SUZ!

Toons!
OK, suddenly it comes back to me! Gotta watch it.
Hey Suz!

Did somebody say Shoe?

hehehehe g’evening pups – how’s everyone doing tonight?

Like Saturday morning in my ‘jama’s.
Cheerios, banana, milk.

g’evening, Suze & Pups!

I’m busy staying warm tonight, that’s my exciting life in a nutshell. 4 below, minus 20 windchill. Stayin’ by the fire with hot cider.

…trying to not spill on the carpet in front of the tv…

A really big shoe tonight!

What’s on my mind? i hope the tech team did a thorough sweep of the Bush Bubble for bugs. Perhaps they can have some disgruntled CIA people do another check, just in case…I put nothing past the posers that were there ahead of Obama, esp. given Rove bugged his own office in his early precocious days.

Suzerette!!

That was a cute one!

including the family quarters

yep, you read my mind…

Yikes!!
Throw another log on the fire!!

glad ya liked it loohoo – i had been hitting the 40’s and 50’s of cartoons pretty hard and was looking for something a little more recent. the quality of cartoons really went down later on.

Now that Obama is President Obama, my next fantasy is that all Halliburton and KBR assets will be frozen and seized by the US Govt and money returned to the US taxpayer. Can I wish for that?

it’s a pretty realistic looking gas fireplace, no fuss no muss! The older i get, the lazier i get.

NDFG, I forget which part of the country you hail from, yeah, obviously a cold part! ND?

from your mouth to ghod/dess’ ears! i’m totally in favor of that plan.

Heh Busted,
No log on the fire tonight — too cold! About 4 F tonight here in Cleveland. But, we love these little heaters on wheels that we can move around the house.

hey busted – i hear you have a chance for snow tonight

Close, but not quite that bad. Minneapolis. Where i sincerely wish Coleman could get frozen out.

HA!
I just turned off the one in my folks’s living room. Me and the cats certainly enjoy it and I have to admit I don’t miss dragging around dead tree parts and cleaning out ash traps.

oil filled electric radiator? i love mine and am gonna get another one for the back bedroom – baby girl is gonna need heat – she’s a desert kinda gal

Old Normie is reminding me of the first and last opera I ever saw. It was a Wagner thing and the lead guy at the end kept dying, then getting up singing, dies again, get up to sing some more, dies….I was laughing, but I don’t think I was supposed to.

Suzanne,
We now have four of them, and love them. If I put them in the bedrooms, the house heater stops belting out, and our bill is so less.

GAH. Ol’ normie isn’t the leading man (couldn’t resist that pun, ducks) so i wish he’d haul his carcass off stage!

yeah, i grew up with that. Romantic an’ all that crap, but i’m a practical farmgrrrlll, for all that i live in the big city nowadays *g* I luuurrrrvvvvs good old cooking from scratch, but fires from scratch? Gimme gas.

d’oh! good one! *g*

I haven’t been around for a while. Has the FDL crowd thinned out or is it my imagination? I am recognizing some old names and a few new ones.

i discovered em up where when my jotal was down with a crack shortly after i got up here. they really do a great job keeping the chill off.

I hate to tell this one on myself but it is such a classic.

I asked my folks for one of those oil filled heaters to stick in the Rat Hole while I am watching their house here.
I get it, I take it home and rip open the box and out come the wheels.
OK, I grabbed the wheels and the little brackets and snagged up the heater and put them on, DONE!~
less than a minute.
I plug the damn thing in and….
nothing.

I called my old man and asked if he had kept the receipt, no.
Two weeks later, I grab the fucker and take the front off where the controls are to check for power, when I notice this weird dangly looking thing and realize that I have installed the feet on the wrong end,the tip over switch was staring me in the face.

Note to self, do not try to put things together after drinking large amounts of whiskey.

Headslap.

hi curious

there is always an ebb and flow to the commenters here

hahahaha

Here is my question for lovers of art in this time of fear and recession/depression: would you travel to see art and pay entrance fees to see paintings?

