In a Chicago Loop movie theatre in 1984, my future wife whispered to me while we were watching the Coen Bros.’ debut Blood Simple about a film noir couple’s missteps while attempting, like Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, to get away with the perfect crime, “I hope we never have to turn to a life of crime.”
Being public-spirited sorts, we’d be really bad at a life of crime.
This recurrent theme in the Coens’ oeuvre — crime is bad and you don’t want to try it — climaxed a dozen years later in Fargo in the scene in which hired killer Peter Stomare stuffs his partner-in-crime Steve Buscemi’s foot into a wood chipper (presumably, he didn’t know yet about DNA evidence), only to be frustrated by Edward G. Robinson Frances McDormand:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YzsWVUO-_o
I was reminded that wood chippers are pretty horrific by taking my new dog for a walk yesterday to the mailbox to retrieve your much appreciated donations.
On our path, some tree service guys were shoving branches into a wood chipper. When we got about 50 feet away from the infernal machine, she froze up in horror in fear that somebody would toss her into the wood chipper. I’m 185 pounds and she’s 48 pounds (granted she is a much higher percentage muscle than I am), so I can usually outmuscle her. But in this case, I couldn’t drag her a foot closer. Because we were up against the freeway, to not go past the wood chipper would require us to got about a mile out of our way to the next underpass.
I thought about it, and then agreed that, yeah, a wood chipper is a nightmare come to life, so we went the extra mile in the opposite direction.
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In 1986 a Connecticut resident named Richard Crafts bludgeoned his wife and disposed of her body in a wood chipper. He froze the body first to ensure that it would chop up properly. Nonetheless, there was enough other evidence to convict him.
http://cdn.ebaumsworld.com/picture/jimmeth/woodchipperfinalprint.jpg
Everybody slobbers over Fargo but Blood Simple is a better movie.
There was a guy where I used to live who got his coat caught in the chipper intake and that was it for him.
The Coen brothers have made many excellent movies. Is that a bad thing?
Has iSteve considered that iDog (who doesn’t yet have a public name) may have been a witness to something involving a wood chipper?
A rescue dog has a prior life experience iSteve doesn’t know about?
Ah come on, Steve. Who hasn’t wanted to toss Carl Showalter into a wood chipper?
The Coen brothers have made Steve Buscemi a wealthy man by casting him as a pathetic greaseball.
The Miller’s Crossing ensemble was really something. I’ve read that Albert Finney was having so much fun that when his character’s scenes were done, they put him in drag and gave him a cameo in another scene so he could stay on the set.
I bet the Coen brothers are pretty cool to work for. The Big Lebowski reminds me of a Gilbert & Sullivan production. It’s like the Coen brothers thought of all their favorite actors in the Coenverse and wrote the movie around the characters they’d portray. So they come up with a minor role for John Polito as the Coen brothers are spreading all the production money around with their friends.
Didn't he go through Chapter 11 a while back?Replies: @The Anti-Gnostic, @ScarletNumber
The master of this kind of thing is Adam Sandler. There are about six or seven actors who are his buddies that he casts in almost every movie. With the exception of Rob Schneider, they rarely appear in other people’s movies. And some of Sandler’s later movies are so bad, it’s been speculated he made them specifically to carry out this kind of grift.Replies: @Cortes
Should be several Saddam Hussein quips in here.
Neighbor couldn’t sell a sugar beet crop to the factory, so he harvested it for cattle feed. Processing was an issue; the settled method was running them through a wood chipper.
The Coen brothers have made Steve Buscemi a wealthy man by casting him as a pathetic greaseball.
Didn’t he go through Chapter 11 a while back?
Suicides by wood chipper. Probably inspired by Fargo.
https://www.twincities.com/2008/05/16/he-lingered-near-the-wood-chipper-then-he-dove-in/
Didn't he go through Chapter 11 a while back?Replies: @The Anti-Gnostic, @ScarletNumber
Maybe you’re thinking about his work digging out the bodies of victims from under the rubble after 9/11.
It’s good your dog is scared of things she should be. It may be that loud noise that’s an obviously un-natural and un-knowable sound that she hates more than a vision from Fargo*.
When our cat ambles across the road, even with no cars around, I still clap and yell at him, or get him and throw him toward the side. These animals just can’t get how fast machines move. Then there’s the electric leaf blower – he’s gotten wise to that one … it used to be a blast!
.
* A friend and I thought that movie was hilarious, mainly due to the heavy Midwest accents. I saw it a 2nd time and didn’t think it was near as funny. (No, we were NOT high the first time. Quit assuming!)
https://youtu.be/KMAo3D1mib0Replies: @Achmed E. Newman
Ah yes, the good ‘ol wood chipper. A favorite tool in numerous black comedies.
Wood chippers today have a lot of safety features to make them less dangerous to the user. For example there is a separate set of teeth moving much slower where branches are fed in. These slower moving teeth prevent arms and hands from being sucked in by the faster moving, and way more dangerous teeth inside. Back in the 1980s when I worked in landscaping the older wood chippers we used had no safety features and were terrifying. We threw branches in making sure that they were free of our hands before the whirring teeth sucked them in. Had one of those earlier chippers been used in Fargo, Frances McDormand would have shown up too late.
The Coen brothers really get the best out of their actors.
Kronos, at the end of that first one: "Are you OK?" Classic!
We saw a 1991 movie, free on Amazon Prime, titled “In the Soup” and starring Steve Buscemi as a wannabe film maker. It may be the best movie I saw last year. No one can play beaten-down and hopeless like Steve. Also stars Jennifer “Flashdance” Beals, who to my surprise was excellent.
I’ve watched “Trees” a number of time for free on Pluto TV.Replies: @Ralph L
https://youtu.be/KMAo3D1mib0Replies: @Achmed E. Newman
Yep, they’re really good. I want to thank whomever it was in the comments who suggested Burn after Reading. About my only complaint is that things were a bit too complicated.
Kronos, at the end of that first one: “Are you OK?” Classic!
