Look, uh, what's your game?
January 16, 2023 2:24 AM Subscribe
Hello, yes, it's Monday, but don't worry, it's all right now, baby, it's — ah all right now, (whoa, ooh)! But don't take my word for it, just ask these guys. Like this thread, they are totally Free, and we're feeling very '70s in here. ☮️
Please enjoy your fab and funky free thread 🌼 I hope it makes you smile from your head to your feet.
Please enjoy your fab and funky free thread 🌼 I hope it makes you smile from your head to your feet.
I got seriously stuck on I love to love by Tina Charles. (The stage set in this video is rather alarming. What's with the disembodied hands?)
There's something about the timing of "but-hmmm-my baby" that gets me every time.
posted by Zumbador at 4:47 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
There's something about the timing of "but-hmmm-my baby" that gets me every time.
posted by Zumbador at 4:47 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
One year ago today I last drank alcohol. Went to my first AA meeting the next day. Today, I am going to my second AA meeting. It’s been an awesome year.
posted by kabong the wiser at 5:10 AM on January 16, 2023 [82 favorites]
posted by kabong the wiser at 5:10 AM on January 16, 2023 [82 favorites]
Flashing back to Indiana, 1974: my first bar band gig. This song.
posted by kozad at 5:45 AM on January 16, 2023
posted by kozad at 5:45 AM on January 16, 2023
Post Covid is kicking my ass something hard. I’m testing negative, but the congestion, fog and tiredness are sheer misery.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 5:57 AM on January 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 5:57 AM on January 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
I don't have anything from the 1970's but today I learned that the end of the era of transporting cargo around the world by sail was... more recent than I thought. The last time sail-powered tallships loaded with grain set sail from Port Victoria, Australia (bound for England) and walloped around Cape Horn was in 1949.
I had no idea it was that late. There's a helpful YouTube with real footage and interviews from the folks who lived the experience if you'd like to know more.
posted by which_chick at 6:03 AM on January 16, 2023 [8 favorites]
I had no idea it was that late. There's a helpful YouTube with real footage and interviews from the folks who lived the experience if you'd like to know more.
posted by which_chick at 6:03 AM on January 16, 2023 [8 favorites]
There are some experiments with said assisted cargo vessels these days as well, so it might be something that kind of comes back.
posted by Harald74 at 6:07 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Harald74 at 6:07 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
...transporting cargo around the world by sail was... more recent than I thought
Here's a tidbit for you: steam locomotives were still being used for normal railroad activities (not just cool museum pieces) in the United States until the 1960s.
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:09 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Here's a tidbit for you: steam locomotives were still being used for normal railroad activities (not just cool museum pieces) in the United States until the 1960s.
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:09 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
My wife and I both encountered the Tina Charles song for the first time in the British show River (it's prominently featured as a song they Karaoke to in multiple episodes) and came to the conclusion that it was a deliberately retro-cheesy bespoke song created for the show for kitsch value or to save on royalties. We were shocked to later learn that it was a real song! (Maybe she was bigger in England?) We're the right age to know most mainstream disco/disco adjacent songs but had never heard it out in the wild. Anyway, Zumbador, it's cool that someone earnestly appreciates it and maybe you'd enjoy River if you haven't already seen it?
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 6:12 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 6:12 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
This is ever so slightly older than the 1970s, but I follow a couple of pages which post decades-old pictures of various cities I have lived in (called things like “Old _______ Photos” or “Vintage ______” and the like). Mostly I find it pleasing to see how much urban form has changed over a century or so bit occasionally I find odd connections with my own life: last year I found a photo of a family standing before their house in 1902; the house was the one I remember as my grandparents’s place in the seventies, but the picture was taken more than a decade before either one of them was born.
Anyway, it wearies me that any photo taken before about 1963 with people visible invariably has commenters sighing, “oh, I miss the days when people had class and dressed up to ride public transit/go shopping/eat lunch”. I sometimes ask these commenters what keeps them from putting on formal wear for these activities today.
No answers so far.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:24 AM on January 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
Anyway, it wearies me that any photo taken before about 1963 with people visible invariably has commenters sighing, “oh, I miss the days when people had class and dressed up to ride public transit/go shopping/eat lunch”. I sometimes ask these commenters what keeps them from putting on formal wear for these activities today.
No answers so far.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:24 AM on January 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
Woke up too early (around 5am), but otherwise feeling better than I did last week. Hoping to get some stuff done.
posted by May Kasahara at 6:30 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by May Kasahara at 6:30 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
GenX'ers are usually tagged as being 80's kids - and that kind of tracks because for many of us this was when we were in our teens. But I remember a good chunk of the 70s as well, and sometimes think I should have been born into a more "hippie" family because I really got into the whole crunchy-granola health-food-and-back-to-the-land yacht-rock side of the 70s, and a part of me wanted to grow up and live in a little house in a quiet friendly town with a hippie vibe, where I could have my own vegetable garden and bake my own bread and wander into the town green for summer concerts at the gazebo or something. That changed when I was ten, and my family visited New York for the first time and another part of me spoke up and said "hang on, THIS FEELS LIKE HOME, we are going to live HERE instead."
Not so much with the "quiet town" vibe, but....one reason I love my particular neighborhood is that it's pretty chill, and I recently got a plot in a neighborhood garden. And I have been to free concerts in Prospect Park and free movies in the summer, and I've also heard of a couple of Sunday folky clubs I've meant to check out.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:31 AM on January 16, 2023 [8 favorites]
Not so much with the "quiet town" vibe, but....one reason I love my particular neighborhood is that it's pretty chill, and I recently got a plot in a neighborhood garden. And I have been to free concerts in Prospect Park and free movies in the summer, and I've also heard of a couple of Sunday folky clubs I've meant to check out.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:31 AM on January 16, 2023 [8 favorites]
Congratulations, kabong the wiser!
Listening to "All Right Now" makes me nostalgic for Chicago's WMET, which played AOR when I was a teenager. The odds of hearing "All Right Now" or something else with Paul Rodgers on vocals at any given moment was non-trivial. I've expanded my musical tastes since then but that doesn't really stop the nostalgia.
Week generally went fine, except for the hard drive on my home PC apparently dying (I also have a Mac, and will try rescuing what I can once I get a recovery USB stick), and a hypoglycemic episode last night (speaking of recovery, I think that I need to get some glucose tablets toot sweet).
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:11 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Listening to "All Right Now" makes me nostalgic for Chicago's WMET, which played AOR when I was a teenager. The odds of hearing "All Right Now" or something else with Paul Rodgers on vocals at any given moment was non-trivial. I've expanded my musical tastes since then but that doesn't really stop the nostalgia.
Week generally went fine, except for the hard drive on my home PC apparently dying (I also have a Mac, and will try rescuing what I can once I get a recovery USB stick), and a hypoglycemic episode last night (speaking of recovery, I think that I need to get some glucose tablets toot sweet).
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:11 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
When I was a teen, they made That '70s Show, about an impossibly distant and nostalgic era. It was then the '90s. Now they have made That '90s Show. I do not like this. I do not.
Empress: the '80s were a couple years late in coming to the South, at least in terms of style if not politics, so I also felt like a bit of a '70s kid, even though I could not in fact walk before the '80s. I also remember, though, how incredibly out of style the '70s got overnight. Not consciously, of course, but still. In Ghostbusters, there's a joke about how dweeby Rick Moranis is because he's having a party where "Disco Inferno" is playing. Just disco itself is the joke, and somehow I understood that, even though I was in first grade at the time.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:19 AM on January 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
Empress: the '80s were a couple years late in coming to the South, at least in terms of style if not politics, so I also felt like a bit of a '70s kid, even though I could not in fact walk before the '80s. I also remember, though, how incredibly out of style the '70s got overnight. Not consciously, of course, but still. In Ghostbusters, there's a joke about how dweeby Rick Moranis is because he's having a party where "Disco Inferno" is playing. Just disco itself is the joke, and somehow I understood that, even though I was in first grade at the time.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:19 AM on January 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
by Tina Charles
ooh Zumbador, that reminds me of the time Christmas was approaching and my parents entrusted me to look after a gift for the paperboy. I bought him a Dead Milkmen cassette tape (Metaphysical Graffiti) and inserted it in a (extremely used) Tina Charles jacket, I'm not sure what happened from there.
"In Praise of Sha Na Na"
posted by elkevelvet at 7:30 AM on January 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
ooh Zumbador, that reminds me of the time Christmas was approaching and my parents entrusted me to look after a gift for the paperboy. I bought him a Dead Milkmen cassette tape (Metaphysical Graffiti) and inserted it in a (extremely used) Tina Charles jacket, I'm not sure what happened from there.
"In Praise of Sha Na Na"
posted by elkevelvet at 7:30 AM on January 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
You had to bring up "fab and funky", which reminded me of Funky Flashman, which of course led me down the rabbit hole of Kirby's Fourth World. Yeah, that's right, I have comic books older than most of you people, comics I bought off a "Hey Kids!" spinner rack. Jack Kirby was a remarkable artist and writer. I had the privilege of shaking his hand at the San Diego Comic-Con. Hail to the King, baby!
posted by SPrintF at 7:43 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 7:43 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
We re-booked flights to Iceland after a 2.5 year delay!
It's our first international travel since we returned from India in January 2020.
nervous/excited
posted by djseafood at 7:46 AM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
It's our first international travel since we returned from India in January 2020.
nervous/excited
posted by djseafood at 7:46 AM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
on the topic of expletives, do you know anyone who lets rip with a plausibly deniable word or phrase?
I was visiting the person who used to play piano at the church I attend, a very petite woman in her late 70s I believe, and she is in the habit of loudly proclaiming "Sugar tit!!" like some of us might let a shit or fuck fly.
She finally told me where that comes from (this past weekend) but I think it's the funniest thing. Like, technically it's not a "bad word" but just kind of funny that she lets herself get away with it.
apparently a teething baby might receive a piece of cloth soaked in milk and a little sugar or syrup, rubbed on the gums, hence 'sugar tit'
posted by elkevelvet at 7:56 AM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
I was visiting the person who used to play piano at the church I attend, a very petite woman in her late 70s I believe, and she is in the habit of loudly proclaiming "Sugar tit!!" like some of us might let a shit or fuck fly.
