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Saturday Open Thread

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Blog Related
Posted on Sat May 25, 2013 at 12:33:15 PM EST
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It's Champion League Final Day!

Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund (or BVB for those in the know) in an all German club final.

I invested in Dortmund at the quarterfinal stage at 8-1, so a hedge is in order - Bayern (-1) at (+135) for 3 units. But a Dortmund win nets me a 37 unit win.

So go BVB!

Open Thread.

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    Saturday Open Thread | 20 comments (20 topical)

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    Well yesterday... (5.00 / 7) (#2)
    by desertswine on Sat May 25, 2013 at 06:11:14 PM EST
    I finally had to put down my 20 year old little orange cat.  20yrs of hissing, spitting, growling and scratching and I was sad to see her go. But finally, it was the last, best thing I could do for her. Damn cat. I will miss her.

    Hoist one in her honor (5.00 / 6) (#6)
    by Dadler on Sat May 25, 2013 at 07:03:22 PM EST
    Or two. Pets are family. And that's just the truth.

    Parent
    That's exactly what we did. (none / 0) (#11)
    by desertswine on Sun May 26, 2013 at 01:26:38 AM EST


    Parent
    Oh, golly I hate having to do that... (none / 0) (#3)
    by Anne on Sat May 25, 2013 at 06:24:20 PM EST
    I know that by the time things get to this point, it really is the kindest thing to do, but I still hate it.

    Our yellow lab is almost 14, and now and then I just look at her and know her time is coming to an end.  She's still active, eats well, but she's nearly deaf and losing some of her vision.  She will sometimes sleep so deeply that, on occasion, I've thought she was gone before she startled herself awake...which startled me!

    Much sympathy on your loss.

    Parent

    So sorry, desertswine (none / 0) (#4)
    by Zorba on Sat May 25, 2013 at 06:24:33 PM EST
    It is difficult, but you are right.  It is the last, loving thing that we can do for our animal friends.  It is not fair to them to allow them to suffer.

    Parent
    So very sorry for your loss. That's a hard thing (none / 0) (#5)
    by Angel on Sat May 25, 2013 at 06:27:19 PM EST
    to do.  

    Parent
    So sorry about your lost friend (none / 0) (#7)
    by Militarytracy on Sat May 25, 2013 at 09:19:44 PM EST
    Your post and today reminds me of our only cat who was orange and white that my daughter rescued.  Tyler was hit by a car about a year and a half ago.  I am allergic to cats so probably will not seek a replacement ever.  He chose to own us in a strange way that charmed me and I could not argue with.  They say that cats discourage snakes, and often he would kill young snakes and leave them by the front door when he was outside.  Today we killed a copperhead a foot away from our front porch, as our in- laws did last weekend on the other side of the lake.

    It was hiding under the hose storage wheel and got a strike in at my husband and missed.  My husband was hooking the hose to the pressure washer.  I never remember a snake of any kind near the front porch when Tyler was alive.

    Parent

    We're down to one cat, from three - (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by Anne on Sat May 25, 2013 at 09:44:19 PM EST
    "the boys" came to us at the same time - were found in my husband's boss's garage, and there was never any question we were taking them both - and were somewhere around 15/16 when they crossed over - one with help and one on his own.  Lucy, our remaining cat, is young but quite adept at hunting.  She's actually our daughter's cat, but when she and her now-husband moved into their house, they felt like they were too close to the road for a cat who likes to be outside.

    We learned fairly early on that it was never safe to step out the door without looking to see if we had been left any "presents:" mice, moles, birds...sometimes, they'd bring them into the house before they had killed them - have had a few experiences of having to catch chipmunks that made me feel like I'd been transported into a Disney cartoon...and then there was the cardinal one of them brought in, who was rather a challenge to rescue.

    I'd never heard that about cats keeping the snakes away, but living here in the country, I'd have thought we'd see more snakes than we do, so maybe there's something to that!

    Parent

    I had a very nice selection (none / 0) (#9)
    by Militarytracy on Sat May 25, 2013 at 10:49:12 PM EST
    Of anolis out there and two big skinks that the dogs love to chase when you let them out.  Every porch basket had an anoli in it, it reminded me of how every tree in the Bahamas has an iguana in it.  When I watered the baskets an anoli jumped out of each one, almost on my head a couple of times.  That stopped a few days ago.  I was almost relieved :)

    I hadn't seen either elder old wise skink in a couple of days either and the poodle was going nuts about something in the jasmine vines last night.  A little nuttier than she does for a skink.  I sternly called her in because it was kind of creepy.  I should have been a little more suspicious about an unfriendly hunter out there when the lizards became suddenly absent.

    I know now.  Won't be so uninterested again.

    Parent

    Much sympathy... (none / 0) (#12)
    by Dr Molly on Sun May 26, 2013 at 08:14:27 AM EST


    Parent
    Oh no! (none / 0) (#20)
    by sj on Mon May 27, 2013 at 07:54:33 AM EST
    I am so, so sorry desertswine. I had a cat that you just described perfectly (except small grey tabby) that I lost 3 months before her 20th birthday. Her one redeeming feature was that she loved us and gave us great hugs -- when she wasn't hissing, spitting, growling or scratching. It was probably 2 years before I stopped avoiding shadows when walking in the dark at night (not wanting step on her).  Damn cat. I still miss her.