As the resident iSteve sh!t-stirrer, let me propose this question- Steve likes the topic of sibling revelry, especially in the area of professional filmmaking, with all sorts of examples to compare & contrast (from the wacky, still-relevant-if-not-for-any-of-the-right-reasons-Wachowski’s, to ones that have almost completely fallen off the radar- the Hughes Brothers, the Polish Brothers), with the Coens obviously being a Steve personal favorite pairing. But if you could take any pair of closely related people in cinematic history (2 brothers or sisters, a pair of spouses, a parent and child) is there anyone who even comes close to the Scott’s (Ridley & Tony, I’m talking)? I loved FARGO, but honestly like Hemingway its cultural cachet is quickly waning, and other than being an extremely entertaining police procedural/neo-noir with a decided early 90’s Tarantino/indie movie vibe, it’s only real legacy is heralding the start of the Greater Beta Male Golden Age of roughly 1996-2015 (“yeah, babe, I’m comfortable enough in my own masculinity to let you put your life and that of our unborn baby on the line fighting crime in the Twin Cities while I stay here in our warm house painting ducks.”)
Seriously, the Scotts probably kick anyone’s @ss with one Ridley still tied behind their back. Tony alone directed TOP GUN, DAYS OF THUNDER, & TRUE ROMANCE, not to mention the greatest guy flick in the history of movies- LAST BOYSCOUT, which is so awesome it makes the 2nd greatest guy flick- ROAD HOUSE- look like THE HOURS. And the fact that you have yet to unleash ALIEN and BLADE RUNNER- containing multiple 15 minute sequences probably as valuable as the entire Coen Brothers oeuvre? Fuggedaboutit.
https://i.imgur.com/il65esa.jpg
Speaking of Hemingway, kind of a Hemingway-esque death. RIP.
The betas in Fargo, and there are a lot of them (Jerry Lundergaard, Carl Showalter, Norm Gunderson and Mike Yanagita), were rendered in really excruciating detail. I wonder if the Coen brothers were sending a different message than you think: slimy, passive-aggressive men are fucking things up and enabling sociopaths like Peter Stormare to wreak havoc.
No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man: nice guys finish last. And, sociopaths.
A Serious Man is probably the most anti-Semitic movie ever made.Replies: @Art Deco, @Abe, @Bardon Kaldian, @Inquiring Mind
It has four sets of actor-brothers playing four sets of real life outlaw-brothers. James and Stacey Keach as Frank and Jesse James; David, Keith, and Robert Carradine as the Younger Brothers; Randy and Dennis Quaid as the Miller brothers; and Christopher and Nicholas Guest as the Ford brothers.
It was produced and written by James and Stacey Keach. The casting alone makes the film well worth your time, and it's a damn good movie as well. One caveat: Despite all the riding and gunfighting, it's probably not strictly a Western or Cowboy movie as it's set in Missouri.
https://youtu.be/4Y18SAwz1vI
Horrific … but really cool, amazing and effective.
Back in the PNW, my main reaction to seeing them in action used to be “hey i could burn that!” The tree service folks would feed stuff in up to 5 or 6 inches, and anything past about 2-1/2, i’d think “firewood”.
Down here in Florida … no longer the case. Heat’s basically never an issue. Being beachside we mostly just have the house open–it’s sunny and
7576 out there now. But i know as we swing into May, i’ll be ACing a bunch.The sun and rain stuff grows and grows and there’s always tons of debris. But alas no one’s selling me a yard waste powered AC. (We really should be transitioning into a methanol–methanol as the liquid fuel–economy.)
I moved to the Northwest three years ago. Then I had a large maple in the backyard cut down, which generated a lot of firewood.
Heating with a fireplace is a pain in the ass. Aside from getting the damned fire going, you have to keep adding wood -- incredible quantities of it. Finally, at some point the ashes need to be cleaned out.
I can't see it. The wood's there, and I've already split it, so I burn it occasionally for a thrill, but otherwise...
Even given the free wood, it still comes to saving about two dollars on the gas bill for every hour of labor -- if that.Replies: @Achmed E. Newman, @Inquiring Mind, @Old Prude
Yeah, Tony Scott looked like a fun guy to work on fun movies with.
Speaking of Hemingway, kind of a Hemingway-esque death. RIP.
The betas in Fargo, and there are a lot of them (Jerry Lundergaard, Carl Showalter, Norm Gunderson and Mike Yanagita), were rendered in really excruciating detail. I wonder if the Coen brothers were sending a different message than you think: slimy, passive-aggressive men are fucking things up and enabling sociopaths like Peter Stormare to wreak havoc.
No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man: nice guys finish last. And, sociopaths.
A Serious Man is probably the most anti-Semitic movie ever made.
A Serious Man is probably the most anti-Semitic movie ever made. It's the auteurs flaming the suburban Jewish world in which they grew up; we've had decades of this and it's a *@%$%^& bore.Replies: @The Anti-Gnostic, @Hunsdon
Wade- “Jean and Scotty never have to worry.”RIP indeed! OT, but in the hopes of turning people on to something that’s pretty awesome- Jeff Buckley was a rising star of the 90’s alternative music scene- probably more talented and charismatic than Kurt Cobain, but sadly only produced one complete album as his life was cut short by perhaps the most romantic untimely death in rock music history- decided to go for a midnight swim in the Mississippi River after a gig, the words to WHOLE LOTTA LOVE on his lips as he entered the water. His body was found floating the next morning :-(
The way Scott did it is not my favorite. Nor is Hemingway's- too messy & nor aesthetic at all. Barbiturates are not available anymore.
What then to do if you decide it's over? Considering you don't want to embarrass the others, especially the loved ones?
Short of detonating a mini A-bomb on yourself (impossible to acquire), I'd choose to go on the sea in a small boat & with a load of dynamite. Then BOOOM; you and the boat are destroyed & the sea takes care of the remains.
No mess left for others.Replies: @The Anti-Gnostic
Didn't he go through Chapter 11 a while back?Replies: @The Anti-Gnostic, @ScarletNumber
I would be stunned if he did. He has been working steadily for the last 25 years.
If you’re paying for Amazon Prime, it isn’t free per se. This came up the other day on here when we were talking about the NFL moving its Thursday night package to Amazon Prime. One of the stipulations is that the games be locally televised OTA.
Woodchippers should be an option for states that can’t find drugs for lethal injections–your only choice would be -headfirst or feetfirst!
Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine
Walter and John Huston
John and Angelica Huston
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward
Henry and Jane Fonda
Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine
Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave
Fellini and Artichoke Head
Al and Thomas Newman
Groucho & Chico
My memory’s gone, I guess. It seems to me someone on the moderator’s 1990s ‘murderer’s row’ ended up in Chapter 11. Don’t think it was Kevin Spacey. Can’t recall.