She finally told me where that comes from (this past weekend) but I think it's the funniest thing. Like, technically it's not a "bad word" but just kind of funny that she lets herself get away with it.
apparently a teething baby might receive a piece of cloth soaked in milk and a little sugar or syrup, rubbed on the gums, hence 'sugar tit'
posted by elkevelvet at 7:56 AM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
When I was still part of the working world I would listen to the contemporary "pop" radio station on my way to work as a way to keep up with the music, artists, and slang (to a degree) so I could better communicate with my coworkers who were all decades younger than I.
Now, in blissful retirement, I listen almost exclusively to Sirus XM 70s on 7 channel because that was the music of my youth. KFRC am on my Panasonic ball and chain radio (in Orange) hooked over the handle bar of my Schwinn (not a Stingray--I wasn't cool enough for that) enjoying the distortion as the radio swayed back and forth.
posted by agatha_magatha at 8:47 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Now, in blissful retirement, I listen almost exclusively to Sirus XM 70s on 7 channel because that was the music of my youth. KFRC am on my Panasonic ball and chain radio (in Orange) hooked over the handle bar of my Schwinn (not a Stingray--I wasn't cool enough for that) enjoying the distortion as the radio swayed back and forth.
posted by agatha_magatha at 8:47 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
This thread speaks (sings?) to me!
I like to make digital mixtapes. One of my favorites right now is something I call "Revival Rock".
The (loose and entirely subjective) criteria is late 60's-early 70's rock featuring a strong male vocal and (I don't know how to describe this but) a full sound - heavy instrumentation, brass, etc.
Here's the track listing: (The things without numbers are audio drop ins)
01: Sugarloaf - Green Eyed Lady (1970)
02: Ides of March - Vehicle (1970)
KTEL Explosive Hits
03: Rare Earth - I Just Want to Celebrate (1971)
04: Joe Cocker - Feelin Alright (1969)
05: Blues Image - Ride Captain Ride (1970)
06: Chicago - Twenty-five or Six to Four (1969)
07: Humble Pie - Thirty Days in the Hole (1972)
93KHJ Call Sign Real Don Steele
08: Box Tops - The Letter (1967)
Jetliner landing
09: Eric Burdon and the Animals - Spill the Wine (1970)
10: Blood Sweat and Tears - Spinning Wheel (1968)
11: Chicago - Questions 67 and 68 (1969)
12: Norman Greenbaum - Spirit in the Sky (1969)
posted by mmrtnt at 8:55 AM on January 16, 2023 [11 favorites]
I should be working. I've been asking for a meeting with my boss and his boss for ages, and now it's suddenly on tomorrow with no warning. I could have prepared in advance, given that I'm the one who wants the meeting, but... ya' know.
Anyway, Monday is YouTube food day. As I understand it, YouTubers have forums where they calibrate their programs and it seems to be an International convention that Monday is the best day for releasing cooking videos.
This is a local one: it's in Danish, but it is so soothing and the two pasta dishes look so delicious and easy to make, I thought many MeFites would enjoy it (you don't need to understand the words at all).
posted by mumimor at 9:17 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Anyway, Monday is YouTube food day. As I understand it, YouTubers have forums where they calibrate their programs and it seems to be an International convention that Monday is the best day for releasing cooking videos.
This is a local one: it's in Danish, but it is so soothing and the two pasta dishes look so delicious and easy to make, I thought many MeFites would enjoy it (you don't need to understand the words at all).
posted by mumimor at 9:17 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Just dropped off my antique cat at the vet for blood work and X-rays. We've got a break in the rain so not as big a slog as I'd feared.
Yesterday I went to Westfield mall for the first time in years. Very quiet for a weekend, not sure if that was due to weather or economy or people falling out of the habit due to COVID-19. Had some very bland curry for lunch.
Several shops now have private security agents maintaining a cordon at their entrance like a nightclub. This includes the Ross on Market Street. I'm very much team "if you see someone shoplifting, no you didn't" and can't help but think that the practice is going to discourage customers just generally. I freaking hate this timeline.
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 9:26 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yesterday I went to Westfield mall for the first time in years. Very quiet for a weekend, not sure if that was due to weather or economy or people falling out of the habit due to COVID-19. Had some very bland curry for lunch.
Several shops now have private security agents maintaining a cordon at their entrance like a nightclub. This includes the Ross on Market Street. I'm very much team "if you see someone shoplifting, no you didn't" and can't help but think that the practice is going to discourage customers just generally. I freaking hate this timeline.
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 9:26 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
mmrtnt, that's a great list. Something else that I was thinking about WRT that AOR era was "Green Grass and High Tides" by the Outlaws; one of the YouTube comments is "If they don’t play this at my funeral I’m not going."
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:28 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:28 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
which_chick
The Box is a stunning book about container shipping and how completely it changed things starting in the late 70's. WalMart, globalization, foreign labor - all made possible by railroads, ships and ports standardizing on big metal boxes.
posted by mmrtnt at 9:32 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's not the 70s without Ronco. Hey good lookin' we'll be back to pick you up later!
posted by emjaybee at 9:37 AM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 9:37 AM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
Halloween Jack
I FORGOT ABOUT THE OUTLAWS!
Here's the listing for a cassette mix I made with a reel-to-reel in the mid 80's. Unfortunately, I lost the tape off the back of my bicycle not long after making it.
(The Chicken Train track was shortened, gradually slowed down and then overlaid on the intro to Can't you See)
Side 1
01: There Goes Another Love Song (Outlaws)
02: Song for You (Outlaws)
03: Song in the Breeze (Outlaws)
04: Cry No More (Outlaws)
05: Waterhole (Outlaws)
06: Stay with Me (Outlaws)
07: Keep Prayin (Outlaws)
08: Knoxville Girl (Outlaws)
09: High Tides and Green Grass (Outlaws)
10: The Road and the Sky (Outlaws)
11: Walking Slow (Jackson Browne)
12: Before the Deluge (Jackson Browne)
Side 2
01: Rocky Mountain Way (Joe Walsh)
02: Rocky Mountain Breakdown (Poco)
03: If you Want to get to Heaven (Ozark Moutain Daredevils)
04: Chicken Train (Ozark Moutain Daredevils)
05: Cant you See (Marshal Tucker Band)
06: Fire on the Mountain (Marshal Tucker Band)
07: Heard it in a Love Song (Marshal Tucker Band)
08: One of These Nights (Eagles)
09: Ol 55 (Eagles)
10: Runnin on Empty (Jackson Browne)
11: The Load (Jackson Browne)
12: Stay (Jackson Browne)
posted by mmrtnt at 9:55 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
I have this accumulation of anxiety and stress due to a delay in the closing sale of my mom's house (she died last March). It's been extended once to the 20th, but it seems likely this will be extended again.
The reason is, as a pre-condition for the sale, a new roof needs to be installed, but the order has been in for two months and the contractors say it's because the metal for the roof has been impossible to obtain, supply chain and all that.
The buyers are getting antsy because they scheduled a move from another state for this week. Part of me wants to let them move their stuff in before the official closing, but another part of me think's that's a very bad idea.
It is a bad idea right?
posted by jeremias at 9:59 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
The reason is, as a pre-condition for the sale, a new roof needs to be installed, but the order has been in for two months and the contractors say it's because the metal for the roof has been impossible to obtain, supply chain and all that.
The buyers are getting antsy because they scheduled a move from another state for this week. Part of me wants to let them move their stuff in before the official closing, but another part of me think's that's a very bad idea.
It is a bad idea right?
posted by jeremias at 9:59 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
It is a bad idea right?
Yes. I know you are coming from a place of kindness, but if an installed new roof is a pre-condition of the sale, they either drop the condition, keep waiting in a short term rental or find a different house.
Supply chain issues are hitting everything. We ordered new appliances for the kitchen in early September 2022. We just got them installed the first week of January 2023, leaving us without a microwave for roughly four months. My boss waited 8 months for a part for his dishwasher.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 10:08 AM on January 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
Yes. I know you are coming from a place of kindness, but if an installed new roof is a pre-condition of the sale, they either drop the condition, keep waiting in a short term rental or find a different house.
Supply chain issues are hitting everything. We ordered new appliances for the kitchen in early September 2022. We just got them installed the first week of January 2023, leaving us without a microwave for roughly four months. My boss waited 8 months for a part for his dishwasher.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 10:08 AM on January 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
OMD!
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark?
Naw, Ozark Mountain Daredevils.
posted by whatevernot at 10:09 AM on January 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark?
Naw, Ozark Mountain Daredevils.
posted by whatevernot at 10:09 AM on January 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
Doing the lighting for the current show is going well, thank goodness, I got told I did it perfect several times. WHEW.
Last night I went to an audition at a snootier theater than the one I usually perform at. Which is to say they have more money, smaller venue, and higher standards as to who they let in. I'm not massively into the idea of performing there so much as it's the next theater over and I like the next show they are doing better than the next few my theater is doing. I've auditioned there a few times before--first time I didn't get in, second time I dropped out during their decision making weeks (I note they take literally weeks to decide on a cast and then take a month to start rehearsals, most places take 1-2 days) because I got into two other shows in the meantime. I'm pretty much doing this as a practice audition and not planning on or expecting to get in, I have two other auditions in the future that I'm even more into (and the third one will probably let me in because it's my old theater and I did that show before), so it's fine if I don't.
I've been warned by castmates who do get into this theater, in a very polite way, that I'm not good enough to get in there. I wasn't offended by that since I know I'm extremely poor quality compared to other people and I'm happy to literally be allowed on a stage at all (I note the theaters I have gotten into tend to take most people and have smaller numbers of people auditioning there). The guy castmate pointed out that he can basically roll out of bed and do a crap job (not that he is crap, mind you) and get in, JUST because he's a guy and they are always short on men and that's not something women can do, the other castmate has a "niche" as a older wacky character actress. I note they were there last night.
