“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."
Friday, October 08, 2010
Let's Vote
Please study this clip and identify any EB patrons.
. So we decide to take the dog to the park before going out to dinner.
We weren't really watching the dog as he screws around one of those small drainage pipes.
The next thing I know the dog goes running by me. As I turn, the wife yells "Run" and she goes running by me. I turn fully and am faced with a rampaging skunk waddling towards me at a breakneck pace. I passed my wife after about twenty yards.
Had to cancel dinner plans and take the dog home to clean him up. Luckily, he didn't get a full blast. Some of the spray just hit on his shoulder.
(Oh well, the Red Wings are playing their first game tonight and are up 2-0 over Aneheim so I can't complain.)
Wow, Friday night at the EB. Trish dropped by after an extended absence. I see the lovely, Mel exchanging words with Red, who means no harm. There's the boss behind the bar. Howareya Doug, popped in for a quick drink on his way to who knows where. There's bob over at the corner of the bar apparently stoned mellow trip down memory lane. Quirk is in a playoff frame of mind. All the while, One Flew over the Cuckoos nest plays in the background.
Why would I google something that's right on the tip of my tongue? Why would I stress myself even just for five minutes when all I had to do was take five-seconds to type the name in the search engine? Why? Because there is some small pride in not googling?
It's like doing crossword puzzles, Mel, trying to pull the answer from the dark recesses of your mind. Just to see if you can. Sometimes the memory comes easily and quickly, sometimes you just have to quit trying so hard, then when you have forgotten about forcing the answer out of your brain, there it is, just what you were looking for. All without Googling.
Makes me think of cultures who have no written language but memories like none of us could ever hope for.
Whit, we're not doing crossword puzzles where time is of no essence. I understand what you're saying but we're sitting at a computer and when something comes to mind that you can't quite put your finger on why wouldn't you just google it.
I found four or five strange requests for blog link exchanges. They sound suspicious to me as if the Nigerians have developed a new angle to get responses.
Trish wove her way into the conversation describing the mountain climber motivated by the mountain - "because it was there." Called it charming. (I would have to agree having recently watched the movie 'Into Thin Air' based on the book of the same name about the 1996 Everest climb that ended with the death of eight people, including two guides.)
The theme being personal challenge.
That's how I read it.
But I ended up in accounting so my reading skills are probably suspect at this point.
I'm game
ReplyDeleteRonald Reagan and Vin Sculley!
ReplyDeleteVinny still callin 'em at 85!
continuing...bob from Moscow said...
ReplyDeleteI just voted my wife's absentee ballot.
We have no political arguments in this family.
---
From the great promoter of women's sufferage!
If only every male could vote for his wife:
Women are the only demographic whose support for BHO has not tanked.
Admit it Bob:
We'd be better off with a male only electorate!
....which is what we have here, Dougo, you have to be suave in your relationships with the better sex/ women.
You can't be born without 'em, for instance.
Right? Melody?
I'd sell my vote to my wife for a buck, if I had to.
There are priorities.
I'm shameless, just want to get along.
ReplyDeleteMarry a Methodist, who more or less takes it seriously, and just play along, is my best advice.
Get her in the Ladies Faculty Bridge Club, hire a couple student male dancers once in a while, you'll be OK.
ReplyDeleteStay out of the way.
She is still pissed when I was out harvesting when she gave birth. But, she got over it. My lovely mother in law was there, covered for me.
It's women's work, said I.
The Ladies of The Bridge Club called me
The Furtive Farmer
I remember when we lived on Lynn Street, and every last kid on the block was running around.
ReplyDeleteI remember Mitzi's sandwiches, sent over, and Amy's Christmas Sugar Cookies.
We had a good time.
Amy was a looker.
Beautiful woman, they got divorced, cause he'd never work.
Just give her her own bank account, and keep 500 bucks in it.