Just missed the cut-off with Joseph and Herman Mankiewicz.
https://i.imgur.com/il65esa.jpg
Speaking of Hemingway, kind of a Hemingway-esque death. RIP.
The betas in Fargo, and there are a lot of them (Jerry Lundergaard, Carl Showalter, Norm Gunderson and Mike Yanagita), were rendered in really excruciating detail. I wonder if the Coen brothers were sending a different message than you think: slimy, passive-aggressive men are fucking things up and enabling sociopaths like Peter Stormare to wreak havoc.
No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man: nice guys finish last. And, sociopaths.
A Serious Man is probably the most anti-Semitic movie ever made.Replies: @Art Deco, @Abe, @Bardon Kaldian, @Inquiring Mind
No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man: nice guys finish last. And, sociopaths.
One of the sociopaths in A Serious Man was killed in a car accident, so the nice guy didn’t finish last. Also, to arrange for him to finish next-to-last, they added a stupid contrivance at the end. In fact, it was one contrivance after another. The main character was not credible at all.
A Serious Man is probably the most anti-Semitic movie ever made.
It’s the auteurs flaming the suburban Jewish world in which they grew up; we’ve had decades of this and it’s a *@%$%^& bore.
Back in 2015, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York subpoenaed the offices of Reason Magazine seeking information about some pseudonymous commenters who had made satirical comments about a Federal judge and wood chippers.
Most animals have a fear of loud machines. Lawn mowers, leaf blowers, even the vacuum cleaner will send a good percentage of animals running.
https://i.imgur.com/il65esa.jpg
Speaking of Hemingway, kind of a Hemingway-esque death. RIP.
The betas in Fargo, and there are a lot of them (Jerry Lundergaard, Carl Showalter, Norm Gunderson and Mike Yanagita), were rendered in really excruciating detail. I wonder if the Coen brothers were sending a different message than you think: slimy, passive-aggressive men are fucking things up and enabling sociopaths like Peter Stormare to wreak havoc.
No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man: nice guys finish last. And, sociopaths.
A Serious Man is probably the most anti-Semitic movie ever made.Replies: @Art Deco, @Abe, @Bardon Kaldian, @Inquiring Mind
That’s a good point, and as movie at a time of cultural transition it certainly has its ambiguities, which overall makes it a richer and a better work of art. Still, FARGO leaves no doubt as to whose side it’s on. The only strong, non-criminal male in it, Jerry’s father-in-law, is depicted hardly better than Peter Stormare’s character (in a sense worse, since it’s shown how cold and grasping he is) yet he does deliver one of the Coen’s best ever pieces of dialogue:
Jerry- “This could work out real good for me and Jean and Scotty.”
Wade- “Jean and Scotty never have to worry.”
RIP indeed! OT, but in the hopes of turning people on to something that’s pretty awesome- Jeff Buckley was a rising star of the 90’s alternative music scene- probably more talented and charismatic than Kurt Cobain, but sadly only produced one complete album as his life was cut short by perhaps the most romantic untimely death in rock music history- decided to go for a midnight swim in the Mississippi River after a gig, the words to WHOLE LOTTA LOVE on his lips as he entered the water. His body was found floating the next morning 🙁
Not about movies, but about wood chippers – because it’s very coincidental: A friend talked to me about 1 hour ago about his Tree Man buddy who needs to borrow money for an almost-new chipper – $20,000.
I’ve written this before, but, damn, the thing with these even hard-working black guys is they just SUCK with handling money. I mean, the guy can make $3,000 easily in an afternoon – his son is up in the tree, and the other 8 guys gathering the wood for the chipper, etc. don’t make much (at least cash, though). He could have saved cash for this truck in a month and still made normal payments on things. Now, he will borrow this money at a loan-shark rate.
This guy is not one of the un-banked, but one of the de-banked. They’d had enough of him long ago.
I remember watching a true life crime series on TV where a guy rented a wood chipper and set it up late at night on a bridge and “chipped” his wife’s remains into a river. Ballsy, but dumb. People passing by on the bridge eventually mentioned it to the police, because it seemed so out of place. There is a book about the Mafia in Sicily, “The Last Godfathers” in our times and they used 50 gallon drums of acid to dispose of their murdered victims. They are trimming trees along our powerlines, wood chipper running all day. Annoying to say the least.
I may be misremembering but I think he burned the chipper later to erase evidence but the police managed to find bone fragments on the riverbed.
Awww…
I’m a meanie who has plenty enjoyed himself on teitter at the expense of people decrying the chinaman’s appreciation of dog, but that was so nice and sweet it made me wish you were MY owner.
Lionel and Ethel Barrymore. (If it has to be a pair, then John gets the boot.)
Coen movies suck. They are endlessly tedious, sloppy, trademark cynical (in a very sophomoric, adolescent way), dull, unfunny, inconsistent, typical manipulative, pandering American crap.
The country one was alright only because of the music. Otherwise, same.
Tower 7 Art Deco, Tower 7.
A Serious Man is probably the most anti-Semitic movie ever made. It's the auteurs flaming the suburban Jewish world in which they grew up; we've had decades of this and it's a *@%$%^& bore.Replies: @The Anti-Gnostic, @Hunsdon
It’s more than a send-up of neurotic suburban Jews; it’s essentially a statement that there is a large, insane hole at the middle of modern Judaism.
What, because the rabbis give him the brush off? How many clergymen have you ever met?Replies: @The Anti-Gnostic
Yeah.
It had me going 'thank God I'm not Jewish' all the way through.
Those poor bastards. Dead-on, too.Replies: @The Anti-Gnostic, @Art Deco
If you are interested in sibling revelry (or rivalry), I’ve got the all time movie for you: The Long Riders (1980).
It has four sets of actor-brothers playing four sets of real life outlaw-brothers. James and Stacey Keach as Frank and Jesse James; David, Keith, and Robert Carradine as the Younger Brothers; Randy and Dennis Quaid as the Miller brothers; and Christopher and Nicholas Guest as the Ford brothers.
It was produced and written by James and Stacey Keach. The casting alone makes the film well worth your time, and it’s a damn good movie as well. One caveat: Despite all the riding and gunfighting, it’s probably not strictly a Western or Cowboy movie as it’s set in Missouri.
it’s essentially a statement that there is a large, insane hole at the middle of modern Judaism.
