Friday Ephemera

You think you’ve had a hard day? // Paramusical ensemble. // Lower the shields. // Belted sweaters and other 1970s fashion nightmares for men. // Designer bird houses. // Siberian beach snowballs. // Which Bond girl was formerly a chap? // Cow summoning. // Cosplay. // To say it’s so tiny, he handles it well. // A map of New York street trees. // Made of paper. // Matte painting. // Constructing Rushmore. // 1870s London. // Seen from above. // Today we are learning about salt. // “I get what ‘juicy’ means now.” // Decorated food. // Defensive vomiting. // And finally, the soothing sound of 14 pitched-down crying babies.

Comments

[Fred the Fourth]

I'm looking at the vid of the lizard and the snake, thinking, yeah, right, so much cutting and editing, what's the big deal OH DAMN GET ME OUT OF HERE.

You'll be hearing from my cardiologist!

[PiperPaul]

The leaping lizard v. motherf*ckin' snakes video looks so choreographed I have to think it's CGI. And too bad Samuel L. Jackson's left already because of Tuesday's events.

[Spiny Norman]

[ Lets himself out of the correction booth ]

Ah! The Ephemera, a relief from political hysteria (in the literal sense).

[Spiny Norman]

[ SeeS the sneks everwere! vid ]

SHEEEE-IT!

[ Runs back to the safety of the booth ]

[Fred the Fourth]

Piper: Speaking of CGI and things on the beach, there's a film short from pixar that just came out (for some new Disney flick, I suppose) titled, IIRC, "Piper". I believe it's still available for free play but I don't have a link. Check it out, it's cute and will take your mind off politics.

[Ted S., Catskill Mtns., NY, USA]

Belted sweaters and other 1970s fashion nightmares for men.

Dear god, why is that guy in the second photo wearing an afghan?

My mom crocheted constantly, and when she finally went in the nursing home Dad had something like 30 afghans to donate. The afghan in that photo reminds me of some of the zigzag stuff my mom made.

[R. Sherman]

The cow-summoning vid sent me off for thirty minutes of listening to Viking music. Now I want to pillage something.

[Fred the Fourth]

You know, after the longish post, then the record-short-post with the 150+ comments, then this one leading off with the SNAKES! vid, I'm starting to think David is toying with us. And not in a good way, ya know? Me, I'd be off to the upstairs hot tub to unwind, but I seem to have given away the key....

[Ted S., Catskill Mtns., NY, USA]

“I get what ‘juicy’ means now.”

Zaftig comes from the German word for "juicy". Just saying.

[Fred the Fourth]

Belted sweaters

Wow. Those are even worse than the ones James Lileks catalogs at his site.
Bleach Bit, STAT!

[Fred the Fourth]

#10 in the "Seen from above" reminds me of a book from the late 70s called "Weltraumbilder". Among other things, it showcased a number of photos of plowed farm fields in the winter, in Germany. The first thin snowfall, right at the edge of freezing temps, revealed unknown ancient ruins buried just a few feet underground, because of the differential specific heat of the soil vs. buried stone.

[Ted S., Catskill Mtns., NY, USA]

RIP Leonard Cohen

[R. Sherman]

Troubling correlation with respect to decorated food and the use of the humble hot dog. That is, the attractiveness of the plate is inversely proportional to the deployment of weenies.

[PiperPaul]

Hey, look, I found Meghan Murphy's favourite movie at that terrific link about mattes:

[sH2]

Cosplay.

That's inspired. 10/10

[Hal]

. . . other 1970s fashion nightmares . . .

Ahhh, lessee. Four pictures. And along with the four pictures, Hideous, Hideous, hideous, god awful, hideous, gruesome, survived, burn, . . .

Ah, no.

Honestly, if there was actually any belief whatsoever in what that page claims, then the only details of the page would be the pictures, with text that only amounts to Oh, look what I found.

The issue isn't the 'seventies, the issue is that frantic attempt to deflect memory and attention from the utterly documented, proven fiasco of the 'Empties that followed the perfectly innocuous 'seventies.

Basically, this a fashion version of not just suggesting, but all out insisting that The time of the Romanovs was Hideous, Hideous, hideous, god awful, hideous, gruesome . . . and as absolutely everyone absolutely agrees and supports, what followed the Romanovs was and is utterly wonderful and enlightened and the admiration of everyone forever . . . .

