The Interim Post
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Posted on January 26, 2012 by

I got nothin’ (except an appointment in half an hour).

Open topic.  Time to do the hokey pokey.  Or talk politics.  Or something.

Comments are back on.

Posted in Relaxed Politics | 11 Comments

Sunday Social
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Posted on January 22, 2012 by

Yeah, that is my President. The coolest guy in the room, in a geeky sort of way. Can anyone seriously imagine any of the GOP clown-car-of-crazy pulling this off? Anyone?? Yeah…didn’t think so :)

Posted in Current Events, President Obama, Relaxed Politics, Sunday Social | 94 Comments

Now that the Internet is back ….
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Posted on January 18, 2012 by

Now that the internet is back on, I thought I’d tell all of you what you’ve been missing.  No, not the race for republican nominee, not the idiocy that pops out of the mouths of candidates, their surrogates, or the media, not even SOPA news or anything Obama has done.

You missed purity bears!

The Purity Bear Will Cockblock You Until You’re Married

Jezebel

The Purity Bear Will Cockblock You Until You're Married Hey guys, have you met The Purity Bear? He’s a plush toy who appears to tempted teens and warns them without moving his mouth that going inside a girl’s house will inevitably lead to sex having, and sex having before marriage is literally the worst decision you could possibly make.

In spite of the fact that this could easily be parody, this video is a very real effort to promote the very real Day of Purity. On that Pure of Days, everyone focuses on their genitals for awhile, and somehow that makes them better people. Pure people.

This Purity Bear video also teaches us an important lesson about women, namely that they’re usually the ones responsible for tricking men into getting turned on, and they’re always demanding sex from poor, defenseless, virtuous, chaste dudes. It happened in Twilight when Bella spent like 3 books humping Edward’s leg before he agreed to put out, it happened to Sir Galahad, the Chaste in that castle full of horny virgins, and it’s happening here, right on this now besotted doorstep. For shame, woman. For shame, women.

Visibly absent from this scenario was the Artie The Angry Trouser Python, who appears to men and tells them to never turn down a handjob.

Right Wing Watch even has video!

But, if you feel the need, you can talk about politics or news if you need to. But I will be sitting here wondering if and how junior there is cuddling with the bear with deep voice….

Posted in Humor, Relaxed Politics | 57 Comments

Sunday Social
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Posted on January 15, 2012 by

I am going to confess something that may come as a surprise to some of y’all. I am a great big mushball when it comes to certain things. I got this CD in the mail Friday and decided to listen to it while driving to work on Saturday. Thankfully, this song came on during my ride home because it made me cry. Ugly cry. A big blubbering mess while driving down the road. It was pitiful. Because when the madkiddies were just little sprouts we would read at bedtime. Their favorite book was “Goodnight Moon”, so I read that book to them. A lot! And when I finished I would tell the boys that I loved them. One night the big kid asked me how much I loved him, and I told him I loved him to the moon and back. He was just a toddler then, but he was still pretty impressed because he knew the moon was very far away. Anyway, that became a thing with us. I still tell them that, though now I am more likely to get an eyeroll than anything else. I don’t care. So when this song came up and I started listening to it…well, you know. I did not think it was possible to love Miss Dolly any more than I already did, but she proved me wrong.

Look at her. She’s wearing a tiny top hat stuck to the side of her head, and it appears she might just tip over at any moment from the weight of her chest. Who else could pull off a look like that?

Posted in Relaxed Politics | 99 Comments

Why is the Conventional Wisdom Conventional? Or Wise?
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Posted on January 10, 2012 by

image via kcur.org

Have you ever noticed that the conventional wisdom in a particular area is neither conventional nor wisdom?  Mark Twain once said that “You may have noticed that the less I know about a subject the more confidence I have, and the more new light I throw on it..”

Twain also said, ”For all the talk you hear about knowledge being such a wonderful thing, instinct is worth forty of it for real unerringness.” When it comes to presidential elections, the United States seems to go with instinct rather than fact.

Mitt Romney won the NH primary today, which he was supposed to do. Conventional Wisdom and the TV Pundits all told us so.  But why? Why would a Massachusetts politician be expected to win next door?  Indeed, why would he be expected to even win his own state?  Wouldn’t we expect the people of his own area (state plus TV market perhaps) to know both his positive and negative attributes even better than the rest of the voters?

Maybe I am missing something, but what has Barack Obama done for Illinois that he hasn’t done for the rest of the U.S.?  Or, a better analogy if New Hampshire couldn’t fit in the back pocket of Texas shorts shorts, what has he done for Iowa, Indiana and Missouri that he hasn’t done for the rest of the country?

Was George W. Bush any less of a failure for Texans during his presidency than he was for the rest of the country?  New Orleans didn’t benefit from being in a neighboring state for eight years.