I've told some other people that they warned me about not getting in there and they were totally offended and said it was mean to say something like that to me. I don't think so? Truth is truth and I think it's better to lower expectations than to let me think I have a shot. I'd rather go in prepared than dreamy and in denial.
Anyway: it was very long, there were 32 people in it on night #1 (night #2 continues today, I don't know how many people are going to be in that) and consisted of three sections: a dance audition for an hour, followed by a brief tap audition because there's a tap number and they are looking for tappers for it, followed by the singing. I think I did well enough on the singing (the pianist wasn't enjoying herself doing a song she'd never heard of before, but she did a fine enough job figuring it out), and since I'm a new tapper I had low expectations on that one anyway. I note I wasn't the only one who's just started tap who said they were willing to try it for this show :P But I was pretty impressed at how I did at learning the dance number, thankyouverymuch. I definitely did better than about 50% of the room. I think I was probably doing better than the aforementioned castmates, even? So, nyah :P
I'm still not going to get in. I'm not going for any name parts (of course there's only 3 women and a bunch of men) but it looks like they only cast 8 women in ensemble here and by no means am I going to be in those 8 (those will be actual good tappers). Again, that's fine and I don't really care, I have other plans for the future. It was just an interesting experience, is all. Next.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:41 AM on January 16, 2023 [11 favorites]
Last night I went to an audition at a snootier theater than the one I usually perform at. Which is to say they have more money, smaller venue, and higher standards as to who they let in. I'm not massively into the idea of performing there so much as it's the next theater over and I like the next show they are doing better than the next few my theater is doing. I've auditioned there a few times before--first time I didn't get in, second time I dropped out during their decision making weeks (I note they take literally weeks to decide on a cast and then take a month to start rehearsals, most places take 1-2 days) because I got into two other shows in the meantime. I'm pretty much doing this as a practice audition and not planning on or expecting to get in, I have two other auditions in the future that I'm even more into (and the third one will probably let me in because it's my old theater and I did that show before), so it's fine if I don't.
I've been warned by castmates who do get into this theater, in a very polite way, that I'm not good enough to get in there. I wasn't offended by that since I know I'm extremely poor quality compared to other people and I'm happy to literally be allowed on a stage at all (I note the theaters I have gotten into tend to take most people and have smaller numbers of people auditioning there). The guy castmate pointed out that he can basically roll out of bed and do a crap job (not that he is crap, mind you) and get in, JUST because he's a guy and they are always short on men and that's not something women can do, the other castmate has a "niche" as a older wacky character actress. I note they were there last night.
I've told some other people that they warned me about not getting in there and they were totally offended and said it was mean to say something like that to me. I don't think so? Truth is truth and I think it's better to lower expectations than to let me think I have a shot. I'd rather go in prepared than dreamy and in denial.
Anyway: it was very long, there were 32 people in it on night #1 (night #2 continues today, I don't know how many people are going to be in that) and consisted of three sections: a dance audition for an hour, followed by a brief tap audition because there's a tap number and they are looking for tappers for it, followed by the singing. I think I did well enough on the singing (the pianist wasn't enjoying herself doing a song she'd never heard of before, but she did a fine enough job figuring it out), and since I'm a new tapper I had low expectations on that one anyway. I note I wasn't the only one who's just started tap who said they were willing to try it for this show :P But I was pretty impressed at how I did at learning the dance number, thankyouverymuch. I definitely did better than about 50% of the room. I think I was probably doing better than the aforementioned castmates, even? So, nyah :P
I'm still not going to get in. I'm not going for any name parts (of course there's only 3 women and a bunch of men) but it looks like they only cast 8 women in ensemble here and by no means am I going to be in those 8 (those will be actual good tappers). Again, that's fine and I don't really care, I have other plans for the future. It was just an interesting experience, is all. Next.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:41 AM on January 16, 2023 [11 favorites]
This month, officially became a senior, so I no longer have to stoop and lie to get those sweet, sweet discounts. Not quite ready for the powder-blue leisure suit with matching white shoes and belt.
My New Year's resolution was to nudge my 88-yr old Mom, who still has all her marbles but is physically frail, into getting more help at home... and it's working! Hoping for an in-home assessment before February.
We have been officially retired for a year now, and carefully recorded all our income and expenditures, and between soaring food prices and unplanned but normal contingencies like dental work and car repairs... there has not been much left over for any big fun, like travel. We'll never starve (#privilege), but inflation has knocked our retirement dreams down a couple of pegs.
posted by Artful Codger at 10:43 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
My New Year's resolution was to nudge my 88-yr old Mom, who still has all her marbles but is physically frail, into getting more help at home... and it's working! Hoping for an in-home assessment before February.
We have been officially retired for a year now, and carefully recorded all our income and expenditures, and between soaring food prices and unplanned but normal contingencies like dental work and car repairs... there has not been much left over for any big fun, like travel. We'll never starve (#privilege), but inflation has knocked our retirement dreams down a couple of pegs.
posted by Artful Codger at 10:43 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
02: Ides of March - Vehicle (1970)
08: Box Tops - The Letter (1967)
Your whole list is good. These two are on my phone and stay in heavy rotation.
posted by neuron at 10:44 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
08: Box Tops - The Letter (1967)
Your whole list is good. These two are on my phone and stay in heavy rotation.
posted by neuron at 10:44 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
We came to Portland for the long weekend. We're in a nice downtown hotel just a couple blocks from Powell's City of Books. We have our dog who, of course, cannot be left alone in the room (on general principles plus he is the #1 loudest dog in the world). So it's 3 days of camping in the room with me going out to get food. This is a repeat of an MLK weekend we did 3-4 years ago.
I managed to get out of Powell's with an interior decorating magazine for my wife and just 3 books for me including a small relativity textbook and a vintage NASA book on Apollo 17.
Got some mixed health news last week. (i) My anemia and iron levels are holding at the low end of normal so I'm not bleeding much. So I blame my fatigue on inadequate sleep and am doing much better with an earlier bedtime. (ii) I got an extremely vague report on my heart monitor, which I had to call and request 3 weeks after I returned the monitor. My cardiologist wants me to see their electrophysiology specialist and they scheduled me to see that team's PA in late March. Considering that I'm an internist, this isn't great customer service.
posted by neuron at 11:00 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
I managed to get out of Powell's with an interior decorating magazine for my wife and just 3 books for me including a small relativity textbook and a vintage NASA book on Apollo 17.
Got some mixed health news last week. (i) My anemia and iron levels are holding at the low end of normal so I'm not bleeding much. So I blame my fatigue on inadequate sleep and am doing much better with an earlier bedtime. (ii) I got an extremely vague report on my heart monitor, which I had to call and request 3 weeks after I returned the monitor. My cardiologist wants me to see their electrophysiology specialist and they scheduled me to see that team's PA in late March. Considering that I'm an internist, this isn't great customer service.
posted by neuron at 11:00 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
We'll never starve (#privilege), but inflation has knocked our retirement dreams down a couple of pegs.
Remember when we were young everyone assumed retirement was like this? Penny pinching with a hint of cat food? Sigh.
posted by clew at 11:17 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Remember when we were young everyone assumed retirement was like this? Penny pinching with a hint of cat food? Sigh.
posted by clew at 11:17 AM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
The latest FPP on the enshittification of Twitter hit the one month mark and has been closed.
Any chance of getting a new one, because the hits just keep coming.
posted by cheshyre at 11:55 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Any chance of getting a new one, because the hits just keep coming.
posted by cheshyre at 11:55 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
“oh, I miss the days when people had class and dressed up to ride public transit/go shopping/eat lunch”
I don't miss that at all, and I applaud the new informality. Though I personally wouldn't go as far as wearing pajamas to the store...
01: Sugarloaf - Green Eyed Lady (1970)
Cool song, very fun-to-play bass line!
~~~~~~
I began my teen years in the 70s, though too young to get in on all the groovy love-in stuff...not that any of it was happening anywhere near my nowheresville southern white-bread suburban part of the world anyway. Although that 60s/70s music was all over the radio and hard to avoid, I wasn't very into it because thanks to my jr. high school band director I'd discovered jazz pretty early on. My daily immersive music experience at home was my growing collection of jazz records, not the Top 40 hits.
Years later, in the 80s and 90s, I had a long commute twice a day so I started listening to the radio again. There were no jazz stations, and I actively disliked the current-at-the-time 80s/90s synth-pop, so that left the "classic rock" stations. Listening to them led me to sort of "re-discovering" all that 60s/70s music and learning a new appreciation for it...especially funk.
Now all of it - including "All Right Now", btw - permanently lives in my brain, to be recalled in its full glory (or ignominy, some of it, but my brain indiscriminately kept all of it) at the drop of a song title or snippet of lyrics or just a significant riff. Blessing or curse, I can't quite decide; it's kind of nice being able to call up music in my head at any time, but I wish there was an edit function available so I could jettison the dreck for good. Fortunately there's always lots of other tunes to recall instead!
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:59 AM on January 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
I don't miss that at all, and I applaud the new informality. Though I personally wouldn't go as far as wearing pajamas to the store...
01: Sugarloaf - Green Eyed Lady (1970)
Cool song, very fun-to-play bass line!
~~~~~~
I began my teen years in the 70s, though too young to get in on all the groovy love-in stuff...not that any of it was happening anywhere near my nowheresville southern white-bread suburban part of the world anyway. Although that 60s/70s music was all over the radio and hard to avoid, I wasn't very into it because thanks to my jr. high school band director I'd discovered jazz pretty early on. My daily immersive music experience at home was my growing collection of jazz records, not the Top 40 hits.
Years later, in the 80s and 90s, I had a long commute twice a day so I started listening to the radio again. There were no jazz stations, and I actively disliked the current-at-the-time 80s/90s synth-pop, so that left the "classic rock" stations. Listening to them led me to sort of "re-discovering" all that 60s/70s music and learning a new appreciation for it...especially funk.
Now all of it - including "All Right Now", btw - permanently lives in my brain, to be recalled in its full glory (or ignominy, some of it, but my brain indiscriminately kept all of it) at the drop of a song title or snippet of lyrics or just a significant riff. Blessing or curse, I can't quite decide; it's kind of nice being able to call up music in my head at any time, but I wish there was an edit function available so I could jettison the dreck for good. Fortunately there's always lots of other tunes to recall instead!
