Althouse: At the Tangled-Up-in-Purple Café...

November 6, 2010

At the Tangled-Up-in-Purple Café...

... there's music tonight and revolution in the air.

57 comments:

Meade said...: All the commenters we used to know, they’re an illusion to me now.; 11/6/10, 10:29 PM
1775OGG said...: Does that mean beer & brats?

How are your brats cooked, beer boil first then the grill or grill first then the boil?

Cheers.; 11/6/10, 10:30 PM
sunsong said...: beatles - revolution; 11/6/10, 10:32 PM
chickelit said...: "We drove that car as far as we could-abandoned it out west" actually happened to me and my wife once.
The car was a wedding present.
It's a long story.; 11/6/10, 10:33 PM
Irene said...: Tangled up in purple? Aw shucks, memories.

Penn State says, "not so much."

Wince.; 11/6/10, 10:37 PM
Unknown said...: A very pretty burst of color before the stern white and gray of winter.

Irene said...

Tangled up in purple? Aw shucks, memories.

Penn State says, "not so much."

The Nittany Lions like to say, "If God isn't a Penn State fan, then why is the sky blue and white?".

Villanovans know that's wrong. God is Catholic and, thus, a Villanova fan.; 11/6/10, 10:40 PM
Anonymous said...: Yet another bit of Dylan porn.

wv: sucketa. I'm not even gonna comment on that.; 11/6/10, 10:46 PM
Unknown said...: I love this photo!; 11/6/10, 10:57 PM
JAL said...: I thought Michelle's India arrival dress was an attractive change for her.

wv proun
Like proud only n ot; 11/6/10, 11:20 PM
Penny said...: "Yet another bit of Dylan porn."

Wonder if this song makes Althouse's heart beat just a little bit faster? Instead of his usual blonde, Dylan was tangled up in blue with a red head at the purple cafe'.; 11/6/10, 11:35 PM
HT said...: Revolution. I'll say! Alabama sputters and the whole world comes off its axis! TCU crushes, and I mean CRUSHES Utah (yeah, of course I remember Utah). Oklahoma loses to Texas A&M. At least our loss was well maybe a smidge more respectable. Not much. We certainly don't deserve to be anywhere near a title game.

But who does? There's that little university to the east of us. Well maybe. They're like a WAC team this year both in respectability (they DROPPED from 1 to 2 .... and well I guess Oregon is that good), and suspect D and prodigious offense. Can that QB be stopped? I heard Urban Meyer was responsible for Camgate. Who knows.

Well, there's always next year. So many of us act like it's our birthright to win the national championship. It's not. It didn't help to hear the national media drooling over the Iron Bowl, when uh we had a little itty bitty matchup in Baton Rouge to contend with first.

RTR; 11/6/10, 11:36 PM
Anonymous said...: Montague Street is one of my favorite places in the world. When I lived in Cobble Hill (in a basement down the stairs) in grad school, I would jog up there in the evening and look out at the inspiring lower Manhattan skyline, the WTC twin towers standing tall over everything else.

Speaking of NYC...

Mike Bloomberg is running for Prez of the U.S.A. in 2012 as an independent...

How do I know? Check out what he has been saying in these few days after the midterm elections:

Earlier, in an interview, the mayor was deeply, undiplomatically critical of provincialism and populism in U.S. Congress.

“If you look at the U.S., you look at who we’re electing to Congress, to the Senate—they can’t read,” he said. “I’ll bet you a bunch of these people don’t have passports. We’re about to start a trade war with China if we’re not careful here,” he warned, “only because nobody knows where China is. Nobody knows what China is.”

Why would a man who is always so careful in choosing his words make such a blunt and straightforward verbal attack on Congresspeople and Senators?

I'll tell you why: Because he is setting himself up as an alternative to the pathetic partisan losers that dominate those chambers. He's going to run, and he's going to run most of all against politics-as-usual, and against the two Establishment parties.

