Althouse: Peonies, today.

May 21, 2012

Peonies, today.

51 comments:

gadfly said...: Every time it rains, it rains Peonies from heaven.; 5/21/12, 9:07 PM
edutcher said...: Very pretty, Madame.

I do thank you.

You say every day is a beautiful gift and the photography says how much beauty you see.; 5/21/12, 9:08 PM
Anonymous said...: Dior Forever and Ever Dior, Peony based. As heavenly a scent, as beautiful the flower.; 5/21/12, 9:20 PM
rhhardin said...: Harvesting Wheat Chex, video; 5/21/12, 9:22 PM
KCFleming said...: Insty has a link about Sterling Hall bomber Karl Armstrong being arrested after $800,000 cash was found in his motor home. It smelled of pot.; 5/21/12, 9:37 PM
Phil 314 said...: My Mom loved peonies.; 5/21/12, 9:39 PM
chickelit said...: Pogo said:

Insty has a link about Sterling Hall bomber Karl Armstrong being arrested after $800,000 cash was found in his motor home. It smelled of pot.

Holy juice cart millionaire!; 5/21/12, 9:51 PM
Patrick said...: "Armstrong denied knowing anything about the money." $815,000!

That's why he reversed himself and consented to the search - he knew the dogs would smell the pot, figured the police wouldn't.; 5/21/12, 9:56 PM
KCFleming said...: @chickelit
Nice work if you can get it.

My folks took the baker's dozen of us to Peony Park in Omaha a coupla times in the 1960s.

It was a little amusement park. I was -what- mebbe six at the time. Screamed like hell on the ferris wheel and they had to stop it to let me off.

But it was a kiddie ferris wheel, like 10 feet high.
The shame.; 5/21/12, 9:58 PM
chickelit said...: Armstrong denied knowing anything about the money." $815,000

"They're taking me in because of my history in Madison. I'm just a patsy!"; 5/21/12, 9:59 PM
MadTownGuy said...: Interestng article by Zombie over at PJMedia, about a blog post from 1956. Or something like it.; 5/21/12, 10:00 PM
chickelit said...: Fingerprints on the money could be useful. Armstrong's New Year's Gang tried to blow up Badger Ordinance in Dec 31, 1969 using a bomb dropped from a Cesna airplane. The bomb didn't explode but had prints all over it.; 5/21/12, 10:11 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/21/12, 10:20 PM
Palladian said...: Dior Forever and Ever Dior, Peony based. As heavenly a scent, as beautiful the flower.

There was a dreadful trend about 5 years ago for "peony" perfumes, partially sparked by Givaudan's
2-cyclohexyl-2-cyclohexylideneacetonitrile, an aroma chemical they market under the unfortunate name "Peonile". Peonile doesn't smell like peonies, but then I don't think peonies have a particularly interesting odor anyway. The fragrance industry likes them because it gives a natural-sounding category to the legions of faceless, chemical-smelling, faux-fresh, indistinct "floral" junk perfumes that they love to foist on the undiscerning consumer.; 5/21/12, 10:22 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/21/12, 10:24 PM
Beta Rube said...: Armstrong is traitorous, murdering sonofabitch who should have been hanged years ago. My little Wisconsin company would be proud to donate the rope and wood for the scaffold if the State ever reconsiders.

His antics created a widow and three orphans. Fuck him. I hope he dies in jail for this latest stunt.; 5/21/12, 10:24 PM
Palladian said...: Peonile is also notable because it's chlorine bleach stable, one of the very few aroma chemicals that meets that important criterion. This means a component of your "peony" perfume will also show up in your toilet bowl cleaner.; 5/21/12, 10:27 PM
Beta Rube said...: BTW, is there anything the NATO protestors are for that Bill Ayers and Barry Obama are against?

Just wondering.; 5/21/12, 10:29 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The professor had a post just a few days ago about the push back a Romney supporter got when his plan to roll out a series of ads "linking" Obama to Jeremiah Wright. came to light.

To which I commented..

This will not be the case when it comes to Romney's Mormonism.

