71 thoughts on “Would you like to dance?”

  1. pogo,  they tried.  brave souls.
    from ap via msn:
    TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — A towering “Baby Trump” protest balloon was knifed and deflated by someone unhappy with its appearance during President Donald Trump’s Saturday trip to Alabama, organizers said.
    The incident occurred during Trump’s visit to watch the University of Alabama football game. The balloon, which is over 20 feet (6.1 meters) tall, was set up in a nearby park.
    Jim Girvan, the organizer of a group that “adopts” out the Trump balloons for protests, said a man charged the balloon with a knife and cut an 8-foot-long (2.4-meter-long) gash in the back.
    In a news release, Tuscaloosa police said Hoyt Deau Hutchinson, 32, was arrested and charged with first-degree criminal mischief.
    The orange, diaper-clad, cellphone-clutching caricature of the president is often taken to Trump appearances as a way to protest him.
    “Baby Trump” first rose over London when local activists brainstormed a way to troll Trump. Now several groups raise money to bring balloon replicas around the U.S.
    Robert Kennedy, a volunteer “baby sitter” who brought the balloon to Tuscaloosa, said the balloon immediately began to sag after it was cut.
    The day had been going mostly smoothly, Kennedy said. Some people yelled “Trump 2020” as they passed while others posed for selfies with the balloon. But then Kennedy said a man sidled up on the back of the balloon and attacked it with a knife. The suspect ran away but was caught by police officers, Kennedy said.
    It is unclear whether Hutchinson has an attorney who could comment.
    Kennedy said he’s accompanied “Baby Trump” to many appearances and never witnessed an attack on it, although someone did stab one of the balloons in London earlier this year.
    “It is rare to get that kind of anger,” Kennedy said.

  2. jack, thanks.  here’s an excerpt from dance blog on “the waltz, a forbidden dance”

    The most familiar form of today’s Waltz dates back to 18th century Austria, called the Viennese Waltz, which was influenced from other forms of “twirling” dances from neighboring countries such as Germany and Italy. However, the development of Waltz type dances dates back even further. The Waltz was highly criticized as being sinful and immoral because people were required to dance in a close position. Before the Waltz, people danced around each other, but never touched.  The dance was originally performed by lower class citizens and eventually made its way up the societal ladder. Once it appeared in England at the Prince Regent’s grand ball in 1816, The Times of London had this to say:

     

    We remarked with pain that the indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was introduced (we believe for the first time) at the English court on Friday last … it is quite sufficient to cast one’s eyes on the voluptuous intertwining of the limbs and close compressor on the bodies in their dance, to see that it is indeed far removed from the modest reserve which has hitherto been considered distinctive of English females. So long as this obscene display was confined to prostitutes and adulteresses, we did not think it deserving of notice; but now that it is attempted to be forced on the respectable classes of society by the civil examples of their superiors, we feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion. (rounddancing.net)

  3. Jack,

    You definitely had me swaying too and fro this morning.  Thank you.  Where there is dancing, there should be singing.  And with a tip of a hat to Jazz by having Ella do the waltzing.

     

  4. Patd,  that Hutchison guy sounds like the classic southern redneck idiot. Five bucks says he had at least a six pack of Bud in his belly and told his buddy, “Watch this” before he yelled “Yee haw” and charged the blimp. Oh, and I’m surprised, and very proud of Mr. Kennedy and the people who arranged for the Blimp in T-town. 

  8. The mindless, heartless folks lauding Trumpsky at the the game…just disgusting.    You chant, “USA, USA,” but Trumpsky is pooping on this country’s ideals and wiping his big, orange backside with The Constitution.   I’d wager most at the game call themselves Christians, too.  Trumpsky also poops on those principles and wipes up with the New Testament.     What a sad & disgusting display of adulation for that ego posing as, I guess, a human.     

  10. NYTimes:

    In Seeking to Join Suit Over Subpoena Power, Mulvaney Goes Up Against the President

    […]
    In effect, Mr. Mulvaney hopes the court will tell him whether to listen to his own boss, who wants him to remain silent, or to comply with a subpoena from the House, which wants his testimony. That put Mr. Mulvaney at odds with some other current White House and administration officials who had simply defied the House, citing the president’s order not to cooperate with what he called an illegitimate “witch hunt.”
    Mr. Mulvaney did not explain why he chose a different course, but his decision focused renewed attention on his relationship with Mr. Trump; it has been increasingly strained as House Democrats prepare to open public hearings into whether the president should be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors.

    [continues]

  11. Jack, yay.
    in March of 94 our 4 piece wound up with a tuxedo gig at a storied old Charleston dining and dancing restaurant. The stage was a bandshell. Us 4 Goobers were sitting on the solid gold premier gig in Charleston, having convinced the owners that in addition to the Beach Music and old standards we had a lock on, we were fully capable of playing big band music as well, which was an utter fabrication in our part.  So we went into extreme rehearsal, and the first piece we learned was “In the Mood”.   We learned it note for note, start to finish.  Sax man playing the lead, and humble self playing the horn section on a Korg Synthesizer.  It was a decidedly cool experience.  In our final dress rehearsal for the owners we played it and we were IN.  A year and a half playing all that great big band and jumpin’ jive.  Gracias, Amigo…..

