lookin

We are not bemused.

AdamSmith's definitely the one to ask, but this one found me fumbling for my fluttering fly. Call the roller of big cigars, The muscular one, and bid him whip In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.

There's no people like snow people They smile when they are cold Even through a winter that you know is bad You may be freezing in your bachelor pad Still you wouldn't ever let it make you mad ☃ ☃ ☃ Let's go on with the snow! ☃ ☃ ☃

And please let Tina Fey be on Saturday Night Live this week.

Ah, the old Occam's razor wheeze!

I was also going to stay away from it, since I've never been to Rio. But, hell, I know a thing or two about butting in with not much to add, so here goes: I think another important part of YOU is your self image and how you'd like others to perceive you. F'rinstance, I think of myself as fairly generous, but not a 'mark', and hope others see me that way too. Sadly, I haven't been to Rio, but I was in Prague with a friend several years ago when we decided to take a cab to a main square. I was sliding into the back seat and asked the driver how much it would be. When he said forty dollars, I kept sliding and got out the other side. My friend asked me what was up and I told him the guy was trying to gouge us. I'd been checking prices in Prague and knew how far we wanted to go, and I figured it should cost around eight dollars. As we were walking toward another cab, the first cab driver ran after us and said ten dollars. So back to his cab we went, as it should have been from the beginning. I didn't begrudge him an extra couple dollars, as I would have tipped him that much anyway. But I sure wasn't about to pay him an extra thirty bucks to watch him snicker at me in the rearview mirror. All I was looking for was to be treated respectfully as another human being, and I was prepared to return the favor with interest. That's where I've got to in life and, unless I get compelling evidence to the contrary, that's where I'm planning to stay. I think most of us feel that way about our individual self-images. We've worked hard to get them and we're not going to change without a reason. And it's also true that no two of us have exactly the same self-image. Well, except perhaps for the Brewer Twins. Or the Carlson Twins. Or maybe even the Karshner triplets. But I digress. What I meant to say is I think the reason these kinds of threads go off the rails so often is that some folks tend to think that their way of thinking is the only way of thinking and that others are crazy not to think that way too. But it doesn't usually happen like that and the only way around it is understanding that others have spent just as much time building who they are as I have building who I am, and they've got just as much invested as I do. While it's certainly possible for everyone to shift gradually over time, with new evidence, it's not going to happen in the space of a single thread. I hope one day I'll get the chance to hook up with a guy or two in a Brazilain sauna. Knowing how I operate, I'd go in there knowing as much as I can about the going rate, including any upcharges for being tired or tacky and that's what I'd offer. If I liked him and he asked for a little more, I'd ask him for a little more too. Perhaps his hand on my ass on the way to the room. But if he asked for a lot more, say double, I'd let him know his search for a pasty patsy would need to continue elsewhere. Now none of this is to say that there aren't guys in the sauna who don't charge double and always get it. But I'd get somebody else's word too before I paid it. Callipygian, thanks for an interesting question. Some good insights, and it's given everyone a nice chance to air his or her views.

What are they doing over here? . . . . . . . . . OZ must be upgrading again.

Are you kidding?! Ever since AdamSmith came up with that fancy French word for it, there's no keeping me away!

Once I heard Bill Maher opine that Glenn Beck was 'very close to playing with his poop' and tumbled to the fact that it wasn't a compliment, I put the thought behind me. Not everyone has been happy with my decision.

This too shall pass

After a deflategatory beginning, Ben kept it up for the rest of our time together.

Callipygian, thanks for the post! I was waffling on Mr. Turner and this makes it a lock. Will also keep an eye out for the Kray Brothers. According to the linked article, the ten-minute-younger one was alleged to have had an affair with Lord Boothby, which the BBC confirmed in a documentary they called The Gangster and the Perverted Peer. (I expect the program, like the trailer, is not for the faint of heart. ) Pope sounds like a really good story teller and if he doesn't manage to work some poop into a paranoid poof story, I don't think he's trying.

Hive off the ability to annoy others and there goes half your market for recreational marijuana. Or for recreational alcohol. Or, for that matter, recreational anything else.

Gentlemen! Where are your standards?? They bake from a mix for goodness sake.

Sounds like a piece of cake!

As long as he didn't lose any of your things.

“It’s fairly safe to say that we haven’t seen conditions in the past similar to ones we see today and there is strong evidence that there [are] tipping points we don’t want to cross,” Steffen said. “If the Earth is going to move to a warmer state, 5-6C warmer, with no ice caps, it will do so and that won’t be good for large mammals like us. People say the world is robust and that’s true, there will be life on Earth, but the Earth won’t be robust for us. “Some people say we can adapt due to technology, but that’s a belief system, it’s not based on fact. There is no convincing evidence that a large mammal, with a core body temperature of 37C, will be able to evolve that quickly. Insects can, but humans can’t and that’s a problem.” Steffen said the research showed the economic system was “fundamentally flawed” as it ignored critically important life support systems. “It’s clear the economic system is driving us towards an unsustainable future and people of my daughter’s generation will find it increasingly hard to survive,” he said. “History has shown that civilisations have risen, stuck to their core values and then collapsed because they didn’t change. That’s where we are today.” Yikes!

How nice! And many thanks, but there's no way my funny bone would get tickled nearly so often were it not for all the merry members OZ has lured here. You folks have created a delightful little getaway, and it's always a treat to see who's around and what they're up to. Must confess though, my first quick read of the thread title was Honey Wagon, and I came in expecting to jump on a little something from AdamSmith.

I'm smiling for the both of us!

Much obliged, as I had missed it entirely.

While it might have been good PR, I'm not sure Obama's presence would have changed much and his security arrangements may even have influenced who else could have attended. I think Biden's presence would have helped, and Holder should definitely have participated since he was already there. But PR concerns have a way of backfiring. Apparently, Netanyahu muscled his way in once he learned that two of his political rivals would be attending. After failing to discourage Netanyahu from coming, Hollande felt compelled to invite Abbas. Bibi further upset the French by using the occasion to encourage French Jews to move to Israel. All of this political jostling and Monday morning quarterbacking does little, in my opinion, to send the message that needs sending. I'd much rather have seen a dozen leaders from the Middle East heading the procession, and am surprised that more folks aren't focused on that missed opportunity.

Well, based on the before-and-after in AdamSmith's linked article, they appear to have done all you say and shrunk his head as well. If you ask me, whoever does CK's Photoshopping should pull in at least as much as JB did. In fact, if they're any good at airbrushing liver spots, I'd do their next one for half his rate.

Thanks, guys, for the tip! At first, I was reading 'arugala' which is not one of my faves. Googling 'rugalah', on the other hand, offers up a recipe with butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar. Suddenly, my inner baleboste is stirring.

As, apparently, does Mr. Bieber's. Once upon a time, the FTC used to be all over false claims made by advertisers. One of the earliest I recall was Campbell's whose ad agency put marbles in the soup so the vegetables would float to the top and appear more abundant than they actually were. As I'm not planning to purchase any CK skivvies in order to look packed, I doubt I'd have any standing in a lawsuit. But I would consider filing a friend-of-the-court brief if I could ever get close enough to qualify as an expert witness.

Oh, my! Somebody slipped me a mickey!