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Weekend Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 01:38:02 PM EST
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I'm off to Aspen for a 75th birthday party for Hunter Thompson. (Not the live reading of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas going on at the Hotel Jerome. George McGovern and Hunter's son Juan will be among the readers.)

I'll be checking in but not blogging much if at all for the next few days. Maybe BTD will check in, you never know. BTD - Something tomorrow. Promise.

(Thanks to Fishcamp for the photo.)

Enjoy your weekend, whatever you are doing, and this is an open thread, all topics welcome.

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    Weekend Open Thread | 31 comments (31 topical)

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    "BTD?" Hmmm...sounds familiar, but (5.00 / 4) (#1)
    by Anne on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 03:59:29 PM EST
    I'm drawing a blank...

    [yes, that's snark - and a gentle commentary on BTD's near-total absence, promises to write something notwithstanding]

    Heehee! (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by Zorba on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 04:03:41 PM EST
    Yes, no kidding, Anne.

    Parent
    Promised to write something (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by oculus on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 04:04:16 PM EST
    "worthwhile."  Not a dime's worth of difference "on issues I care about."  Words matter.  

    Parent
    I shouldn't (5.00 / 2) (#5)
    by lentinel on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 04:26:13 PM EST
    say this, but anyway --- one of the more recent things I recall BTD saying was that he "knew" what was "in Obama's heart".

    Pretty cool.

    Parent

    maybe someone could set up (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by cpinva on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 04:44:29 PM EST
    simutaneous readings of Ulysses, and Fear and Loathing. etc somewhere. be quite the interesting contrast, sort of.

    Oh, my (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by Zorba on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 06:01:56 PM EST
    I marinated the three-pound striper that Mr. and Son Zorba brought home yesterday evening, and Mr. Zorba cooked it in the electric smoker today, using cherry wood from our farm.  Really good.  Really, really good.  It was even better than the sea trout that they also brought home and that I cooked last night.
    I love, love, love fresh fish.    ;-)

    I am cooking! Cuban black bean (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by oculus on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 06:05:01 PM EST
    soup, tortilla Espanola, and spinach salad w/strawberries. Dinner for six. .

    Parent
    Barcelona time (5.00 / 4) (#9)
    by CST on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 06:36:15 PM EST
    It's the one place I've gone to on this trip where we are ultimate tourists.   Our group is down to three, my sister, her friend and I.   None of us have been here before, and we're doing things like busting out maps on the sidewalk and the like.  Still, its a very cool/hip city.  There seems to be street music everywhere, from the funk band in the train station, to the Spanish guitar, harp and piano at the park.  Then tonight wandering down the main tourist drag we ran into a band on a stage in the street playing cover POP songs.  And they are all seriously talented.

    The food is good and the city is lovely, but music aside its hard to live up to Istanbul.   Meeting my extended family was just lovely, everyone treated us phenomenally and the city itself is special in a way that makes everything else a little more bland.  Very glad I'm not going straight back to my old job at the end of this.

    Love Barcelona. Took the high speed train from (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by Angel on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 08:09:51 PM EST
    Madrid to Barcelona and when we got there we wished we had just skipped Madrid altogether.  Barcelona is a lovely place.

    Parent
    don't miss Gaudi (none / 0) (#25)
    by LeaNder on Sun Jul 15, 2012 at 04:05:37 AM EST
    I hope you don't miss Park Guell and Sacrada Familia.

    Parent
    Jeralyn... (none / 0) (#4)
    by fishcamp on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 04:25:47 PM EST
    Have a great time in Aspen and hi to any fans I have left in the old mining town.

    Aloha from San Francisco! (none / 0) (#10)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 07:54:50 PM EST
    It's a chilly 63 degrees and sunny, but the fog on the west side of San Francisco is threatening to roll right over the top of Sutro Tower and Twin Peaks and envelope the rest of the city. We're getting ready for sunset cocktails at the "Top of the Mark," and then dinner at a place to be determined.

    Looking for something to do outdoors today, we drove across the Golden Gate to visit Muir Woods National Monument this morning (just west of Mill Valley), and spent the better part of the day communing with Mother Nature amongst her coastal redwoods. Gosh, what a magnificent place! If you've never been there, next time you're visiting San Francisco, please take the 45 min. drive north to see it. You won't be disappointed.