What, because the rabbis give him the brush off? How many clergymen have you ever met?
Slightly off topic:
I hope iSteve at some future point might discuss the implications of the current Netflix implosion.
Due to an large unexpected drop in paying subscribers, Netflix stock has sunk like a rock and new management is busy heaving bodies off the sinking ship.
Netflix was the star of “streamers” (i.e. pay TV via the internet) but due to absence of ads and uncontrolled password sharing, has suddenly lost it’s luster.
Wall St. doesn’t like losers, even for a single quarter.
CNN+ tanked immediately despite a billion dollar (supposed) investment in hype. CNN is now entirely bought out and CNN+ gone in a flash. The market has spoken, finally.
Steve may have some thoughts about how this impacts his home town LA. Free TV sucks even more than before, movies also, since “diversity” fails to overcome Woke gag reflex.. The Industry can’t sustain itself solely on Democrat party ideological memes (i.e. gay cowboys, trans everyone, black Vikings and Anglo 19th century aristos, etc.). I don’t stream but I hear much of it is unwatchable anyway.
With streamers now the biggest outlets and employers, is Netflix the beginning the the end or the end of the beginning?
Beware of hungry unemployed actors/actresses swarming into your home town! Don’t feed them!
S
What, because the rabbis give him the brush off? How many clergymen have you ever met?Replies: @The Anti-Gnostic
Did you actually see the movie? No. It’s because Larry Gopnik sees a junior rabbi, then a senior rabbi, both of whom give him inane non-answers, and when Danny Gopnik finally cracks the inner sanctum of the chief rabbi who’s always “busy” and “thinking,” it turns out he’s just a demented old man being protected by his secretary.
Buscemi was superb in Boardwalk Empire.
Every couple of years or so, some poor soul gets caught up in a branch, then spit out as burger. Makes me shudder!
For a 1 mile detour I would have just carried the dog past the chipper. 48 lbs. is a good weight because you can pick up the dog if you have to.
When you get a adopted pet you don’t know what has happened to them in the past (and dogs can remember things to avoid).
Then again dogs have excellent hearing and the roar of the chipper might have just been painfully loud to it.
Also they sometimes confuse man made sound for natural ones that they think they should avoid or react to. I have a bread machine that starts out with a intermittent stirring cycle that sounds like rrrum, rrum, rrum. When my dog was younger and she head this, she thought it was another dog barking and she would bark back at the bread machine. Eventually she got really old and couldn’t be bothered to bark at everything anymore.
Barking in the wild is something that only wolf puppies do – adult wolves howl, not bark. It is believed that humans bred dogs to bark – like a lot of dog traits it is a preserved juvenile wolf trait. You can’t get dogs to appear like or act in ways that are not present in their natural repertoire (get a dog to meow) but what you can do is to take traits that are naturally present in puppies (e.g. floppy ears) and breed in such a way that the traits don’t get switched off.
It’s the same deal with humans and lactose tolerance – all babies have lactose tolerance but our “normal” programming is to turn off the lactase enzyme production when you reach weaning age because you’re not gonna need it anymore. But thru breeding you can get that gene NOT to switch off at the normal time and to stay active into adulthood.
A Serious Man is probably the most anti-Semitic movie ever made. It's the auteurs flaming the suburban Jewish world in which they grew up; we've had decades of this and it's a *@%$%^& bore.Replies: @The Anti-Gnostic, @Hunsdon
I still haven’t seen A Serious Man, but I would toss John Turturro’s role as Bernie Bernbaum in Miller’s Crossing into the “most anti-Semitic” move roll contest.
“Trees Lounge”, directed by and featuring Buscemi in the late 90s is a little gem. I see on IMDB that “In the Soup” has a number of the same cast members as “Trees”.
I’ve watched “Trees” a number of time for free on Pluto TV.
They do repeat shows a lot and their commercials even more, which is annoying, as is their lack of a schedule. They need more sponsors.Replies: @Anon
There’s no finer one-two punch in cinematic history than Miller’s Crossing and Barton Fink. I’ll die on this hill.
https://youtu.be/D8z9wo5PyyE
https://i.imgur.com/il65esa.jpg
Speaking of Hemingway, kind of a Hemingway-esque death. RIP.
The betas in Fargo, and there are a lot of them (Jerry Lundergaard, Carl Showalter, Norm Gunderson and Mike Yanagita), were rendered in really excruciating detail. I wonder if the Coen brothers were sending a different message than you think: slimy, passive-aggressive men are fucking things up and enabling sociopaths like Peter Stormare to wreak havoc.
No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man: nice guys finish last. And, sociopaths.
A Serious Man is probably the most anti-Semitic movie ever made.Replies: @Art Deco, @Abe, @Bardon Kaldian, @Inquiring Mind
It depends on a taste, but I’ve been thinking for some time- what’s the best way to destroy your body, i.e. to commit a suicide?
The way Scott did it is not my favorite. Nor is Hemingway’s- too messy & nor aesthetic at all. Barbiturates are not available anymore.
What then to do if you decide it’s over? Considering you don’t want to embarrass the others, especially the loved ones?
Short of detonating a mini A-bomb on yourself (impossible to acquire), I’d choose to go on the sea in a small boat & with a load of dynamite. Then BOOOM; you and the boat are destroyed & the sea takes care of the remains.
No mess left for others.
A neighbor started feeling "odd" for two weeks and his daughter had to move in to help him move around the house. He took a shower, wrapped a towel around himself, and called to her so she could help him step out of the tub and to the bedroom so he could dress. Got one foot out of the tub and just collapsed in a heap right there.
A step-grandmother again, just an odd, weird feeling she really couldn't describe to anybody so her daughter took her to the ER. The nurse made some little joke, she started laughing, and died.
An uncle was gardening and had just opened a bag of potting soil. My aunt told me she heard a bird somewhere and looked away for it, then looked back and he was on the ground dead.
Insh'allah, we all have such good deaths. I've seen two go out on hospice; I was the caregiver for one. Not pretty.Replies: @Bardon Kaldian, @jsm, @HammerJack, @Muggles
I saw the movie all the way through. There is some trumpery peculiar to suburban Judaism, but that’s it. I’ve been treated to worse by Anglican vicars, including the retired Episcopal Bishop of Rochester. That’s the one element of the plot that does not ring false.