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:59 AM on January 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
I've said this elsewhere, but imo the 1970s (at least in the US) was the horniest decade of my life as far as popular culture is concerned. When I look back on it, everything seems to be about fucking, even if that's buried deep within the subtext of the song/movie/tv show.
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 12:17 PM on January 16, 2023
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 12:17 PM on January 16, 2023
That's the guy who sang "Feel Like Makin' Love", Paul Rodgers, right?
My my, you are right. It's not just the shag carpeting and the photographed-wood panelling, it's also totally smelling like Piña Coladas and cheap cologne in here. And cigarette smoke baked into it all.
posted by not_on_display at 12:23 PM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
My my, you are right. It's not just the shag carpeting and the photographed-wood panelling, it's also totally smelling like Piña Coladas and cheap cologne in here. And cigarette smoke baked into it all.
posted by not_on_display at 12:23 PM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Aternoon Delight. Oh God, my ears!
posted by mmrtnt at 12:40 PM on January 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by mmrtnt at 12:40 PM on January 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
I was laid off on December 7 and emailed with a recruiter the next day about what seemed like a perfect role. I got a confirmation email a couple days ago for the initial interview with a different job description from the original that was a bit outside of my areas of expertise.
Fortunately my interviewer was very kind - I tried to be clear when I was answering questions that I was unsure about my answers and I saw early on that I wasn’t the right person for the role. When our hour was almost up he asked if I had any questions about the company or the role and after I confirmed with him that I was no longer a candidate I said no. We thanked each other for our time and disconnected.
posted by bendy at 12:47 PM on January 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
Fortunately my interviewer was very kind - I tried to be clear when I was answering questions that I was unsure about my answers and I saw early on that I wasn’t the right person for the role. When our hour was almost up he asked if I had any questions about the company or the role and after I confirmed with him that I was no longer a candidate I said no. We thanked each other for our time and disconnected.
posted by bendy at 12:47 PM on January 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
Thinking of the seventies, our crafts teacher, Mrs Weaver, had been married to Dennis Weaver's brother. When I was a kid, she lived in an apartment that was sort of hidden in the school building in an in-between floor, very Hogwarthy. The apartment was decorated entirely in white, with wall-to-wall pure wool shag carpets. A bit like Barbarella's home. We would go to have early morning tea with her before school. Obviously, you had to leave your shoes outside. We had the tea on a raised, shag-clad platform next to the window, with a view of the school yard. Back then, she was just Mrs Weaver, but now I realize how radical she was. We did really cool craft projects.
During summers, I have no idea what my parents were doing, but my aunt was always off on hippie activities like festivals and trips to North Africa or Turkey, so my cousin and I were at my grandparents' farm where we mostly did healthy farm and forest activities, but also built a hippie horse of driftwood, and wore identical unisex clothes (oshkosh overalls) and the same hairdo (long, braided) even though my cousin was a boy. Life was good.
I liked all the hippie stuff, but yes, it ended very suddenly. One minute I was dancing in the most amazing wine colored satin bell bottom overalls, and the next, my new friend Christina was teaching me how to get into super tight narrow-legged jeans, lying on the floor and sucking in my stomach. I never really managed that. Instead I sew a pair of pink soft jeans that looked tight but weren't uncomfortable.
posted by mumimor at 12:51 PM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
During summers, I have no idea what my parents were doing, but my aunt was always off on hippie activities like festivals and trips to North Africa or Turkey, so my cousin and I were at my grandparents' farm where we mostly did healthy farm and forest activities, but also built a hippie horse of driftwood, and wore identical unisex clothes (oshkosh overalls) and the same hairdo (long, braided) even though my cousin was a boy. Life was good.
I liked all the hippie stuff, but yes, it ended very suddenly. One minute I was dancing in the most amazing wine colored satin bell bottom overalls, and the next, my new friend Christina was teaching me how to get into super tight narrow-legged jeans, lying on the floor and sucking in my stomach. I never really managed that. Instead I sew a pair of pink soft jeans that looked tight but weren't uncomfortable.
posted by mumimor at 12:51 PM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
Obligatory because this trivia now lives rent-free in my head thanks to the fact The Washington Post has run multiple stories about it: the title "Afternoon Delight" came from appetizer specials offered by DC restaurant Clyde's.
posted by fedward at 12:53 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by fedward at 12:53 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
omg you just reminded me that when I was probably 6–8-years-old, my parents had a couple of CB radios. And my mom's handles were "Foxy Lady" and "Afternoon Delight". Thank god my 6-year-old self had no idea what this meant at all.
But the 53-year-old typing this right now is shuddering and feeling a little queasy.
posted by not_on_display at 12:59 PM on January 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
But the 53-year-old typing this right now is shuddering and feeling a little queasy.
posted by not_on_display at 12:59 PM on January 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
not_on_display: “That's the guy who sang "Feel Like Makin' Love" , Paul Rodgers, right?”I wound up at a Bad Company concert in 2009 or 2010. The Doobie Brothers opened for them.
They had played all the ones that were for them, and started in on the ones people paid to come see. Because I'm a desperately broken man who cannot enjoy a good time, I wasn't really watching the show or chatting with my companions. I was checking corners and exits looking for people who were not watching the show. The irony is not lost on me.
That's the reason I was not looking at the stage when those nine chords sounded and every single whitebread suburbanite at that concert rose to their feet in unison. I was looking at the security guards who saw this, looked at each other, and then had a good laugh.
Makes me giggle to this day any time I hear that song. Anyway, that's my “Feel Like Making Love” story.
posted by ob1quixote at 1:05 PM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
I have many stories about the 70s.
In 1977 in North Little Rock, Arkansas I had a pair of Radio Shack walkie-talkies. Somehow I discovered that I could talk to truckers on them and so I did. I loved the song “Convoy” and wanted to talk about huntin’ bear!
posted by bendy at 1:16 PM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
In 1977 in North Little Rock, Arkansas I had a pair of Radio Shack walkie-talkies. Somehow I discovered that I could talk to truckers on them and so I did. I loved the song “Convoy” and wanted to talk about huntin’ bear!
posted by bendy at 1:16 PM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
My dad was "The Leprechaun" on CB in the late 70s / early 80s. I'm an older GenX so the back half of the 70s were my formative pre-teen years. Although living on military bases I think I missed a lot of the cultural stuff. I was pretty bland culturally until I discovered heavy metal in 1982-ish. I completely missed the punk thing in the late 70s.
posted by COD at 1:23 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by COD at 1:23 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
The excellent playlists posted above inspired me to post links (self-link, hope it's okay) to the Ten at Ten programs on my KFOG Forever website (MeFi project page) - for example,
1975 Ten at Tens
1972 Ten at Tens
Ten at Ten - "Ten great songs from one great year" - was a massively beloved radio show that aired on KFOG for many many years. (There have been other, similar shows around the country since, but as I understand it, this was the first.)
It was an amazing show. The creator, the phenomenal DJ Dave Morey, wove together intricate collages of time-travel-inducing music and news clips, with the music occasionally commenting on the news of the day (Richard Nixon followed by "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road").
For nearly the entire 20-some year run, the show was introduced by Don Pardo.
The excellent Annalisa took over the show when Dave retired.
The show was always a fabulous time travel trip for me, and there are dozens of 70s shows in the archive.
(Today being Dr. Martin Luther King Day, I might also mention that Dave did some great MLK Day Ten at Ten shows.)
posted by kristi at 1:28 PM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
1975 Ten at Tens
1972 Ten at Tens
Ten at Ten - "Ten great songs from one great year" - was a massively beloved radio show that aired on KFOG for many many years. (There have been other, similar shows around the country since, but as I understand it, this was the first.)
It was an amazing show. The creator, the phenomenal DJ Dave Morey, wove together intricate collages of time-travel-inducing music and news clips, with the music occasionally commenting on the news of the day (Richard Nixon followed by "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road").
For nearly the entire 20-some year run, the show was introduced by Don Pardo.
The excellent Annalisa took over the show when Dave retired.
The show was always a fabulous time travel trip for me, and there are dozens of 70s shows in the archive.
(Today being Dr. Martin Luther King Day, I might also mention that Dave did some great MLK Day Ten at Ten shows.)
posted by kristi at 1:28 PM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
C. W. McCall - Convoy
I challenge anyone to come up with a song from the 70s or 80s that deals with sex that would actually be seen as sex-positive today other than Afternoon Delight. (Okay, Muskrat Love. But other than that.)
It was an absolute breath of fresh air back then to hear a song that involved two people who really wanted to have sex with one another. No seduction, no creepiness, no predatory anything; just two people and a whole bunch of enthusiastic consent. It was the healthiest song about sex that most people of that era had ever heard. No wonder it's reviled.
posted by MrVisible at 1:31 PM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
I challenge anyone to come up with a song from the 70s or 80s that deals with sex that would actually be seen as sex-positive today other than Afternoon Delight. (Okay, Muskrat Love. But other than that.)
It was an absolute breath of fresh air back then to hear a song that involved two people who really wanted to have sex with one another. No seduction, no creepiness, no predatory anything; just two people and a whole bunch of enthusiastic consent. It was the healthiest song about sex that most people of that era had ever heard. No wonder it's reviled.
posted by MrVisible at 1:31 PM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
-early 70's rock featuring a strong male vocal and (I don't know how to describe this but) a full sound - heavy instrumentation, brass, etc.
Similar style from 1971.
Canadian band called Lighthouse
Pretty Lady
One Fine Morning
Sunny Days
posted by yyz at 1:32 PM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Similar style from 1971.
Canadian band called Lighthouse
Pretty Lady
One Fine Morning
Sunny Days
posted by yyz at 1:32 PM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Fun Fact: Convoy was recorded by C.W. McCall, but was written by Chip Davis, who is better known as composer for Mannheim Steamroller.
posted by hippybear at 1:36 PM on January 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 1:36 PM on January 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
Aternoon Delight. Oh God, my ears!
