Althouse: At the Oak Leaf Café...

November 12, 2011

At the Oak Leaf Café...

P1030936

... you can talk all evening... including chatting about the GOP debate.

59 comments:

Anonymous said...: Fellow Americans:

When I get to the White House, I will make the Federal Government as inconsequential as humanly possible. I will not only remove 3 agencies, in fact, I will abolish the entire Federal government. This will be my stimulus package. When you need something you call, email, Facebook, tweet me, I will be there for you. In fact, I will have no VP. I do not want to waste your money. I promise that before my first term is over, we will have surplus. No State dept., No NIH, No Commerce, No Energy, No EPA, No Education and so on and so forth.

I will be your main person. For the first time in our history, Americans will have direct access to their President. This is the moment we all are waiting for.

I hope you will vote for me. Your vote will ensure that we get rid of our Government. At the WHite House, I will be only person ready for your question, comment, or request.

Yours Respectfully,

James Richard Perry; 11/12/11, 6:35 PM
Chip S. said...: What happens when a parodic online persona tries irony?

Comedic antimatter.; 11/12/11, 6:39 PM
Kirby Olson said...: I raked six bags of leaves today. It took an hour. The kids wouldn't help. They wanted to play wargames on X-box. It was a peaceful day.; 11/12/11, 6:43 PM
Sorun said...: I raked today also. The front yard took a half-hour. A neighbor has an electric leaf-blower/sucker contraption. It took him about two hours. Maybe he wasn't using it right.; 11/12/11, 6:50 PM
edutcher said...: Fall is my favorite time of the year and you give us one of the reasons why, Madame.

Especially against a clear blue sky.

PS Considering the debate is on foreign policy, I wonder who's going to have the brain freeze tonight.; 11/12/11, 7:00 PM
m stone said...: What happens when a parodic online persona tries irony?

Comedic antimatter.

I'm still laughing.; 11/12/11, 7:09 PM
rhhardin said...: There's leaves under my Maple that so far haven't blown away.; 11/12/11, 7:31 PM
Synova said...: Went to Immortals. Had a good time.

Also saw a movie poster for Janet Evanovich's first Stephanie Plum novel One For The Money starring Katherine Heigl. Granted, I'm more interested in finding out who gets to play Joe Morelli.

And I'd just like to state for the record, I don't care if this movie sucks. I'm psyched. :); 11/12/11, 7:39 PM
Known Unknown said...: Cool exhibition going on in Madison.; 11/12/11, 7:45 PM
Joe Schmoe said...: That's either a closeup photo or you've got some big-ass oak leaves out there.; 11/12/11, 8:19 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: I used to like playing in leaves.

Then until one day I saw a dog poop in a pile of leaves and I grew out of that leaf-playing phase immediately.; 11/12/11, 8:20 PM
Joe Schmoe said...: How many of these debates are they having? Like 2 or 3 a week? These seem pretty frequent for being an entire year out from the election. Couldn't they have waited until at least January to start this?

That's one thing that pisses me off about modern politicians. They spend more time campaigning than governing.; 11/12/11, 8:23 PM
Sorun said...: Then until one day I saw a dog poop in a pile of leaves...

November is a dangerous time. If you're not diligent in scooping the poop every day, it gets covered by leaves and then you can't see it. The yard becomes a mine field. If you manage not to step in it, the rake gets it, and that's pretty gross also.

Kids, never jump into the leaf pile of a dog owner.; 11/12/11, 8:31 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I'm off to watch a fight..

hopefully ;); 11/12/11, 8:34 PM
bagoh20 said...: The word verification irritates me. The words seem to be getting longer. My spell checking pops up right over the word until I type enough to eliminate any real words.

I comment on another site that has a system that uses a simple math question like 5 + 6. with that you never need to type more then 2 characters. That's a better system IMHO. Even with the time it takes me to figure it out on my calculator, it's quicker.; 11/12/11, 8:36 PM
edutcher said...: Joe Schmoe said...

