Althouse: At the Red Squirrel Café...

August 17, 2010

At the Red Squirrel Café...

P1010998

(Enlarge.)

... you can cringe... or scamper for your life.

52 comments:

Revenant said...: Squirrel!; 8/17/10, 11:48 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: KABLAM

Speaking of meat, would you care to see the bison stuffed steamed buns I made tonight?; 8/17/10, 11:57 PM
AST said...: It always amazes me how smart they seem with such tiny brains.; 8/17/10, 11:59 PM
Peter Hoh said...: I'm trying to remember a silly blog of yore, but blanking on the name.

Always screaming in ALL CAPS about THE EGGS! and other kitchen things and SPIDERS!! and other insects that were always getting into trouble.

The writing style? Manic naivete.

And then one day it stopped.; 8/18/10, 12:18 AM
Wince said...: Don't get too close, the squirrel may think you're nuts.; 8/18/10, 12:35 AM
HKatz said...: ... you can cringe... or scamper for your life.

Or you can ascend to great heights and peer down benignly at those you've left behind at ground level.; 8/18/10, 12:36 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Maybe they are not all suicidal nuts.; 8/18/10, 12:50 AM
rcocean said...: It always amazes me how smart they seem with such tiny brains.

I feel the same way about Democrats.; 8/18/10, 1:47 AM
blake said...: Peter-- Eggagog!; 8/18/10, 1:56 AM
Unknown said...: The squirrels in our yard just love scampering in front of the pups.

Quasy will look at you like she's thinking, "You gonna do something about that?".; 8/18/10, 5:41 AM
AllenS said...: A friend just sent me a You tube video of Obama claiming that his father served in WWII. Not sure when he gave the speech.

His father was born 4/4/36, died 11/24/82 at the age of 46. He was 5 years old when WW 2 started, and less than 9.5 years old when it ended.

What an idiot.; 8/18/10, 5:44 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: For Obama, one minute off the teleprompter is minute too many.; 8/18/10, 6:07 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: When they said he would change history.. they had no idea ;); 8/18/10, 6:09 AM
Opus One Media said...: AllenS said...
"What an idiot."

I'm impressed that you know Obama's fathers dates of birth and death. Not some information one usually carries around.; 8/18/10, 6:17 AM
Opus One Media said...: My cat, seated here next to me, like the picture of the squirrel. He sends his thanks for the memories.; 8/18/10, 6:19 AM
AllenS said...: Mr. House,

The info came with the email. He can't be talking about his stepfather either. Here's why:

Lolo Soetoro
(Obama's step father)
Born 1935
Died 3/2/87 at the age of 52. He was 6 years old when WW 2 started, and 10 years old when it ended.

Obama will say anything, to anybody, at any time. He's never called on his BS, so he keeps on, keeping on.; 8/18/10, 7:08 AM
KCFleming said...: AllenS, you're not listening right.

When Obama said "My father served in World War II", he meant "Let me be clear, I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a fact where there were no facts. And that is why I succeed."

See?; 8/18/10, 7:20 AM
AllenS said...: Once again, we are faced with this same dilemma, is Obama dumber than Biden?

Over to you, Mr. House, who's dumber?; 8/18/10, 7:25 AM
KCFleming said...: More like "Who's on first?"

Hey Obaaaaama!; 8/18/10, 7:26 AM
Michael Haz said...: Allen - At least his parents didn't name him after Sir Edmund Hillary.; 8/18/10, 7:38 AM
Opus One Media said...: AllenS said...
"Over to you, Mr. House, who's dumber?"

I am struggling with the proposition of who is dumber - the person who poses a strawdog question or the fool who would answer one.; 8/18/10, 7:43 AM
AllenS said...: Michael,

It's difficult to keep your stories straight, when you have to dodge sniper bullets.; 8/18/10, 7:45 AM
The Dude said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/18/10, 7:45 AM
AllenS said...: Patents, please.; 8/18/10, 7:46 AM
Hagar said...: With Joe Biden it is a natural talent to spout gibberish, though I do believe he is sentient enough that he must sometimes be surprised to hear what he is saying.

Obama's misstatement may refer to his grandfather in Hawaii, who actually became his stepfather, sort of, assuming the statement indeed is his own and not the speechwriter's.

BTW, 1939-1935 = 4 years old.; 8/18/10, 7:49 AM
Opus One Media said...: Pogo said...
More like "Who's on first?"