. . . For anyone with any fantasy that the nineteen empties had any trace of taste or style, there's a fellow who was hanging out in a London Library reading room who would be absolutely delighted to hear from you . . . .

[David]

This year’s John Lewis advert.

The alternative John Lewis advert.

And it turns out that even a John Lewis advert can trigger socialist indignation.

[David]

I’m starting to think David is toying with us.

I am subtle and mysterious.

And not in a good way, ya know?

No refunds, credit note only.

[Hal]

Now I want to pillage something.

Tea?

[Hal]

And it turns out that even a John Lewis advert can trigger socialist indignation.

Um . . . so if she wants a trampoline, why not just get 'erself a trampoline?!?!?!

[Hal]

Cosplay.

That's inspired. 10/10

Quite. Albeit there is still my overall favorite. Because, after all.

[JuliaM]

Is there anything that can't trigger socialist indignation?

[David]

Meanwhile, on Saturn the weapon is charging.

[rjmadden]

And it turns out that even a John Lewis advert can trigger socialist indignation.

I don't think she's grasped what adverts are for.

[Alice]

Decorated food. // Defensive vomiting.

I see what you did there.

[David]

I see what you did there.

But this one has won my heart.

Nummy nummy num.

[Ray]

Snakes and lizard

"Did you remember to pick up the milk, honey?"

[Joan]

"Trump arrives in Washington"

https://twitter.com/kidd_kong78/status/797018261481259008

[David]

Janice Fiamengo on race-and-gender favouritism in academia and wanting it both ways.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Janice Fiamengo on race-and-gender favouritism in academia...

Somewhat in the same vein, Karen Straughan explains what happened in the election, why Trump is not "literally Hitler", and other observations. A bit long, but worth it to stick with it.

[R. Sherman]

Muldoon, do you think we could trade Lena Dunham straight up for Ms. Straughan, or will we need to give up some draft choices?

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Gospodin Sherman, the Canadians are not nice, not suckers. Well, OK there is that whole Trudeau Jr. thing, but no way would they take a straight trade for Dunham.

Maybe if we gave them the area west of the Columbia River down to the Oregon border that we got to keep in the 1846 Oregon Treaty - they could annex Seattle to Vancouver - a win-win for both sides.

Meanwhile, speaking of the election and tolerance...

[LabRat]

Meanwhile, speaking of the election and tolerance...

This. So much this.

And they will never get it, or understand the irony, because they are Right, and therefore this behavior is not only ok, it's almost mandated.

I know - DoublePlus UnGood Wrongthink - I'll go submit myself to the correction booth now.

[R. Sherman]

Then there's this guy.

[The Sage]

> Which Bond girl...

The first I knew of Tula was through a photoset in Mayfair in the late 1970s. The hips were a bit of a giveaway.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

My apologies in advance for going to a well worn site of low comedy.

How to Talk to Your Kids About Donald Trump’s Win.

But, of course, we as parents still have the dark task of helping our kids understand – right now – just how someone they have learned from us is a bigot, a misogynist, a xenophobe, and a dangerous threat to all we hold dear, has assumed this most powerful of positions.

I could be wrong, but I think I have identified the problem.

[Spiny Norman]

So have they, Farnsworth, but I very much doubt they realize it.

[David]

I could be wrong, but I think I have identified the problem.

I’m just glad the ladies have recovered from their recent existential trauma, the one that “made it explicitly clear that the US is grounded in white supremacy and patriarchy,” and which left these fearless Amazon warriors having to “take the day off to process all the feelings coming up.”

[R. Sherman]

Gospodin Sherman . . .

Thank you, but if we're going to start using proper honorifics, mine is, "Ihr hochgeborener Markgraf von und zum Oil Trough."

Please make a note for future reference.

[Fred the Fourth]

How to talk...
In years past, I occasionally expressed some reservations after the election of various Dem presidents I opposed. Without fail, the responses from supporters were along the lines of "you lost, we won, now get over it / bend over".
Since Trump's election, I have had people express reservations and even fear to me. did I respond by telling them "we won, you lost"? No. I have soothed their concerns by telling them things like "The US president doesn't really have that kind of power." (True or not, who knows these days?)
Why?
Because I was raised and trained to be and behave that way. To not gloat. To not be deliberately mean or insulting. To show grace under pressure. By a straight white man from Illinois, a Marine officer. By a straight white woman, a farm girl from South Dakota. By white teachers who grew up during the US Great Depression and WW2.
So yeah, just try to get me to believe that straightness and whiteness and military service and flyover country origin are necessarily hallmarks of evil. See how impressed I am.
(Sorry about that. Just had to get it off my chest.)