ReplyDeleteWhen you get older, let her read the correspondence from Jack the engineer, and Susan the lawyer.
You'll be alright.
They'll make the decisions anyway, though she thinks she's in control.
Go to the doctor, take prostate drugs, get some sleep, everything is copacetic.
Don't forget the anniversaries.
ReplyDeleteAnd, don't snore.
ReplyDeleteGo on long trips with your wife, get a single bed, do the crossword together, eat a good breakfast, and find new words like mephetic.
ReplyDeleteShe's more attractive than I am, Nurse Ratched.
ReplyDelete.
ReplyDeleteSo we decide to take the dog to the park before going out to dinner.
We weren't really watching the dog as he screws around one of those small drainage pipes.
The next thing I know the dog goes running by me. As I turn, the wife yells "Run" and she goes running by me. I turn fully and am faced with a rampaging skunk waddling towards me at a breakneck pace. I passed my wife after about twenty yards.
Had to cancel dinner plans and take the dog home to clean him up. Luckily, he didn't get a full blast. Some of the spray just hit on his shoulder.
(Oh well, the Red Wings are playing their first game tonight and are up 2-0 over Aneheim so I can't complain.)
.
No, she isn't.
ReplyDeleteI have you in my mind.
You are beautiful.
I'm gonna go get a bottle of gin, say the hell with the rest of the day. I want the management to post my pic of the Hotel Nevada.
You'd love that place, Trish.
Her name is on the tip of my tongue. Won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
ReplyDeleteall you have to do is google it
ReplyDeleteRed heads are the best women that ever lived, in this our dying life.
ReplyDeleteI love 'em.
Louise Fletcher
ReplyDeleteLoise Fletcher?
ReplyDeleteHa.
ReplyDeleteThere's some small pride in not Googling.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that who you were referring to? The woman that played nurse Ratched.
ReplyDeleteCertainly who I had in mind.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was.
ReplyDeleteI was just mentally digging up the name while, I guess, you retrieved it in a search.
The book is much, much better than the movie.
Which is still, however, magnificent.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe books always are.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't let pride stand in my way when I need answer in a flash.
ReplyDeleteWhy would I let it linger on my tongue when I can just quickly get through my finger tips.
ReplyDeleteMy mum was a red head, and when they got around to dying, she ran the family business.
ReplyDeleteMy sis too. When Chucker had the affair with the Chinese woman, my sis made him crawl back on his finger nails.
Never, ever, underestimate a red head.
I know
"Why would I..."
ReplyDeleteTo see if you can.
viva la gin, even if it's early--
ReplyDeleteNick and I took a high mountain drive, out of Ely.
The moon came up, that helper, slowly, above the mountains.
O poets!
And the rhythm of our lives.
O moon, symbol of everlasting life.
Symbol of love and despair.
O moon, you drift there, so beautiful.
"To see if you can"
ReplyDeleteAre you that lazy or is it just in your nature to belittle others.
O bob
ReplyDeleteFrom Mosco
I wonder what you'll receive
On Bosco
Awards night
Certainly no slight.
O bob
I must to bed
My aching head.
"Are you that lazy or is it just in your nature to belittle others."
ReplyDeleteToo lazy not to Google?
You have something on the tip of your tongue and it can be a pleasant, minor challenge to recall the thing.
In what way were you belittled?
Well, then.
ReplyDeleteGood night.
Sleep tight.
Wow, Friday night at the EB. Trish dropped by after an extended absence. I see the lovely, Mel exchanging words with Red, who means no harm. There's the boss behind the bar. Howareya Doug, popped in for a quick drink on his way to who knows where. There's bob over at the corner of the bar apparently stoned mellow trip down memory lane. Quirk is in a playoff frame of mind. All the while, One Flew over the Cuckoos nest plays in the background.
ReplyDeleteWhy would I…
ReplyDeleteWhy would I google something that's right on the tip of my tongue? Why would I stress myself even just for five minutes when all I had to do was take five-seconds to type the name in the search engine? Why? Because there is some small pride in not googling?