How many of these debates are they having? Like 2 or 3 a week? These seem pretty frequent for being an entire year out from the election. Couldn't they have waited until at least January to start this?

It's one a week, but you're right. If memory serves, these things usually start about a month before the primaries.

I'm assuming it's Priebus' brilliant idea.

Just shows you can't trust a guy named Reince.; 11/12/11, 8:44 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: Here in California we have to buy sacks of dead leaves at Home Depot and spread them on the lawn.; 11/12/11, 8:51 PM
Sorun said...: I finished SEAL Target Geronimo by Chuck Pfarrer today. He makes a big deal about Saddam's chemical weapons stashes, and how Al Qaeda recovered and then re-hid some of them after our invasion of Iraq.

Al Qaeda's attempts to use the chemical weapons against us have largely failed so far. There were technical failures on the one hand, but ironically there were also "terror" failures because the Western media is reluctant to report WMD attack attempts due to the media's heavy investment in Saddam not having WMDs in the first place.; 11/12/11, 9:03 PM
Synova said...: Saw the trailer for that SEAL movie today at the theater... darn, can't remember what it's called.

Looked like it will be good. :-)

Oh, and did I mention Immortals?

(All the gods looked like children... even Zeus, though he looked a little bit older, they had him beardless!); 11/12/11, 9:33 PM
Beta Rube said...: Newt had some good moments tonight. He didn't take the bait and take a shot at Romney, and he schooled Pelley on the difference between war and civil criminal matters.

Newtie is growing on me.; 11/12/11, 9:45 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Finally. I've been waiting to catch a cafe to be able to post this:

Bieber stole my look.; 11/12/11, 9:56 PM
Beta Rube said...: Justin will never be as pretty as you, not then and not now.

Reminds me of my oldest daughter at that age, short hair, glasses, serious looking.

I spent the day with her 3 and 5 year old children today. She turned out well, and was never as serious as her school pictures.

And you are really working the vest.; 11/12/11, 10:12 PM
Carnifex said...: This is your finest photo professor.

When is the house going to stand up for fiscal sanity and stop the angry sock monkey from using the national treasury to reward and garner kickbacks from his personal bagmen?

$433 million dollars to his buddy, for an insufficiently tested drug of dubious use is just another example of the zero's scratch my back, or I'll kick your teeth in style of political patronage.

Solyndra, GM. unions, etc, and the Republicans nod their heads and say "Please sir, may I have another".

PSU has nothing on the immorality of DC. Boehner=Pelosi=Gingrich...yadda, yadda, yadda.

Does anyone doubt that the country would be a better place if DC were hit by a meteorite?

Moochie, and Joe Clueless, are going to be Grand Marshal at the final Nascar Race. Are they so arrogent to imagine they're going to be welcome? Or seen as the patronizing vote whores that they are?

Maybe it's nostalgia, more than likely just false memories, but I remember a time when you could listen to our leaders, and believe what they said. As I got older the leaders morphed into politicians, the politicians into whores for money.

I don't like the cynacism of today. Where every statement must be analyzed, deconstructed for content and "shadows of a penumbra".

The straight talk of men has been replaced by the labyrinth of diplomacy. And diplomacy has descended into appeasement.; 11/12/11, 10:28 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Woo to the pic.

I bet you bent that branch.

Freeman Hunt, that's great.

This ↓ is about language. Please skip if you find that sort of thing a drag.

I looked on YouTube for a favorite video about girl's final exam for ASL class. She chose Al Green's F∩ck You to interpret. She does quite well although she does it differently than I would myself including the main line. For some reason she shows that phrase the Italian way, backhanded flick under the chin, instead of the universally recognizable bird, or the various ASL ways which are all pretty funny. Since the phrase is said so often in the song it would be great to mix them up and double the various one-handed ways of saying f∩ck you for emphasis, like two hands flicking under the chin and two birds being forcefully flipped for double the emphasis in stereo. Of course that is not possible with the all two-handed ways of saying f∩ck you including a full-bodied thrust but all that can be exaggerated too.