Quick, listen to the second link! ;)
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:41 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Quick, listen to the second link! ;)
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:41 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
No wonder it's reviled.
For the record, I agree about the positiveness of the lyrics; I hate it because the bland artless jolliness of the music grates on my nerves.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:52 PM on January 16, 2023
For the record, I agree about the positiveness of the lyrics; I hate it because the bland artless jolliness of the music grates on my nerves.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:52 PM on January 16, 2023
In 1971, I backpacked in Europe on my own at the age of 19 with $600 in American Express checks (all my earnings from working in a restaurant) and a round trip plane ticket, met my boyfriend of the time a month later in Germany, and came home after two months. I think I figured out how to call my family on their land line once at a post office, and I sent home a handful of letters. In 1973 I gave up drinking and haven't had a drink since. The intervening two years were pretty bad.
I'm in the process of processing and transcribing all the various memorabilia that I scanned into my computer before I ditched most of it, which is how I know this.
CW: Some people died a long time ago.
Another thing I have learned as a result of this deep dive is that my grandfather's uncle, while a 19 year old student in college, walked in front of someone who was teeing up and took a golf ball to the head that killed him. I found his grave today (along with the graves of my great grandparents, grandparents, and aunt) in the same cemetery where my husband is buried.
posted by Peach at 2:04 PM on January 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
I'm in the process of processing and transcribing all the various memorabilia that I scanned into my computer before I ditched most of it, which is how I know this.
CW: Some people died a long time ago.
Another thing I have learned as a result of this deep dive is that my grandfather's uncle, while a 19 year old student in college, walked in front of someone who was teeing up and took a golf ball to the head that killed him. I found his grave today (along with the graves of my great grandparents, grandparents, and aunt) in the same cemetery where my husband is buried.
posted by Peach at 2:04 PM on January 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
I challenge anyone to come up with a song from the 70s or 80s that deals with sex that would actually be seen as sex-positive today other than Afternoon Delight.
I'll give you that, the lyrics may be positive but everything else about the song is as ridiculous as the Love American Style theme.
I was thinking someone would say something about "Vehicle" - it's interesting because it was probably predatory at the time, but now you could look at it as being a cynical warning.
Probably the most ear-worm, anti-woman song I know of is "Runaround Sue" by Dion. It's hilarious - "Sheeeee goes out with other guys!" Oh, the horror!
posted by mmrtnt at 2:43 PM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'll give you that, the lyrics may be positive but everything else about the song is as ridiculous as the Love American Style theme.
I was thinking someone would say something about "Vehicle" - it's interesting because it was probably predatory at the time, but now you could look at it as being a cynical warning.
Probably the most ear-worm, anti-woman song I know of is "Runaround Sue" by Dion. It's hilarious - "Sheeeee goes out with other guys!" Oh, the horror!
posted by mmrtnt at 2:43 PM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Probably the most ear-worm, anti-woman song I know of is "Runaround Sue" by Dion. It's hilarious - "Sheeeee goes out with other guys!" Oh, the horror!
The even deeper irony? That song is on the same record as "The Wanderer", same songwriter, same singer, same year:
Oh well I'm the type of guy who will never settle down
Where pretty girls are well, you know that I'm around
I kiss 'em and I love 'em 'cause to me they're all the same
I hug 'em and I squeeze 'em they don't even know my name
They call me the wanderer, yeah the wanderer
I roam around around around
posted by mochapickle at 3:10 PM on January 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
The even deeper irony? That song is on the same record as "The Wanderer", same songwriter, same singer, same year:
Oh well I'm the type of guy who will never settle down
Where pretty girls are well, you know that I'm around
I kiss 'em and I love 'em 'cause to me they're all the same
I hug 'em and I squeeze 'em they don't even know my name
They call me the wanderer, yeah the wanderer
I roam around around around
posted by mochapickle at 3:10 PM on January 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
Just want to bring up pyramid power. I'm 52. Last year, I was talking to someone a little older than me and made a 70s joke about pyramid power. He didn't know what I was talking about. I explained it a little and he still had no recollection. Since then, I have asked various people from time to time about pyramid power and if they remember it, and have only gotten vague memories from a few people. Mostly I get blank looks.
I don't remember a lot about it. I remember hearing about it on TV somewhere. Knives stay sharper if left under wire pyramids? Somehow pyramid shapes have healing properties and keep fruit fresher at room temperature? That's about my memory about it. But the concept and seeing it in media and the name is firmly etched into my brain. But hardly anyone recalls this. Did I somehow manage to tap into all the news about this silly thing when I was 7 or 8 years old, and most people missed it?
Was anyone here into pyramid power, dammit?
posted by SoberHighland at 3:10 PM on January 16, 2023 [10 favorites]
I don't remember a lot about it. I remember hearing about it on TV somewhere. Knives stay sharper if left under wire pyramids? Somehow pyramid shapes have healing properties and keep fruit fresher at room temperature? That's about my memory about it. But the concept and seeing it in media and the name is firmly etched into my brain. But hardly anyone recalls this. Did I somehow manage to tap into all the news about this silly thing when I was 7 or 8 years old, and most people missed it?
Was anyone here into pyramid power, dammit?
posted by SoberHighland at 3:10 PM on January 16, 2023 [10 favorites]
Surely pyramid power was the inspiration behind the energy dome caps?
posted by hippybear at 3:14 PM on January 16, 2023
posted by hippybear at 3:14 PM on January 16, 2023
I mean, yes, I heard about pyramid power, I think there might have been articles and/or ads about it in OMNI Magazine back in the day? But yeah, pyramid shaped glass boxes with crystals inside them, or yes the fruit thing... I didn't believe it at all, but it was definitely a thing that existed and was around.
posted by hippybear at 3:17 PM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 3:17 PM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
I definitely remember pyramid power, and specifically, that razor blades were supposed to stay sharper inside a pyramid and bananas were supposed to keep from turning brown.
Wikipedia, of course, knows all about pyramid power, and someone's even uploaded 1976 piece from Science Digest.
posted by kristi at 3:28 PM on January 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
Wikipedia, of course, knows all about pyramid power, and someone's even uploaded 1976 piece from Science Digest.
posted by kristi at 3:28 PM on January 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
Thanks for the video link MrVisible.
“Eleven long-haired friends of Jesus in a chartreuse microbus”
Gonna go watch it now.
posted by bendy at 3:38 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
“Eleven long-haired friends of Jesus in a chartreuse microbus”
Gonna go watch it now.
posted by bendy at 3:38 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
OK there are apparently multiple versions of Convoy.
posted by bendy at 3:44 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by bendy at 3:44 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Wikipedia, of course, knows all about pyramid power
Ah yes, Erich von Däniken...I can't believe I forgot that woo-touting charlatan was involved!
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:48 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Ah yes, Erich von Däniken...I can't believe I forgot that woo-touting charlatan was involved!
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:48 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Mixtapes, you say? Here's what we played at my trad jazz-mad dad's funeral reception:
Yesterday I also meant to post something for Ivor Cutler's centenary but I was too tired after spending 7 hours on a plane back from Glasgow. So you'll have to make do with Cutler at 100, a bunch of radio recordings of Cutler's work. My favourites are A Real Man and (the very strange, faintly disturbing) Egg Meat.
Yesterday I also discovered that if someone has a serious medical emergency on a plane, people will come up just to gawp. No to do anything, or offer help — just stand around and look at someone not having a good time. The person in question got amazing care from Air Transat crew, plus there was a doctor and a nurse amongst the passengers, and they were doing not too badly when wheeled off the plane. But seriously, fuck the gawpers.
posted by scruss at 4:29 PM on January 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
- Darktown Strutter's Ball by Bunk Johnson and His New Orleans Band
- Basin Street Blues by Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra
- Ain't Misbehavin' by "Fats" Waller and his Rhythm
- Mahogany Hall Stomp by Louis Armstrong and his Dixieland Seven*
- Alexander's Ragtime Band by Bunk Johnson and His New Orleans Band*
- My Very Good Friend-The Milkman by "Fats" Waller and his Rhythm
- SWEET GEORGIA BROWN by MUGGSY SPANIER & HIS DIXIELAND BAND*
- HIGH SOCIETY by KID ORY AND HIS CREOLE BAND
- WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN by BUNK JOHNSON AND HIS NEW ORLEANS BAND
Yesterday I also meant to post something for Ivor Cutler's centenary but I was too tired after spending 7 hours on a plane back from Glasgow. So you'll have to make do with Cutler at 100, a bunch of radio recordings of Cutler's work. My favourites are A Real Man and (the very strange, faintly disturbing) Egg Meat.
Yesterday I also discovered that if someone has a serious medical emergency on a plane, people will come up just to gawp. No to do anything, or offer help — just stand around and look at someone not having a good time. The person in question got amazing care from Air Transat crew, plus there was a doctor and a nurse amongst the passengers, and they were doing not too badly when wheeled off the plane. But seriously, fuck the gawpers.
posted by scruss at 4:29 PM on January 16, 2023 [6 favorites]
1970s, you say? My other half restored a 1970 Mustang coupe, doing most of the work while on furlough at the beginning of the pandemic. He entered her in a car show for the first time last year, and she won a trophy! We are very proud.
I'm a child of the late 60s, so what I do remember of the 70s are shift dresses, platform shoes, streakers. At a park once, I saw the groom from a wedding striding across the lawn in a white tuxedo, his bright red curly hair spilling out from his white top hat. Another favorite memory: my mom was driving and I saw a beautiful Black woman, mini dress, platform shoes, a huge Afro walking down the street. She made such an impression on me. What an interesting time the 70s were.
posted by annieb at 4:30 PM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
I'm a child of the late 60s, so what I do remember of the 70s are shift dresses, platform shoes, streakers. At a park once, I saw the groom from a wedding striding across the lawn in a white tuxedo, his bright red curly hair spilling out from his white top hat. Another favorite memory: my mom was driving and I saw a beautiful Black woman, mini dress, platform shoes, a huge Afro walking down the street. She made such an impression on me. What an interesting time the 70s were.
posted by annieb at 4:30 PM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
I challenge anyone to come up with a song from the 70s or 80s that deals with sex that would actually be seen as sex-positive today other than Afternoon Delight.