  20. WW II, the shipyard, my dad being a welder; all these worlds collided to bring about my being raised in a relatively civilized city on the coast instead of that junk-yard dog of a state, Alabama,  “the heart of Dixie”.   I daily thank the gods.

  21. Way way back when, my mother would do the “girl singer” bit for bands passing through.  She did have a great voice, similar to Judy Garland in tone and style, but just never did anything with it beyond having fun.  Always thought that was a major shame.  This is the Garland version of one song I loved to hear her sing:

     

     

  22. Darn, missed out on Birmingham in the sixties.   Decided by a simple twist of fate and a goofy young Schicklgruber.

  23. Moon Light Serenade was my first exposure to big band music and was played so much by the old folks that as a young man I thought it was Big band. IMO it was just old folks music, no movement. It was some time before I discovered real big band swing. 
    Jack

  24. Sturge, got a link to that video?  I can’t find it.

    Oh, and on that list of education is WV or MS 50th? I’d guess WV, but different lists measure stupidity differently.

  25. Oh, and Birmingham in the 60s?  Lived it through the twist of fate of being born there and living there until 1970 when I left for Tuscaloosa.  It was a strange decade.

  27. Jack, we could not play it that slow….it would have been an interminable  dragfest ……we stepped it up a few notches to swing a bit, and it was a real humdinger. 

  29. Lots of great music this morning….  thanks!
    I will support and vote for whichever Democrat gets the nomination.  Haven’t made up my mind on who to vote for in the primary.
     I call myself left of center and a pragmatist.  Don’t care for the extremes of either party.  One side wants to tell me what I can’t take out of my body.  The other side wants to tell me what I can’t put in said body.  Y’all both can go fuck. (said in a friendly kinda way because I’m in good mood right now).

    So here I am…  thinking about getting an abortion and eating a donut.

  30. Pogo, I caught the vid in twittier.  It was the guy’s Facebook post. I haven’t gone back to look for it but haven’t seen it pop up since, so possible it was sanitized….removed from the aries.
    50’s 60’sv I had to be in Birmingham a lot, in and out, and I dug all my family, but I just never really liked the place at all. I still hate red dirt.
    I still enjoyed going by Vulcan at night to see if the torch was green or red, going to the Coosa River, saw Jimmie piersall play at the ballpark there, grampa had a 5 acre farm surrounded by apartment buildings, aunt’s ice cream shop in Homewood……there was nice stuff there, I was just always glad to get back to the low country and the salt water and black dirt, even if I didn’t like digging in it.

  31. Sturge, I know what you mean. I probably first heard done by Bet Midler and yea she stepped up the tempo a bit. But it did make me take a new look at big band swing.  The music Iheard around the house growing up was country. And my parents memories were more hillbilly fiddle or Bob Wills.
    Jack

  34. Blimp-slasher will be a hero……like a bad-ass Billy the Kid he dashed in and at personal risk— he dashed the happy hopes of The Blimp People, bringing great wailing and gnashing of the teefs to the heathens as they rage.

  36. Pogo – I was stationed in Columbus Air Plane Patch Mississippi in 1973.  I volunteered for world wide before signing in to the base, that included Vietnam and Korea.  Mississippi has always worked hard in only one direction, the bottom of the outhouse pit. 
     
    One series that is unique for its type, coming of age teens, combines the trauma of growing up with the delicate ballet in the Paris Ballet school.  Find Me in Paris.  It will not be for everyone, but it includes time travel, ballet, coming of age, and wonderful scenes of Paris. 
     
    Sirus radio moved the 40’s channel to the back end and put up holiday stuff.  Swing is a lot of fun.

  37. BB, did you get short-tour credit??
    I went to SrNCO Academy in Montgomery in ?79. When we needed to reconnect with civilization off-base, we found that the snack-bar at the local airport was the place to go.

  38. Who is promoting the stories that Dems are not happy with the field that is a big pile of poop.The only people not happy with the field are stupid ass goopers 
    goodjob mass media   so stupid

  39. Flatus
    That is a good one.
    Lot of good music here today, if you haven’t clicked on the links yet  you should do so, not a bad one yet. 
    Jamie, Judy Garland was great. She was another one I ignored as a stupid yute. 
    Jack

  40. But KGC those are ” stupid ass goopers ” Democrats are going to need to win. Your base is fractured, remember? Trump stole all your union voters and they aren’t coming back. 
     