Anyway. YouTube suggests similar things. I noticed quite a lot of videos for a song I never heard before. I search for the song specifically [someone like you adele asl]. Dozens of pages on this song to my tremendous surprise. I have no idea why this song is so popular to be interpreted in ASL except maybe because the song is slow and emotional. I watched seven videos, seven different interpretations.

They all suck.

That's right. I said it. My version, as I did while watching theirs, is better than all of them without any practice at all. Fact. It makes me wonder who taught these people. They keep missing on so many counts.

I can see myself in another window squeak out in tight graphic clarity and hit the beat with each word. I express the rhythm and facially convey the appropriate emotion and the YouTube uploads don't. The song is slow enough for redundancy and for tacking things together. The short up-tempo bits can go bink bink bink bink bink bink with perfectly clear overlap between ASL and English words, and right on the word too, yet I do not see that in any of the videos, sadly missed opportunities. Nor do any of them combine in fluid motion precisely proper ASL with pantomimed English or assist with sharply specific finger spelling joined in one expression while maintaining a rhythm of blossoming phrases, which the song is basically. You can push all of that out of you exactly like the song does but none of the people in the videos do that. If you muted the sound while watching these videos you'd have no sense at all of the music.; 11/12/11, 11:16 PM
Synova said...: Well, googling al green didn't work so well. ;-)

Ceelo Green worked better.

Funny vid, though, the one I found.; 11/13/11, 12:03 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: Oh, sorry 'bout that.

Did you catch the ASL translation that I was on about? There are others now too.; 11/13/11, 12:41 AM
Craig said...: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzOxC-yp1Z4&feature=player_detailpage

The great thing about radio is how much it leaves to the imagination.; 11/13/11, 1:19 AM
rcommal said...: I raked six bags of leaves today. It took an hour. The kids wouldn't help. They wanted to play wargames on X-box. It was a peaceful day.

Son cut the grass/mowed the lawn/tended to the yard today. (It's a mulching mower, and today was as much about the leaves as the grass.) It took him a while--longer than either of us would have taken to complete that task--especially given, um, breaks. He would have preferred not to help; what he'd rather have done is go on X-Box.

Basic teaching moment: There's not the slightest ice cube's shot in hell that you'll get x [-box] if you don't do y first. Both "logic" and "order of operations" apply to more than maths.; 11/13/11, 2:37 AM
MDIJim said...: Here in ME the oaks, beeches, and hackmatcks/tamaracks/larches are the last native trees to lose their color. They are not as showy as sugar maples, but they nicely set off the drabness of November while we are waiting for the snow.; 11/13/11, 5:33 AM
AllenS said...: Here's my snow plow, sandblasted, primed and painted. Notice manual moldboard settings on the sector. $140, how could I go wrong.; 11/13/11, 6:53 AM
Rube said...: Allen S. That is a great looking plow and for a give away price and where you live that will be one of mans best friends. I could of used one like that when I lived in upstate NY for my 350' plus driveway. Show pic's in action this winter.; 11/13/11, 7:08 AM
AllenS said...: This is a picture of the new Menards three sided car port that I just put up. 20' wide and 18' long. If I had it to do over again, I would have added 4.5' more to the length, however, if you notice the 16" cement footing, that would have been a lot more cement to mix. My cement mixer and aggragate bin are about 170' away. As it was, I started the cement mixer up at 11:30 and didn't finish until 2:45. It kicked my ass.; 11/13/11, 7:14 AM
AllenS said...: Rube, it won't be ready to use this winter. A lot more work to do on the Jeep. I'll still will have to use the tractor.; 11/13/11, 7:16 AM
AllenS said...: I'll still will

Plus, I have a lot of work to do on the English thing.; 11/13/11, 7:18 AM
Curious George said...: "AllenS said...
I'll still will

Plus, I have a lot of work to do on the English thing."