‘I thought about it, and then agreed that, yeah, a wood chipper is a nightmare come to life, so we went the extra mile in the opposite direction.’
It was probably the noise. This was fair warning; your dog doesn’t handle noise well. For Fourth of July, get either you or it some powerful tranquilizers.
‘It’s more than a send-up of neurotic suburban Jews; it’s essentially a statement that there is a large, insane hole at the middle of modern Judaism.’
Yeah.
It had me going ‘thank God I’m not Jewish’ all the way through.
Those poor bastards. Dead-on, too.
Back in the PNW, my main reaction to seeing them in action used to be "hey i could burn that!" The tree service folks would feed stuff in up to 5 or 6 inches, and anything past about 2-1/2, i'd think "firewood".
Down here in Florida ... no longer the case. Heat's basically never an issue. Being beachside we mostly just have the house open--it's sunny and
7576 out there now. But i know as we swing into May, i'll be ACing a bunch.The sun and rain stuff grows and grows and there's always tons of debris. But alas no one's selling me a yard waste powered AC. (We really should be transitioning into a methanol--methanol as the liquid fuel--economy.)Replies: @Colin Wright
‘Back in the PNW, my main reaction to seeing them in action used to be “hey i could burn that!” The tree service folks would feed stuff in up to 5 or 6 inches, and anything past about 2-1/2, i’d think “firewood”.’
I moved to the Northwest three years ago. Then I had a large maple in the backyard cut down, which generated a lot of firewood.
Heating with a fireplace is a pain in the ass. Aside from getting the damned fire going, you have to keep adding wood — incredible quantities of it. Finally, at some point the ashes need to be cleaned out.
I can’t see it. The wood’s there, and I’ve already split it, so I burn it occasionally for a thrill, but otherwise…
Even given the free wood, it still comes to saving about two dollars on the gas bill for every hour of labor — if that.
Getting rid of excess wood and giving the bird to the oil man add to the enjoyment.
Yeah.
It had me going 'thank God I'm not Jewish' all the way through.
Those poor bastards. Dead-on, too.Replies: @The Anti-Gnostic, @Art Deco
You should watch Uncut Gems. It’s pretty jaw-dropping. Also made by two Jewish brothers.
I’ve watched “Trees” a number of time for free on Pluto TV.Replies: @Ralph L
What channel on Pluto?
They do repeat shows a lot and their commercials even more, which is annoying, as is their lack of a schedule. They need more sponsors.
Pluto has 15 or 20 categories of movie channels (Drama, 80s rewind, action, etc). I just scan the block of movie channels for something interesting.
Yeah.
It had me going 'thank God I'm not Jewish' all the way through.
Those poor bastards. Dead-on, too.Replies: @The Anti-Gnostic, @Art Deco
Huh? There was no individual element in which you could not swap out the Jewish character and stick in a gentile one and make some complimentary adjustments. Wouldn’t be any better, wouldn’t be any worse (provided the Coen brothers had a knowledgeable consultant).
It was probably the noise. This was fair warning; your dog doesn't handle noise well. For Fourth of July, get either you or it some powerful tranquilizers.Replies: @Ralph L
My dad’s dog (that I ended up with) did not like thunderstorms. She’d pace around the house a half hour before, shove her head behind my back during, and ripped a sofa cushion (zipper and foam) apart when alone.
No one has commented on this, strangely, in 50 comments…
6’4″ and 185lbs Steve. (!)
Are you cutting for a local masters MMA competition? I note that Israel Adesanya (6’4″ also) cuts to 185lbs, but as far as I know he walks around at 200lbs. And Jon Jones is the same height with 4″ reach advantage on Adesanya, cuts to 205lbs. None of them walk around permanently at the 185lbs level. And both of them are “built different”, i.e. it is much more common for 6’4″ guys to fight at HW, maybe LHW at most, which implies a 230lbs walk around weight plus.
Granted, Steve may not do any resistance training, but I’m going to guess there are some washboard abs with those dimensions.
And now that I check, I guess that a BMI of 22.5 is right within the normal range. It’s basically smack bang in the middle. Though 22.5 seems vaguely unAmerican, most Americans are at least overweight, either from the Standard American Diet or from lifting weights.
I was going to ask if Steve was calorie restricting to attempt life extention, or how much longer he was going to be with us. Or if his budget is really that tight that the caloric intake is financially imposed, like a college kid who skipped the freshman 15. But with a 22.5 BMI it’s actually not that skinny, unless there is some resistance training going on.
While I tend to think of MMA athletes as “not bodybuilders”, I guess it pays to realize that even the lean ones do have more muscle than the average Joe.
Some do find it advantageous to have more muscle than others in their weight division. It usually comes with a disadvantage of reach and cardio output, but it also comes with knockout power which may make it worth it. Rob Whitaker is an example of someone who fought at a lighter weight but made it work at championship level at the next weight class up. For every Whitaker there are probably 5 examples of someone like Bisping who realized that he wasn’t going to make a success of it at a higher weight class but found success at a lower weight class (and is taller than Whitaker but was also champion at 185lbs).
And there are a few like Paulo Costa and Yoel Romero who have bodybuilder-like physiques outside of the HW class. But exceptions that prove the rule.
That show was kind of uneven. But unlike a lot of shows I think it got stronger as it progressed (also it became more about the Buscemi character). The best parts of Boardwalk Empire are as good as anything out there IMHO.
The way Scott did it is not my favorite. Nor is Hemingway's- too messy & nor aesthetic at all. Barbiturates are not available anymore.
What then to do if you decide it's over? Considering you don't want to embarrass the others, especially the loved ones?
Short of detonating a mini A-bomb on yourself (impossible to acquire), I'd choose to go on the sea in a small boat & with a load of dynamite. Then BOOOM; you and the boat are destroyed & the sea takes care of the remains.
No mess left for others.Replies: @The Anti-Gnostic
I knew three elderly people who had very good deaths.
A neighbor started feeling “odd” for two weeks and his daughter had to move in to help him move around the house. He took a shower, wrapped a towel around himself, and called to her so she could help him step out of the tub and to the bedroom so he could dress. Got one foot out of the tub and just collapsed in a heap right there.
A step-grandmother again, just an odd, weird feeling she really couldn’t describe to anybody so her daughter took her to the ER. The nurse made some little joke, she started laughing, and died.
