November 18, 2013

Floaters... a post inspired by the Chris Matthews statement that Obama's "got floaters, like Valerie Jarrett, floating around."

See the the previous post for the context and analysis of the quote. This is a more light-hearted exploration of "floaters."

1. "Float On," by The Floaters... a hit song from 1977. Lyrics here. Each Floater — Ralph, Charles, Paul, Larry — has his own verse in which he begins by announcing his astrological sign and proceeds to tell use what kind of women he likes. Ralph, the Aquarius, likes "a woman who loves her freedom," etc.

2. "Float On," by Modest Mouse, is a completely different song. It's about not worrying about your problems: "Even if things get heavy, we'll all float on/Alright already, we'll all float on alright."

3. The top definition for "floater" at Urban Dictionary is: "a social mastermind who wavers between members of one particular clique or between multiple cliques in general, pitting people against one another and leeching out information without seeming like a threat." Definitions #2, #3, and #5 refer to buoyant fecal matter. Definition #4 refers to those bits in your eyes, and #6 is "A dead body found in the water."

4. In Adelaide, they eat a comfort food called a "pie floater." "Anthony Bourdain, Joe Cocker, Billy Connolly, Nigel Mansell, Shane Warne and Angus Young are high profile fans of the pie floater."

5. Bob Dylan has a song called "Floater (Too Much To Ask)." The word "floater" does not appear in the song, though Bob appears in a boat in verse #3 fishing for bullheads, and in verse #12, there's a reference to "rebel rivers," which include the Ohio, the Cumberland, the Tennessee.

28 comments:

LYNNDH said...

Floaters, those little things that float around in you eye. Irritating.

MadisonMan said...

That pie floater sounds completely horrible. Pea soup with soggy meat pie in it.

(shudder)

oleh said...

The Froaters, Froat On - By Jo Koy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1j4AK8Ui1U

His sign is the rooster.

oleh said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
CatherineM said...

Oleh - I love the Adam Carolla/Jo Koy Floaters bit. You beat me to it.

Squints said...

Everything down here floats, Billy.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

The thing it recalled to me, after the inevitable toilet imagery, was a very old George Will column including a delightful capsule summary of The Graduate. (The material in quotes is all paraphrase from memory, sorry.) Benjamin returns from "a gift (an expensive college education) to another gift (a new car)," but spends his summer not looking for work, but floating around the pool. Then "floating Benjamin" encounters Mrs. Robinson, who (seeing that he's going to need some help getting with the program here) "unwraps herself and provides painstaking operating instructions." And so on.

I never forgot "floating Benjamin."

Paul said...

Heck...

Obamacare..

Benghazi...

IRS scandal...

ATF scandal...

DOJ scandal...

NSA scandal..

Obama does not have floaters, his whole septic system is full of shit that won't go down.

James Pawlak said...

In the world of forensic pathology a "Floater" is a body coming up from waters after body gases make it lighter than water. They smell bad.

There are parallels to those provisions of "Obamacare" now floating to the surface.

Anonymous said...

Damn James, you beat me to it...

rhhardin said...

Obama is a piece of shit, I've said now and then.

The fine English expression captures it perfectly.

rhhardin said...

Try it after the next Obama speech you hear.

traditionalguy said...

Obama cannot stand competition from a real man. He uses women as he used his mother and Grandmother to worship him.

He picked Biden just because Biden is not a serious man, he is a joke.

When he felt competition from the manly Hillary, he stuck in Kerry who is a half man owned by a rich woman.

But now even Kerry's half man act is causing some trouble among the Head Women in charge Susan Rice and Valerie Jarrett at the White House's destroy Israel Bureau. Stay tuned.

cubanbob said...

The voters have a chance to flush the toilet next year.

Clyde said...

Definitely the buoyant fecal matter one. Definitely.

Scott M said...

What about those annoying little things that hang out in the liquid of your eyeballs?

Bob R said...

I had a quick negative reaction to the pie floater, too. But after thinking about it, it might not be too bad - the crust acts as a crouton, the spicy, hot pork filling a nice substitute for the ham my mother always used to put in her split pea soup.

The thing is - it would be terrible fast food. I hate eating anything wet and sloppy like that from a Styrofoam container with a plastic spoon.

chickelit said...

"Oh, excuse me!’ she gasped, and blushed, and fled. But ah, the fart hung heavy in the humid air, long past the lady’s flight. It hung, it lolled, it wisped; it miscegenated with the smoke of my cigar, caressed the beading oil on the skin of my nose, lay obscenely on the flat of my desk, among my briefs of papers. It was everywhere, but I had learned, even then, to live with nature and my fellow animals. I didn’t flinch; I didn’t move. Through its dense invisible presence I regarded my oracular wall, and this time fruitfully...”
~ The Floating Opera by John Barth

That's pretty good writing...almost Titusian

Sigivald said...

Pie floater?

"I told 'im it was a local delicacy."

Brennan said...

Chris Matthews has it backwards. Valerie Jarrett has Barack Obama floating around.

The facts will not be supressed forever. Maybe in 50 years we can find out like we are not finding out about JFK.

ErnieG said...

Pie Floater, with Spotted Dick for dessert. Yum! Those Brits really know how to cook.

lemondog said...

For 5 years the media have been derelict in its investigation and reporting duties to the public and therefore are gasbag floaters to the administration.

Heartless Aztec said...

To Our Children's, Children's, Children - Moody Blues 1970

Floating (truncated)

Floating free as a bird
Sixty foot leaps it's so absurd
From up here you should see the view
Such a lot of space for me and you

Oh you'd like it
Gliding around, get your feet off the ground

Oh you'd like it
Do as you please with so much ease

Come fly...

YuriG said...

Also, "We Float" by P. J. Harvey. Beautiful song!

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

ErnieG, you forgot the Toad in the Hole.

David said...

It's very interesting how Valerie Jarrett's position has been so persistent. The story of why is something we are not likely to hear.

chickelit said...

It's very interesting how Valerie Jarrett's position has been so persistent. The story of why is something we are not likely to hear.

I wonder if she's psychic like Rasputin was.

MayBee said...

Rove, when he was in a position similar to Jarrett's, was under constant scrutiny.

Why does Valerie receive so little scrutiny? What is with the lack of curiosity about someone with so much power and influence? Really, over every aspect of the Obamas' life.