Ha! You're a smart/funny gut Allen.

How deep was that footing? No redimix company local?; 11/13/11, 7:47 AM
AllenS said...: Rock and Roll Cement

Thanks, Curious, I always knew that I was a funny gut.; 11/13/11, 7:56 AM
AllenS said...: The forms for the footing are made using standard 2" x 4"s, so 3 1/2 inches deep.; 11/13/11, 8:00 AM
Curious George said...: "AllenS said...
Rock and Roll Cement

Thanks, Curious, I always knew that I was a funny gut." Oops. Well in my defense the y and t are right next too each other.

You didn't answer how deep the footing is. Another question, how are the panels secure to the frame of the carport?; 11/13/11, 8:02 AM
sakredkow said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/13/11, 8:25 AM
Fen said...: I finished SEAL Target Geronimo by Chuck Pfarrer today. He makes a big deal about Saddam's chemical weapons stashes, and how Al Qaeda recovered and then re-hid some of them after our invasion of Iraq.

Don't tell the Left. Remember, "there were no WMDs in Iraq, Bush stoopid. Illegal and unnessary war. Iraq posed no threat blah blah blah"

I mean, what would a a Team of Navy Seals know about Chemical WMDs in Iraq. ;); 11/13/11, 8:30 AM
Toad Trend said...: Allen

Plow fixture looks robust indeed.

Mixing and pouring concrete will bust your ass in short order. I poured some new sidewalk forms in front of my home using a wheelbarrow and a spade last year.

How does your back feel???; 11/13/11, 8:47 AM
AllenS said...: This picture shows the forms with the rails on top. If you'll notice that there are 4 x 4 x 1 inch pieces holding the frame in place. I had to make a jig, because I had to first square the frame, then mark where I had to dig holes to put cement in, then remove the rails and filled the holes in with cement, then put the rails back on (it stayed square because of the jig) then I used 1/2 inch threaded rod with a nut on the top, pushed them down into the cement (enlarge to see). The next day I took the nuts off and removed the rails, laid rebar down and then poured the footing. The next day put the rails back on, and there you go.; 11/13/11, 8:51 AM
Toad Trend said...: Fen said

"Don't tell the Left."

The left knows, the problem is that the left lies and pretends (the 'willful ignorance' part) not to know because it doesn't fit their narrative.; 11/13/11, 8:52 AM
AllenS said...: How does your back feel???

It only hurts when I breathe.; 11/13/11, 8:53 AM
AllenS said...: Cement poured and I only had enough energy left to drink some beer.; 11/13/11, 9:00 AM
Carnifex said...: @AllenS

Nice snow plow,great paint job, but I got one question.

You seem a smart man, why the HELL would you live in a place that requires one?

Man! All you Yankee's is crazy-lol.

I myself would move further south than I am now but the wife won't have it. She's one of you crazy people that like the cold and snow.

My grandparents had a house 1 block from the beach in Daytona. When we visited them as a child, I had to sleep on the fold out couch with the bar in your back like on "Seinfeld". We would visit in February, night time temps were in the 60's. While we asleep my grandfather would get up, and go from room to room covering us with blankets because it was so cold...for him.

You would wake up around 2 am dripping with sweat-lol. Then try to get back to sleep laying on the damp sheets. By then you could really ache from that damned bar too. They would often find me the next morning either lying crosswise on the bed, or on the floor, something that continues to this day.(not the floor so much, but occasionally).

Anyway, good luck in white hell, more room for us down here:-); 11/13/11, 9:01 AM
AllenS said...: I like the changing of the seasons. While winter isn't my favorite season, it keeps the riff raff away for sure.; 11/13/11, 9:03 AM
Toad Trend said...: Carnifex said

"When we visited them as a child, I had to sleep on the fold out couch with the bar in your back like on "Seinfeld""

I can relate to this one, I was a serial 'sleeper couch sleeper' as a kid, along with my brother and sister...many nights spent at the cousins house...or on vacation at the cottage on the lake.