    Hugs to you.

    Parent

    Thank you... (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by desertswine on Sun May 26, 2013 at 01:25:36 AM EST
    for your kind words and sentiments.

    Saw Tom Stoppard's ARCADIA last night (5.00 / 3) (#15)
    by Dadler on Sun May 26, 2013 at 01:22:06 PM EST
    Disappointing. I like this play more when I read it than when it is staged. Also, huge note to A.C.T.: please, never again put up and understudy who has to be ON PHUCKING BOOK for a major role. Not on a Saturday night when some of those folks were paying a hundred bones a ticket or more. We were on a discount, so it wasn't as bad, but still...I was raised in the theater, my beautiful messed up parents were both actors when I was conceived, I have a degree in the ol' dramatic arts, have seen a thousand plays plus, and I have NEVER been to a bigtime theater during a run and seen and understudy toting around script pages in every scene and stumbling over every tenth line. It kind of, um, too a lot of the intensity and actual drama out of all of his scenes, which was almost all of the present day action.

    Sigh.

    and with my proofreading skills on TL (5.00 / 1) (#16)
    by Dadler on Sun May 26, 2013 at 01:24:28 PM EST
    I should be banished from all ability to play literary critic of any sort.

    Jaysus. The an that becomes and, the took that is too.  Bah!

    Parent

    Conscious vs. Subconscious, vol. 8 (none / 0) (#1)
    by Dadler on Sat May 25, 2013 at 01:19:51 PM EST
    Dadler's daily comic. (link)

    And welcome back, BTD.

    hilarious (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by DFLer on Sun May 26, 2013 at 10:04:10 AM EST


    Parent
    Sea change (none / 0) (#14)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Sun May 26, 2013 at 10:34:57 AM EST
    .

    A sea change in Illinois.  Madigan is out front whole Quinn and Emanuel bitterly cling to the failed policies of the past.

    Link
    .

    "Failed policies of the past"? (3.00 / 2) (#19)
    by Yman on Sun May 26, 2013 at 10:24:14 PM EST
    Illinois is 41st in overall firearms deaths.  That means they're among the 10 states with the lowest levels of gun violence.  Yet you want them to follow in the footsteps of the most permissive gun states, which have the highest levels of gun violence and gun homicides.

    "Failed", indeed.

    Parent

    "Failed policies of the past"? (none / 0) (#18)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sun May 26, 2013 at 07:36:14 PM EST
    The lady doth project too much, methinks.

    Parent
    And you thought YOUR Mayor was bad! (none / 0) (#17)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sun May 26, 2013 at 07:32:49 PM EST
    The strange and sordid saga of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford gets seamier by the day. Long known for his eccentric behavior and too-candid remarks, and rumored to have had ties with the late Anthony Smith, a 21-year-old alleged drug dealer who was apparently gunned down in a drive-by a few months ago, Ford has now allegedly been caught on video smoking crack cocaine in the company of some Somali drug dealers.

    And on Thursday, Hizzoner summarily fired his chief of staff Mark Towhey on Thursday, after Towhey urged his boss to go away and get help.

    And now, after an 18- month investigation, The Globe & Mail has brought the hammer down on not only the mayor, but also his brother, Toronto City Councilman Doug Ford, in what looks to be a bombshell:

    The Globe & Mail | May 26, 2013
    Globe investigation: The Ford family's history with drug dealing -- In the 1980s, anyone wanting to buy hashish had to know where to go. And in central Etobicoke, the wealthy Toronto suburb where Mayor Rob Ford grew up, one of those places was James Gardens. In the evening, the sports cars often wound along Edenbridge Drive, past the gated homes and the lawn-bowling pitches, until they reached the U-shaped parking lot. By nightfall, the public park was a hash drive-thru. One former street dealer, whom we will call 'Justin,' described the scene as 'an assembly line.' There were usually a number of dealers to choose from, some of them supplied by a mainstay at James Gardens - a young man with the hulk-like frame and mop of bright blond hair: Doug Ford. "Most people didn't approach Doug looking for product. You went to the guys that he supplied. Because if Doug didn't know you and trust you, he wouldn't even roll down his window," Justin said. Today, Mr. Ford is a member of Toronto's city council - and no ordinary councillor. First elected in 2010 as his brother was swept into the mayor's office, he has emerged as a truly powerful figure at City Hall -- trying to overhaul plans for Toronto's waterfront less than a year after arriving. He also has higher aspirations, and has said he wants to follow in the footsteps of his father, Doug Ford Sr., by running in the next provincial election as a Conservative."

    His brother's strenuous denials to The Globe aside, not to mention his own denial issued only minutes ago, I'll be surprised if Mayor Rob Ford somehow makes it through the week.

    One can only hope he does the right thing and resigns.

    Saturday Open Thread | 20 comments (20 topical)

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