Althouse: At the Spider Flower Café...

July 6, 2011

At the Spider Flower Café...

... weave your webs.

35 comments:

Anonymous said...: Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive!

Peter; 7/6/11, 8:42 PM
JAL said...: Deer do not eat bee balm (spider flower).

Or so I am told.; 7/6/11, 8:46 PM
James said...: I've lived in Racine for over 10 years but I'd never gone to the 4th of July parade even though it is one of the largest in the country.

But after the controversy over the 9/11 Tribute float sponsored and driven by a non-union firefighter, I went to the parade and shot some photos. Several politicians were there including Senator Herb Kohl, State Senator Van Waangard (R), and State Representative Cory Mason (D); he was the representative who left his office window open and allowed protesters to enter the Capitol overnight.

After all the happenings in Madison, it was really heartwarming to see this unabashed display of patriotism.

Photos here: http://jamesnorton.zenfolio.com/p1056222552; 7/6/11, 8:49 PM
Bayoneteer said...: Leaves of three, let it be. Nice flowers though.; 7/6/11, 8:58 PM
m stone said...: James:

Are photos 138-141 the 9/11 Tribute float?

Silly controversy.; 7/6/11, 9:00 PM
Cedarford said...: Tuned into CNN to watch Eliot Spitzers last night.

There is a lot to be said for the few pundits with brains - Pat Buchanan, Dorothy Rabinowitz, Peggy Noonan - and Eliot Spitzer has the same stuff...amidst the wasteland of newreaders making "deep comments" off the teleprompter. Or the merely brain dead like Chis Matthews and Sean Hannity.

Ironically, and I don't know if it was deliberate, but Spitzer concluded with the "Man in the Arena" TDR quote made famous in Nixon's resignation speech.

I learned that Nixon had read TDR extensively and Ray Price, the speechwriter working with Nixon, said Nixon remembered it as the 1910 speech TDR gave at the Sarbonne and had Price get the book and locate it for the "man in the area" text Nixon deeply admired.

Price also said that Nixon wrote most of his stuff in outlines, then full speeches and used his speechwriters mainly for advice and perhaps a better turn of phrase...and to give advice of how the public would react. Then Nixon memorized it. He did about 19 of every 20 speeches without notes, Price said. But typically read from text on major diplomatic speeches, the SOTU Addresses, other historically significant speeches that Nixon could have memorized - but did not want "historians misled" by a dropped sentence or a misplaced word..so the text had to be right.

Spitzer? Despite what I say about how fucking bright the guy is - read his "in the arena" off the Teleprompter.

Anyone interested might wish to pull up the full TDR text [Citizenship in A Republic] of the speech at the Sarbonne. It's great, not just the "in the arena part" - some wonderful things on citizenship and how while property and wealth must be respected, there are times when human rights and whats best for the whole nation have to be held above the interests of the moneyed classes.; 7/6/11, 9:03 PM
James said...: @ m stone: Yes, the 9/11 Tribute is from 138-148. I didn't have a parade listing so I didn't even realize that was the float that caused all the controversy until it was right next to me. Compared to many of the other floats it was quite small but it was very well received by the crowd. It isn't clear from the pics but there were 6 firefighters marching behind the float and two cops on bikes in case of any incidents. Thankfully nothing occurred.; 7/6/11, 9:18 PM
Luther said...: I find it odd, really, that Spitzer could in any way be linked with this speech, or, even remotely associate himself with it...

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Would it be due to the quality (price) of the whores he chose. The betrayal of his wife and family, his constitutes. I don't understand, ultimately, how those who declare themselves worthy of making decisions for the rest of us can so badly fail at making decisions for themselves.

Is it just hubris. That doesn't seem a good enough answer.; 7/6/11, 9:19 PM
Irene said...: These are my favorite summer flowers. JAL, deer do not eat these, and they do not eat bee balm.

Spider flowers are lovely and wispy. They have a faintly spicy fragrance. They also self seed beautifully in the Midwest, so if you plant a few this year, you will be surprised by the offspring next year.; 7/6/11, 9:23 PM
n said...: Horticulture alert.
That would be Cleome hassleriana, not Bee Balm. Those leaves are palmate compound,,,five leaflets. Not to worry, no poison ivy there. Very aggressive reseeders. Deadhead to control.; 7/6/11, 9:23 PM
edutcher said...: We are all in the blogress' web.

Very nice, I like the wildflowers.

ironrailsironweights said...

Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive!

And here I thought he was going to say something about the webs woven by the silken filaments of full-flavored women.; 7/6/11, 9:24 PM
Titus said...: My parents have a robin nest in their rock garden. She built the nest last Monday and my mother destroyed it, my parents went to their cottage and the entire nest was rebuilt in 5 days, with 4 beautiful blue eggs in it.

Now we are getting very excited for the new baby robins. She will be sitting on them for 14 days. They don't even go out in the backyard because they want to give her time to sit on them.

Very exciting.

Nature, so emotional and heart wrenching.

tits and hogs and pinched loafs.

Speaking of which, I am crowning right now and need to head to the loo.; 7/6/11, 9:37 PM
Titus said...: I have been going to a gym in Madison since I have been back and I have been looking at this guy thinking I knew who he was.

Today, I remembered.

I have marched in the Madison Scouts from the time I was 15 and I marched with this guy or his brother, you see he is a twin.

One summer I did him when I was 15 and once summer I did his brother when he was 16-I was the same age.

His mother found out and took the kids out of the corps and I never seen them again. The mother was really religious and saw my mother in the grocery story and told her the entire sordid story. My mom didn't tell me until I was like in my 30's.

This all happened over 25 years ago so the picture I have of him is what he looked like at 15. He looks very good though and he is in the TRX Class-which is for pretty in shape peeps.

First of all, I don't know which one it is because they are twins and I did both of them, and secondly how to I even introduce myself, if I should? "Hi, remember we, we did it when we were 15 and your mom found out and took you out of the corps....how you been"?

By the way he turned out straight and I didn't.; 7/6/11, 9:56 PM
William said...: I think the Caley Anthony verdict must give Vance nightmares. There is still considerable pressure on him to take this case to trial. If he does, there is the terrifying possibility that he might win. Our relations with France will never recover.....A pretty woman in tears. A fat assed banker with a smug expression and a French accent. There's a good chance the case could be won based on the semiotics, if not the facts....I saw Bernard-Henri Levy on the Spitzer show. That guy is like some kind of parody of a French intellectual. I like the way he keeps his shirt unbuttoned and lets the wind rustle through his hair. I wonder if he gets laid more often than DSK.....Also on the Spitzer shoe were Schama and Fareed Zakira discussing the founding fathers. I was tickled pink to note that they were on the side of Hamilton and not Jefferson. Two hundred years. That's about how long it takes for liberals to look back and see the wisdom of a conservative position.....I still think Spitzer is remarkable for his lack of charisma and likeability. It's rare to see that in television personality (outside of MSNBC). Still he's intelligent, and it has recently become possible to look at him without thinking of over the calf black socks.; 7/6/11, 10:03 PM
Sal said...: "I have been going to a gym in Madison since I have been back..."

What gym do you go to? I'm trying to solve a mystery.; 7/6/11, 10:04 PM
windbag said...: Blue Skies by Theresa Andersson.; 7/6/11, 10:06 PM
Sal said...: Now we are getting very excited for the new baby robins. She will be sitting on them for 14 days. They don't even go out in the backyard because they want to give her time to sit on them.

There's a robin's nest every year under my deck. I can lay on the deck and peer between the boards and be inches from the nest to count eggs and hatchlings. The first year I did that I got attacked by mites. It's quite creepy to suddenly be aware that there's a swarm of something invisible crawling all over your face.; 7/6/11, 10:11 PM
traditionalguy said...: Spitzer asks the right questions, but he answers them himself. He doesn't need the guests any more than he needed Parker. But it is dull to hear one opinion expressed over and over and over. Hasta La Vista, Client #9.; 7/6/11, 10:13 PM
JAL said...: You are right nancy4863.

Thanks.

Deer don't eat one or the other.

(Or so I have been told. ;-) )

There are a bunch of the spider flowers in the back of our neighbor's field where they were thrown onto a pile. I'm going out and dig some up. Have a place for them.; 7/6/11, 10:23 PM
traditionalguy said...: Weaving webs is not all they are Cracked Up to be. You have to remember where each strand of your web goes, or you won't catch many victims.

"I know what I'll do. I'll go home to Tara. Tomorrow is another day", said a famous web weaver named Scarlett O'Hara.

Everybody thinks Gone With The Wind is Scarlett's story. But the book was about the southern woman's point of view as seen by Melly Hamilton.

Melly had to endure the men, the War, an Invasion coming from Wisconsin , and local Atlanta whores and never lose her cool.