Bloomberg switched to being a political independent in June 2007-- kinda the perfect timing if you are looking to a Presidential run 5 years out. In March 2010, his top strategy guy shifted out of City Hall; there were no denials that this was in preparation for Bloomberg's 2012 Presidential candidacy.

He's running. BLOOMBERG 2012! And he's got my vote! Oh I am so excited!!!; 11/6/10, 11:56 PM
Beth said...: HT, I did particularly enjoy watching Nick Saban crash and burn in Death Valley today. I still think Les Miles is a crazy loon (has there been an LSU game this year without all-out chaos in the final 30 seconds?) but Saban's two-faced exit from LSU still rankles, and it was fun to see the Tigers roar back today.; 11/6/10, 11:57 PM
Misty said...: Reminds me of a documentary I saw on LSD recently.... just saying the colors are beautiful. :); 11/6/10, 11:57 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: What are you on about? You confuse me massively. I must now check.

[ +dillan +tangled ]

Oh, I see.

You have troubled me with your oblique references. But I have come to accept this. Here, have yourself some chicken stock made from two whole roasted chickens.; 11/7/10, 12:02 AM
HT said...: Yeah, I don't understand how everyone could dismiss the B Tigers like they did. I mean Auburn barely beat them at home. What makes going into BR any easier? I haven't watched LSU game in and game out. In the past, they'd show flashes of brilliance but couldn't put a consistent .... whatever (game, season) together. Not sure if this year is like that. But are they not in contention for the western division? Especially if we beat Auburn? God, the eastern div is weak. It's embarrassing.

My solution to the WAC problem is to invite Boise State into the SEC for one year.

Someone - maybe yall maybe miami - calls Saban Nick Satan.

I was so scared he'd up and leave us after last year.; 11/7/10, 12:04 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Mi árbol y yo - Alberto Cortez

My mother and I planted it at the patios edge
up where the house ends, it was my father who brought it I was five years old and it was just a branch
Come early spring we fertilized the ground well
water covered it with wood chips
and made a barrier so it would not get hurt
My tree sprouted my childhood passed, under its shadow we grew both I remember my tree and me.

Over the years with long pants
I became an an adolescent, It was to
the shade of my tree, a summer nap when I lost
my innocence, then it was time to study
returns often but with full awareness that
began a long one-way trip where my
absence won. My tree stayed and time passed
today under its shadow all grown up
We have our memories my tree and me.

Many years have passed and I finally
returned to my beloved homeland and at the
patios edge there waited for me as one would expect a friend, it seemed to smile as if to say
look I'm full of nests, the tree we planted
forty-odd years ago when I was
just a kid who came out and the time passed
half my life with him stayed.
Today under his shadow we grew both
I remember my tree and me.; 11/7/10, 1:49 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Waters of March - Al Jarreau and Oleta Adams; 11/7/10, 1:04 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Sweet Darlin' - She & Him; 11/7/10, 1:29 AM
Alex said...: The Do-Lots Congress

The American people are just too fucking dumb to realize how amazing the 111th Congress was.; 11/7/10, 1:36 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: What About Love - 'Til Tuesday; 11/7/10, 1:51 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: cool, I seem to have gone back in time.; 11/7/10, 1:54 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Right Place Wrong Time - Otis Rush; 11/7/10, 2:05 AM
Palladian said...: "He's running. BLOOMBERG 2012! And he's got my vote!"

Pathetic, even for you. Just what we need, a little busybody opportunist midget billionaire standing on an apple box, telling us what we can't eat, except this time with the power of the Presidency behind his stunted frame.

I'll take Michelle's fat ass over New York's whiniest and tiniest dictator... at least we know Michelle isn't serious.; 11/7/10, 2:08 AM
Methadras said...: I wish Dylan would die and I also wish that the new incoming conservatives would pass legislation to ban daylight savings time forever and quit fucking with my sleeping habits once and for all.; 11/7/10, 2:09 AM
Anonymous said...: "We drove that car as far as we could-abandoned it out west"

Story time! And during the hours I like to remember... stories!