Sports teams have fans outside their city and state, especially if they play in cities where the neighboring state doesn’t have a sports franchise for that sport.  But politics shouldn’t be sports. Do voters simply choose the name they’ve heard the longest? Do they want their state to “win”?  Do they assume that a politician from their state or region of the country shares their values?  Or are they just more familiar with the accent?

I don’t care one way or the other about the results of any state’s Republican primary, but I do care about my vote.  I would rather vote for a liberal than Barack Obama, but I’d never choose a “home state” candidate over a candidate whose ideas I support.  Why do other Americans?

Posted in Current Events, News, Politics, Relaxed Politics, US Politics | 64 Comments

Sunday Social
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Posted on January 8, 2012 by

funny pictures - How about now?
see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

Today I am thinking about weirdness. OK, maybe not weird. Quirks, habits, compulsions. I’ve got ‘em. Towels have to be folded a certain way. If someone else folds the laundry differently (ha!) I have to go behind them and fix the towels so they look right on the shelf. Hanging clothes all have to be facing the same way. If something is backwards, I have to fix it. Otherwise it just looks strange! I tend to do the same things, in the same order, day in and day out. I prefer to think of these habits of mine as a sign of orderliness, rather than the onset of OCD. But who am I to say? I’m not to the point of organizing the big kid’s LEGO’s, though I will admit the sight of all those pieces jumbled up in a giant pile makes me just a bit twitchy. I figure as long as I don’t spend half an hour locking and re-locking the front door before I can leave the house, I am probably OK. Or maybe it’s just a lack of sleep making me think I am a bit nuttier than I really am. All of us are nutty in our own special ways, I think. Sometimes I think most of us are just barely holding on to what is commonly thought of as reality. Perhaps it is just the current environment where so many people are fully embracing completely batshit insane ideas and policies as though they make perfect sense. I don’t know.

What do y’all think?

Posted in Sunday Social | 95 Comments

High Tech Animals
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Posted on January 5, 2012 by

I’ve been using skype for years, and I think we had a webcam as early as 2003 so that my son could see and talk to his grandparents. More recently, I’ve been using Google+’s video conference feature to interact with friends and for a Friday morning Torah study group I attend. My son’s laptop has facetime, but I am not sure if he uses it often. I once used facetime to talk to Peanut Butter, and she could hear my voice and read my lips at the same time. Awesome.

These are all great for people to communicate with those who are far away. But what about animals? Why should they be left out of the fun? Turns out they’re not!

FaceTime for Apes: Orangutans Use iPads to Video Chat With Friends In Other Zoos

Orangutan iPad An orangutan named Mahal plays with an iPad at the Milwaukee Zoo. Orangutan Outreach

Orangutans living in captivity will soon start using iPads for primate play-dates, using Skype or FaceTime to interact with their brethren in other zoos, according to zookeepers. The great apes have been playing with iPads for about six months at the Milwaukee County Zoo, and they’ve been such a hit that other zoos plan to introduce them, too.

The “Apps for Apes” program started after a zookeeper commented online about getting some iPads for her gorilla charges. Someone donated a used iPad, and it turned out the gorillas didn’t care for it. But the orangutans loved it, as the LA Times says.

What about safety? Would you trust your tablet, phone or laptop to an ape?  Or even to your loved ones?

Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Lifestyle, Relaxed Politics | 49 Comments

Sunday Social
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Posted on January 1, 2012 by

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

It’s the first post of the first day of 2012. Of course if you’re like me, it’s going to take a while to get used to. I’ll be writing 2011 on checks until at least the end of February.

I don’t have any resolutions this year. I gave them up a few years ago-I never follow through, and why make myself feel bad? Mostly I am just hoping to get through the year without any major catastrophes, on a personal level as well as a national one. It’s going to be a long year of screeching, poo-flinging, and generally bad behavior so we might as well buckle down and get ready.

What about y’all? Big plans for the new year? Resolutions?

Posted in Relaxed Politics | 77 Comments

SO glad I was off the intertoobz today!
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Posted on December 29, 2011 by

image via http://www.examiner.com

Not sure if y’all have noticed, but I’m often online, on twitter, reading news, etc. as much as 14-16 hours of any day.  Today was different.  Today I had a doc appt in the morning, then got my nails done, then spent the afternoon with a friend.

Texteen is up in Delaware, visiting my folks at their new condo.  (They finally sold the house in NJ about a month ago.)  Anyway, you know Texteen and TTGF are up there visiting right?  So today was NYC day, when the kids took the bus all the way to New York by themselves to do some sightseeing and let my parents nap.  We had a long skype call last night about keeping money safe, keeping phones in front pockets, the young lady keeping her purse under her arm and zipped, with the zipper opening in front, etc.  She has traveled in Europe and he’s been to both Paris and Israel, so this was mainly a review lesson, but neither has ever been in NY without actual adults, so I reviewed last night.

