Althouse: At the December Café...

December 1, 2014

At the December Café...

... you can talk about anything you want.

44 comments:

FullMoon said...: Well no wonder you guys don't see all the good TV shows. You are wasting time busy taking pretty pictures and doing interesting stuff.

You know what really bugs me? Product placement. All engrossed in a world of make believe and up pops a big coke or pepsi or apple logo.

And another thing Watching good old black and white movies where everyone smokes cigarettes it is obvious some of the actors are not actual smokers. They don't inhale, they don't know how to handle their cigarette. Were we actually being brainwashed back in the day by evil tobacco?

And another thing. don't ya hate it when an important character is playing pool and it is obvious they have no clue how to hold a cue and the production ain't got anybody who could take five minutes to show them how?

And how come the bad guys with machine guns always lose to the cop with a pistol.

And spell check? I was happy thinking I was a real good speller 'till spell check began
hmiliating me with a wavy red underline.; 12/1/14, 2:18 PM
Nonapod said...: Watching good old black and white movies where everyone smokes cigarettes it is obvious some of the actors are not actual smokers. They don't inhale, they don't know how to handle their cigarette

I thinking about smoking in modern movies and shows after watching several episodes of the Peaky Blinders this weekend. Being a period show (1920s) and in an effort to maintain a degree of authenticity, pretty much everybody smokes. It seems like the guy who plays the main character (Cillian Murphy) is definitely inhaling. I was wondering if he's actually a smoker.; 12/1/14, 2:33 PM
Unknown said...: Does the Amazon portal credit for each click onto, each purchase, or the total amount spent? I've got a couple of newsletters that find cheap & free kindle books, if I find a title & go through the AA Amazon portal get one, does that count?; 12/1/14, 2:45 PM
Meade said...: Ah but as we waste time taking pretty pictures and doing interesting stuff we practice our cigarette smoking techniques, discuss billiards strategies, and engage in spelling contests. Loser has to get out the machine gun next time a cop walks by.

We're old and there are two of us which compounds our oldness. We have no time to squander on simple frivolities.; 12/1/14, 2:51 PM
Curious George said...: I read the sad news of the Ohio State player who committed suicide. Looks like it was associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy , or CTE. Guess we'll know when the autopsy come back.

Enjoy football while you can...I think it will no longer exist in 10-15 years. Youth leagues, high schools, and colleges will drop it because of risk of lawsuits. Then so long NFL.; 12/1/14, 2:57 PM
FleetUSA said...: @Mead. You're not old unless you think you are. I am older (slightly) but don't think I am.

Love your winter walk photos [and resent all Ferg, MO intrusions - enough]; 12/1/14, 3:01 PM
FullMoon said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/1/14, 3:06 PM
Patrick said...: Thanks, Andy Rooney.; 12/1/14, 3:08 PM
Meade said...: I agree, in principle. But I genuinely enjoy being old.

If I could relive any of my 6 decades, I'd choose this last one. Even with those first 5 years from 50 to 55 that were sort of stinkers.

But since I can't do that (relive the past), I'm looking so forward to the next 10 that I'm practically willing to jump ahead a month or 2.; 12/1/14, 3:12 PM
Big Mike said...: In the Washington area digital channel 14.2 shows a lot of old black and white movies, particularly westerns. I just love the twenty-shot six-shooters! Wish I knew where to buy one.

Also love the way the hero's shirt always looks clean and starched no matter how hard he's ridden and how dusty the road.

I wonder how the heroines permed their hair back then? Of course if the Wild West had a lot of women who looked like that back, I suppose it would have been a lot wilder.

Finally, I don't understand why, given all those horses, no one looks down when they step into the street.; 12/1/14, 3:19 PM
Bob Ellison said...: I'd do the second decade. These last few decades have not been so good, except for the blessings of my wife and kids.

Maybe that's the knife-edge. I'd like to have a great, long life, but the boys and my wife are on the other side. I'll take that side.; 12/1/14, 3:22 PM
Meade said...: Sorry to hear you lost your wife and kids, Bob. Sincere condolences.; 12/1/14, 3:24 PM
Bob Ellison said...: No, Meade, they're still alive. I don't think I write very well here.; 12/1/14, 3:29 PM
rehajm said...: The wealthy don't just pay their 'fair share', they pay almost everyone else's share.; 12/1/14, 3:29 PM
Bob Ellison said...: My earlier comment was pretty much self-condolence.; 12/1/14, 3:30 PM
Meade said...: Bob, oh... well! then Hallelujah!; 12/1/14, 3:30 PM
paminwi said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/1/14, 3:31 PM
Big Mike said...: @FullMoon (3:06) at least you can look in the mirror. Ever since I met that Vladmir Dracul fellow, I've had trouble.; 12/1/14, 3:51 PM
Bob Ellison said...: No better boys on the planet. Don't even get me started.; 12/1/14, 3:52 PM
Hagar said...: The "look of creeping horror" on Mika Brzezinski's face as she listens to Scarborough's rant about Michael Brown, etc. on "Morning Joe," is indeed worth watching.; 12/1/14, 4:13 PM
rhhardin said...: If you put your ear on the path you can hear bicycles coming.; 12/1/14, 4:24 PM
m stone said...: Meade wrote: I'm looking so forward to the next 10 that I'm practically willing to jump ahead a month or 2.

Life is short; move slowly.; 12/1/14, 4:43 PM
Anonymous said...: Noah Rothman at HotAir

This got me worked up today. The constant pounding, especially from people who are supposedly Republican and on the right, to do nothing, is maddening.

Why vote for Republicans if the answer is always, "Run away! The media said don't do it!"