This one happened long ago in a faraway place. But it began in the South Bronx, when my then-girlfriend's father came running down the steps of their Webster Avenue tenement and threw his arms around me. Lord, I barely knew the man, and he was calling me "Son"!

A week earlier I had told to my then-girlfriend, "I'm going west, I'm going to California!" And without hesitation she replied, "I WANT TO GO, WITH YOU!" Which now explains why, a week later, I was standing on the sidewalk on Webster Avenue with her teary-eyed father's arms around me.

In broken, barely intelligible English, he asked me to send a telegram the minute I and his daughter got married. Because unbeknown to me, my beautiful then-girlfriend had told her father that we were getting married. Pronto. In Maryland (Elko). Which was all news to me.

Her father worked 12 hard hours a day stocking shelves in a Spanish grocery store. Our two or three previous conversations had been about the Yankees, and the weather. That's it. He handed me $200, a lot of money in the South Bronx, and even more given his circumstance. And my then-girlfriend standing innocently in the background, her eyes averted, looking down at the sidewalk. And me feeling like the biggest heal ever to set foot on Webster Avenue.

So, that's how the trip started, not to get "married," but to send a telegram from Elko, Maryland. Because in Maryland at the time (mid 60's) you could get married in a drive-thru; no blood test, no waiting.

I was driving a "Nash Metropolitan," the tiniest of cars, barely allowed on the American highway. Today it's a collector item, but back then it was like driving a lawnmower with a roof on top. A toy, "charging" west through the high mountains of western Maryland, up and down hills so steep, they had parallel, dirt, escape roads on the downsides in case the brakes failed.

Because this little story isn't about my then-girlfriend, but about that tiny car. How it struggled to take us west until it could drive no more.

It gave out in the middle of the night in a place called Blytheville, Arkansas, a one-horse exit off some godforsaken highway. At a one-man truck stop where we pulled in for gas, and oil. Lots of oil. And just as I pulled up the pump, a small explosion under the hood. Then a cloud of white smoke. My tiny Nash had died, dead. In the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. Fini, gone with the wind, gone to tiny-car heaven. Leaving my then-girlfriend and her fearless hero... stranded. No motel, no buses, no nothin' - except a wide-eyed gas attendant dressed in coveralls, and grease.

"Hey, you," he said, "what kinda car is that!"
"Well, a very 'rare car'," I said.
"It sure is! Y'all wanna sell it?"
"Sure, but I think the engine has a problem."
"I can fix it," he said without ever lifting the hood, adding, "How much you want?"
"A hundred dollars, or, $25 and a ride to Memphis."

He closed the truck-stop on the spot, loaded us into his old Chevy, and a few hours later me and my then-girlfriend checked into a hotel in downtown Memphis. Still on our way to... California.

And the tiny "Nash" now a memory.; 11/7/10, 2:11 AM
Penny said...: Sheesh, Chip. You gotta read between your "pop-ups", bro. ;)

Doug's bringin' the brats. We got some Beatles on tap. Misty's bringing the LSD, and still into colors. Could someone wave their hands so she can see some trails?

THANK you!

Ann, aka "Althouse", is listening to Dylan pron, in her mind's eye.

Very cool how she does that.

What's really weird is that Dylan stopped pining for blonde, Joni Mitchell, long enough to do a redhead? But hey, Althouse has never been one to let an "opportunity" pass her by, so can we excuse her for dying her red hair blonde, and just get on with it?

THANK you!

Meade? Enough already with the magic mirrors. Try philosophy! Bob Wright is waiting for you on "the other side".

You're welcome!

A woman's work is ENDLESS, assuming she desires a full life ...*deep sigh*

So...Lem?

Where did you learn to sing the muy bien music, mi amigo?; 11/7/10, 2:11 AM
Kirk Parker said...: Just can't resist baiting the Dylan-haters, can you? :-); 11/7/10, 2:15 AM
Penny said...: Trooper York?

Did you get all that?

Cool!

We'll call it "reality blogging".