That sounds familiar..*g* Any idea which one it was? Maybe something from the Ring Cycle??

I don’t anyway.
I have not even been to a concert in a long time.

bwahahahah! *snorts* If it’s any consolation, the sign of a great man is humility and the ability to tell stories on one’s self.

yew betcha. This farmgrrrlll has an art degree, after all. Lotta good it did me, *g* but i do love a good visual treat. I wouldn’t waste the gas to drive to a sporting event, however, even if someone gave me the ticket.

Die Fledermaus Sheiss

would depend on the exhibit christine e

I’m lucky enough to live near SF where many great exhibits sometimes appear. I might pay an entrance fee for a once in a lifetime exhibit. I really don’t have the means to travel to see one. :(

What if you just ‘like’ art?
When I have been to museums, it’s because I got nearly dragged there. Once inside, I can’t tear myself away.
So sorta.

*this is where Chris decides she isn’t so fond of newt anymore*

Digg is now open

sorry–embed isn’t working for me

I just got this book I bought through Amazon and I can’t wait to dive into it, the damn thing is as big as a phone book, The Encyclopedia Of Country Living.

I have heard good things about this sucker.

Unfortunately, the lady who wrote it died prematurely.
Such a sad waste of knowledge.

I am thankful she had the foresight to put her knowledge into print.

Basically, this is my Grandmother in book form.

I haven’t watched the Toon yet

does it involve a reporter throwing a shoe at a preznit?

i’m sorta that way too newt – lately, it takes a lot to get me outta the house. but once i am there, i have fun walking the exhibits until i start to ache. then i wanna find a place to sit and take a break with a cup.

newt,
love,
everyone loves art.

no shoes tossed at presidents in this one neuro – tis safe to venture into the toon

Entrance fee for paintings, yes.
Travel? Not much disposable income at the moment. I might go to Portland from Seattle with friends…because I’ve got family to stay with.
I guess the “activation energy” for me to go to an exhibit is a little high. But the Seattle Asian Art Museum is going to have Royal Jaipur paintings pretty soon. Maybe I can, um, Shanghai a friend into going with me.
FunnyDiva

looking forward to your take on what she had to share busted

But they did leave behind this beautiful wooden eagle.

Yeah. To think that all the early cartoons and movies were all hand drawn. I don’t see computer work as even next-door to competing.

Fledermausscheißverrückt?

If there is no such word, there should be!

Just flipping through it, I would have to recommend it to anyone. Lots and lots of good old fashioned ”just get by” knowledge here.

Hugs ndfg. I know the feelinlg. I am not looking at the thermometer, I don’t want to know the temp.

Hi Everyone!~

Gnite kids.
I is done.

Oh FD, Thanks for your thinking and experience. Sigh, it is just life.

that sounds marvy, busted. I’ll have to look for it.

Another book i want to get is The Nation Guide to the Nation, just found out about it at my fave science blog Effect Measure (a public health policy blog) because they got mentioned. Apparently “The Nation Guide (VINTAGE BOOKS, 2009) will help left-of-center types find small businesses, cultural institutions, activist organizations, and gathering places in their own hometowns and on the road.” Sounds good to me, i like supporting small n local, especially if it’s progressive/lefty.

The money that’s been stolen from the USA Treasury has got to be returned. No question.

Especially the last $350 billion *lended to* the banks.

Too funny. Scroogled it – third hit was FDL!

In 7th & 8th grades I was in a wonderful public school. They bussed us out every few weeks to “cultural programs” and your description sounded so much like something I remember getting the giggles over.

g’thud busted

hugs Margot! Speaking of art, i would definitely go to an exhibit of yours! You have a lovely sense of color and atmosphere.

and g’night, busted. Stay warm!

Yeah, just life. But I hate the effect that really hard times have on The Arts. I mean, it’s fun to get comps to the Symphony, but the implications of having to “paper the house” aren’t happy.
FunnyD

thank you, you are way too kind.

she tells the truth margot – your stuff wows me

No, she’s just about right.