The sleeper couch with the 'comfort bar' is ubiquitous. If you were lucky, you got your own single cot...or a mattress on the floor.

Remember TV tables???; 11/13/11, 9:11 AM
pm317 said...: Chip Ahoy said...

I used to like playing in leaves.

Then until one day I saw a dog poop in a pile of leaves and I grew out of that leaf-playing phase immediately.
-------------------

Speaking of dog poop, I am fighting a battle with a neighbor who lets their dog out and it does its business on our front yard and sometimes our other neighbor's -- they won't pick up the damn mess. The dog owners are in their late 30s, wear fashionable clothes, drive their Lexuses and live in their (what used to be) million dollar homes. But they don't have the civic sense to walk their dog and pick up after it. If the roles were reversed and had we done it, they would have taken us to court, first parading our third-worldness to the world of course.; 11/13/11, 9:17 AM
AllenS said...: pm,

Buy a rat trap. Set it with a little chunk of meat where it will set it off. If questioned, claim ignorance.; 11/13/11, 10:06 AM
Curious George said...: @Allen: Why did you have to dig out for the threaded rod? Wouldn't just embedding a lag bolt in the footing been easier?; 11/13/11, 10:13 AM
Curious George said...: "AllenS said...
pm,

Buy a rat trap. Set it with a little chunk of meat where it will set it off. If questioned, claim ignorance." No, don't hurt the dog, it's just doing what a dog does. I would pick up the crap in question and deposit in on their doorstep. Or Lexus.; 11/13/11, 10:24 AM
Big Mike said...: I see that Sixty Minutes is planning to deconstruct Nancy Pelosi and her penchant for using her political clout to enrich family members.

Given that Sixty Minutes is not normally right-leaning, or even even-handed, will tonight's show be in the nature of a white wash -- exposing some minor misdeeds while burying the serious issues? Or is it a signal that even the left wing realizes that she is a boat anchor for the party they own?; 11/13/11, 11:16 AM
AllenS said...: A lag bolt isn't straight. I had to have the rails in place to make sure that when I put in the threaded rod though the holes in the rails the frame would be in square. Remember, I had to remove the rails and the 1 x 4 jig once the bolts were set in the cement. I had to do that so I could pour the cement in the forms. One picture shows the bolts sticking out of the cement.; 11/13/11, 11:28 AM
AllenS said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/13/11, 11:31 AM
AllenS said...: The threaded rod had to be in cement below the ground, so that when I removed the rails and the jig, the bolts would be in place once I poured the cement in the forms. I couldn't put the rails on top of the wet cement and insert anything.; 11/13/11, 11:47 AM
Toad Trend said...: pm317 said

"Speaking of dog poop, I am fighting a battle with a neighbor who lets their dog out and it does its business on our front yard..."

Pick the poop up off your front lawn and skillfully toss it onto theirs.

They can either assume their own dog did it, or that you threw it there. If its the latter, then they get the proper message and everyone can move on.

See how easy being a 'neighbor' can be???; 11/13/11, 11:52 AM
pm317 said...: Thanks for the suggestions (and sympathy) for my neighborhood dog problem. My first inclination was indeed to pick it up and throw it in their yard which is two houses down but we live in Montgomery county and pay a lot of property tax. So I called the animal complaints ph number and told them about these people leaving their dog unleashed on the street without supervision and an officer probably paid a visit to them by now.; 11/13/11, 12:17 PM
Synova said...: "Did you catch the ASL translation that I was on about? There are others now too."

Yes, that was the one.

A lot of body language, but I suppose that's the point. ;-)

I think that the hand-flip at the chin thing was more expressive than the finger would have been.; 11/13/11, 1:30 PM

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