*dead silence*; 11/7/10, 2:18 AM
Penny said...: Almost Ali? We may not be welcome at the dinner table tonight, but we sure had ourselves some fun.

Well done, sir!; 11/7/10, 2:27 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Quilombo - Gilberto Gil; 11/7/10, 2:30 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: good night.. I'm going to try and make it to church early in the morning.; 11/7/10, 2:34 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: thanks penny; 11/7/10, 2:35 AM
Anonymous said...: Penny,

Many thanks, it was written for you.; 11/7/10, 2:43 AM
Penny said...: Ali? Sorry. Just one more comment...

You said, "In broken, barely intelligible English, he asked me to send a telegram the minute I and his daughter got married."

That should have been "ME". The part about his daughter, I mean.

Not that me and his daughter got married, *not a lesbian here* but that "me and his daughter got married" is the right way to say it.

Kapish?

Cool!

Not sure if it was polite to correct you, but you seemed like the kind of person who would want to be correct, if not corrected?

I could be wrong, of course, and if I am? Please pretend that I am Althouse.

THANK you!; 11/7/10, 2:56 AM
Penny said...: ME?

THANK you!; 11/7/10, 2:59 AM
Penny said...: and... night night.

Sweet dreams all.; 11/7/10, 3:09 AM
Anonymous said...: That should have been "ME"

"Me" it is!

And always appreciated.; 11/7/10, 3:16 AM
Bob_R said...: Some are mathematicians.; 11/7/10, 5:25 AM
traditionalguy said...: Wake up you sleepers, its already been an hour of extra sleeping time. Utah sure got its football team Tangled up in Purple yesterday. And all good Horned Frogs will wear their Purple ties to church today. TCU is a private school in Ft. Worth with an enrollment that has recently grown to 8000. It is the mecca for Texas' ranchers' kids that are smart enough to get in. University of Texas down in Austin has an enrollment of over 50,000 but has to take all the rest. Texas which gets the most media attention, has a losing record including yesterday's 25 point loss to Kansas State.; 11/7/10, 7:01 AM
Opus One Media said...: .....How about Rhapsody in Blue in the bar?....; 11/7/10, 7:41 AM
lemondog said...: Reading Adam Ferguson 'When Money Dies' about debt, deficit and hyperinflation in Weimar Germany.

A bill was proposed to make gluttony a penal offence. It made me think how fitting as a Bloomberg initiative, or something the current brain-dead congress logically should have considered as part of O care. Maybe they can work an amendment before years end.

Gluttony was defined as 'one who habitually devotes himself to pleasures of the table to such a degree that he might arouse discontent in view of the distressful condition of the population'

Proposed that such a one may be arrested on suspicion, and punished by imprisonment and/or fine of up to 100,000 marks (£75) for first offense.

Second offense harsher with fines, prison and loss of civil rights.

It never became law but civil rights debasement started with consideration of such a bill.

Would have been intriguing to see proposals to monitor gluttonous behavior.

Were gluttony police or 911 hotlines considered?

Stalin, Mao must have been proud; 11/7/10, 7:48 AM
Paco Wové said...: He's running. BLOOMBERG 2012!

Sounds like he's got the Coffee Party vote wrapped up.; 11/7/10, 7:54 AM
ricpic said...: First day back on sane time! Now if they'd only leave it alone and never go back to that idiot DST I could die happy. But they won't. Meddle meddle gummint.; 11/7/10, 8:46 AM
campy said...: "me and his daughter got married" is the right way to say it.

"His daughter got married"

"___ got married"

Fill in the blank with a first-person pronoun. Which did you choose?; 11/7/10, 8:55 AM
BJM said...: *grumble...grumble*

I hate the time switch...up at the butt crack of dawn today and we've too many clocks.

However this made me laugh...it may be the best take on the meme to date.