I had another very similar reaction to Premonition (the movie), like oh god, is it going to be another bad day for sandra (bullock)? About the third or fourth time they did the morning wake up close up on her eyes and the spooky music, I lost it. :P

Yah! Zehr gut!

You’re just plain bad to the bone.

C’mon Margot! *whines* i wanna go to an exhibit of your stuff! I like what i see on the monitor, but i bet i’d just friggin drool looking at live art with texture interacting with pigment in all the lush gorgeous ways it can.

SumoPaint.
Get to work.

ditto

Funny that CE would ask about art right about now. I have been thinking about all the great murals and public works that came out of the New Deal. Maybe we’ll see more new stuff?? That’s a silver lining…maybe?

nite all. I’m outtie.

g’nite dosido

Especially the last $350 billion *lended to* the banks.

Lended? Muahahahahahah!

Aloha Ya’ll!

Speaking of Shoes…

Bush the “worst”, “dictator-toppling engineer” – Iraqis say

…Faris Hassan, a worker in al-Bayaa neighborhood, said the Iraqis have bidden farewell to Bush’s time, which was so bad for them, with their shoes.

Bwhahaha…! ;-)

aloha ct – on the mt?

Home, from after a long day in the trenches…! ;-)

the Iraqis have bidden farewell to Bush’s time, which was so bad for them, with their shoes.

God bless ‘em for seeing it that way. I’d have been far harsher on the people who elected him (more or less).

physical labor is hard work dood

Most definitely… But at least it pays…! ;-)

true dat

Short visit tonite… I need to give up the line… I might be on later tho! Ta ta!

aloha dood

aloha, CT! my latest issue of Discover magazine has a gorgeous 2-page photo of the Gemini North and Canada-France-Hawaii telescopes at night. Thought of you when i looked at it! *g*

Later, CT!

As the daughter of a “serious contender” fine artist living in a community of acknowledged artists; it’s not a good time for artists.
Thank the Republicans for that. The national erosion of the Arts programs.
Though I also blame the very-serious-gallery-selling-investment-pieces owners for force feeding crap down our throats that had nothing to do with the studied principles of art. As my mother bemoaned,”Sofa Art”. Does it look good over the couch?
But then, I’m in the Newly Aged generation era…

Chris. I’d probably not travel very far, but would pay admission.

Once I get into a museum I pretty much zone out in one area. I enjoy art most one piece at a time.

An exception. My sister and a friend practically dragged me out of the Gardner.. Something about the small size and eclectic nature of the place – like exploring the house of a very rich aunt.. Left to my own devices, they would have had to throw me out at closing time.

speaking of art, have ya seen what scarlet p (the freeway blogger) has put together?

another wonderful night hanging out at the Lake. G’night to all you wonderful Pups and the Bestest In-Front-of-the-Curtain Mod EVAH (and g’night to the mighty fine ones behind the curtain!)

Scarlet is made of stone. What a guy.

g’nite ndfg

Margot. Do I have to join FB to see your art?

i think so sunny – or else we gotta get margot to start her own blog and put them up there

Wow! I’ve not been there for a while.
That’s committment.

i’ve got one of each and i’m gonna frame them and hang them with the one IMPEACH sign i hung onto after an afternoon of scarlet teaching me how to make em. we had a lotta fun and it really is easy – even for someone who can’t draw a straight line like me.

Several years ago I spearheaded a fundraiser titled “Arts and Artifacts” to fund the construction of a shelter in our community built park. The mission was to buy awesome,handmade brackets[earthwake proof] and line up local voluteer mobile sawyers to mill the wood harvested from the land,buy concrete at discount, produce a beautiful,simple shelter with local craftspeople. A non-profit tax umbrella for a community project.
So, back then, no artist could reach into their closets and pull out pieces to auction cheaply because they had to adhere to a “base line” due to their investors. I was dismayed, kept saying, ” This is like a college art show,no gallery,no owners”, they couldn’t. I said, “Okay, then give me an artifact. I’ll sell it and give you 60% and the Park Fund will take 40%.”
We had so much cool stuff to explore!!
Made $3,500 having a great time.
I mentioned doing an “Arts and Artifacts 2″ to put a storage shed in. NOW all these artists are suddenly free to offer pieces. It sucks. But it’s freeing at the same time.
Art Lives!!!

that sounds like a wonderful fundraiser openhope

Well, maybe I’ll get Suz to teach me how to start a blog.
I don’t have any real paper or canvas paintings, though.

i had my blog for a month before i learned how to link

Oh i forgot this place

[Mod Note: edited at commenter request.]