An uncle was gardening and had just opened a bag of potting soil. My aunt told me she heard a bird somewhere and looked away for it, then looked back and he was on the ground dead.
Insh’allah, we all have such good deaths. I’ve seen two go out on hospice; I was the caregiver for one. Not pretty.
And then, that deterioration that comes with old age is terrible. Especially with the loved ones. Even when not in pain, they frequently humiliatingly age before their sons' or grandkids' eyes, and it is painful for both. Winding down of mental faculties is bad, but not as frightening as gradual diminishment of one's personality and body.
And it could take years, as was the case of one my grandmother who had been literally decomposing for more than 8 years, her sense of self & mental capabilities remaining intact.Replies: @Curle
The last day of his life, he went to lunch with the guys he called "the old crocks," a bunch of 80-something dudes who lunched together frequently.
He and his girlfriend went to a movie, and his grandkids so happened to come over to the house that evening.
The next morning he woke up dead.
THAT's how I want to go.Replies: @Mike Tre
Peter Stomare is one of the most underrated actors of all time.
A neighbor started feeling "odd" for two weeks and his daughter had to move in to help him move around the house. He took a shower, wrapped a towel around himself, and called to her so she could help him step out of the tub and to the bedroom so he could dress. Got one foot out of the tub and just collapsed in a heap right there.
A step-grandmother again, just an odd, weird feeling she really couldn't describe to anybody so her daughter took her to the ER. The nurse made some little joke, she started laughing, and died.
An uncle was gardening and had just opened a bag of potting soil. My aunt told me she heard a bird somewhere and looked away for it, then looked back and he was on the ground dead.
Insh'allah, we all have such good deaths. I've seen two go out on hospice; I was the caregiver for one. Not pretty.Replies: @Bardon Kaldian, @jsm, @HammerJack, @Muggles
Even the best hospice is a horror.
And then, that deterioration that comes with old age is terrible. Especially with the loved ones. Even when not in pain, they frequently humiliatingly age before their sons’ or grandkids’ eyes, and it is painful for both. Winding down of mental faculties is bad, but not as frightening as gradual diminishment of one’s personality and body.
And it could take years, as was the case of one my grandmother who had been literally decomposing for more than 8 years, her sense of self & mental capabilities remaining intact.
They do repeat shows a lot and their commercials even more, which is annoying, as is their lack of a schedule. They need more sponsors.Replies: @Anon
I don’t recall which channel, but you can watch it On Demand.
Pluto has 15 or 20 categories of movie channels (Drama, 80s rewind, action, etc). I just scan the block of movie channels for something interesting.
Was there ever a case where a person dragged into a wood chipper to their death had an IQ >93?
I seriously doubt it.
It is a scientific fact that walking is the finest mode of transportation. If at any time you see some person or some creature or some machine you would rather avoid you can effortlessly do an instantaneous 180 degree turn and increase the distance from him/it/whatever.
If they are really obnoxious do a 225 or a 270. Almost no mugger has the processing capacity to cope with that.
OT so a thing happened. By Monday you will have heard of it as proof that the internet needs to be censored. Pretty lucky that this comes along just as both Obama and Hillary kicked off a push for censorship.
Present information:
Same day someone tried to self-immolate on the steps of the Supreme Court, someone else fired sixty shots and hit four people, none fatally.
60 to 4 with 0 kills? Pol guesses white dad plus mystery meat mom, and no previous experience with firearms. Is it — picture emerges — hey, Phillipinos are the most powerful race in the galaxy.
The shooting is being tied to pol by claims that this idiot announced it beforehand on pol, then actually stopped during the shooting and uploaded video to catbox, and posted that link to pol. A shill team is spamming the “/pol/ shooting” (correct term is “DC shooting”).
Speculation:
Whether this is our evil government attacking us yet again or monkey-see-monkey-do, there is an attempt to shut down 4chan’s hated /pol/ board.
Reason this is happening, from anonymous:
A neighbor started feeling "odd" for two weeks and his daughter had to move in to help him move around the house. He took a shower, wrapped a towel around himself, and called to her so she could help him step out of the tub and to the bedroom so he could dress. Got one foot out of the tub and just collapsed in a heap right there.
A step-grandmother again, just an odd, weird feeling she really couldn't describe to anybody so her daughter took her to the ER. The nurse made some little joke, she started laughing, and died.
An uncle was gardening and had just opened a bag of potting soil. My aunt told me she heard a bird somewhere and looked away for it, then looked back and he was on the ground dead.
Insh'allah, we all have such good deaths. I've seen two go out on hospice; I was the caregiver for one. Not pretty.Replies: @Bardon Kaldian, @jsm, @HammerJack, @Muggles
My dad got the best death.
The last day of his life, he went to lunch with the guys he called “the old crocks,” a bunch of 80-something dudes who lunched together frequently.
He and his girlfriend went to a movie, and his grandkids so happened to come over to the house that evening.
The next morning he woke up dead.
THAT’s how I want to go.
Harry, Buscemi’s parents didn’t get his teeth fixed, may have hurt his love life, but not his movie career.
A neighbor started feeling "odd" for two weeks and his daughter had to move in to help him move around the house. He took a shower, wrapped a towel around himself, and called to her so she could help him step out of the tub and to the bedroom so he could dress. Got one foot out of the tub and just collapsed in a heap right there.
A step-grandmother again, just an odd, weird feeling she really couldn't describe to anybody so her daughter took her to the ER. The nurse made some little joke, she started laughing, and died.
An uncle was gardening and had just opened a bag of potting soil. My aunt told me she heard a bird somewhere and looked away for it, then looked back and he was on the ground dead.
Insh'allah, we all have such good deaths. I've seen two go out on hospice; I was the caregiver for one. Not pretty.Replies: @Bardon Kaldian, @jsm, @HammerJack, @Muggles
Leave nothing to chance. Jump out of a small airplane, over the ocean.
Those first four movies…and Raising Arizona is the worst of the four! (And it’s great!)
I love Ebert’s review of Blood Simple – “if you’re squeamish, this movie will make you squeam.”
And as someone else said of the one-two punch of Miller’s Crossing and Barton Fink – yeah, I could probably die on that hill too.
Thank you for being kind to your dog.