Who is on first?.; 8/18/10, 7:49 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Democrats bailing on Obama; 8/18/10, 7:53 AM
Peter Hoh said...: Thanks to Blake and Sixty Grit for proving that people can still be better than google, especially when the query is a vague as I made it.; 8/18/10, 8:05 AM
garage mahal said...: Don't know how many times I've seen that red squirrel through the sights of a Crossman pellet gun, as a young garage mahal.; 8/18/10, 8:19 AM
Anonymous said...: I would give Obama a pass on that one. His grandfather (the man who raised him after his mother abandoned him) did serve in WWII.; 8/18/10, 8:21 AM
AllenS said...: garage, I had a Crossman pellet gun also.

wurly, I guess you could also say that Obama's grandmother was also his sister.; 8/18/10, 8:30 AM
Brian said...: I'm with t-man. Obama's saying father, when he meant to say grandfather.

It's rare to see a red squirrel here in central Mississippi. I've seen them on the side of the road on the Natchez Trace. They were known colloquially as "fox squirrels." All the rest are the usual eastern grey squirrels. It says on Wikipedia the red squirrel is common in Eurasia, but has declined because of the introduction of the eastern grey squirrel. Maybe that's why they are so rarely seen here.; 8/18/10, 8:30 AM
AllenS said...: Brian,

A red squirrel is small and a pest. A fox squirrel is usually a little bit larger than a gray squirrel, and edible. Red squirrels are impossible to cook, they never get tender. I've tried.

WV: pring

The sound the pellet makes when it hits a rock.; 8/18/10, 8:34 AM
bagoh20 said...: Ginger kids have no souls.; 8/18/10, 8:36 AM
KCFleming said...: Yeah, I mix up my Dad and Grandpa all the time.

So was it actually Dreams of My Grandfather?
D'oh!; 8/18/10, 8:41 AM
lemondog said...: re: tiny brains, Arnold Squirrelchwarzenegger

BTW does saying his last name constitute using the 'N' word?

To electric/onic knowledgeables, is PowerSquid a potential fire hazard?; 8/18/10, 8:50 AM
garage mahal said...: A red squirrel is small and a pest.

Yep, they get in your walls and very hard to trap. Chattering, obnoxious little vermin.; 8/18/10, 8:52 AM
Hagar said...: Well, Clarence Thomas' "Daddy" actually was his grandfather.

But is there anything other than this clip to show that Obama ever thought of his grandfather as his "dad"?

And even so, while WWII vets got the GI Bill, those benefits were decidedly modest by today's standards and would hardly justify this language.

And, of course, if his Kenyan grandfather somehow was involved in WWII in Kenya, that was a totally different world again, and the language used would be totally inappropriate.

Mr. Obama does not seem to have a sense that warns him when something is wrong about the text he is reading off the TOTUS!; 8/18/10, 8:58 AM
Hagar said...: Does this explain AlphaLiberal, HDHouse, et al.?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38747237/ns/technology_and_science-science/

(Sorry, I have not yet figured out how to make a link work in the Comments?); 8/18/10, 9:16 AM
Big Mike said...: @AllenS, when he doesn't have his handy-dandy, trusty-wusty teleprompter, Mr. Obama is apt to misspeak (I mean, he has degrees from two Ivy-league schools so there is a finite, nonzero chance that he knows there are fewer than 57 states in the Union). With as many things as he's screwed up in 18 months, piling on for yet another instance of misspeaking seems like, well, piling on.

On the other hand, HD, we all really do expect you to respond to AllenS. For the reason you've given.; 8/18/10, 9:28 AM
Brian said...: @AllenS:
So maybe I've been seeing fox squirrels all the time, and didn't know it. I didn't try a Wikipedia search on "fox squirrel" but you're right, it's a seperate species. It would be hard, unless you looked closely, to tell the difference between a fox squirrel and an eastern gray squirrel.

I have seen reddish colored squirrels on the Natchez Trace, but not in several years. And I assume they don't interbreed.; 8/18/10, 9:28 AM
Big Mike said...: You can quit eyeing the Professor, little squirrel, we have it on good authority (JAC) that she is not nuts.; 8/18/10, 9:29 AM
AllenS said...: Brian,

A fox squirrel around here (Wisconsin) is orangish in color. They are very beautiful. We also have black squirrels, that are the same size as a gray squirrel, but not very plentiful. Back in the 1970's there were quite a few black squirrels in the Luck-Frederic area.; 8/18/10, 9:56 AM
Unknown said...: Regarding the video, I saw it as well and he's very clear about his father; of course, during the campaign, he was equally clear about his grandfather liberating Auschwitz. The Zero has gotten in the habit of making it up to illustrate a point, knowing the Establishment media will never call him on it.

Either that, or he really is that dumb.

Or he's as delusional as Willie Whitewater.; 8/18/10, 10:07 AM
JAL said...: Wednesday night -- Check out the Drudge pix.

There are hands and fingers hither and yon.