[Fred the Fourth]

Sherman: Thanks much for my first morning laugh.

[Fred the Fourth]

Oh my god, so sorry. That should have been:
Ihr hochgeborener Markgraf von und zum Oil Trough, thanks much for my first morning laugh.
It won't happen again.

[Daniel Ream]

Gospodin Sherman, the Canadians are not nice, not suckers. Well, OK there is that whole Trudeau Jr. thing, but no way would they take a straight trade for Dunham.

We've given you Alan Thicke, but Shania Twain is ours.

[Hal]

And,

Heh.

[Ten]

“I get what ‘juicy’ means now.”

I know. I'm so happy god made dogs and cats different. Well, dogs anyway.

[Hal]

House tour.

[Nikw211]

I could be wrong, but I think I have identified the problem.

Sadly, the problem seems to be even bigger.

Everyday Feminism, Twitter, Tumblr - these are all places where this kind of hysteria could easily have been expected to appear.

But this is from The New York Review of Books for God's sake:

“Thank you, my friends. Thank you. Thank you. We have lost. We have lost, and this is the last day of my political career, so I will say what must be said. We are standing at the edge of the abyss. Our political system, our society, our country itself are in greater danger than at any time in the last century and a half. The president-elect has made his intentions clear, and it would be immoral to pretend otherwise. We must band together right now to defend the laws, the institutions, and the ideals on which our country is based.”

That, or something like that, is what Hillary Clinton should have said on Wednesday.

I don't even like Trump, but this ... this shit is out of control.

[jabrwok]

For worthwhile color commentary of the Planet Earth 2 video, I recommend Ozzy Man.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Another 8 year old weighs in.

[David]

Heh.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Speaking of John Lewis adverts, yet another new one.

[The original Mr. X]

I notice one of the new excuses from the left is "Oh, you guys are just upset because somebody called you 'privileged', you should grow up and not get offended!" Which, I must say, is rather surprising coming from the side which thinks that calling women "bossy" is an act of patriarchal violence and using the wrong pronouns ought to be a sackable offence.

[LabRat]

The snake vid David linked scared the carp outta me, but then I discovered an alternately-narrated version and I can't stop watching it. Or laughing.

Language NSFW...

https://youtu.be/TfBNG5KD1oU

[jabrwok]

Baloo gets *down*: http://cheezburger.com/83561729/video-bears-scratching-their-backs-to-jungle-boogie

[jabrwok]

And the Dark Side of Sesame Street

[Fred the Fourth]

LabRat: made my day, that did.

[LabRat]

That Ozzy Man guy is a hoot. And I see jabrwok already posted it above - but could have sworn that wasn't there when I went to post my link. In fact none of those posts were. Ah well - it's worth watching twice.

[Hal]

That, or something like that, is what Hillary Clinton should have said on Wednesday.

I don't even like Trump, but this ... this shit is out of control.

Weeeelll, quantities of noise are present at the moment, where rather than out of control, varieties of Meh would seem to be an overall assessment.

Earlier this week CNN.com listed 24 different theories that pundits have provided for why Trump won. And the list isn’t even complete. I’ve heard other explanations as well. What does it tell you when there are 24 different explanations for a thing?

It tells you that someone just dropped a cognitive dissonance cluster bomb on the public. Heads exploded. Cognitive dissonance set in. Weird theories came out. This is the cleanest and clearest example of cognitive dissonance you will ever see. Remember it.

With sixty million plus voting on either side, all those street protests seem fairly uniformly to be only a few hundred to a few thousand per occurrence--apparently the Koo Koo Klucks can't even manage to scrape together more than about two hundred people . . . and then any online screaming would be merely various and assorted connecting through the internet . . .

So, yes, continue to look both ways before crossing the street, HowEver . . .

[Megaera3]

Farnsworth: watched your version of the John Lewis advert and did an actual spit-take that may have disabled my laptop--but It was worth it.

[jabrwok]

Not sure if anyone else is still checking this comment thread (it's still under 100 fer Pete's sake!), but it seems a more appropriate location than more recent posts to mention this.

Girl Writes What?

Karen Straughan, Red Pill woman. I haven't watched many of her videos yet, but those I have seem remarkably sane. I especially enjoyed Fempocalypse.