lookin

I found out I'm allergic to corncobs.

You very nearly snared me in to your centireading post the other day with the Wodehouse bait but, at the time, I had places to go and things to do. But two Wodehouse lures in a single week is too much to resist! I haven't read any of his stuff a hundred times, but I'm up in the dozens easy. What's more, I can pick up any of his stuff and get a good yok, day or night, rain or shine. For instance, I went looking for one of the phrases that suggested critiquing Wodehouse's writing was like "taking a spade to a soufflé" and I came up with Stephen Fry's page on him. Right there in the middle is Fry's experience in flipping open a random book and finding a bit of dialog between Bertie Wooster and Jeeves 'discussing a young man called Cyril Bassington-Bassington'. "I've never heard of him. Have you ever heard of him, Jeeves?" "I am familiar with the name Bassington-Bassington, sir. There are three branches of the Bassington-Bassington family - the Shropshire Bassington-Bassingtons, the Hampshire Bassington-Bassingtons, and the Kent Bassington-Bassingtons." "England seems pretty well stocked up with Bassington-Bassingtons." "Tolerably so, sir." "No chance of a sudden shortage, I mean, what?" Now I know that some folks may think the only thing remotely funny about this is the desperate and unoriginal light it casts upon me for stealing from another website but, honestly, I laugh harder every time I read it. Who's to say what tickles a funny bone? One of the things I like about this Board is that folks can come on here and feel free to post what they enjoy and feel like sharing with others. Sometimes, though, some posters limit themselves to showing up only to criticize what others post and sometimes even try to make a poster feel like he's the reason more posters don't participate. And, to some folks, that may seem like a spit in the eye. Not that there's anything wrong with that. And, as far as any talk of ‘stealing’ the post from another site, perhaps it would help if I were to turn full rights over to the OP with my compliments. Hell, I’d have hauled the thing over here myself it I thought I could lift it!

Perhaps a nice new Chia Earth. Has anyone seen my car keys?

Thanks, MsGuy! Very helpful.

Well, perhaps you could go and start a High Rollers Poll and leave the rest of us to lick our wounds as best we can.

OK, there's a lot of stuff about Thomas's and Scalia's dissenting opinion, but is there also somewhere a majority opinion that gives the views of the other seven justices? It sounds like all they did was say "no" to Alabama's request to intervene. I guess that's all they have to do and probably all that's appropriate for them to do. A second question would be how common is it for there to be a dissenting opinion in the absence of a majority opinion? Did Thomas and Scalia do something unusual by issuing one? Not trying to look up anybody's robes, but I'd appreciate it if anyone has some juicy insights to share.

So did I, sorry to say. Well, simultaneously would be more apt, as it an opening like that just doesn't come along every day. Not at all proud of this, but I guess my journalistic cynicism has become so advanced that I was quite willing to believe that both Maureen Dowd and the New York Times had jumped the shark and let a typo through. It was another one of those too-good-to-be-true moments, right up there with Harper Lee's release of a second novel, although that one may yet prove out. In the meantime, thanks for the votes of confidence. Going forward, though, my plan is to rely on others to separate the wheat from the chaff. When AdamSmith says it's in, it's in.

Spellcheck gem-o-the-day, and many thanks as it got me wondering whatever became of Donald Trump's sons. Donald, Jr., 37, heir apparent Eric, 31, hair apparent

Although it's been a decade since I've been there, one of my favorite places in Budapest was the Palatinus Bath on Margaret Island. It's an outdoor complex of pools and mineral baths with lots of eye candy. At the time I was there, the rooftop of the building with lockers and showers was full of gay sunbathers, and the building itself was loaded with Romanian hustlers. Easy to spend an afternoon, and convenient by streetcar. Any of the ancient bathhouses are fun and, once again, hosted plenty of Romanian hustlers. Two I enjoyed especially were the Király and the Rudas. If the park Mvan1 mentions is the one I'm thinking of, it's at the foot of the Margit Bridge on the Pest side. The bench facing the river was again well-stocked with Romanian hustlers. I asked someone why and it turns out, at the time, Budapest was as far west as Romanians could go without hard-to-get papers and the lads were looking to make some easy money. How easy it was I don't know, as the ones in the park apparently had a pimp who kept them hopping. As a general rule, I'd leave my jewels in the safe and carry the minimum of cash. The Gellért Hotel on the Buda side was very nice and I stayed there my first night. Then my friend and I found a two-bedroom apartment for the remainder of our stay. The owner sent his cute assistant to collect us from the Gellért. I generally prefer to live amongst the locals and avoid luxe accommodations but an initial night or two in a westernized hotel may give you a welcome comfort level for further exploration of an exciting city. Enjoy! PS: Didn't mean to imply that the baths in Budapest are in any way as open and businesslike as those in Rio. Any stolen moments in the baths themselves will be either in a corner or underwater. I've spent so many years skulking in the shadows, it didn't occur to me to mention it. And I sure wouldn't want any of my fellow-posters holidaying in a Hungarian hoosegow.

Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh!

Lowest prices straight from Minsk will leave you feeling in the pinsk!

Thass a mighty big pile!

The story does sound a little too good to be true, doesn't it? I kind of wondered how she went from "No more to see, folks!" to "How nice! They found it!" I'd guess the publisher would have someone who could figure out if it's hers or not, wouldn't they? So maybe she's been manipulated into releasing something she'd never have done willingly. It would sure be nice if we had someone on the ground in Maycomb who could figure out what's really going on. Someone with learnin' and book smarts natcherly, but also someone who knows the ways folks do in the South. Someone who doesn't miss a trick, but who blends in seamlessly. Someone . . aw hell, do we have to git down an' beg?

Well, there's lies: "The Iraqi regime... possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons." "We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas." "We've also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We're concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVS for missions targeting the United States." "The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program. Saddam Hussein has held numerous meetings with Iraqi nuclear scientists, a group he calls his"nuclear mujahideen" -- his nuclear holy warriors. Satellite photographs reveal that Iraq is rebuilding facilities at sites that have been part of its nuclear program in the past. Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes and other equipment needed for gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons." -Cincinnati, October 7, 2002 And then there's damned lies: “The story actually started with a terrible moment a dozen years back during the invasion of Iraq when the helicopter we were traveling in was forced down after being hit by an RPG. “Our traveling NBC News team was rescued, surrounded and kept alive by an armor mechanized platoon from the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry.” New York, January 29, 2015 Now one set of lies cost many thousands of lives and got the liar elected to a second term as President of the United States, and the other set of lies got a serviceman a standing ovation and may cost the liar his job. Can you guess who we let slide and who we'll go after?

Go Set a Watchman will be published in July.

Not even a torrid tongue bath?

Hardly! And if I were, I hope I could talk myself out of it.

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!