Wed Eve Oh Threh

So, what's stuff like on your end of reality?

Good morning!

 Hey! I remembered! What are you howling about this fine Wednesday?

Tomorrow is April Fool's Day--who is going to do their best to ignore that?

Tuesday Evening Open Thread

So, how's everyones hopes, dreams, and affirmations (including lottery tickets) going today? Tell us all about it below.

Tuesday (not Haiku) Poetry

 

If you should go,

I’ll say I’m waiting for the moon,

Turning my gaze

Toward the eastern

Evening sky.

-Saigyō

Tuesday Morning OT

Patiently sitting here behind my walls...awaiting the day when I can sing this...

Good morning, Balkers. What’s up with you today?

When I was I younger I thought all of this stuff was just corny bullshit. Now I realize it is the only thing that matters.

 

Dog who couldn’t move from the neck down now loves to run on the beach with her dog siblings 💗 pic.twitter.com/TFzN1yu5KO

— The Dodo (@dodo) March 29, 2021

 

Monday Evening Open Thread

 

Good evening, Balkers.  It is action stations here at Casa Finch.  The plumber is coming tomorrow, to fix my leaky faucet and, hopefully, to attend to the mysterious drip that is coming from the toilet tank.  This is stressing me out no end: not just the leaks but the thought of having to deal with the plumber.  I am adept enough at hanging my own pictures and putting up my own shelves, but plumbing and electricals I leave solely to the professionals.  But coping with the professionals puts me in a state of acute anxiety, largely because Casa Finch, having been constructed somewhere between the late '20s and early '30s, has very antiquated fixtures and nothing is standard and nothing ever goes as planned.  I hope tomorrow's plumber is going to be okay with the revelation that the water shutoff for the bathroom is actually under the kitchen sink and is extremely difficult to access.  I am also in a cleaning frenzy so I do not acquire too much shame in the eyes of the plumber.  The bathroom has been deep-cleaned but there is only so much I can do about the kitchen, which he will have to see when going in pursuit of the water shutoff.  He'll just have to close his eyes to the squalor and focus on the plumbing.

What do you hate doing around the house?  Let me know in the comments.

And, just for amusement's sake, here is a story about a beaver than invaded a Toronto subway station.

Beaver finds its way into TTC station and interrupts Toronto's morning commute (blogto.com)

Hungry for more?

 

Every week we gather together to learn more about each other’s opinions and views on a particular topic. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we differ. That’s okay! It’s what Parley Vous Mondays are all about.

Monday am open thread

 

 🐰 Good morning. ☀️ It’s another beeyootiful Monday morning out there. 🌱 Rise and shine, Balkers. 🌼

Bad Dog No Biscuits

 

Pot City

 

Spokey Dokey

 

Bunday evening OT

Passover has started, the Big Bunny visits with chocolate next week. Anyone have a favourite holiday recipe to share? Any fabulous ways to eat matzah or hot cross bun recipes? I still have a mark from where I burned myself making buns last year, so maybe I should take it easy.

I've never heard of simnel cake, but I'm intrigued.

French toast fans avoiding leavened bread will enjoy matzo brei.

Meanwhile in Iceland, their volcano is doing its thing. Earlier today it was snowing.

Alice and I have had a quiet rainy day of chores and chilling. She's playing it cool, despite her excitement for the Easter long weekend. 🐰

The Photo Gallery

 It’s your weekly Photo Gallery! Come on in, take a look at what people have been up to over the past week and share some of your own photos.

They don’t need to be taken with a fancy camera or works of art. Share any SFW photos you’ve taken with even the poorest of potatoes. Of course we love to see that arty stuff too.

Sunday Morning Open Thread

In stark contrast to this little guy, I'm sorely lacking in energy and motivation this morning.

Agility.

Just wait for the weave-poles... pic.twitter.com/5jn0uxPE8P

— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) March 23, 2021

How about you?

#WeWontGoBack - OT

 

"If you think this is just about Black voters, if this is happening in the state Capitol in Georgia, it will not take very long for it to visit a state capitol near you.”."

- Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock, D-GA

(on Rachel Maddow last night)

"It means that these sons of slave masters are afraid that their power may be slipping... they're in fear of the power that the people have, and they're responding in classic fashion by doing everything they can to suppress"

@VicMensa reacts to the arrest of Rep. Cannon in GA last night on The Beat with Ari Melber

I will be back with the text number Senator Jon Ossoff gave Reverend Al on Politics Nation if you want to help the organizers on the ground in Georgia. If someone else has it, please drop it in the comments.

Spread it Saturday

 Anything fun planned? It's our turn to put the clocks forward this weekend. I'm trying out the local cinema's movie meal deal - Spirited Away on DVD, a Japanese-style chicken noodle dish, desert and a beer.

"Welcome to Canada, folks! On your left you'll see the rock band Rush soaring majestically over our many lakes and rivers." -kyoku1982 (2 years ago)

 

Such a genuine and heartfelt song. Deeply loving and human. Hits harder and harder with every year that passes. A wild Aimee Mann appears! But the video is absolutely hilarious. Reads today like a parody of early CGI.

Friday Evening Post

Good evening.

Image via Sardonicus.

Are you ready to unwind for the weekend? Of course you are, but how will you do so?

*    *    *

Fur Face Friday

Hello, people, and welcome to the last Fur Face Friday of the first quarter of 2021. I know, right? What even? Last week Hannibal featured some cute critters with a Spring in their step. Let’s see what kind of cute is in bloom for today.

Some of us may be ready for winter to be over, but this bun Longtime Lurker found might have a different opinion. Or at least need a different outfit.

 

 

Friday Morning Open Thread

 It's Friday.

pic.twitter.com/3OtTVwqj9b

— gelfling🫀 (@seinfeIdwatcher) March 17, 2021

What's going on? Any plans beyond getting through the day. 

Thursday evening open thread

 Some pretties;

https://www.boredpanda.com/bonsai-treehouses-dave-creek/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

https://mymodernmet.com/minimalist-black-and-white-photography-contest/

https://mymodernmet.com/ilhwa-kim-paper-sculpture/

 

Blaurgh!Talk

Lions' dens, whales' bellies, Friends reruns ... what dilemmas and horrors have you had to endure this week? This is the spot to really let loose.

Thursday Morning Open Thread!

 Happy Thursday to everyone!  It's going to be my Friday so I'm actually feeling pretty good about this one.

Today in history.

• 1634: Lord Baltimore founds Maryland as a Catholic colony.
• 1655: Puritans win a military victory in the colony of Maryland over Catholic forces and imprison Governor Stone
• 1776: The Continental Congress gives a medal to General George Washington.
• 1942: Aretha Franklin is born
• 1954: RCA starts manufacturing it's first color TV sets
• 1965: Martin Luther King Jr leads a protest to the state capital in Montgomery, Ala. 25,000 people are in the march.
• 1969: John Lennon and Yoko Ono stage their bed-in for peace.
• 1970: The Concorde makes it's first supersonic flight. 

So how's the weather in your neck of the woods? Want to complain about work? Want to complain about something else?  Want to brag?  Just feel like checking in?  Fire below.

 He's only 19 years old and is playing all the guitar and keys on these tracks. Mastered the form in his teens. And just wait 'til you hear him sing. 

Esteban Master Series: Complete Instructional Lesson Series For The Guitar

 

Guitar lesson

 

TalkyTime For Wednesday Evening

C'mon in, doff yer hat, have a seat and chat. Was your Wednesday tol'rble or turble?

Morning!

 Owl never knows what day it is anymore. How's tricks?

 

We might as well give up and run If we let 'em take our God and Guns!

There was a time we ain't forgot
You could rest all night with your doors unlocked
But there ain't nobody safe no more so
You say your prayers and you
THANK THE LORD

Like a lizard on a window pane

God Hates a Coward

Tuesday Evening Jibberjabber

Tuesday eve for you, Wednesday arvo for me. If predictions hold, I will be dancing in the squishy rainsoggy yard in joy at seeing the sun again for the first time in weeks. Either that or hitting a pub for lunch and daydrinking the week of torrential lashing rains out of my sodden skull, looking at these other weirdly-evolved primates and wondering if these are the things called 'people' I recall seeing in the past. And y'all? Is Spring really being 'Spring' yet? Are you finally thawing out?

