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Sunday Open Thread

by In Wales
Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 09:52:31 AM EST

Sleepy Sunday.

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Sunday Open Thread | 33 comments (33 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Sunday Open Thread (none / 0)

I'm trying to do all the reading for an essay. So sleeeepy.

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 09:52:58 AM EST

Re: Sunday Open Thread (none / 1)

I think it's the cold that does that. I've just felt like sleeping ever since this cold snap started, I think it's a long dormant human-hiberanation thing kicking in.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 10:17:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sunday Open Thread (none / 1)

I blame being worn out by the first week back at work after a 2 week break.

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 10:19:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sunday Open Thread (none / 1)

cold and windy, the sooner that hibernation gene gets bread in properly, the better I'll feel.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 10:22:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sunday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)

I thought it was warming up your way.

just been watching an Unsigned Acts programme on TV, one of them was a sort of melodic Captain Beefheart. Kids eh ?

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 10:26:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sunday Open Thread (none / 1)

in theory, but wind and economising on fuel means things are a touch cool here.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 12:33:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sunday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)

We finally realised that our AD goes into severe grumpy mode after every holiday. She now admits it herself. The only explanation we could agree upon was that creative work was a self-definition. Probably a mix of Lutheran background, garnering respect (she is incredibly good and fast at what she does, but shy), pain-killing by focus, and a different kind of sociability. It was an interesting discussion. it really cleared the air after a manic week.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 10:36:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sunday Open Thread (none / 1)

Good morning. Or whatever time it is where you are.

I've tried to find the place on France24 where Jerome was interviewed last week, but perhaps too much time has elapsed? I spent some fruitless minutes wandering through an assortment of screens, but couldn't find what seemed like the right section. And of course it will turn out to be right in front of me.

Does anyone have a direct link?

by Mnemosyne on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 10:38:30 AM EST

Re: Sunday Open Thread (none / 1)

Try this

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 11:07:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sunday Open Thread (none / 0)

Thank you. I just learned more from 10 minutes of listening to Jerome than from weeks of listening to the fuliminations of the TV talking hairdos.

Happy to find out about France 24. It looks like an interesting news source, and I hadn't known about it.

by Mnemosyne on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 11:50:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Talking hairdos (4.00 / 2)

A wonderful phrase based on the reality of preparation for appearance as an 'anchor'. Some of these types get very attached to their make-up artists - having found one that makes them look good in the lights of the particular show...

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 11:56:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Talking hairdos (none / 1)

Over the course of a wildly checkered career, I've spent a bit of time in control rooms and seen what they look like before and after the makeup people work their magic. Heh.

by Mnemosyne on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 12:00:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Talking hairdos (none / 1)

I loved the little detail (probably apocryphal) that the make up department of thee David Frost show in the US - in the Eighties - used a 5 inch brush to apply basic colouring.

It's on the same productivity level as melting margarine in sandwich bars and applying it with a 5 inch brush - the margarine re-solidifies as it cools.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 12:08:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Talking hairdos (none / 0)

So. Are you comparing David Frost to a bar of margarine? An interesting thought.

by Mnemosyne on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 12:56:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Talking hairdos (none / 0)

Oh, definitely. He spreads straight from the fridge too...

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 01:38:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Talking hairdos (none / 0)

A thin layer of margarine... over America

(as he should have called his show).

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 02:01:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Talking hairdos (none / 0)

I never ever liked him, from the nasal superciliousness to the overstriped shirts. For me, he sullied a lot of ground-breaking shows.

But I'll see the press show of the Frost/Nixon movie tomorrow morning. And, if I have the endurance, the detestable Cruise in 'Valkyrie' in the afternoon. It's called suffering for art ;-)

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 02:12:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Talking hairdos (4.00 / 2)

Re: suffering for art.

To a bystander (me,) it's all rather amusing. People in the industry almost have to sit through films they know will be gah-awful in order to retain their street cred. Gives me nice warm fuzzies for the hours ofe misery I've been subjected to over the years.

(Revenge is a dish best served at 24 frames per second. :-)

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 02:32:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

24 fps (none / 0)

Oh lovely 24 and it's frikkin' arcane relationship to 50 hz, and gorgeous 60 hz NTSC video. 'Never Twice the Same Colour'. <shivers>

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 03:10:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Color Shift (none / 0)

Apply the Bergman Solution™: an all white cast, on a all white set, shot under all white light, using black and white film.