So …. why am I glad I stayed off the intertoobz?

Cause THIS is not the news story you want to read when you’re kid is in New York and your parents are in Delaware!!!!

U.S. transportation officials have ordered Double Happyness Travel Inc. to immediately cease operations, deeming the company’s bus service “an imminent hazard.” Investigators said they found numerous violations of rules on vehicle maintenance and driver safety, including drug and alcohol testing and records on how long drivers were working.

Double Happyness runs buses from Albany, N.Y., Baltimore, Md., and Wilmington, Del., to midtown and Chinatown in New York City. Authorities did not cite any accidents involving the company in its press release.

Good kids, though.  They didn’t tell me anything about it until they arrived safely home to my parents’ condo.

Which means that I don’t need to go to the hairdresser tomorrow to get the brand new gray hairs covered up.

Posted in Courts and Justice, Lifestyle | 36 Comments

3rd Annual Beach House Candle Race
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Posted on December 26, 2011 by

Presenting ….. The Third Annual Chanukah Candle Race and Fundraiser!!

It’s here! It’s candle-lighting time at the Beach House, and time for the third annual Chanukah Menorah Candle Race Gambling Game & Fundraiser™!

Here’s how it works:

1) Choose a candle.  Declare your intentions in the comments.  Choose your favorite number from 1-7.  Or stubbornly choose blue, which I no longer have, and send $100 donation. I suggest you not choose the shamash, since it’s virtually guaranteed to go out first as it’s used to light all the other candles.

VOTE FOR THE CANDLE THAT WILL BURN THE LONGEST.

2) Root!  Yell at your candle, encourage your candle, offer it 70 virgin oil candles when it gets to heaven, whatever it takes.  Just please do NOT open the front door and let the wind blow out everyone else’s candle.  Electronic and hand-held fans are also banned, and throwing your latkes at other people’s candles WILL result in a life-long ban.  AND the assignment of washing the latke pan!

3) Pay up!  $10 if your candle lasts to the bitter end.  $20 if it goes out sooner than that.  OR you may volunteer for a posting slot in the schedule if you can’t cover your gambling debts.

A quick reminder that this race/fundraiser is necessary not just because I like to torture you with losing gambling endeavors, but because it actually costs $120/year plus chocolate-covered strawberries to maintain the lease on the this gorgeous house and the property/domain surrounding it.

I’ll post photos all evening.

It all goes for a good cause, especially this year.

Posted in Relaxed Politics | 63 Comments

Sunday Social
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Posted on December 25, 2011 by

I love this song, and I love this movie. yeah, the original with Cary Grant is pretty good. But the music in this is just so great, and Denzel is quite easy on the eyes! Whitney’s voice was made to sing with a choir, and this version of Joy to the World just makes me happy. I am not church-y, but there is just something about it that works for me.

By the time this post pops the madkiddies will have already torn through all their presents, and probably already gone through a dozen batteries. I hope that all the Beach Bumz have a lovely day doing whatever makes you happy. And if you’re dealing with obnoxious relatives, remember that this too shall pass.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Posted in Relaxed Politics, Sunday Social | 23 Comments

Put the Who Back in What?
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Posted on December 21, 2011 by

If Obama does it, it’s socialism and evil. If St. Ronnie of Reagan did it, they just never notice.

Happy Holidays.

Republicans Are Furious About Obama’s Christmas Card… Wait Till They See Reagan’s.
Some conservative outlets are making a fuss over the White House’s Christmas Card, saying there is no Christmas in it.

Fox News Radio ran a report that read this way, 

The official White House holiday card makes no mention of the word ‘Christmas’ and instead focused on Bo the First Dog based on the wishes of the First Family.

“From our family to yours, may your holidays shine with the light of the season,” read the inside of the card, featuring the presidential seal.

The front of the card features Bo the First Dog lounging by a fireplace. Holiday greenery is draped over the fireplace mantle. Holiday presents are placed on a table underneath a poinsettia – instead of a Christmas tree.

Besides the presents wrapped in red and gold bows, the garland, and the traditional Christmas poinsettias, there is no Christmas in it. 

Sarah Palin even opined on the issue on Fox.

“It’s odd,” Palin said, wondering why the president’s Christmas card highlights his dog instead of traditions like “family, faith and freedom.”

If she’s upset about that, wait till she sees the ones from George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.

And what’s behind that link? Lots of cards!  Including a pinko card with no crucifix or baby in a manger!  1983.  Hmmm …. who was president in 1983?

This nontroversy brought to you by the for-profit corporate media.

 

Posted in Lifestyle, Relaxed Politics | Tagged | 87 Comments