December 31, 2015

At the New Year's Eve Café...

P1130863

... it's time to close down 2015. Say goodbye and hello to '16. May it be sweet '16.

33 comments:

jimbino said...

What do you think about instituting a "cap-and-trade" for breeders. Each breeding woman gets 2.1 kids; after that, if she wants more, she needs to buy a breeding license from a woman who has 1 kid or one who is childfree.

Besides solving global warming, such a policy would save flora, fauna, water and energy.

FullMoon said...

Not gonna lie, I am looking forward to newly resolved ladies joining the gym and bouncing and jiggling.

I schedule my workouts around women's Zumba and Yoga classes. Watching the ladies creates enthusiasm and motivation.

Simple peasures....

Big Mike said...

May it be sweet '16

It won't be. Still, I lived through 1968; I can make it through 2016.

I hope.

Sal said...

Is that Lake Mendota? Unfortunately it isn't froze-over yet. I'm hoping it will be by Monday, with cold temps and light winds forecast this weekend.

Ann Althouse said...

It's one of the photos of the year, not too recent. Yes, it's Mendota.

Fernandinande said...

No relaxation, no conversation, no variation
In a very dark blue, blue condition.


Happy Gregorian calendar civil new year!

traditionalguy said...

Big Game Bob is losing Oklahoma's chance.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

Althouse, have you been aware of/following The Making of a Murderer? Watched the first epoaude last night and thought of you, as it's in your backyard. Any opinions to share?

MaxedOutMama said...

Happy New Year to all. May it bring each of you happiness and good fortune.

Patrick said...

2016 is evenly divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

pm317 said...

May it be sweet '16.

Like the play on words and it will be the year of the Women! (appropriately).. I hope.

Gahrie said...

Happy New Year.....I hope it is a better one for us all.

Mid-Life Lawyer said...

So......you pretty much live on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. It's seasonably cool here in Central Mississippi, finally, after about a week of tornados and warm/humid weather that culiminated in my going to get my annual (unofficial but it happens about once a year, usually around this time) sinus 3 shot cocktail today, so that I will feel up to driving down to NOLA in the a.m. (3 hours, not bad) for the Sugar Bowl tomorrow night.

The last time Ole Miss played in the Sugar Bowl, Archie Manning was the Quarterback. He's kind of a big deal around here and in New Orleans, as well.

Big Mike said...

Five Words? Next Year Will Be Worse

Snark said...

I do not like comment moderation. Also, green eggs and ham. I would be curious if there is any kind of historical correlation with the perceived need for on and off moderation here and what is happening in the wider culture in terms of the kind of language that we are collectively percolating in. Is it Trump's fault this time?

BN said...

Truly lovely.

BN said...

"is it Trump's fault this time?"

Not yet. "Nobody's" fault yet. But soon. Very soon.

BN said...

"Next year will be worse"

"and know this: Life is a curse that only gets worse."

Quote from somebody somewhen. Maybe not a famous guy. I cant remember exactly. Probably just a fellow convict.

BN said...

Y'all should skip that second comment. The first is my true feeling. Happy New Year!

Yay.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Watching the Homeland episode where Muzzies try to attack a German train station with sarin. Pick up the i-pad and see that two German train stations were evacuated today due to Muzzie threats. For all the hoo-ha about Islamophobia, Trump, and Muslim immigration, it occurs to me that the position of Muslims in the West is ultimately untenable. Political correctness will eventually crumble in the face of repeated Muslim terror attacks and life will become very difficult for Muslims who are not fully assimilated into Western society. Not if, but when.

cf said...

perfect pic.
all week, I cannot stop thinking about this time 10 years from now, wow.
It has the potential to be a big chunk of awesome, between these last hours of 2015 and those of 2025.
yes, OK, I know there will be tragedy and horrors, but in all that passes,
May we be witness to Joy and wonder most of all.
Happy New Year's Eve: "big chunk of awesome" to you (clink!)

cf said...

perfect pic.
all week, I cannot stop thinking about this time 10 years from now, wow.
It has the potential to be a big chunk of awesome, between these last hours of 2015 and those of 2025.
yes, OK, I know there will be tragedy and horrors, but in all that passes,
May we be witness to Joy and wonder most of all.
Happy New Year's Eve: "big chunk of awesome" to you (clink!)