There was a guy where I used to live who got his coat caught in the chipper intake and that was it for him.Replies: @Johann Ricke, @Peter Akuleyev
I don’t want to be unkind, but what kind of person turns on the wood chipper without staying well clear of it? Seems to me this is the kind of machine you load, and turn on by remote, if you can help it.
There was a guy where I used to live who got his coat caught in the chipper intake and that was it for him.Replies: @Johann Ricke, @Peter Akuleyev
Everybody slobbers over Fargo but Blood Simple is a better movie.
The Coen brothers have made many excellent movies. Is that a bad thing?
Trying to “flood” a dog with something she fears is often counterproductive, but feeding into the avoidance behavior isn’t healthy either.
Try to get her gradually acclimated to this particular stimulus. A dog, especially a Jindo-mix, should be alert and watchful, but shouldn’t be fearful and freeze when the owner/handler isn’t (or were YOU fearful?). Of course, you haven’t had this dog long, so you haven’t had time to build a trust relationship yet, but that means you have dog homework.
I think the dog is has an ideal temperament for a companion dog. Steve was wise in taking the long way round. To a dog tension in the lead means 'this human is tense about something". If it refuses to go on then do not try to pull it. The dog may learn the trick of getting out of its collar/ harness, and then when you try and hold it back at any time it will 180 and pull itself free. The lead should always be loose to convey that you are the big boss who is in complete control.
6'4" and 185lbs Steve. (!)
Are you cutting for a local masters MMA competition? I note that Israel Adesanya (6'4" also) cuts to 185lbs, but as far as I know he walks around at 200lbs. And Jon Jones is the same height with 4" reach advantage on Adesanya, cuts to 205lbs. None of them walk around permanently at the 185lbs level. And both of them are "built different", i.e. it is much more common for 6'4" guys to fight at HW, maybe LHW at most, which implies a 230lbs walk around weight plus.
Granted, Steve may not do any resistance training, but I'm going to guess there are some washboard abs with those dimensions.
And now that I check, I guess that a BMI of 22.5 is right within the normal range. It's basically smack bang in the middle. Though 22.5 seems vaguely unAmerican, most Americans are at least overweight, either from the Standard American Diet or from lifting weights.
I was going to ask if Steve was calorie restricting to attempt life extention, or how much longer he was going to be with us. Or if his budget is really that tight that the caloric intake is financially imposed, like a college kid who skipped the freshman 15. But with a 22.5 BMI it's actually not that skinny, unless there is some resistance training going on.
While I tend to think of MMA athletes as "not bodybuilders", I guess it pays to realize that even the lean ones do have more muscle than the average Joe.
Some do find it advantageous to have more muscle than others in their weight division. It usually comes with a disadvantage of reach and cardio output, but it also comes with knockout power which may make it worth it. Rob Whitaker is an example of someone who fought at a lighter weight but made it work at championship level at the next weight class up. For every Whitaker there are probably 5 examples of someone like Bisping who realized that he wasn't going to make a success of it at a higher weight class but found success at a lower weight class (and is taller than Whitaker but was also champion at 185lbs).
And there are a few like Paulo Costa and Yoel Romero who have bodybuilder-like physiques outside of the HW class. But exceptions that prove the rule.Replies: @Twinkie
I am 6’2″ and my weight fluctuates between 180-185 lbs. Then again, I train in Judo and BJJ everyday (though my output these days is considerably reduced as my dominant side shoulder rotator cuff is partially torn and I am doing about 1.5 hours of physical therapy everyday in an effort to avoid another orthopedic surgery).
I took advice from Pavel Tsatsouline more than two decades ago and have tried to build functional strength while limiting my muscle-size and weight-gain. Working on improving my extreme-range of motion strength and stabilization muscles (combined with PNF range of motion improvements) have dramatically increased my functional strength while not bulking up at all – what he called “wiry strength.”
Sadly, now that I am past 50, I see my strength and recovery ability decline every year despite my best efforts. I hate getting old. On the other hand, 1) I am wiser and 2) my children get stronger and more knowledgeable day-by-day (my oldest son tore my rotator cuff).
Roughly 20 years ago I was in Gainesville, Florida and heard that the son of a landscaper got his clothing stuck on a tree branch and got sucked into a wood chipper. Try explaining that to your wife.
I moved to the Northwest three years ago. Then I had a large maple in the backyard cut down, which generated a lot of firewood.
Heating with a fireplace is a pain in the ass. Aside from getting the damned fire going, you have to keep adding wood -- incredible quantities of it. Finally, at some point the ashes need to be cleaned out.
I can't see it. The wood's there, and I've already split it, so I burn it occasionally for a thrill, but otherwise...
Even given the free wood, it still comes to saving about two dollars on the gas bill for every hour of labor -- if that.Replies: @Achmed E. Newman, @Inquiring Mind, @Old Prude
Heating with a fireplace is just for fun, Colin. We enjoy it. However, the air that must come in to replace the combustion air and the rest that goes up the chimney is cold air of course. I’ve found we can heat up the one pretty big room to 75-80F while the rest of the house just goes on down. So, we all stay there, and the cat will lie right in front of the grate.
If you want to efficiently heat the house with wood, you need a good wood stove and hopefully a somewhat central place to put it (means running that double-layer exhaust pipe through the ceiling and then the roof.) I have been thinking of getting one sometime.
BTW, when I was in a northerly locale near you for a while, being used to the summer being warm, PERIOD, I got a fire going in the fireplace in August, because I was damn sick of it being 65F in the house and the landlord had turned off the heat in June. I told my boss that, and he cracked up.
An intermediate step is just to get glass doors for your fireplace. When the fire is raging you can leave the doors open with just the chain mesh spark protector curtain and when it dies down you can close the doors so all the heat in your house doesn't get blown out of the chimney.Replies: @Achmed E. Newman
“The Dude abides.”
This was a popular t-shirt her in CT, back in the day.
Try to get her gradually acclimated to this particular stimulus. A dog, especially a Jindo-mix, should be alert and watchful, but shouldn't be fearful and freeze when the owner/handler isn't (or were YOU fearful?). Of course, you haven't had this dog long, so you haven't had time to build a trust relationship yet, but that means you have dog homework.Replies: @Sean
Some things (eg sitting in a puddle) are deeply unacceptable to any dog, but a fearless one can be a terrible nuisance. It will get hurt and/ or inadvertently hurt you.