Maybe Get it On?
Everyone's A Winner?
Get Down Tonight?
I Feel Love?
Kiss You All Over?
It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me?
Crazy On You?
posted by kristi at 4:52 PM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
Maybe Get it On?
Everyone's A Winner?
Get Down Tonight?
I Feel Love?
Kiss You All Over?
It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me?
Crazy On You?
posted by kristi at 4:52 PM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
mochapickle
Oh for goodness sakes - I had no idea "The Wanderer" and "Runaround Sue" were same/same/same/same. Amazing. They should always be played back-to-back for maximum cringe-inducing nostalgic effect.
posted by mmrtnt at 5:03 PM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
Oh for goodness sakes - I had no idea "The Wanderer" and "Runaround Sue" were same/same/same/same. Amazing. They should always be played back-to-back for maximum cringe-inducing nostalgic effect.
posted by mmrtnt at 5:03 PM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
I saw a beautiful Black woman
I'm really sorry to admit this, but growing up the only Black people I knew were on TV. One day, I was out walking as a teenager, and this very beautiful Black woman passed me on the sidewalk and smiled at me. At me, a short, stupid ugly white boy. I have never forgotten her. I think, in that moment, I was enlightened.
Ever since, I've tried to meet people as new experiences, not my own preconceptions. It's hard! Wow, it it hard. But when you can greet a new person with a warm smile. it's worth it.
posted by SPrintF at 5:08 PM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'm really sorry to admit this, but growing up the only Black people I knew were on TV. One day, I was out walking as a teenager, and this very beautiful Black woman passed me on the sidewalk and smiled at me. At me, a short, stupid ugly white boy. I have never forgotten her. I think, in that moment, I was enlightened.
Ever since, I've tried to meet people as new experiences, not my own preconceptions. It's hard! Wow, it it hard. But when you can greet a new person with a warm smile. it's worth it.
posted by SPrintF at 5:08 PM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
This is the Convoy I thought of. (It includes long-haired friends of Jesus in a chartreuse microbus.)
posted by bendy at 5:30 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by bendy at 5:30 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
I challenge anyone to come up with a song from the 70s or 80s that deals with sex that would actually be seen as sex-positive today other than Afternoon Delight.
I was sure something from Lavender Jane Loves Women, but so far they aren’t as sexy as I remember them. Dreamy as anything, though.
… ohhh if we’re going into the eighties there’s a lot more to relisten.
posted by clew at 5:39 PM on January 16, 2023
I was sure something from Lavender Jane Loves Women, but so far they aren’t as sexy as I remember them. Dreamy as anything, though.
… ohhh if we’re going into the eighties there’s a lot more to relisten.
posted by clew at 5:39 PM on January 16, 2023
TIL that "C. W. McCall" was a character played by an ad exec, making me wonder if "C. W." stood for country-western.*
* both kinds of music
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:44 PM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
* both kinds of music
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:44 PM on January 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
I transferred mmrtnt's excellent playlist to Spotify, mostly for myself but if others want to listen: Revival Rock
posted by Sparky Buttons at 5:48 PM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Sparky Buttons at 5:48 PM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
bendy: “This is the Convoy I thought of.”I think the other video was the opening to the movie Convoy (1978), which… the song was so popular they made a movie, if you can believe it. Decoder Ring had a great episode about the phenomenon and it's relation to the reactionary truck protests of last year.
posted by ob1quixote at 6:38 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Was anyone here into pyramid power, dammit?
Not into it so much as just aware of it, along with a whole bunch of other stuff that gets filed under general woo these days, but was seriously investigated (and believed by a whole bunch of people) back in the day: UFO contacts, Chariot of the Gods?, parapsychology, cryptids, etc. One of the reasons why I was so amused when The X-Files premiered and became popular was that just about everything on the show was taken from stuff that was taken quite seriously as being possibly real, twenty years earlier. Even a lot of Stephen King's early work--Carrie, The Shining, The Dead Zone, Firestarter--was based on the idea that psychic powers could be real, with the pyrokinetic in Firestarter the child of two people who underwent some MKULTRA-type experiments in college and got psychic powers of their own. King would even make references to allegedly real/non-bogus parapsychological reports and studies.
So, no, I didn't put my razor blades under a pyramid to see if they'd re-sharpen, because by the time I started shaving I was well into puberty and had something else to obsess over. But I probably would have given it a try, back in the day.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:12 PM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Not into it so much as just aware of it, along with a whole bunch of other stuff that gets filed under general woo these days, but was seriously investigated (and believed by a whole bunch of people) back in the day: UFO contacts, Chariot of the Gods?, parapsychology, cryptids, etc. One of the reasons why I was so amused when The X-Files premiered and became popular was that just about everything on the show was taken from stuff that was taken quite seriously as being possibly real, twenty years earlier. Even a lot of Stephen King's early work--Carrie, The Shining, The Dead Zone, Firestarter--was based on the idea that psychic powers could be real, with the pyrokinetic in Firestarter the child of two people who underwent some MKULTRA-type experiments in college and got psychic powers of their own. King would even make references to allegedly real/non-bogus parapsychological reports and studies.
So, no, I didn't put my razor blades under a pyramid to see if they'd re-sharpen, because by the time I started shaving I was well into puberty and had something else to obsess over. But I probably would have given it a try, back in the day.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:12 PM on January 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
I didn't put my razor blades under a pyramid to see if they'd re-sharpen
My step-dad did, when I was maybe 12 or 14; he was totally into the idea. Poor guy was perpetually credulous despite repeated setbacks over the years. At the time I was - well, "skeptical" is a strong word considering I didn't have enough knowledge or experience at that age to know one way or the other, but I withheld judgement while awaiting the outcome of his razor blade experiment. When he never mentioned pyramids again after his initial enthusiasm, that was all the (un)convincing I needed.
Hey - on that general topic, does anyone remember Kirlian photography supposedly showing "auras"? That was one of the other woo-related things my step-dad tried and failed to get me interested in.
The whole "New Age" thing was batshit looniness...the fact that it's never really gone away in the intervening 40+ years definitely contributed to my ever-increasing cynicism as an adult.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:01 PM on January 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
My step-dad did, when I was maybe 12 or 14; he was totally into the idea. Poor guy was perpetually credulous despite repeated setbacks over the years. At the time I was - well, "skeptical" is a strong word considering I didn't have enough knowledge or experience at that age to know one way or the other, but I withheld judgement while awaiting the outcome of his razor blade experiment. When he never mentioned pyramids again after his initial enthusiasm, that was all the (un)convincing I needed.
Hey - on that general topic, does anyone remember Kirlian photography supposedly showing "auras"? That was one of the other woo-related things my step-dad tried and failed to get me interested in.
The whole "New Age" thing was batshit looniness...the fact that it's never really gone away in the intervening 40+ years definitely contributed to my ever-increasing cynicism as an adult.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:01 PM on January 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
Just sitting over here trying to levitate the Pentagon with Uri Gellar while jamming out to "Dancing in the Moonlight" by King Harvest
posted by SystematicAbuse at 12:35 PM on January 17, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by SystematicAbuse at 12:35 PM on January 17, 2023 [4 favorites]
Now that's a supernatural delight!
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:50 PM on January 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:50 PM on January 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
I was thinking of Dancing in the Moonlight, too! I've never really been sure about what they're getting on most every night. 👀
posted by taz at 6:37 PM on January 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by taz at 6:37 PM on January 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
What about Fleetwood Mac with their "Lay me down in the tall grass and let me do my stuff"?
posted by hippybear at 7:01 PM on January 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 7:01 PM on January 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
"Chevy van" (sex positive unless I my memory is faulty, which is entirely possible, I can't remember the band or singer).
Pyramid power! Alan Parsons Project did an album; "Pyramid" which had a song "Pyramania" about the subject.
Even at a youngish age, the pyramid power thing sounded ridiculous to me. But the ancient astronauts thing piqued my interest. Especially the large artworks on the Nazca plains.
posted by coppertop at 8:07 PM on January 17, 2023
Pyramid power! Alan Parsons Project did an album; "Pyramid" which had a song "Pyramania" about the subject.
Even at a youngish age, the pyramid power thing sounded ridiculous to me. But the ancient astronauts thing piqued my interest. Especially the large artworks on the Nazca plains.
posted by coppertop at 8:07 PM on January 17, 2023
I've never really been sure about what they're getting on most every night
Moonlight, if a statistical analysis of the lyrics is anything to go by...
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:11 PM on January 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
Moonlight, if a statistical analysis of the lyrics is anything to go by...
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:11 PM on January 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
Which, I might add, is Fine and Natural!
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:12 PM on January 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:12 PM on January 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
Mostly I find it pleasing to see how much urban form has changed over a century or so bit occasionally I find odd connections with my own life. . .Fun!. Someone recommended me a website that allows you to compare aerial images of the same place by year. But, the copyright watermarks criss-crossing the image make it nearly unusable. That they paste their own copyright on unmodified NASA images (which are almost certainly public domain) is pretty shitty. So, I won't link to them. But someone competent should steal their neat idea.
In unrelated news, I spent the last four days on an incredibly taxing and frustrating trip to visit family. I signed up for it. I expected it. I'm being kind to someone who I will eventually miss, against the advice of absolutely everyone I trust. But, goddamn, it's so nice to be able to fall asleep in a comfortable place again. I've already ranted at length on the phone to a very patient person who I can share more detail with, so I won't do it here.
It was also supposed to be my opportunity to bring home my new cat, adopted from the same family. It failed. I'm usually much better than average at either convincing or forcing terrified cats to do what I want them to do. . . but, there was no way in hell I'd be able to put this cat into a carrier by myself after airport security given the state she was in today. I convinced her to sleep with me (or at least hide behind me) in bed and to let me pet her occasionally the first night, which seemed astonishing and gave me hope for an unusually peaceful transfer. But, she completely lost her shit when it was crate time; definitely not her fault, and only slightly my fault. It was the worst-possible, chaotic environment for trying to do that; imagine a combination dog-park / junkyard / childrens playground and you will be close. I have plenty of (disinfected, not-serious) scratches to prove it. (cat tax, from a few hours before she realized I was trying to kill her.) We'll be transfering her via (heated, pressurized) commercial plane cargo soon.