Obama will use it.. with the help of the MSM.
5/18/12 9:09 AM

It didn't take long.

Item.. WaPo Attacks Romney for 'Mormon Militia' Action 150 Years Ago

Item.. NYT Reporter Goes To Romney's Church, Seeks Info From Worshipers

Its up to the blogs and the average citizen to give the MSM some 'push back'.; 5/21/12, 10:33 PM
Stephen A. Meigs said...: Something about a tendency toward permanent translocation heterozygosity makes for pretty flowers. Mostly this only happens in the Onagraceae (evening primrose family) but Paeonia is exception. Onagraceae have diploid endosperm which is also weird. I calculate triploid endosperm reduces by 1/6 the bad consequences vis a vis endosperm quality of flowers at anthesis selecting for sperm tubes especially able to penetrate them, which in my theories should encourage pretty flowers beloved of pollinators. So I figure permanent translocation heterozygosity is the likely explanation for why there are nevertheless lots of pretty little-girl-like flowers among the Onagraceae. But I haven't figured out details of what exactly it is about permanent translocation heterozygosity that is so important, and it is very complicated phenomenon, so I don't know.; 5/21/12, 10:43 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: ...and I see the professor is on the case.; 5/21/12, 10:44 PM
edutcher said...: Mark Twain has a very full account of Mountain Meadows in "Roughing It", which I recommend.

And it was not a "militia", but a gang of Mormons allied with Indians - of course the WaPo isn't going to say anything unkind about Native Americans.

That the WaPo feels obliged to try to tar the Romster with it tells me Zero's numbers are looking worse every day.

PS Serious question for Ann, if she knows the answer.

If, for the sake of argument, Barry was found to have actually been born in Kenya and gained the Oval Office by fraudulent means, would that render every bill and Executive Order he signed null and void?; 5/21/12, 10:48 PM
Anonymous said...: Just had dinner with the blonde and her friend from Harvard. It was a hoot. We are so, so very, very happy with the Romney team getting into quicksand with the Bain. Oh my gosh. We are going to win this thing so fast and so easily that I am already planning to visit Target to get right furniture for my new office in WH. OMG. I luv it!

We are going to win this thing. I can taste Romney's defeat. I can smell his fear, his loss, his total incompetence.

No one does better than POTUS Obama....as the Bond song goes.

O-V-E-R GOP.

Cheers,

CORE Member; 5/21/12, 10:53 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I'm predicting Zuckerberg is out of Facebook by the end of the year.; 5/21/12, 10:55 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: AP and titus walk into a bar..; 5/21/12, 10:57 PM
Anonymous said...: Palladian, it's one of my favorites nevertheless, lol. It's a
Ight scent, very feminine. Worth every peony, I mean penny.; 5/21/12, 11:05 PM
Patrick said...: I read America's Politico's posts with great amusement, right up until the time I ask myself: What if he's right?

Shudder.; 5/21/12, 11:06 PM
Patrick said...: Allie, I'm going to have to call a moratorium on puns. I'll let you know when it's over. I know you're just dying to say the Dior is worth every scent!; 5/21/12, 11:08 PM
JAL said...: How come they are standing up so straight? Mine always fall over and I have to stake them.; 5/21/12, 11:09 PM
chickelit said...: There was a dreadful trend about 5 years ago for "peony" perfumes, partially sparked by Givaudan's
2-cyclohexyl-2-cyclohexylidene acetonitrile, an aroma chemical they market under the unfortunate name "Peonile".

I had to google that name to get the structure because I couldn't visualize it. You are correct, however, an alternative name is 2-cyclohexylidene-2-phenyl acetonitrile.

Calling a simple phenyl moiety "cyclohexylidene" is new one for me--akin to calling ethylene "dimethylene."

Thanks for the lesson, Palladian!; 5/21/12, 11:11 PM
chickelit said...: This means a component of your "peony" perfume will also show up in your toilet bowl cleaner.