I think local fundraisers are a stepping stone to our redefinition of community.
It draws in people who would not normally be involved and allows them/us to find common ground in a common goal.
We are all in this together.

Please do that. Blows my mind to click on folk’s names and discover treasures. Mary Mcc’s art is a treat.

Awesome quantities of talent brainpower at fdl!

I screwed that up:

[Mod Note: edited at commenter request.]

OK, that’s cool

Embedded link worked for me. Lovely. Evocative.

talent *and* brainpower. Geeze.

margot – permission to email ya with some helpful tips for getting a blogspot blog?

nite all. thanks suz.

g’nite sunny

nite sunny
i’m bailing out too
nite suz

g’nite newton

time for me to head out myself pups. thanks for hanging out with me tonight.

Morgan Stanley as but one example, simply took off its bankers hat, and donned a speculator’s hat putting down some $80,000,000 at today’s prices to buy 2 million barrels of oil. No, they didn’t store the oil in their bank vaults. They went out and chartered a supertanker, the “Argenta” at some $68,000 a day, and they just have it sitting out there floating at anchor day after day. And that doesn’t include finance charges (But hey! Finance costs? That’s cheap if you have a friendly government agency to fork over the loot), insurance costs, and all those other ancillary costs attendant to it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..60249.html

My bold This is where Morgan Stanley is spending its bailout money. They bought at today’s prices plus $68,000 a day and finance Charges.
Does anyone know how much finance charges are.
Normally gas goes up in the summertime so this sounds like a safe bet.
Except that oil inventories are up as demand collapses.
This despite Israel’s little war on the Palestinians fear of a larger Middle East does tend to drive oil prices up.
This despite the fact that I am sure that Morgan Stanley is not the only speculator sitting on an oil tanker waiting for prices to go up.
But what if prices don’t go up?
Morgan Stanley will lose its shirt then. Morgan Stanley will ask for more bank bailout money. The homeowner loans that Morgan Stanley was suppose to refinance at lower rates to help people losing their homes FORGET ABOUT IT.
The only good thing about this is that Morgan Stanley is betting that Obama will fix the economy by summer so much that they can make a profit off this oil tanker.

In late October, Paulson forced the nation’s nine largest banks to accept a total of $125 billion, regardless of their health. San Francisco’s Wells Fargo got $25 billion in that first round. Citigroup and Bank of America later came back for billions more.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/…..15FFNL.DTL

Ok here is a little detail that I cannot believe that I missed Paulson forced the nation’s 9 largest banks to accept $125 billion whether they needed the cash or not.
Why? well Paulson was worried that people would pull their money from the bad banks…and put them in good banks?
Isn’t that how Capitalism works? Bwahahaha!
Anyway Obama should ask the good banks for the cash back so that he has more money for future bank bailouts or the Stimulus package.
We can Nationalize the Bad banks as consumers pull their cash out and get the banks at a bargain price.
After all how is Bush giving the banks money no strings attached any better than Nationalization? Either way the Banks get cash they need only this way the Government has a say in what the banks do with the money.
In other words no buying oil tankers full of oil and letting them sit hoping and praying that the price of oil goes up.
The Freemarket can manage the cash Better than the Government?
Nope the banks are broke and can’t borrow cash. The government is broke but can still borrow cash.
Conclusion the Government manages its money better than the banks despite what the Chicago School Economic Zombies chant endlessly.