If you want a really challenging escape the room game, "the feral cat has swallowed the RFID key needed to start the car" would be a lot more challenging than the real ones.
posted by eotvos at 4:11 AM on January 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
That's a remarkably cute cat, eotvos. Good luck with her future transport.
I have been trying to make a swim in the sea part of my morning routine. The challenge is that I want to cycle to the beach, and without a car to lock things up in, I have to leave possessions unattended on the beach.
And stuff gets stolen on Muizenburg beach.
So now I have a cheap cloth bag that I tie to my bike lock. I've reduced the things I take with as much as possible:
Tshirt to wear while cycling (I don't like cycling in just my bikini and board shorts). Sandals. (Barefoot cycling = bad idea). Small towel. Cycle helmet and gloves. Old spare glasses.
So far this works OK.
This morning the surf was good, which meant having to deal with lots of surfers in the water, and it being Muizenberg, that means most of them are beginners.
I rescued an escaping board and returned it to its rider.
The water was absolutely divine. I figured out solutions to some problems I've been having with the plot of my book as I was splashing about dodging surfers.
Maybe I should go earlier in the morning when there are fewer people.
posted by Zumbador at 5:30 AM on January 18, 2023 [4 favorites]
I have been trying to make a swim in the sea part of my morning routine. The challenge is that I want to cycle to the beach, and without a car to lock things up in, I have to leave possessions unattended on the beach.
And stuff gets stolen on Muizenburg beach.
So now I have a cheap cloth bag that I tie to my bike lock. I've reduced the things I take with as much as possible:
Tshirt to wear while cycling (I don't like cycling in just my bikini and board shorts). Sandals. (Barefoot cycling = bad idea). Small towel. Cycle helmet and gloves. Old spare glasses.
So far this works OK.
This morning the surf was good, which meant having to deal with lots of surfers in the water, and it being Muizenberg, that means most of them are beginners.
I rescued an escaping board and returned it to its rider.
The water was absolutely divine. I figured out solutions to some problems I've been having with the plot of my book as I was splashing about dodging surfers.
Maybe I should go earlier in the morning when there are fewer people.
posted by Zumbador at 5:30 AM on January 18, 2023 [4 favorites]
I have been trying to make a swim in the sea part of my morning routine. The challenge is that I want to cycle to the beach, and without a car to lock things up in, I have to leave possessions unattended on the beach.I've never really figured out a good solution to that. I live walking distance to the lake and need only two metal keys to get home that fit in the weird little inside pocket of my swim trunks, so that part is easy. When I'm in a distant place and driving, I leave everything in the car and hide the key elsewhere. But, when I'm traveling all day without a car and I have a bunch of stuff that is worth worrying about. . . I don't actually have a solution. (Pay a large tip to the desk guy at the nearest hotel is my best. But, it's annoying.) We need more temporary lockers and fewer parking spaces at beaches, if you ask me.
I went swimming in really warm ocean for the first time a few years ago. It's astonishing, as someone who grew up near cold water. I'm hooked.
posted by eotvos at 11:01 AM on January 18, 2023 [4 favorites]
We need more temporary lockers and fewer parking spaces at beaches, if you ask me.
The whole pay locker industry in the US got gutted post 9-11 because of the potential (probably overblown) bomb risk of having them in places. Maybe they'd be considered safer at someplace like a beach.
posted by hippybear at 11:13 AM on January 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
The whole pay locker industry in the US got gutted post 9-11 because of the potential (probably overblown) bomb risk of having them in places. Maybe they'd be considered safer at someplace like a beach.
posted by hippybear at 11:13 AM on January 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
I was fascinated by this video that I was served some time ago that showed a guy whose job it was to clean out overdue pay lockers in Japan. Partly because it's just not a thing here in the US at all, and also because I remember loving having lockers available for me at bus stations and airports and even some hotels "back in the day". Inside Japan's Abandoned Coin Lockers [12m14s]
posted by hippybear at 11:16 AM on January 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 11:16 AM on January 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I have been trying to make a swim in the sea part of my morning routine. The challenge is that I want to cycle to the beach, and without a car to lock things up in, I have to leave possessions unattended on the beach.
I actually did an AskMe about a similar problem; someone responded to tell me about portable safes, which hold a modest amount of stuff and can be themselves locked onto something.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:25 AM on January 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
I actually did an AskMe about a similar problem; someone responded to tell me about portable safes, which hold a modest amount of stuff and can be themselves locked onto something.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:25 AM on January 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
Now that the specific panics of 2001 have subsided, I feel like it's time for pay lockers to come back in a big way, either with the Internet of Things and surveillance (which was more expensive/nonexistent in the early 2000s) or with actual human attendants. I was thinking quite a lot about this during my holiday flights, which involved me, a fifteen-pound backpack, and a seventeen-pound dog in her carrier, to say nothing of the luggage before check-in. (The locker would not be for the dog carrier! Just the backpack. Using airport bathrooms is hard enough as it is.)
I thought the sexiest song from the '70s was the Kinks' "Lola," personally.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:27 AM on January 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
I thought the sexiest song from the '70s was the Kinks' "Lola," personally.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:27 AM on January 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
someone responded to tell me about portable safes, which hold a modest amount of stuff and can be themselves locked onto something.
Oh that's interesting. I actually tried to make something very like that, mounted on the back of my bicycle. But the container I used wasn't up to the job, the hinges kept getting breaking .
posted by Zumbador at 8:41 AM on January 19, 2023
Oh that's interesting. I actually tried to make something very like that, mounted on the back of my bicycle. But the container I used wasn't up to the job, the hinges kept getting breaking .
posted by Zumbador at 8:41 AM on January 19, 2023
Adding the caveat that while I did order a portable safe after that AskMe, I haven't actually used it yet. (I was going to bring it to Coney Island last summer, but then it rained on all the days I'd planned to go....) But it seems like it would hold the basics (keys/wallet/phone), and I was going to sweet talk a lifeguard into letting me lock it to his chair for additional security, so it seemed worth a gamble.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:01 AM on January 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:01 AM on January 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Had to go to the dentist today. I am a Problem Child there and hoo, was I today. I have to get two fillings replaced and they politely got on me for being obviously stressed and filled with anxiety at the dentist and not getting calmed down by the end of the hour, and said more upsetting things I cannot deal with.
I'm always a problem at any dentist because I have a severe gag reflex that makes it very difficult to even brush teeth at all for very long, much less do everything they wish I'd do back there for long periods of time. And even though these people are very nice and the best ones I've ever dealt with and actually can deal with the gag reflex in there, I always have to get lectured on how I don't brush and floss well in the back. But when even the professionals have a hard time getting back there and getting between the teeth, how do they think I'm going to manage it?
Then they prescribed me anxiety drugs for the fillings and that took like a few hours of drama to get straightened out for some reason and my HMO wouldn't even start working on it until I went home and logged into a computer about it? It's also the anniversary of my dad's death, which isn't a big deal by now (long time ago) but slightly weird if I think about it. It goes with the shittiness of January, at least.
A friend said she couldn't believe the month has gone by so quickly and I was all, I have felt every last slow, excruciating moment of January. I HATE IT SO. I want to get drunk after work, but I have plans all night, bleah. I hope they are distracting enough to get me out of shitty January brain.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:43 PM on January 19, 2023 [6 favorites]
I'm always a problem at any dentist because I have a severe gag reflex that makes it very difficult to even brush teeth at all for very long, much less do everything they wish I'd do back there for long periods of time. And even though these people are very nice and the best ones I've ever dealt with and actually can deal with the gag reflex in there, I always have to get lectured on how I don't brush and floss well in the back. But when even the professionals have a hard time getting back there and getting between the teeth, how do they think I'm going to manage it?
Then they prescribed me anxiety drugs for the fillings and that took like a few hours of drama to get straightened out for some reason and my HMO wouldn't even start working on it until I went home and logged into a computer about it? It's also the anniversary of my dad's death, which isn't a big deal by now (long time ago) but slightly weird if I think about it. It goes with the shittiness of January, at least.
A friend said she couldn't believe the month has gone by so quickly and I was all, I have felt every last slow, excruciating moment of January. I HATE IT SO. I want to get drunk after work, but I have plans all night, bleah. I hope they are distracting enough to get me out of shitty January brain.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:43 PM on January 19, 2023 [6 favorites]
Firestarter
omg. I must been in grade 2 or 3 when daycare (couldn't have regular school, but... was it?) showed me 'Firestarter.'
I remember being traumatized for weeks.
posted by porpoise at 4:00 PM on January 19, 2023
omg. I must been in grade 2 or 3 when daycare (couldn't have regular school, but... was it?) showed me 'Firestarter.'
I remember being traumatized for weeks.
posted by porpoise at 4:00 PM on January 19, 2023
Hey, guess what? UPS IS STILL REFUSING TO DELIVER OUR MAIL AND IS SHIPPING IT BACK ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
GOD I HATE UPS SO MUCH.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:07 AM on January 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
GOD I HATE UPS SO MUCH.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:07 AM on January 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
"Dancing in the Moonlight"
Sometime in the last five or so years, my in-laws were kayaking in the Finger Lakes and had ... some kind of kayaking emergency? I don't recall whether they'd become stuck, or were having some kind of medical event, but either way, they were rescued by Sherman Kelly, writer of "Dancing in the Moonlight." They were so delighted to tell us when they came home.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:08 PM on January 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Sometime in the last five or so years, my in-laws were kayaking in the Finger Lakes and had ... some kind of kayaking emergency? I don't recall whether they'd become stuck, or were having some kind of medical event, but either way, they were rescued by Sherman Kelly, writer of "Dancing in the Moonlight." They were so delighted to tell us when they came home.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:08 PM on January 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
But the container I used wasn't up to the job, the hinges kept getting breaking ."Gun safe" might be a useful search term. (I spent some time thinking about doing the same. But, the number of situations where I have more than keys and less than a backpack are rare.) Gun safe and combination bike lock under a towel was my plan. No idea if it works or not.
posted by eotvos at 12:53 PM on January 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Okay, okay, okay... feral cat update, folks. This one's big.