Michael K said...

Comment moderation moderates my presence here. I assume you have good reason to limit participation.

lavinia said...

and bless you, Ann, for every post, for every day. I am thankful.

Humperdink said...

Add me to the thumbs down crowd on comment moderation. My participation has taken a nose dive.

The blog has gone from a conversation to a collection of extraneous thoughts parachuting onto the screen every hour or two.

I am sure our dear hostess has very good reasons for doing so. It just doesn't work for me.

virgil xenophon said...

Humperdink and Dr K hit it square in the nuts. Moderation (as I've pointedly noted here several times before) ABSOLUTELY destroys any semblance of a "conversation" which should be the raison d'etre of ANY blog such as AA is holding hers out to be.

virgil xenophon said...

Oh, I should also wish AA a Happy New Year. Her record of daily blogging has demonstrably been a hurculean, sisyphean effort from jump-street in 2004 when I began first reading. Few such bloggers of ANY kind are up to the intellectual and psychic task of daily blogging at such an intellectual level. Many kudos, Ann..

virgil xenophon said...

Oh, I should also wish AA a Happy New Year. Her record of daily blogging has demonstrably been a hurculean, sisyphean effort from jump-street in 2004 when I began first reading. Few such bloggers of ANY kind are up to the intellectual and psychic task of daily blogging at such an intellectual level. Many kudos, Ann..

MadisonMan said...

I'm hoping it will be by Monday, with cold temps and light winds forecast this weekend.

Mendota freezing over even in the next two weeks would be a huge surprise to me. (My forecast in the local contest was for 31 January -- I think that would be a record for so late).

Freeman Hunt said...

If I were trapped in a prison camp, I would not want Quentin Tarantino to be one of the guards.

Ann Althouse said...

Those who don't like moderation have an abstract, idealized view of what it would be like unmoderated. I happen to know, and it's not something I'm going to talk about. I would recommend that you look at the good that you have and not dwell on what cannot be, because that only degrades the value of what you do have. And what you imagine you could have is a figment of your imagination. There are a few people who are determined to destroy this blog, and the option of allowing them access has been, after years of struggle, permanently rejected by me.

Bob Ellison said...

The thing about this blog is that it has an owner. She runs it. She runs it the way she wants to run it.

Most sites have several owners, and they tend to suck.

Saint Croix said...

It's interesting (or weird) that Donald Trump did not make GQ's list of

The Worst People of 2015

Kim Davis is #1, Cameron Crowe is #2, Hillary is #5, Bill Cosby is #7.

I'm not actually sure I understand the logic of that. If Bill Cosby is guilty, he's a horrific serial rapist, and should be in prison for the rest of his life. If he's innocent, and we're supposed to presume he's innocent, then he should not be on this list at all.

How is Hillary worse than a serial rapist? (I know, I know, she's married to a serial rapist! See, I thought of the joke before you did). Okay, but how is Cameron Crowe worse than a serial rapist? How is Kim Davis the worst person in America?

Jared Fogle is also on this list and (last i heard) also innocent.

It's weird, and rather shocking to me, to measure fall-from-celebrity-status as synonymous with bad. But that seems to be what GQ is doing. Bill Cosby is not bad bad. He's #7 bad. Not as bad as Cameron Crowe! That's the GQ verdict. The implication is that Cosby might be able to reclaim his celebrity-ness, but Cameron Crowe never will.

This is why Donald Trump is not on the list. Because he's a celebrity! (Just ask him). Bill Cosby may or may not be a rapist, but he's a has-been.

I find this article incredibly depressing. It's not badly written, it's snarky and kind of fun. But the shallowness and the lack of seriousness (about rape, among other things) is a really bad sign.