. Unless I missed something, he seemed to give contradictory accounts in two parts of the movie about what in his past twisted his soul, which would call into question the perennial idea that environment is primarily to blame for the evil that men do, or that the Joker himself can be rationally explained.

A sensibility that has no use for plans and schemes, and whose acts are fundamentally grounded in mystery, doesn't have to be evil. The Batman himself just does. Jesus just does.; 7/19/08, 6:26 PM
Anonymous said...: The chores have all, at last, been completed. The cars have been washed and waxed, the lawn groomed, the errands completed, several small items repaired, the larder restocked, and I've been let out on probation for a wee time.

Who's buying?

"Yeah US Bank Championship Tournament. If a bank is the sponsor, the winner may ask that his prize be paid in cash."

Big change this year at the US Bank Open in Milwaukee. The winner will receive collateralized debt obligations rather than the usual cash prize.; 7/19/08, 7:30 PM
Luckyeldson said...: Holy shit! Looks like old Lucky really poisoned the well. Hey, I'm not that guy! He's my brother, but we're NOT the same!

You want an example of prejudice in action? Just have the name "Lucky," and some people won't get any further. Ol' Lucky really got you all going, didn't he?

Hey, john, I was giving you a compliment! Why diss me in return? And, Ron, looks like you haven't been around here in a while.

The "old" Lucky's gone. It's a long story, but basically people were messing with his mind. Convinced poor Lucky to say all kinds of bad shit on the internet. He had to go away for a while. He'll probably be OK in the long run, though. I'm going up to Atascadero next week to visit him. I'll say "hi" from all of you, if can remember any of it.

Anyways, I'm just a harmless old guy living in a mobile home park in Palmdale. I don't mean nobody any harm. Except maybe Cyrus and montana, although I'm getting soft on montana, 'cause I think he's a mental case, not the asshole he tries to be. So, yes, I give pompous retards lots of shit, but for the rest of you, why I'm just a harmless old hippie, living out my days in the desert.

So don't give me any grief for no reason, and we'll be just fine. Hell, if you come to Palmdale, I'll buy you a beer and some great Mexican at this little place about 3 miles north of here.; 7/19/08, 7:59 PM
Ralph L said...: I spent the day helping my sister at an event at the 1811 Quaker plantation tourist trap she runs.

They have a false-bottom wagon they claim was used in the Underground Railroad (Quakers are very proud of being anti-slavery before it was fashionable), but it's obviously a modern reconstruction. Filthy, lying Quakers. No wonder it rained.; 7/19/08, 8:41 PM
Maggie Goff said...: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Chip !!!!!; 7/19/08, 10:12 PM
chuck b. said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/19/08, 10:16 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: Happy Birthday Titus; 7/19/08, 11:00 PM
Ralph L said...: Bravo is playing "Brokeback Mountain" in his honor.; 7/19/08, 11:12 PM
John Kindley said...: Speaking of movies, I just stumbled on a good one tonight I'd never heard of before at the movie rental store: In Bruges, with Colin Farrell. Most excellent.; 7/19/08, 11:36 PM
KCFleming said...: I just saw "Hancock".

I want my money back.
I did actually enjoy the movie, but I want my money back anyway, because tonight I am being an asshole. The movie had the word "asshole" in it about 74 times, so I thought maybe it was a fad to be one.

So here I am, Pogo the Internet Asshole. Tremble!

Okay, so I'm not much different than usual, except now I've got pants. Because it's hard to be an asshole without pants on.; 7/20/08, 12:06 AM
Beth said...: That's "In F&*@ing Bruge," John K.

And I enjoyed it. I always like Brendan Gleason.; 7/20/08, 12:09 AM
Joe M. said...: I didn't much care for In Bruges. There were some funny moments, and the acting was good, but the script didn't manage to find the right balance between comedy and tragedy and was clumsy about everything. The whole thing just left me cold and grim.

Well, that could also have been due to the fact that I saw the film while in Paris. That city puts me in a foul mood. F&*@ing Paris.

-Joe; 7/20/08, 3:19 AM
blake said...: Speaking of movies, I just stumbled on a good one tonight I'd never heard of before at the movie rental store: In Bruges, with Colin Farrell. Most excellent.

Yes, saw it at the theater in the spring and loved it. Perhaps my favorite this year.

But I like black comedy. Probably too much.; 7/20/08, 3:42 AM
Trooper York said...: I love black comedy too, but only if you have Queen Latifha and Cedric the Entertainer.

Now that's funny.; 7/20/08, 12:06 PM