Eau de toilette?; 5/21/12, 11:13 PM
Patrick said...: Bucky's "dad" died. http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/university/bill-sachse-brainchild-behind-modern-bucky-badger-mascot-dies-at/article_bb7e329c-a3b1-11e1-8107-001a4bcf887a.html

RIP. I'll never forget the time my then 5 year old son got a hug from Bucky. Frozen four up in St. Paul, on St. Patrick's day. When I think of that, I always smile big, and sometimes (like now) I tear up a little.; 5/21/12, 11:13 PM
Anonymous said...: Patrick, why YES it is and I wish I would've thought of that, good one.; 5/21/12, 11:16 PM
Anonymous said...: Ha Chickie, me and my toilette bowl, we smell goooood.; 5/21/12, 11:18 PM
AlanKH said...: Re Sterling Hall:

Has anyone ever tested the half-life of marijuana smoke? If a dollar bill absorbs it, how long until all traces of it go away?; 5/22/12, 12:51 AM
Ralph L said...: Stephen, I remember reading years ago that peonies don't like to be moved, and how dare you assume they're heterozygotic!

JAL, Meade is holding them up from out of camera range.; 5/22/12, 12:54 AM
AlanKH said...: WaPo Attacks Romney for 'Mormon Militia' Action 150 Years Ago

Better not go there.; 5/22/12, 12:59 AM
wyo sis said...: Alan
I've heard from a somewhat reliable source that Obama is related through his mother to some early Mormon families who practiced polygamy. Might not be true, but it would be a splendid irony.; 5/22/12, 1:17 AM
bgates said...: Armstrong denied knowing anything about the money

The motor home. That's where I left it.

Who do I call to get that back?; 5/22/12, 1:33 AM
edutcher said...: Patrick said...

I read America's Politico's posts with great amusement, right up until the time I ask myself: What if he's right?

Shudder.

Read his posts on the '10 election.

You will immediately feel better.

WV "Asiansm" When you get off with Fu Manchu.; 5/22/12, 5:49 AM
KCFleming said...: "I read America's Politico's posts with great amusement"

The sides of cereal boxes are more entertaining.

If you must read them, remember it's just Titus, loaf-pinching again.; 5/22/12, 7:03 AM
Patrick said...: Yeah, I remember when AP first started his shtick. I kind of think he's the alter ego of one of the regular commenters. Couldn't think of which one though.; 5/22/12, 7:13 AM
Scott said...: Every woman wants a peony.; 5/22/12, 7:28 AM
traditionalguy said...: One way to know that midwestern yankees are moving into your neighborhood is seeing houses are replacing azaleas and confederate jasmine lanscaping with Peony bushes.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.; 5/22/12, 8:02 AM
Michael Haz said...: The Illinois state police busted Karl Armstrong more than $800,000 in cash sealed in bags hidden in his motorhome.

I hope the bastard gets put away for the rest of his life this time.; 5/22/12, 8:05 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: Inside those peonies are some nifty genitals.; 5/22/12, 8:21 AM
MadisonMan said...: The Illinois state police busted Karl Armstrong more than $800,000 in cash sealed in bags hidden in his motorhome.

I saw that too. Transporting cash. I really hope the police can't keep it, though, and that it goes to Robt Fassnacht's kids. That would be an ideal solution IMO. But you just know the Police will use the fact that it smelled of cannabis to confiscate it so they can buy bling.; 5/22/12, 9:17 AM
Peter Hoh said...: Peonies tomorrow.; 5/22/12, 9:32 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: There is a fragrance named Peonile? Heh.; 5/22/12, 1:44 PM
Jeff in Oklahoma said...: This article on the NYPD "stop and frisk" policy is flabbergasting in too many ways.

This sentence is, perhaps the most inane comment I've read in quite some time: Expect them to continue making a host of groundless arguments [for doing away with the NYPD policy]

Perhaps most fascinating, not once does the author mention the 4th Amendment.

Really? You would think the "right leaning" NY Post would have writers with a better grasp of the Constitution.; 5/22/12, 2:55 PM
Issob Morocco said...: While those look much like Peonies from Heaven.; 5/22/12, 3:53 PM