Althouse: At the Staircase Café...

February 21, 2017

At the Staircase Café...

... find some higher ground.

***

Or... you can shop, using The Althouse Amazon Portal.

36 comments:

JackWayne said...: I've gotta say that if anti-Trump people are being pepper-sprayed and arrested in Portland, then Trump is winning.; 2/21/17, 12:05 PM
Trumpit said...: I recently rebuilt my computer, and I went through your Amazon portal for many of the parts. I ordered four items and I was amazed when they all arrived a couple of days later on Sunday! Amazon has its competitors, but they are a hard act to follow.

The New York Times decided to wipe the floor with Milo (his last name is a hard one). They labeled him as "Alt-Right," and an advocate of "Man-Boy Sex." He is now "Shunned" according to the Times. He crossed a line apparently that has possibly led to a career-ending ostracization. Speaking of Amazon, his book "Dangerous," not yet released, was selling like hotcakes on pre-order. Now, it is nowhere to be found as the publisher (Simon & Shuster) has pulled the plug.

The moral of the story, in our society, is that children below eighteen are asexual & inviolate, except when they are being bombed to death by the Russians in Syria. I smell the hypocrisy along with the burning human flesh.; 2/21/17, 12:29 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Shop at my Althouse portal or I'm moving to Canada ;); 2/21/17, 12:33 PM
Anonymous said...: From the perspective in that pic, you have already found the higher ground and are looking back down the slope.

Any intended allusion to Dante, who began his journey in the middle of a dark wood, being driven by the lion, leopard and wolf down the slope away from the sunlit peak? The picture has that kind of tonality.; 2/21/17, 12:35 PM
Meade said...: The Dow keeps finding higher ground.; 2/21/17, 1:07 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: It's a beautiful day in south Texas....it was in the mid-fifties and clear this morning, and now is a gorgeous 76 with a light breeze and not a cloud in the sky.

If only we could get this weather all year.; 2/21/17, 1:09 PM
SayAahh said...: Keep an eye out for the bear.; 2/21/17, 1:10 PM
Etienne said...: I was watching an interview with the Moody Blues drummer (probably filmed 10 years ago). He was saying he could play another 10 years. Time flies. He also said they would probably never have a "farewell" tour. They call their tours "You ain't never getting rid of us" tours.

It's interesting to me, that I can only take art and music in little bursts, and then I ignore it for long periods. I find it interesting that people have a passion for it, but I always wonder how long they can keep playing the same old stuff, and play it like it was just conceived, and are excited about it. It can't be the money, because they are filthy rich.

I've heard of the left and right brain thing, and I guess that is pretty accurate.

My daughter does a lot of pastel and watercolor. But invariably she will paint a scene with mountains and trees. I told her to expand her repertoire, and she told me to shut-up and just slow down and appreciate nature, instead of my foot on the throttle all the time.; 2/21/17, 1:31 PM
Etienne said...: Re: Milo. I seem to recall from psychology class, that kids having sex are not capable of enjoying it. Their brains are not yet fully developed.

But this isn't to say that kids are having sex. It's almost something like eating, and sometimes we eat when we are not hungry.

Bottom line, if you are depending on base commercialism for your livelihood, it is wise not to shit in the hand that feeds you.; 2/21/17, 1:53 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Warhol’s Death: Not So Simple, After All is a link you can find on Drudge.

Would it were so simple, not so simple, I'll suck your cock for a thousand dollars, that rug really tied the room together, you don't get that TruCoat you get oxidation problems, et al, it seems the Coens have turned Art into Reality before our very sighs.; 2/21/17, 2:03 PM
Curious George said...: " harryo said...
I was watching an interview with the Moody Blues drummer (probably filmed 10 years ago). He was saying he could play another 10 years. Time flies. He also said they would probably never have a "farewell" tour. They call their tours "You ain't never getting rid of us" tours.

It's interesting to me, that I can only take art and music in little bursts, and then I ignore it for long periods. I find it interesting that people have a passion for it, but I always wonder how long they can keep playing the same old stuff, and play it like it was just conceived, and are excited about it. It can't be the money, because they are filthy rich."

It's the adulation.; 2/21/17, 2:13 PM
Curious George said...: "Owen said...
From the perspective in that pic, you have already found the higher ground and are looking back down the slope."

The view is to the south, and if it was downhill the snow would have easily melted. But it is uphill, preventing that.; 2/21/17, 2:15 PM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: ... find some higher ground.

Not much of that here in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. About one foot rise per mile back from the Laguna Madre. What we do have is burgeoning wind farms. Plenty of that.

We're talking YUGE. Each blade and each tower section (three of each per windmill) comes in on an oversize load convoy with at least two escort vehicles. Then there is the concrete footing for the tower.

Economics for wind power only works because of "renewable energy" subsidies. Have not looked at the "carbon footprint" to actually produce (composite carbon fiber blades?), deliver, and install one of these. 'Fraid of what I might find out.

Anyhoo, expected life is supposed to be 20 years. Some units are needing major maintenance - blade replacements - at 10 years.

Will the operating companies still be around when the warranties expire and maintenance costs rise? Will they just transfer ownership to some spin-off that then goes bankrupt? Who will dig out and dispose of those concrete footings? Will the "renewable energy" subsidies keep coming?

Will the US continue to grow the share of "renewable" wind and solar power? Australia has a large fraction of generating capacity there. Doing rolling blackouts now because, ya' know, wind and sun ain't always there when you want 'em.; 2/21/17, 2:16 PM
Anonymous said...: Curious George: I may be wrong in my reading of the pic but STG (Swear To God) it looks as if the farther steps are downhill, not uphill. The trees are presumably vertical and they cue me to think that farther off is also downhill. No idea whether the picture is taken looking S, N, E or W.

