45 Comments
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CynthiaW's avatar

Donald Sutherland has died. He was 88. He was in a lot of movies and TV shows.

IncognitoG's avatar

💐Requiescat in pace. 💐

C C Writer's avatar

Good morning. It's cooled off a bit here, due to wind off Lake Michigan. Today I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop: Will I suddenly get a whole bunch of articles to edit, or are they coming next week instead? Can I finally start catching up with my gardening?

Jay Janney's avatar

I did something today. I have a friend (the one who bumped into my oldest son at the mini marathon). Her husband died of cancer a year after Pam died (she's remarried). So I emailed her a quick remembrance, and a mush alert (I shared how Pam wanted to marry me on Christmas day, so I'd be her favorite Christmas gift ever).

My friend mentioned no one ever remembers her anniversary so she cannot talk about it. She said mine was a mushy story, but she loved it, and she thanked me for remembering her.

I'm debating whether to give her a quick call this evening before she leaves work for the day. I have often offered to walk a 5k race with her sometime where she can simply tell me stories of her deceased husband. So far we haven't done it, although if Taylor University (across the street from my favorite ice cream parlor) ever has a 5k, we'll do it.

BikerChick's avatar

It’s been a busy few weeks with guests at the lake. Today everyone leaves and “yay me” I get to clean! I enjoy it because it will give me some alone time.

Jay Janney's avatar

This creates a dilemma: should we reply to affirm this, or not, so you'll be left alone? 😉

Phil H's avatar

Worth Your Time II: 'Why Activists Keep Failing the Causes That Fire Them Up'--Sarah Isgur

http://archive.today/IeYEi

M. Trosino's avatar

Good article. As was this observation from 50+ years ago...

"Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business and eventually degenerates into a racket." Eric Hoffer, The Temper of Our Time

Phil H's avatar

Good morning. Another hot “weather alert” day here.

Clement Attlee was a Brexiteer ahead of his time.

The mothership is reporting on the upcoming (next Thursday) earliest ever Presidential debate, between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. (Cynthia has already bowed out of watching).

Phil H's avatar

When I got around to listening to the actual video clip, I discovered the money quote, at the very end (where it could be missed), where Attlee called the EC "in my opinion, a dictatorship of bureaucrats".

He was exactly right.

IncognitoG's avatar

I haven’t had the patience for “debates” in years now. I once found them fun. But after figuring out it was just a show where the spouted rehearsed lines, my interest dissipated. The follow-up headlines afterwards were more to the point, even when they are misstated.

BikerChick's avatar

I won’t watch either. I prefer to wait and hear Megyn Kelly’s critique of the debate the next day.

CynthiaW's avatar

I'll want to hear John Podhoretz give a stemwinder Drama Queen rant, and then Abe Greenwald will say, seriously, "Actually, it's worse than that."

BikerChick's avatar

John in the morning, Megyn in the afternoon!

IncognitoG's avatar

The Attlee clip was a good reminder that today’s contentious issues were also contentious issues in the past, with familiar arguments for and against them. There’s an Arrogance of Now that presumes we’ve only just discovered the issue and its reasoning.

The original Optimum.net's avatar

It is a commentary on our times that she would rather force her cat to swallow a pill. What a metaphor!

The original Optimum.net's avatar

Good morning. Since LucyTrice started the "cheer up" theme (and I, for one, am there for it), here's a musical cheer up. Its the band, Lawrence (the guy from last week's Me and Julio video) and some other folks. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85ewvhgV700

LucyTrice's avatar

Nice! Energetic cheerfulness. And hope. And amazing piano skilz!

LucyTrice's avatar

Good morning! I was in need of something cheerful this morning and this popped up. It involves comics. Enjoy!

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?cat=9

Jay Janney's avatar

It makes me wonder how much lower unemployment would be today if young men didn't stress about never having seen a chicken riding a bicycle.

CynthiaW's avatar

Very amusing.

The original Optimum.net's avatar

That is FUN! I have long been a fan of xkcd. Even for a non-engineer, the sense of irony is bracing. Thanks!

CynthiaW's avatar

Good morning. Happy Solstice!

Jake managed to eat all his food while leaving his pill on the plate. This means war: I'll have to grab him by the scruff of the neck and poke it down his throat.

Jay Janney's avatar

Katie is a zen master for pill taking. She tells Zeus (the blonde dog, aka Zeucifer) to sit, and gives him a treat. She has him stay seated, then she opens the pill bottle and puts the pill in the back of his throat, closing it while stroking under his chin. Zeus swallows the pill, wags his tail, then Katie tells him he was a good boy.

Jay Janney's avatar

And an excellent one. I may be biased on that, but in her district several stores want her to be their PIC (pharmacist in charge). Lol, she wants to be a staff pharmacist, not a PIC.

CynthiaW's avatar

Has she tried that with a cat?

M. Trosino's avatar

Cats are definitely worse than dogs (my wife's had a few over the years) but try getting something down the throat of a thousand-pound horse that it doesn't want to swallow...

Some years ago, my vet had me feed one of my geldings a pint of uncultured yogurt per day for a week to help deal with a digestive track issue. It took two pints a day to get the job done, since I ended up wearing one of them by the time all was said and done.

As to what was "said" during the process, I'll leave that to your imagination...

Jay Janney's avatar

I don't think so.

BikerChick's avatar

My dog will eat around his tiny pill too and he’s fed a ground raw meat diet. I’m amazed at his ability to avoid eating it. So I coat it in peanut butter.

IncognitoG's avatar

We had an aussie like that—you could hardly get her to swallow any pill, even with two pairs of hands.

CynthiaW's avatar

We used to wrap the pills for the greyhound in meat. Jake is really annoying me.

IncognitoG's avatar

Cats are so plastic, they’re almost liquid.

CynthiaW's avatar

The party with opposable thumbs.

The original Optimum.net's avatar

Always a game changer. Reminds me of this Larson cartoon:

https://images.app.goo.gl/GWNX5Gm2fwnRQ8PK8

IncognitoG's avatar

Morning. There appears to be a general election metaphor lurking in there somewhere.

Phil H's avatar

Indeed. Both parties have carefully avoided the “pill” of reasonable and fit candidates.

CynthiaW's avatar

Yuck, but now that you mention it, there could be. If he bites me, and I need an antibiotic shot, that could be metaphorical, too.

The original Optimum.net's avatar

Or you could just ingest bleach....

CynthiaW's avatar

For whiter teeth ...