Why would I…
To see if you can.
What's that supposed to mean?
It's like doing crossword puzzles, Mel, trying to pull the answer from the dark recesses of your mind. Just to see if you can. Sometimes the memory comes easily and quickly, sometimes you just have to quit trying so hard, then when you have forgotten about forcing the answer out of your brain, there it is, just what you were looking for. All without Googling.
ReplyDeleteMakes me think of cultures who have no written language but memories like none of us could ever hope for.
Some people like to fight and struggle with life, Mel. Others like to simply enjoy the ride and take the road wherever it goes.
ReplyDeleteWhit, we're not doing crossword puzzles where time is of no essence. I understand what you're saying but we're sitting at a computer and when something comes to mind that you can't quite put your finger on why wouldn't you just google it.
ReplyDeleteI just checked the EB email. There seem to be a couple of interesting emails there from bob.
ReplyDeleteSorry bob, can't help you. Have no way of knowing who may have been posing as you.
Are you okay?
Because you have pride? I don't buy it.
ReplyDeleteI google all the time. I love having the wealth of information at my fingertips.
ReplyDeleteAs a kid, I loved encyclopedias.
Do I sound okay?
ReplyDeleteYou sound fine, a little ticked but otherwise, happy-go-lucky as ever. I was asking bob if he is.
ReplyDeleteThe weirdest thing.
ReplyDeleteI found four or five strange requests for blog link exchanges. They sound suspicious to me as if the Nigerians have developed a new angle to get responses.
I know who you were asking.
ReplyDeleteI just found out that Norah Jones was the daughter of Ravi Shankar.
ReplyDeleteAnd how are you, this fine evening, Ms Mel? Ready for winter?
ReplyDelete...is the daughter...
ReplyDeleteWeirdest thing, Whit, I must have gotten the same email.
ReplyDeleteI love Norah Jones how interesting. I would have never guessed.
It's not winter?
ReplyDeleteIf I have to wear shoes, socks and long pants it's too cold for me.
ReplyDeleteDoncha remember last winter when you nearly lost your mind in the unending snow falls?
ReplyDeleteIt was close to 90 degrees here today. It's getting down into the 50's at night though.
Time for this bonzo to hit the hay.
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous.
ReplyDeleteI have a cousin in Daytona and good friend in Tucson. It's tempting to go for the winter.
Good night
ReplyDeleteFor MLD and all ya barflies who need a little stimulus on a fine Friday Night.
ReplyDeleteI'm ready to play today!!!
Modesty prevents me explaining the little double entendre here.
Interesting thread. Makes me realize what a gentleman I have the honor of calling my partner.
ReplyDelete"Are you that lazy or is it just in your nature to belittle others."
ReplyDelete---
THAT's poetry to my ears, not the stuff that Bob litters the joint with.
Just change "either or" to
"and" and give the affirmative answer a try.
Also works for links, straight answers, common courtesy, humility, and a plethora items commonly thought to be normal behavior.
: )
ReplyDeleteMorning, sweetheart.
I am now sending to the Management my pic of the Hotel Nevada.
ReplyDeleteMay they post it.
For Trish's sake.
I bet she'd love it.
Damn there she is, my daughter, I love her so.
ReplyDeleteShe has a perfect crease in her fine leg.
I am sending that pic to the manegement.
ReplyDelete"Why would I..."
ReplyDeleteTo see if you can.
Trish wove her way into the conversation describing the mountain climber motivated by the mountain - "because it was there." Called it charming. (I would have to agree having recently watched the movie 'Into Thin Air' based on the book of the same name about the 1996 Everest climb that ended with the death of eight people, including two guides.)
The theme being personal challenge.
That's how I read it.
But I ended up in accounting so my reading skills are probably suspect at this point.
Pour some Sugar on Me