    Okay, I'm being hailed by the spouse, so it's time to go. Aloha.

    I have to tell (none / 0) (#12)
    by Ga6thDem on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 09:01:52 PM EST
    you that I am very envious of your weather reports. It has cooled some down here but it's still too hot for me.

    Parent
    I'm in the area (none / 0) (#14)
    by nycstray on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 09:38:50 PM EST
    it was 72 with a bay breeze today. 76 tomorrow and then Monday we'll be lucky to hit the low 60's. A tad cool, but I wouldn't trade it for my former east coast weather AT ALL. My veggie garden is in the back, in an area that averages about 10 degrees hotter than the actual temp due to location and being surrounded by gravel. On the days we're supposed to hit the mid 80's, I have to debate whether to turn on the heat when I wake up, as it's a tad cold in the house, lol!~ When the fog comes in, GREAT sleeping weather!

    Average temp in the summer is 75 with a slight breeze, and the low 80's is still very comfortable. Yes, I checked temps before I moved! D@mn glad I did :)

    Come join me! Oh yeah, humidity?! Doesn't happen much :D

    Parent

    There've been times when ... (none / 0) (#20)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 11:18:19 PM EST
    ... I've agreed with Mark Twain's quip, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." I took the girls to Alcatraz while on a trip here five years ago, and we about froze our keesters off -- and it was the first week of August! The spouse knew better than that, and went shopping.

    But all in all, San Francisco's a lovely city, and like I said before, if we weren't living in Hawaii, we'd probably be living in the Bay Area or Santa Barbara. I do like Oakland, and could see ourselves nestled in the hills there, with me puttering around in my garden. We're both nesters, and setting is very important to us.

    Eventually, we'll probably end up in Hilo, an old plantation town over on the windward (east) side of the Big Island. That's our favorite place to hang out in Hawaii, and Younger Daughter is starting school over there next month at UH-Hilo. It's a very local place, and a lot of tourists tend to shun it because it does rain a lot -- but the rains are also why it's so green. And in winter, the views of snow-capped Mauna Kea (13,974 ft. in elevation) can take your breathe away.

    Parent

    I lived in the Oakland hills in college (none / 0) (#23)
    by nycstray on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 11:43:25 PM EST
    for a year. I think the house burned in the fire, but d@mn, that was NICE living :) I swore when I lived in SF I would never live anywhere else. Don't know how I ended up in NYC, lol!~

    When I came back, I just didn't want to go there with SF prices, so I'm across a bay, and enjoying weather like Oakland, Berkeley, etc. (10 degrees-ish warmer in the summer and less fog) And I have my house and garden :)

    I was sitting out front on my porch this afternoon. Ya just can't beat it. House was built in the late 1800's and the porch has a paned glass window area to block the heavier bay breezes. It's the middle of July and I'm not in fear of nasty August weather :D

    Parent

    i learned this the hard way, the first (none / 0) (#26)
    by cpinva on Sun Jul 15, 2012 at 05:20:42 AM EST
    "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

    time i went to SF. mid-august, 90's and humid in richmond, va. walked out of the AP in SF, nearly froze to death!

    aside from that shock to the system, the city is lovely.

    Parent

    I love Hilo (none / 0) (#29)
    by Dadler on Sun Jul 15, 2012 at 11:27:43 AM EST
    For all the reasons you said, my wife hates all the rain.  We're on the Big Island once or twice a year, and I try to get us to that side of the island as often as I can.  Our favorite local guide, Warren Costa of Native Guide Hawaii (plug plug), lives in Paradise Park south of Hilo, took us on a great tour of Puna a few months back.  Anyway, did I say I loved Hilo?  Just a lovely town, small but not too small, doesn't really feel like the U.S. to me. Then again, much of Hawaii seems like another country, even touristy Kona where we stay (except for the newer malls up on the highway).  Have a good rest of your stay.

    Parent
    I have a friend whose son lives and works in Hilo. (none / 0) (#30)
    by Angel on Sun Jul 15, 2012 at 11:55:17 AM EST
    She visits him a couple of times a year and raves about how restful she feels when she returns home to Texas.  

    Parent
    You lucky ducky (none / 0) (#17)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 11:11:23 PM EST
    Top of the Mark... that is one of my all time favs for a cocktail or two.. and the view... wow.