Scarlett was the hardest task that Melly had to handle.

But the book's readers all loved Scarlett for her independent spirit.; 7/6/11, 10:29 PM
Anonymous said...: And here I thought he was going to say something about the webs woven by the silken filaments of full-flavored women.

Oh I would, I surely would, but tragically that sort of thing belongs to the increasingly distant past, back when adult women actually looked like adult women :(

Peter; 7/6/11, 10:35 PM
VanderDouchen said...: Titus,

Every young man just wants to bust a nut. Most get over it.

The leaves look like maryjanewanna. Has anyone tried to smoke it?

Smoke poles.

WV: slahses:

I walked through the briar patch and that resulted in many slahyses on my legs.; 7/6/11, 11:15 PM
Christy said...: Lovely cleome.

The border I've spent the last 2 years nursing along was mostly destroyed today.

I spent the day hiding my eyes in my hands. Work is finally underway on our new roof - all those hailstones on the night of the 4 tornado alerts did it in. I couldn't watch as heavy old shingles were thrown off the roof into my flowers. The good news is I hadn't yet divided Mom's peonies and brought them over here. The bad news is that I had divided up her fancy irises. I've always heard irises survive most anything. We'll see.; 7/6/11, 11:39 PM
Titus said...: MarkG I go to a gym in Madison, 6 days a week.

Where do you go?

Do you think you know who I am, by way of the gym?

Althouse does know my appearance as she has received many pics of me.

But MarkG, I am leaving soon. One more month and I am outta here.; 7/7/11, 12:35 AM
Titus said...: And MarkG, how long have you been hanging out here?

I am a vet you know.; 7/7/11, 12:41 AM
Christy said...: Well! I just had a 1 a.m. visit from a couple of good ole boys. The guys from the church youth group came home with my nephew after services to spend the night. They played a trick on a passing car by pretending to pull a rope tight across the road just as it drove by. (I got this later.) The driver gave them what for at the time, but then came back with a friend 3 hours later to have a talk about it. 1 a.m.!!!! His was a righteous anger, but to show up at this hour! And then the kids, scared, shut the front door behind me, locking me out of the house. The exchange of unpleasantries ended when the family dog rushed to my rescue. Those lovely church boys had left open a gate and the dog came round to defend me. And now I'll be up all night, just in case the driver and his friend come back.

Teenage boys - not as fun as I remember.; 7/7/11, 1:42 AM
HT said...: I thought it was cleome too. But Ann seems to be calling it spider something. I am not familiar enough with either to know if the two are one in the same. I also kind of thought cleome's leaves spiked out more.; 7/7/11, 6:42 AM
The Concrete Dog said...: long long ago
when i was a god

the atacameño people
from south america
brought me this flower
with the ceibo
and cantuta

i liked their maize
they hoped i would
grant a rich harvest

but my powers are small
just tricks, really

very few
of their people remain
and no one still speaks
the kunza language
not since 1930 or so

but the flower survives
and maize
and their names for villages
like calama which means
town in the middle of the water

they do not
remember me; 7/7/11, 7:45 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Sounds like the judge is giving CA the max.

Shes stays in jail.; 7/7/11, 8:36 AM
Fen said...: They played a trick on a passing car by pretending to pull a rope tight across the road just as it drove by.

I've seen that happen. The driver freaked and tried to make an emergency stop to avoid. Flipped over. Country road, took EMS 30 mins to arrive.

Be happy the boys were just dealing with an angry driver. I would have come back to shoot them.; 7/7/11, 8:40 AM
Christy said...: Fen, that's what I was afraid of.; 7/7/11, 12:40 PM
n said...: HT
Spider Flower is the common name. Cleome hasslerania is the scientific name. The leaves are palmate compound. As the flower matures, it will develop long "legs" (seed pods) that give it a spidery look, hence its common name. Deadhead to the nodes for lateral branching/flowering. They'll fill in nicely in the next few weeks.; 7/7/11, 12:59 PM
HT said...: Cool, thanks.; 7/7/11, 5:25 PM
Christy said...: Nancy, I've gone with Latin names since the two years I spent looking for False Dragonhead, which sounded perfect for my location. Only to discover I knew it as Obedient Plant and already had a nice drift of it going.; 7/7/11, 8:37 PM
Groupdmt said...: Really it was a nice blog...
Prepress Service; 12/9/11, 12:54 AM