    Jack

  41. I am not interested in how clever people are politically because it means that they will sell you out in a South Bend minute

  42. The SF Symphony has a New Year’s show from Vienna with dancing after the concert.  It’s fun to waltz.
    Thanks Jack

  43. I don’t think Trump has ALL the union voters for one thing and truthfully if Democrats turn out their voters or keep Trump from clearing them off the rolls — we don’t need deplorables as voters.
    We don’t need no stinkin trump voters.   Be sure and take a good look at the last two elections  
    Anyone still clinging to Trump aka SFB is not going to switch

  44. kgc
    just the union workers/retires that don’t work for the government. It is the main lesson from the 2016 election. If Clinton had paid less attention to the base turn out and visited a few suburbs she would be president right now.
    Jack

  45. Yeah and if Comey.  Blah blah blah. You’re  wrong about the unions.  The people clinging to sfb are either racists, tax cheats or religious morons who think they have the right to tell people what to do.   A smaller group every year.  Trump might have all the goopers but in many places the goops aren’t even 2nd place

  47. The balloon was funny the first couple of times, but afterwards, what’s the point of a stupid balloon?  Take it to Macy’s where it belongs.

  50. What an absolutely beautiful day for mulching. 60°, sunny, no wind to speak of. Perfect for what I expect to be the last mulching day of the season.

  51. Mid-70s (the temp here, not the candidates), but a cold rain & a hard freeze are on the way…just as my bell peppers have decided to bloom.  

  52. Which of the Dems will union members trust?   Warren.   Teachers and nurses have unions, too.   Unions aren’t just for un/under-employed factory workers. 

  53. sturge,  “Tuscaloosa police said Hoyt Deau Hutchinson, 32, was arrested and charged with first-degree criminal mischief.”   looking online, that’s a class c felony in alabama punishable range 1-10 yrs in prison.

    prolly won’t get even a wrist slap.  plus it was making fun of their beloved leader.   had it been a real effigy, say life size photo of trump trying to look presidential, they would have hung him.

  55. Here is a full-field version of  Unchained Melody that commences with a brilliant fluglehorn solo. FWIW the Righteous Brothers’ vocal version was on all our minds if not our lips during our stays in Vietnam and other dangerous spots in the Far East during the ’60s.

     

  56. Mr Jack,
    Continuing our conversation from yesterday, it’s my understanding that the French system of medical funding has the best outcomes. They have an m4a that allows supplementary private insurance. I’m not sure how the cost of the French model compares with the British or German systems. They are all less expensive than our present system. 
    I am not convinced that m4a is a deal killer for very many voters . . . unless it is socialized medical care, as opposed to coverage. I don’t think anyone wants the British system except the British. 
     
     

  58. Mr Pogo, 
    You have my condolences. Maybe my Gophers and your Tide will face off in a big bowl !

  59. Warren’s tax calculator for billionaires is interesting.  Mike Bloomberg is listed at the top…it’s not alphabetical, since Bezos is next on the list.  It’s not by wealth, since Bezos has more than Bloomberg.   Warren is already going after Mike, by listing him first.     Do you trust a fox to guard the henhouse?  

  61. I’d trust Mike with my soda pop. If I had any soda pop. I have a glass of it every 3 – 5 years. 
    Speaking of sweets, I was in the grocery today and saw a jar of fruit preserves that proclaimed it contained REAL SUGAR. 

  64. XR, odd seeing notifications about real sugar after living through the last few “sugar is poison” decades. Now as far as sweet goes, sugar is the “safe” alternative. Stay away from high fructose corn syrup, Maltodextrin and all the artificial sweeteners if you listen to and believe the food experts. I hear a few of those experts recommend agave, but I’ve tried it, and no. As for me,  I’ll look for sugar as the sweetener in BBQ sauce, etc. but I’m going to live on the edge and use Truvia in my tea, which I drink maybe 3-4 times a week. I hope I survive. 

  66. Flatus – I did get an incomplete ribbon number on my DD-214.  have no clue what it was for.  I did get SEA vaccinations and assorted other shots in tech school on my way to CAFB.  Back then it was a Vietnam acclimatization base.  Six months at Columbus and off to Nam you went.  I ripped up my knee and an anti-war doc at the base hospital put my leg in a toe to hip cast until my orders were rescinded.

  67. This Sunday has been a good day for my chosen ladies:

    Amy Klobuchar on CNN

    “Of the women on the stage… do I think we would be standing on that stage if we had the experience that [Mayor Pete Buttigieg] had? No, I don’t. Maybe we’re held to a different standard.” – Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Mayor Buttigieg’s qualifications

    Kamala Harris on MSNBC

    Media got slapped around on twitter about coverage of both women and POC.  Today seemed to be a bit of an apology.  We shall see about the coming week.

     

  69. Much as I love Sen Klobuchar and distrust the amount of support Mayor Buttigieg is getting, I think the latter has greater executive experience than the former does. 
    Not that executive experience is all that great. I mean, look at Chairman trump & Sec’y perry.

  70. Thanks for the link to the French Health Care article, Ms Jamie !
    It’s a bit complex because guv money is going into the system in different streams, but there are also co-pays and private insurance. It’s still not as baroque (or do I mean Byzantine) as ObamACAre, but it’s more than complex enough for me. In my view, the barrier to getting such a system is the difficulty of explaining it to the public, which is probably why Sen Warren isn’t choosing to discuss it. 

  71. In reverse aleph betical order, I go for Warren, Klobuchar, Harris, Castro and Booker. Biden comes in 6th. That’s enough to choose from.

Comments are closed.