Nite Suz

I think if Obama can’t save the economy by summertime and increase demand for gas Obama will get real lucky.
All the oil speculators waiting for oil prices to go up will be forced to sell at a small profit, Break even or a loss.
That should drive the price of gas down.
Lower gas prices something we have not seen at all under Bush does help the economy.
A 10 gallon tank of gas a week at $2.00 a gallon vs $2.50 a gallon puts an extra $5 a week into consumers pockets.
That does not sound like much until you multiply that by how many millions of drivers who fill up once a week.
Much of that extra savings will be spent in our economy then rather than going overseas to Ossama.

Good morning, pups. It’s MoDo, Friedman, Kristof and Rich today. MoDo asks “Which Governor is Wackier?” She loves the hurly-burly way the Illinois governor rammed through his choice for the Senate, compared with the namby-pamby way the New York governor strangled his best choice for the Senate. Um, MoDo dear, I always thought taking the trouble to go an vote would be one of the prerequisites for being a Senator… Mr. Friedman says “This Is Not a Test,” and that if you believe in the necessity of a Palestinian state or you love Israel, you’d better start paying attention. We’re getting perilously close to closing the window on a two-state solution. Mr. Kristof tells us about “Bill Gates’s Next Big Thing.” He offers a peek into a letter Bill Gates will publish on Monday. He’s not only going to do more for health and development in the poorest nations and education in America, he is calling for your help, too. Mr. Rich says it’s “No Time for Poetry,” and that here’s a reason that Barack Obama’s inaugural speech was austere, not pretty. He wasn’t just rebuking the Bush administration, but unmistakably widened his indictment.

Here they are:

The coffee, tea and hot chocolate are ready, and I’ve got waffles with Vermont maple syrup this morning. I’m tottering off to get another cup of tea and let Hoover out, since he’s busy finding new and creative ways to get into trouble, which means he’s bored and wants to go outside. Have a great day.

Good morning. Can I use this as an open thread?

I have been unable to log in as my former self “GrandmaJ” for quite some time (remember I am the computer illiterate one) and so I now have a new identity. :-) But change is good, right?

I wanted to comment about a previous thread on the “Oral History” of the Bushbots in Vanity Fair.

I have never been convinced that all of this malfeaseance, or rank stupidity on the part of Bush, was purely just negligence or accident or oversight. By being able to spend billions and billions of dollars on failed operations everywhere, on everything, they raided our treasury and got a scenario that required even more money to fix the problems.

Basically they ran a scam to destroy government. And it really worked. We are broke. The judges are now over 50% conversative and will rule that way for decades, if not generations, and we will have now do away with some of the expensive ideas that America needs to be a first rate nation again. I am sure this is truly the successful completion of ‘drowning’ America and its imagined evil 60’s culture in the proverbial and financial bathtub.

Mission accomplished indeed. The fact they got so many people, including the dems in government, to go along as long as they did proved their skill in only two areas — deceit and manipulation.

Mistakes? nah. Deliberate intent. IMO

Marion, did you see this?

Mexican rides to rescue of America’s greatest paper
Last week billionaire Carlos Slim pumped $250m into the New York Times, but can the loan save the ‘Grey Lady’, asks James Doran in New York

James Doran
The Observer, Sunday 25 January 2009

http://www.guardian.co.uk/medi…..-take-over

Looks like the economic war against democratically elected Hamas continues.

Hamas fights to rebuild Gaza in new battle for hearts and minds
Islamists say only they can lead the reconstruction, but the west is reluctant to give them aid, reports Peter Beaumont in Gaza

The international community insists that it cannot channel billions of dollars in reconstruction aid to Hamas, and is calling for the involvement of the more moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. But Hamas is insisting on sole control of Gaza’s rebuilding, as well as claiming moral leadership of the Palestinian people.

In the week since Israel and Hamas declared unilateral ceasefires to bring an end to more than three weeks of fighting, in which almost 1,500 Gazans died, the movement has acted rapidly to assert its control over assistance to civilians.

Sitting on huge cash reserves, Hamas has said that it will begin distributing emergency payments of €4,000 to those who have lost homes, and has already been handing out coupons for food as well as aid, some of it seized from foreign and international donors.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl…..gaza-hamas