    Parent
    The view wasn't too great tonight. (none / 0) (#21)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 11:33:34 PM EST
    There was a lot of fog blowing over the Golden Gate late this afternoon and evening, which tended to obscure views of the bay a lot, and it sort of put a damper on the sunset.

    I've always found that sort of strange, how the fog will billow in from the ocean and blanket the coastal areas, stalling at the hills both north and south of the Golden Gate Bridge, but blowing right through the narrow channel of the Golden Gate itself, long thick fingers reaching out to grasp and envelop Alcatraz and Angel Island in the middle of the bay.

    But The Top of the Mark is still a pretty cool place to hang out for cocktails, even if it is partly foggy, and the views of the San Francisco skyline tonight as the lights of the city turned on were still pretty awesome. And we decided to have dinner up there, instead of venturing out.

    And speaking of magnificent views, we had planned to drive up to Twin Peaks afterward, but by the time we left, you could see that the fog covered the top of the hills. Too bad, because Twin Peaks at 1,000 ft. in elevation has the finest views of the city, especially at night. Maybe tomorrow night ...

    Parent

    Typical summer pattern for EsEf (none / 0) (#24)
    by IrishGerard on Sun Jul 15, 2012 at 12:44:49 AM EST
    I live at the base of Twin Peaks and it's completely socked in tonight. also dangerous to drive it tonight.

    FYI. you can pick up some foie gras sliders at the Presidio Social Club. They are flouting the recent ban based on the premise that they are on Federal Land. Headline news tonight...

    Giants win in the 12th!


    Parent

    Florida Purges Voters ... (none / 0) (#13)
    by heidelja on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 09:05:07 PM EST
    ...from voter registration lists using Homeland Security citizen database. Reported by Orlando ABC affliate WFTV here

    Voting rights groups, while acknowledging that noncitizens have no right to vote, have expressed alarm about using such data for a purpose not originally intended: purging voter lists of ineligible people. They also say voter purges less than four months before a presidential election might leave insufficient time to correct mistakes stemming from faulty data or other problems.
    That's not a bug, that's a feature (5.00 / 2) (#16)
    by unitron on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 10:46:07 PM EST
    "They also say voter purges less than four months before a presidential election might leave insufficient time to correct mistakes stemming from faulty data or other problems."

    I'm pretty sure that's the general idea.

    Parent

    Republican candidate for Iowa Senate (none / 0) (#15)
    by desmoinesdem on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 10:26:57 PM EST
    (Ron Paul supporter) ends her campaign in order to take up a position as U.S. Senator representing Iowa in "The Republic of The United States of America." That republic stands in opposition to the existing federal government, which is supposedly an "unlawful" UNITED STATES CORPORATION established in 1871.

    I can't think of a more strange Iowa political development in my lifetime.

    this is tax protester rhetoric (5.00 / 1) (#22)
    by Peter G on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 11:40:14 PM EST
    I've seen it in the evidentiary materials underlying a number of federal tax prosecutions I've helped try to defend.  None has avoided going to prison.  You can read all about it here.

    Parent
    Just finished the fourth season (none / 0) (#18)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 11:12:08 PM EST
    of Breaking Bad..

    Now I'm all set for tomorrow night!

    I have some watching to do (none / 0) (#19)
    by nycstray on Sat Jul 14, 2012 at 11:16:47 PM EST
    Think I can watch 4 seasons in a week (and catch this season's premiere on On Demand) while putting up food and all the other things life entails including training a very active Dalmatian? Lol!~

    I do have Breaking Bad on my "to Do" list . . . .

    Parent

    A word (none / 0) (#28)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Sun Jul 15, 2012 at 10:18:29 AM EST
    .

    A word of encouragement to all small business owners from the Prez.

    .

    Tragedy in the 1st world (none / 0) (#31)
    by Politalkix on Sun Jul 15, 2012 at 12:23:06 PM EST
    link

    Color me green with envy. (none / 0) (#32)
    by Chuck0 on Mon Jul 16, 2012 at 02:36:04 PM EST
    I was just thinking about Hunter this weekend. His last note/letter has been weighing on me heavily. Sorry he is gone, but given current conditions, I understand it more today than ever.

    Weekend Open Thread | 31 comments (31 topical)

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