Not important but still interesting, how we read images...; 2/21/17, 2:29 PM
Anonymous said...: Curious George: another clue is where the gravel and fill have accumulated in each of the "squares" of the staircase. They are AWAY from the camera viewpoint, which would be consistent with gravity pulling them towards the next (lower) bar in the series.; 2/21/17, 2:32 PM
Anonymous said...: Just heard Shepherd on Fox News call Milo "alt-right"
....
and reported as fact a bunch of the talking points that "alt-house" defined in the thought provoking and real quotes and links post from yesterday.

I hope he writes his book and gives us insight into his childhood abuse (I know he claims it wasn't, but he was a child)

(and he just followed up with shooting happening in Texas. ); 2/21/17, 2:34 PM
viator said...: A moonbeam shines through the window on Mimi, Rodolfo, turning, sees her.
Rodolfo:
O soave fanciulla, o dolce viso
di mite circonfuso alba lunar
in te, vivo ravviso il sogno
ch'io vorrei sempre sognar!
Mimì:
(Ah! tu sol comandi, amor!)
Fremon già nell'anima
le dolcezze estreme,
nel bacio freme amor!

Rodolfo:
O loveliest of maidens, O sweetest vision,
Bathed in the soft glow of a moonbeam;
In you, I see a dream come to life--
A dream I pray always to dream!
Mimì:
(Ah! You alone command us, O Love!)
In the depth of my soul
I tremble with the height of passion.
Your kisses thrill Love itself!

Sounds a little archaic, but not when Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón, at the height of their powers, sing it together.; 2/21/17, 2:50 PM
Curious George said...: "Owen said...
Curious George: I may be wrong in my reading of the pic but STG (Swear To God) it looks as if the farther steps are downhill, not uphill. The trees are presumably vertical and they cue me to think that farther off is also downhill. No idea whether the picture is taken looking S, N, E or W."

In the northern hemisphere the sun is in the south...so shadows point north.; 2/21/17, 2:53 PM
Anonymous said...: Curious George: regarding shadows, OK, this pic is probably from somewhere in the great state of WI and shadows will tend to fall on the north side of trees. But in the early morning? they will fall on the west side of the trees. And in the late afternoon, they will fall on the east side.

So we have narrowed it down to shadows on the W, N or E side and thus we are looking E, S or W. Judging by the color tone, I think between 10 AM and 2 PM, so we are looking more or less S.

How does that affect your decision that we are looking uphill? Are hills in the northern hemisphere only sloping downhill to the north?

Confused here.; 2/21/17, 3:12 PM
JRoberts said...: "I find it interesting that people have a passion for it, but I always wonder how long they can keep playing the same old stuff, and play it like it was just conceived, and are excited about it. It can't be the money, because they are filthy rich."

"It's the adulation."

True. That's why I continue to be an inventory manager.

Well, that and the tights and cape I get to wear around the warehouse...; 2/21/17, 3:21 PM
JackWayne said...: Shep is a gay man that really hates Trump. So Milo is a natural target.; 2/21/17, 3:23 PM
David Baker said...: "You’re a completely different person at 14 and 77, according to the longest-ever study into human character." (via Instapundit)

I wonder; "completely" different? For example, powerful emotional memories may recede, but they never become "completely different."

I remember visiting a dying person in the hospital, and hearing something he never spoke of before; a girl's name, not his wife's, but his first love. After a lifetime of living, he wanted to recall his first love.

When death came shortly thereafter, the attending nurse whispered his last word to me; it was the same name, the name of his first love.

Later I calculated the years; 73 years since he had last seen her. After 73 years, nothing had really changed.; 2/21/17, 3:57 PM
FullMoon said...: From Gateway Pundit, where a commenter brings up "PizzaGate". Apparantly, Takie does a Pizza Hut commercial. Is that ironic?

But it wasn’t taht long ago that Pizza Hut spokesman was advocating sex between children and adults.

George Takei apparently doesn’t think it’s child molestation as long as the 13-year-old boy finds the adult male attractive.

Radio anchor: Were you molested?

George Takei: No. Because I thought he was attractive. And he was.; 2/21/17, 4:11 PM
Ron Snyder said...: My knees ache just looking at those stairs.; 2/21/17, 5:39 PM
Jon Ericson said...: Do you like this video?; 2/21/17, 6:39 PM
Ann Althouse said...: The photo was take from the top of the stairs.

And the dress is blue and black.; 2/21/17, 6:43 PM
mockturtle said...: Uh-oh. Jon has gone trans!; 2/21/17, 7:57 PM
Owen said...: Who made the stairs? My nephew earned Eagle Scout by organizing a stair-building project at a local park. It required managerial cunning worthy of Tom Sawyer.; 2/21/17, 8:11 PM
Jon Ericson said...: @Mk Trtl:
That's me!
Flexible!; 2/21/17, 8:16 PM
Jon Ericson said...: I'm still looking at my thumb. :(; 2/21/17, 8:18 PM
Jon Ericson said...: Possibly too flexible.
Probably.
Unfortunately.
Unexpectedly!

Have a nice life.; 2/21/17, 8:28 PM
Jon Ericson said...: I am.; 2/21/17, 8:33 PM
Jon Ericson said...: Go Browns!; 2/21/17, 8:38 PM
Jon Ericson said...: Disappointingly.; 2/21/17, 8:41 PM
Jon Ericson said...: Go Indians!; 2/21/17, 8:42 PM
Jon Ericson said...: Wahoo!; 2/21/17, 8:46 PM