Mmmmm.; 8/18/10, 9:38 PM
JAL said...: Hagar - to make a link:

{Less than symbol}[no space]a href[no space]{equals sign}[no space]{quotation marks}[no space]web address of link[quotation marks]{greater than symbol}text you want to click on{less than symbol}/a{greater than symbol}; 8/18/10, 10:02 PM
veni vidi vici said...: So here's a question of conjecture on the "what does this indicate/mean" tip for whoever's still reading this cafe, since I'm late to the party:

The other day there was a party at my kid's school. Me and the ex were there, arrived separately, I got there about 15 minutes after she did. It's my week w/ my kid, though; we do alternating weeks of custody.

When we were divorcing, we kept it amicable. In the wake of separation and divorce, I've happily rediscovered the "real me" of pre-marriage dreams, ambitions and points of view, getting back into things I enjoy doing that I had to dump while with a depressed spouse that didn't want to do anything and went from disinterest to eye-rolling condescension at my suggestions of things we could do together. She seems pretty happy and to have recovered some of her old self as well, which is nice to see, since she's the mother and 50% custodian of my kid.

On one or two occasions my kid has let slip accidentally "quotes" of what my ex has said about me while I was a few minutes late getting there to pick her up, and they revealed my ex is very hostile towards me (she's the eternal victim and always has been (well, since after the wedding when she revealed that part of herself to me), unfortunately) and basically not the type who gives the benefit of the doubt: with her, it's always default to assuming the worst of motives. Crazy paranoia! Especially since I've put her in the rear-view and on discovering her infidelity (which led to the divorce - she was bored and "loved me but wasn't in love with me") taken on a mild-mannered emotionally opaque but light-hearted indifference towards her, so I'm friendly but she has no idea of what I think, who/what I'm doing etc. Drives her nuts. So I'm over her, enjoying life with all the usual stress of a demanding career, single parenthood etc. and don't think or talk about her much. During the weeks I've got my kid, I don't talk about her mother because she never comes up; my kid doesn't bring her up either; we keep busy doing our thing. My ex did tell me recently that I should meet her new (of 4 mos.) boyfriend because he's been spending a lot of time with our kid. The kid never mentions him.

So anyway, we're at school the other day for this party, and I was chatting with the ex about something and we had a laugh and a high-five together; our kid was sitting across the room and was watching. Interestingly, kid got sort of shy/upset, then lost her appetite for cupcakes etc., then came over and glommed onto her mother and began crying unconsolably. Wouldn't let me talk to her. That was the end of the party for her, pretty much, as she sat on her mother's lap for 10 minutes or so moping with my ex wrapping her arms around her, while I stood nearby. Then my ex had to go, leaving our kid standing there with me. She left, the kid went to say bye to her teachers and within 30 seconds of her mother's departure was her cheerful self from before the high-five as though nothing happened, and we went home to a terrific dinnertime and evening.

What the hell was that all about? I'm guessing things are said about me by the ex that are substantially at odds with what one would say about someone with whom one laughs and high-fives. At the same time, I'm not terribly worried about it or anything - more amused. I don't have a huge emotional investment in what's said about me behind my back; I can only be who I am when I'm with my kid and let her experience weigh against anyone else's words.

Still, I'd be interested to read the armchair psychoanalysis any of the esteemed company on these comments threads deigns to provide.

Thanks for your indulgence.

wv: "myxorgi" -- The ultimate in multicultural fun.; 8/19/10, 12:52 AM
jaed said...: Have you tried asking the said kid what upset her? (Later, of course, after the emotional charge has dissipated, not pressing her if she doesn't want to talk about it, etc.); 8/19/10, 3:48 AM
veni vidi vici said...: Yeah, but she dodges on such questions. Oh well.; 8/19/10, 10:04 AM
lemondog said...: Have you tried asking the said kid what upset her?

Tell her you love her. Be more direct, that is, ask her what you did to upset her along with 'I'm sorry'. You may get a 'It wasn't you Daddy' and then perhaps an explanation of sorts.; 8/19/10, 1:53 PM
veni vidi vici said...: Funny, this morning I asked her about it and she said she cried because she didn't feel like dancing!

Sometimes, despite the anxious frustration, you have to be thankful that parenting comes without a manual since funny-cathartic moments like this would be far more rare.; 8/19/10, 3:37 PM
Unknown said...: Hi there. Great picture! I live in Toronto, Canada, and earlier this year, my wife, Jean, and I were in Ireland where we came upon the rarely seen Red Squirrel. To us, they actually look somewhat like our American Red squirrels, but boy, do they have long ears! We were shocked to learn that U.K. and Irish Red squirrels are contracting the pox virus from Grey squirrels, and dying. We feel very lucky to have seen two Red squirrels in Ireland, and have posted some of our pictures and videos for anyone interested at: http://frametoframe.ca/photo-essay-red-grey-squirrels-canada-ireland; 11/24/12, 9:54 AM

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