Either that or smoke a bunch of the herbaceous substance and you won't care what colors you're seeing.

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 04:19:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Color Shift (none / 1)

Smoke a bunch and watch Bergman does not guarantee a colourful experience.

(Unless a bunch of bananas, in which case yellow.)

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 04:41:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Color Shift (none / 0)

I suppose the Faroe Fascist did make a couple of good movies. But he put me off Swedes for years ;-)

Of course I'm making up for it now...

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 04:46:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Talking hairdos (none / 1)

He "sullied" - by using them as springboards. What a creep.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 04:43:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

See also the links (none / 0)

provided in this comment, along with the detailed analysis of it all by ETers...

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 11:35:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: See also the links (4.00 / 4)

Merci, J. I just listened to/watched your discussion See my comment to Helen, above. I'd read more of your earlier diary but didn't find a link that worked for me. Now I've bookmarked the site.

Your comments were good. Especially liked the parts where you said "This is what's happening, and This is what we should take seriously." A refreshing absence of talking points, generalities and fluff.

A couple of thoughts: Pablo is hard to take seriously as a Director General as he doesn't look old enough to shave. And, god help him, he has hair like Gov. Blagojovich.

Is Prometheus Foundation part of Gazprom? If so, why didn't the moderator say so? (Or perhaps I missed it.)

Next time, a darker suit and a deeper-color tie. Light colors don't TV well.

Glad to find France24 as a potential source of news, as it seems to be interesting. I liked (oh, shallow me!) that the moderator was a good bit less polished and air-brushed than the bobble-heads of American TV. I've no idea if he actually knows any more, mind you, but his very lack of slickness made him seem a bit more "real."

by Mnemosyne on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 11:58:42 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Europe without borders... (4.00 / 7)

The perfect motto to put on barriers :

via

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 12:41:58 PM EST

This is nice (4.00 / 2)

I hope Fran will forgive me for posting a news story in the OT, but I won't be able to post it later when the salon opens.

SignOnSanDiego: Of hope reborn
Allyson Roach leaves nightmare of 2003 fires behind for a dream wedding

I'd have to put in a huge blockquote to get past the wedding-vows transcript. :)

It would be easy to dismiss this as sappy lifestyle stuff, but she's been through a hell of a lot-- her family had no notice to evacuate from the Cedar fire in 2003 and as the article notes, her sister died in the fire. BTW, they were active in the Irish American community here; if you go into the House of Ireland in the "International Houses" section of Balboa Park, you'll see a tribute plaque to her sister Ashleigh. As much as I normally dislike weddings, this is one that is very good news.

by lychee on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 01:42:27 PM EST

Re: Sunday Open Thread (4.00 / 3)

I've been sick for the past couple of days (fever and cough) but I have recovered enough to post the occasional comment.

Good idea to have front-paged J's diary on E.Todd.

Couldn't help but make the link with the Economist's oh so common view of French society divided along racial lines.

Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.

by Bernard on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 02:17:37 PM EST

Re: Sunday Open Thread (none / 1)

glad you're feeling better, several of us have had it. Don't rush your recovery, this cold/flu has got a bit of a tail that'll bite ya if you push too hard.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 02:36:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Change you can sleep through. (4.00 / 5)

The more I see and hear of Obama the more I think: "Same old bullshit." I hope my impressions are wrong.

He reminds me of early Bill Clinton.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 03:11:33 PM EST

Re: Change you can sleep through. (none / 1)

I can't say I'm surprised. I was afraid of this disillusion a long time back

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 03:53:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Change you can sleep through. (none / 1)

which is to say that the writing has been on the wall that Obama was a lot less radical than people wanted him to be and that "hope" or "change" are sufficiently vague slogans that anyone can project their own feelings and think that he means that.

And I'm terrified of the backlash when a large number of people start thinking they've been had.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 03:57:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Change you can sleep through. (none / 1)

To me, it's not whether he's radical or not; it's that he can come across as so 'wishy-washy'. But, that's just my first impression-he's not even inaugurated yet, so I'm gonna give it at least two months. But at the rate things are going, we may not have much of a world in two months.
And he's probably starting to ask himself: "Did I really ask for all this?"

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Sun Jan 11th, 2009 at 04:18:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Sunday Open Thread | 33 comments (33 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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