Tuesday Haiku

 

Spring

Stirs the clouds

In the sky’s tea bowl.

- Kikusha-ni

Good Morning ☀️ 🌱🌸🌿🌼☘️🌺🌷

Hullo, everyone. Another glorious(?) Tuesday awaits us. I know we’re all really excited to get up and get on with our days.

Monday Evening Open Thread

 Not feeling it tonight, Balkers.  Am feeling a little under the weather, though it can't be covid as I haven't been anywhere.  And it's not the post-vaccine blues as I am still weeks and weeks away from being eligible for my shot.  Anyway, distract me with your stories.  Give me the lowdown on the downlow in the comments.

And you believed that?!

 

Hiya, Balkers! It’s time for another installment of Parley Vous Mondays. Each week, here is a place to sound off on whatever topic we’re discussing with your own particular opinion.

Monday Morning Meh

Sunday Evening again!

 I've been watching the livestream of the volcano in Iceland, and it's very soothing. It's a slow eruption, so no big explosions, just slow moving, glowing lava. It was really pretty in the evening when the sky was all purply blue.

You can see some "before" photos here, along with links to more volcano webcams.

Discover magazine Iceland volcano

I got a number of things done this weekend, yet somehow the things I still need to do have multiplied. How does this happen? It was absolutely gorgeous this afternoon, so I was doing yard work wearing a t-shirt and jeans- no jacket! No hat! Or mitts! Woo hoo! I considered setting up the bbq, but I know spring is just toying with us.

Here is some Spring nonsense. See you in the comments!

The Photo Gallery

 

 It’s your weekly Photo Gallery! Come on in, take a look at what people have been up to over the past week and share some of your own photos.

They don’t need to be taken with a fancy camera or works of art. Share any SFW photos you’ve taken with even the poorest of potatoes. Of course we love to see that arty stuff too.

Sunday Morning Open Thread

 It's Sunday morning.

pic.twitter.com/gHWrcDx1pl

— Bodega Cats (@Bodegacats_) March 6, 2021

What's up with you?

My Daddy was an astronaut

 

Stewart fucking Copeland 

Whitey's on the moon

 

Actually, after some time has passed, I like "the full blossom of the evening".

 

Viewing Art and Doing Art Help Us ReImagine and Create New Ways to Do Stuff - OT

 

Jacob Marrel - Tulip with Two Leaves - Morgan Library Drawings Collection from OpenCulture

… so that the way “things have always been done” (which, if the fragmented attention span finds a sec to focus once in the past few weeks / five years / lifetime, hasn't exactly worked out for everyone) doesn't always have to be the way things STAY. 

Looking at and experimenting with different stuff helps stretch our brains so that (unlike SOME people) we're not afraid to ask questions like “What if we did it THIS way instead of THAT way …?”

I just survived one of Amos Machanic's Horton Technique Master Classes & got some oxygen so the tone here might be slightly different than it would have been, lol.

At the same time there are a couple of pieces coming up I wanted to highlight that even though they're not exactly lighthearted do still remind us of the necessity to train the eye and the mind to be able to see things from more than one POV, so that we can all progress together.

Of course, me being me, I have a tendency to notice what's missing, even from some grand display – what's NOT there is what was deliberately omitted by the curators and gatekeepers. I like these flowers because tulip season is on its way, but it didn't escape my attention that whoever put together this massive Morgan Library collection included no Jacob Lawrence, and that a search on “south asian” doesn't turn up anything representative (I will frankly share I was afraid to put in a nationality-identifying descriptor like Chinese or Korean for fear of what would show up).

Jacob Marrel - Tulip with Three Leaves - Morgan Library Drawings Collection from OpenCulture

I know we also have a batch of talent in our communities. If you feel so moved on this Equinox weekend, please share your new drawings, photographs, videos, music, or other creations.

:-)

Temple of the Dog

 I have no disguise you can't see through. 

Saturday Music / Chromatics