And how dumb is this meme that the Republican will get blamed for the shutdown?

Didn't they get blamed for the shutdown this time last year? How'd that work out for them?; 12/1/14, 4:43 PM
m stone said...: What is the "other side" Bob Ellison, if I may ask?; 12/1/14, 4:44 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Does the Amazon portal credit for each click onto, each purchase, or the total amount spent?"

I get a percentage of the purchase price, something like 7 or 8 percent. You have to complete the purchase before clicking away from Amazon, and I'll get credit for everything you collect and buy in that visit. If you just put things in your shopping cart and go back later, I won't get credit.

"I've got a couple of newsletters that find cheap & free kindle books, if I find a title & go through the AA Amazon portal get one, does that count?"

Go in through the portal and then look for it. Don't put it in your shopping cart first and then go in through the portal. That won't work.; 12/1/14, 4:44 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Freezing days and a cold going on it's fourth week. I used to love autumn verging on winter, rain, cold and all. Now it just sucks.; 12/1/14, 4:45 PM
Jaq said...: I agree, only people who instinctively yearn for a stern government master were upset by the shutdown.; 12/1/14, 5:01 PM
Hagar said...: Just watched a clip about the "Free Speech" case before the Supreme Court.
If Justice Alito's question about whether pretending to be a rap artist should give a free pass to engage in criminal sppech, has validity, then what about the "real" rap "artists?"
Why should they be allowed to engage in the kind of speech we hear everywhere over the public airwaves?; 12/1/14, 5:24 PM
David said...: " If you just put things in your shopping cart and go back later, I won't get credit."

But do you get credit if I purchase things already in the shopping cart on a visit from your portal?; 12/1/14, 5:49 PM
David said...: FleetUSA said...
@Mead. You're not old unless you think you are. I am older (slightly) but don't think I am.

As Yoda would tell you, "you will be." And you won't mind most of it.; 12/1/14, 5:50 PM
Anonymous said...: Since this is a cafe let me express my opinion on race relations--don't judge a person by the color of their skin.

I am a baby-boomer white guy from a midwestern state with a very low minority population. I now live in a southern city with a large minority population. Today I ran several errands. I was served by a hispanic doctor, a black nurse, and store workers who were black, hispanic, and east Indian. Everybody was very friendly, helpful, and reacted well to my dumb jokes and puns. I think all these workers went home satisfied with a good day of work. Other days I have been helped by my minority neighbors when my old car quit on me a couple of times. They stopped voluntarily and used their skills to help me get it going again. I am thankful for such good neighbors. I think this is how it is supposed to work.; 12/1/14, 5:53 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Finally, I don't understand why, given all those horses, no one looks down when they step into the street.

I'm amazed watching the John Ford cavalry trilogy at the stunts without CGI. Both by the men and the horses. Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Junior were real men. And those indians earn their pay :)

I understand that Ford insisted that they get union scale. Real money in Moab...

Not like Matt Damon, etal.

I think My favorite is Rio Grande.

Maureen O'Hara and the Duke. Doesn't get much better unless it is Boggie and Bacall...; 12/1/14, 6:09 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Grundoon said...
Since this is a cafe let me express my opinion on race relations--don't judge a person by the color of their skin.

There used to be a saying that Southerners: "Dislike Blacks in general, but love the ones they know"

Northerners, Love Blacks in general, but dislike the ones they know"; 12/1/14, 6:12 PM
William said...: How did people care for their toenails before the invention of clippers.......I've reached a safe harbor, and my happiest days are in old age. But that sucks. I wish my happiest days had come in my twenties when I was playing centerfield for the Yankees and had been involved in those messy divorces. The only vice I get to fully realize is sloth. I have very little interest in world domination anymore.; 12/1/14, 7:05 PM
T. A. Hansen said...: What does "he has a weakness for Chopin," mean. I tweeted Norm Macdonald but he never responded.; 12/1/14, 7:28 PM
exhelodrvr1 said...: When will we see an outcry for the hammer victim>; 12/1/14, 7:52 PM
Jaq said...: I love those horses in the John Ford movies.; 12/1/14, 7:55 PM
Jaq said...: I can't imagine blogging. I hate my followers on twitter. I am thinking of banning them all. They cramp my style with the expectations I imagine they have.; 12/1/14, 7:58 PM
Bob Ellison said...: m stone, I was thinking of the difference between people who feel healthy and people who do not.; 12/1/14, 8:07 PM
MadisonMan said...: So the Hill Staffer who resigned after criticizing Obama's teen daughters for, well, acting like teen daughters, was herself arrested for shoplifting as a teen.

I'm not sure how the Smoking Gun found this out (link), but it has me shaking my head at her foolishness.; 12/1/14, 8:08 PM
chickelit said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/1/14, 10:45 PM
chickelit said...: @MadisonMan: Teenage shoplifting seems epidemic: The NYT reporter who all but published Officer Wilson's home address was also arrested for shoplifting (link) -- in Wisconsin!

I'm not sure how anyone finds the criminal records of juveniles, but it has me shaking my head at the reporter's mendacity. I hope she resigns or is fired. More heads need to roll!; 12/1/14, 10:47 PM
Rusty said...: Meade said...
I agree, in principle. But I genuinely enjoy being old.

Meh. Except for a left hip that doesn't work right and the loss of upper body strength I pretty much feel like I did in fortys, better even since I lost a lot of weight.
I can still endure the cold and damp of outdoor activities but preferr to sit inside if it's below 20. I think its my last year of sitting in a deer stand in single digit weather.; 12/2/14, 7:40 AM
John Stodder said...: Nice photo!; 12/2/14, 1:38 PM