Flurb came inside!
I've been working with him for a couple of weeks, and he's obviously a previously domesticated cat, not a feral. He got to the point where he was running up to me when I was bringing out food, and I could pet him and even pick him up briefly.
It's been kind of cold here in Tucson lately, down to freezing at night, and tonight is probably going to drop to about 30F, so I've been worried about him; he seems really cold when I feed the cats in the morning. So this afternoon when I brought out the food, I left my door open behind me. It took a little coaxing, but eventually Flurb came inside. I put down food for him, and he explored the indoors for a while, and then he went back outside. And then came right back in. And hasn't left.
He doesn't seem upset that the door is closed; on the contrary, he seems completely relaxed. He's done an extensive grooming routine, checked out the whole house, and is now curled up on the arm of my armchair, purring.
I've filled out the appropriate found cat forms for the local animal shelter and the humane society, and I'll take him to the vet to get scanned for a chip. But if nobody claims him, he's found a new home.
The rest of the cats are well, if a little freaked out to see me petting another cat; they considered approaching me to be way too dangerous, but now that they've seen Flurb getting petted, they seem to be reconsidering. James has gotten closer to me than ever before, and now seems to be living on my porch.
I'm going to go pet the kitty.
posted by MrVisible at 6:17 PM on January 20, 2023 [8 favorites]
Flurb came inside!
I've been working with him for a couple of weeks, and he's obviously a previously domesticated cat, not a feral. He got to the point where he was running up to me when I was bringing out food, and I could pet him and even pick him up briefly.
It's been kind of cold here in Tucson lately, down to freezing at night, and tonight is probably going to drop to about 30F, so I've been worried about him; he seems really cold when I feed the cats in the morning. So this afternoon when I brought out the food, I left my door open behind me. It took a little coaxing, but eventually Flurb came inside. I put down food for him, and he explored the indoors for a while, and then he went back outside. And then came right back in. And hasn't left.
He doesn't seem upset that the door is closed; on the contrary, he seems completely relaxed. He's done an extensive grooming routine, checked out the whole house, and is now curled up on the arm of my armchair, purring.
I've filled out the appropriate found cat forms for the local animal shelter and the humane society, and I'll take him to the vet to get scanned for a chip. But if nobody claims him, he's found a new home.
The rest of the cats are well, if a little freaked out to see me petting another cat; they considered approaching me to be way too dangerous, but now that they've seen Flurb getting petted, they seem to be reconsidering. James has gotten closer to me than ever before, and now seems to be living on my porch.
I'm going to go pet the kitty.
posted by MrVisible at 6:17 PM on January 20, 2023 [8 favorites]
they considered approaching me to be way too dangerous, but now that they've seen Flurb getting petted, they seem to be reconsidering
Next week's cat update:
I HAVE SEVERAL NEW CATS!!!
posted by hippybear at 6:40 PM on January 20, 2023 [6 favorites]
Next week's cat update:
I HAVE SEVERAL NEW CATS!!!
posted by hippybear at 6:40 PM on January 20, 2023 [6 favorites]
In honour of Flurb, I gave our cat Bonnie (100% indoors) an extra skritch.
At the boat club we belong to, there's a feral cat who's hung out there for several years. One or two members have stepped up to insure she's fed and monitored. She's going on 14 or so, but still pretty healthy. The years and familiarity have mellowed her a bit, so she now allows most people at the club to give her pets, and of course tidbits are graciously accepted.
posted by Artful Codger at 9:23 AM on January 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
At the boat club we belong to, there's a feral cat who's hung out there for several years. One or two members have stepped up to insure she's fed and monitored. She's going on 14 or so, but still pretty healthy. The years and familiarity have mellowed her a bit, so she now allows most people at the club to give her pets, and of course tidbits are graciously accepted.
posted by Artful Codger at 9:23 AM on January 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
One of the radio stations in late 90s Victoria BC had this weird obsession with the song Convoy. They used to have a little on location event on the anniversary of the release where they'd gather half a dozen highway tractors in a parking lot at 7 in the morning, play the song, and then get all the drivers to blast their airhorns in sync at the end of the song. One year they did it right where the two main drags into Victoria come together and parralel each other into town.
So imagine sitting in your car in rush hour traffic 90% way thru your commute when half a dozen tractors let loose with their horns half a block away. Hope you weren't drinking coffee.
posted by Mitheral at 6:12 PM on January 26, 2023
So imagine sitting in your car in rush hour traffic 90% way thru your commute when half a dozen tractors let loose with their horns half a block away. Hope you weren't drinking coffee.
posted by Mitheral at 6:12 PM on January 26, 2023
Update to the UPS hate: UPS refuses to communicate with our vendor or explain why they won't send anything to us and it's been like 1.5 weeks of stonewalling. The vendor lady contacted me today to say that several documents got returned and she was going to put them back into the mail to our office ASAP, is that ok?
I wrote her privately to say that my managers have absolutely forbidden me from making any work decisions and I am not allowed to decide anything with regards to our mail, but privately I'm really sick of all the packages being lost and returned for three solid months now, the clientele is rightfully angry, and this is just making everything worse that management refuses to change the mailing address out of sheer optimism. I know it's inconvenient as heck to have them mailed elsewhere (mail services is Quite A Drive away, from what I've been told), but having packages delayed by another month at least every time this happens may screw people out of jobs and things like that.
When my boss emailed to ask if UPS had ever said why they won't ship to us, the vendor said that no, they're not communicating with us at all, but at this point we really should just change the address because this problem just keeps happening. God bless her. Of course my manager still hasn't responded to this (probably has to go through upper management who is in denial), but god bless the vendor for TRYING.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:29 PM on January 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
I wrote her privately to say that my managers have absolutely forbidden me from making any work decisions and I am not allowed to decide anything with regards to our mail, but privately I'm really sick of all the packages being lost and returned for three solid months now, the clientele is rightfully angry, and this is just making everything worse that management refuses to change the mailing address out of sheer optimism. I know it's inconvenient as heck to have them mailed elsewhere (mail services is Quite A Drive away, from what I've been told), but having packages delayed by another month at least every time this happens may screw people out of jobs and things like that.
When my boss emailed to ask if UPS had ever said why they won't ship to us, the vendor said that no, they're not communicating with us at all, but at this point we really should just change the address because this problem just keeps happening. God bless her. Of course my manager still hasn't responded to this (probably has to go through upper management who is in denial), but god bless the vendor for TRYING.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:29 PM on January 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
I HAVE WON THE UPS BATTLE. Management has now decided it's better to have them come late than not at all.
HUZZAH!!!!!!!!!!
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:45 AM on January 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
HUZZAH!!!!!!!!!!
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:45 AM on January 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
For the second time in this month, my entire street is closed off because of a stabbing (or in this case, perhaps two).
There is a special atmosphere when it happens. I won't say fearful, because normal people only rarely get caught up in these fights. But it is intense. Thousands of people are walking, because their cars and taxis and Ubers and buses can't get anywhere on a Friday night. People are talking with strangers to try and figure out what is going on, and I overheard a mother and son who were furious because their dinner at a fancy restaurant was cancelled. Obviously there are tons of police.
Last time it happened I was just sad for the young person who was killed. This time, I had more of an anxious reaction when I was on the street. But the weird thing is that because there is no traffic, my apartment is completely quiet and feels very safe.
posted by mumimor at 11:08 AM on January 27, 2023
There is a special atmosphere when it happens. I won't say fearful, because normal people only rarely get caught up in these fights. But it is intense. Thousands of people are walking, because their cars and taxis and Ubers and buses can't get anywhere on a Friday night. People are talking with strangers to try and figure out what is going on, and I overheard a mother and son who were furious because their dinner at a fancy restaurant was cancelled. Obviously there are tons of police.
Last time it happened I was just sad for the young person who was killed. This time, I had more of an anxious reaction when I was on the street. But the weird thing is that because there is no traffic, my apartment is completely quiet and feels very safe.
posted by mumimor at 11:08 AM on January 27, 2023
OK, so I'm posting this here even though I have no idea wether anyone will read it. Today I went down to our local COOP, and it turns out that what happened yesterday was that a young man tried to escape his assassins by running into the store, and there, they tried to stop the gang and get him out the back but failed, with one employee being stabbed by the gang members. He is OK, but in the hospital. The gang found the man in the wine department and stabbed him almost to death there. We still don't know if he will survive, and obviously the workers are shaken. There is now a guard on duty at all hours.
This was a fight were normal people did get caught up, and but for the grace of god, I would have been in the store when it happened, since I was on my way there.
When I checked the tabloids last night, they got the address wrong, so I went to sleep with the impression it was in a very cheap hotel, where drunk people regularly get into lethal fights. It's not good, but nothing I could get in the way of. This is different.
posted by mumimor at 1:30 PM on January 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
This was a fight were normal people did get caught up, and but for the grace of god, I would have been in the store when it happened, since I was on my way there.
When I checked the tabloids last night, they got the address wrong, so I went to sleep with the impression it was in a very cheap hotel, where drunk people regularly get into lethal fights. It's not good, but nothing I could get in the way of. This is different.
posted by mumimor at 1:30 PM on January 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
Do you know if this was drug trafficking territorial disagreement, or some other form of gangsterism?
posted by porpoise at 2:34 PM on January 28, 2023
posted by porpoise at 2:34 PM on January 28, 2023
That’s so sad, mumimor. I’m reading, I just don’t have anything else to say.
posted by clew at 3:16 PM on January 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by clew at 3:16 PM on January 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
After hearing the description from the worker at the COOP, I think it was a gangster thing. Probably related to a similar incident a couple of weeks ago. Their main activity is drug dealing, so yeah...
posted by mumimor at 2:04 AM on January 29, 2023
posted by mumimor at 2:04 AM on January 29, 2023
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I'm wearing socks, but I think so.
posted by superelastic at 4:08 AM on January 16, 2023