[Warning: NSFHCL -not safe for humor challenged Libs]; 11/7/10, 9:03 AM
Lincolntf said...: If Bloomberg runs it will be solely as a stalking horse candidate. He'll attempt to siphon as many ignorant "moderates" as he can from the swelling Republican ranks. Tim Cahill in the MA Gov. was a recent example, there are probably dozens of them around the country every cycle. It's just rare to have a President of the United States so weakened that he needs to go that route.; 11/7/10, 9:08 AM
kent said...: ... and the Krazy Keefums Kockfight proceeds apace:

Keefums Update: "Just Who Do You Think I Am?!?" "Fired."; 11/7/10, 9:56 AM
Misty said...: What's with all this time change complaining? I live in AZ where we don't let anyone eff with our time zone. ;-); 11/7/10, 10:13 AM
kent said...: ... AND, tying neatly into the aforementioned Keefums imbroglio:

MSNBC isn’t a network, it’s a weird little liberal prep school

The entire thing is savagely spot-on, from first sentence to last... but here's a nicely representative excerpt, just to whet your appetite:

"It’s not high school with cable TV salaries, as one news executive once explained it to me trying to account for the adolescent behavior and attitudes of its hosts. No, it’s a weird, little, liberal prep school. It’s not very good academically, but it cost lots of money to get in. The editor of the literary magazine is Olbermann, and his protege is Maddow, the poetry editor. And now, the poetry editor is upset because Keith was suspended for breaking one of the school rules.

"And she’s so upset she’s going to demand his immediate reinstatement. But what is she going to do if he is not re-instated? Nothing, because that would involve paying a price, however small, for her convictions. And if she walked off in protest, who would publish her self-absorbed, snarky poems?"

Love it. LOVE it.; 11/7/10, 10:16 AM
Beth said...: HT, where do you think Saban would go? I think his one foray into the NFL was enough, but I suppose Dallas might be looking for a new head coach.; 11/7/10, 11:47 AM
Beth said...: Campy is correct. When you need to say that you did something with someone else, or something was done to you and someone else, and you don't whether to use I or me, just take the other person out of the sentence and it will be evident. I did X; She did X; She and I did X. X happened to me; X happened to her; X happened to me and her.; 11/7/10, 11:53 AM
kent said...: Tomasky (Guardian UK) on "Stretch" Pelosi: You Lose 65 Seats, You Resign. Period.; 11/7/10, 12:25 PM
HT said...: At the time I was thinking he might like to try to win a national championship with as many different teams as he could. So I don't know - some other SEC team. Or whoever would pay him more. I'd like for Alabama to be his final stop, I'm just not sure that it is. He's from West Va - maybe he'd go there. Just a wild guess though.; 11/7/10, 12:50 PM
Anonymous said...: Many thanks for the additional input, Campy and Beth.

Yet, what's obvious to you... is Greek to me. I tend to write what "sounds" right, rather than what "is" right. (Just ask my first, by-the-book English teacher, who accused me of being downright dyslectic)

So, if you wouldn't mind, what sounds right to you; "I" or "me"?

(I'm assuming me "is" right); 11/7/10, 2:24 PM
Beth said...: Almost Ali, if I understand what you mean say, I don't care either way.

What sounds right is so influenced by earlier maxims we learn as kids:

You learned "i before e, except after c," then you find yourself writing a name or word that originated in German and it doesn't apply.

We learned that to be polite we should write "X and I" rather than "I and X" so "I" starts to sound right even when in usages where it should be "me."

I wouldn't have responded at all to the earlier comment except that it had become an interesting question. I don't correct people's grammar outside of work, and when in an informal writing situation, I don't care to have my corrected either.; 11/7/10, 9:27 PM
Anonymous said...: Beth,

I genuinely appreciate your input, particularly as it directly relates to my stories. Although I consider myself a writer (published), my foundation in English would appall the typical writer's conference (as would my politics).

I make mistakes, even blunders, so I'm happy when others take the time to point out my usage errors, even though it may take awhile before "I" get it. What comes naturally to others doesn't always come naturally to me.

Again, many thanks, Beth!

Dave; 11/8/10, 1:17 AM

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