Never put a monster or animal mask on to see what your dog does, fido may think it faces an existential threat and try to bite ‘it’ (you). Something sudden they have never seen before (eg an automatic glass store door opening) can get them to do an explosive jump .
I think the dog is has an ideal temperament for a companion dog. Steve was wise in taking the long way round. To a dog tension in the lead means ‘this human is tense about something”. If it refuses to go on then do not try to pull it. The dog may learn the trick of getting out of its collar/ harness, and then when you try and hold it back at any time it will 180 and pull itself free. The lead should always be loose to convey that you are the big boss who is in complete control.
https://i.imgur.com/il65esa.jpg
Speaking of Hemingway, kind of a Hemingway-esque death. RIP.
The betas in Fargo, and there are a lot of them (Jerry Lundergaard, Carl Showalter, Norm Gunderson and Mike Yanagita), were rendered in really excruciating detail. I wonder if the Coen brothers were sending a different message than you think: slimy, passive-aggressive men are fucking things up and enabling sociopaths like Peter Stormare to wreak havoc.
No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man: nice guys finish last. And, sociopaths.
A Serious Man is probably the most anti-Semitic movie ever made.Replies: @Art Deco, @Abe, @Bardon Kaldian, @Inquiring Mind
Cool subversive hat.
Dudes wear subversive imperialist-fascist hats to make a personal statement?
So, a hat with a swastika on it is immediate hate-crime charges? A hat with a Confederate flag merits cancellation? Where does a MAGA hat fit into this continuum?
An Imperial Japanese military hat worn by a cool white dude flashing his chest hair — not only cultural appropriation but mixed metaphor because Asian men don’t have as much chest hair — is hipster/Hollywood/ironic? I am the director, and I am going to work you to death like the camp commandant in Bridge Over the River Kwai?
Where does a hat with the Italian Fascist motif fit in, especially since the fasces are part of the heraldry of the U S House of Representatives.
Far from me to criticize the posting of that photo, but the iSteve experience is about Noticing ™. I couldn’t help noticing the hat this Hollywood guy is wearing.
Disallowed I’d venture.
I moved to the Northwest three years ago. Then I had a large maple in the backyard cut down, which generated a lot of firewood.
Heating with a fireplace is a pain in the ass. Aside from getting the damned fire going, you have to keep adding wood -- incredible quantities of it. Finally, at some point the ashes need to be cleaned out.
I can't see it. The wood's there, and I've already split it, so I burn it occasionally for a thrill, but otherwise...
Even given the free wood, it still comes to saving about two dollars on the gas bill for every hour of labor -- if that.Replies: @Achmed E. Newman, @Inquiring Mind, @Old Prude
Wildly off topic, but I have wondered what to do when the ice storm comes and shuts off the electricity. The gas furnace runs on electricity.
One suggestion I had seen is to draw bathtubs full of hot water. If you have a well-insulated house, and ice storms usually happen at near-freezing not deep-freeze conditions, your gas water heater may be able to keep up. Not keeping the house toasty but warm enough that you can stay in the house with enough warm clothes and blankets.
If course if the virtue-signaling weenies in your area run the pumps pressuring the natural gas lines on electricity instead of on natural gas like the situation they had in Texas, I guess having a proper wood stove as Achmed suggests is the only way to go.
We went through that when we had a freak snowstorm that knocked out everyone's power.
For whatever reason, the gas furnace continued to work. I didn't look a gift horse in the mouth.Replies: @res
Prepare yourself. By buying all the raggedly second hand fur coats you can find. In cold weather areas the thrift stores are full of them. In warm weather areas go on the Internet for them. I’d suggest Fox which is cheaper and longer fur. Probably warmer than mink.
Do what our prehistoric ancestors did. Before coal and gas furnaces. Another thing is for all the family to huddle together in the dark.
Or get your own generator. And spend even more money saving Mother Giai
https://oofgrid.com/battery-backup-for-a-gas-furnace/
Pit Bulls in relatively benign mode:
https://twitter.com/UOldguy/status/1517351544231841794
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/pit-bull-dies-after-protecting-young-children-from-snake-biteReplies: @Alden
Just look at the tearing force those little devils are exerting on the bumper cover. The power of a pit bull's jaws is amazing, pound for pound, probably greater than that of a German Shepard.
Anthony and Peter Schaeffer.
He plays it so well … The Coen’s merely polished a diamond in the rough.
They make flex pipes that can be threaded down your existing fireplace chimney flue and fireplace insert stoves that fit inside your fireplace. They have big glass windows (that get sooty) so you can see the fire. You don’t have a big ugly stove with a giant pipe sitting in your living room (these may go with a rustic cabin but look kind of stupid with many other types of decor) and you don’t have a fireplace sucking all the heat out of your house.
An intermediate step is just to get glass doors for your fireplace. When the fire is raging you can leave the doors open with just the chain mesh spark protector curtain and when it dies down you can close the doors so all the heat in your house doesn’t get blown out of the chimney.
When the fire is raging - the only way I like it, you still lose so much energy via air flow the wrong way vs. the radiation heat transfer to the room. I do like to have nothing but the grate in the middle (still got holes in the carpet from little pieces flying out occasionally).
BTW, to demonstrate heat convection vs. radiation (to a kid, for instance) hold your hand nearby with your palm perpendicular to the fireplace opening to feel the convection heat transfer (or lack thereof) and then parallel to feel the radiation heat transfer.Replies: @Buzz Mohawk
Nothing tells life like Tucker and Dale vs Evil
An intermediate step is just to get glass doors for your fireplace. When the fire is raging you can leave the doors open with just the chain mesh spark protector curtain and when it dies down you can close the doors so all the heat in your house doesn't get blown out of the chimney.Replies: @Achmed E. Newman
Yeah, I know that, Jack, but there are not many houses with fireplaces in the middle. The chimneys are usually on the outside wall. If you want that hot air to get all over, you need to have it centrally located. I don’t mind.
When the fire is raging – the only way I like it, you still lose so much energy via air flow the wrong way vs. the radiation heat transfer to the room. I do like to have nothing but the grate in the middle (still got holes in the carpet from little pieces flying out occasionally).
BTW, to demonstrate heat convection vs. radiation (to a kid, for instance) hold your hand nearby with your palm perpendicular to the fireplace opening to feel the convection heat transfer (or lack thereof) and then parallel to feel the radiation heat transfer.
When the fire is raging - the only way I like it, you still lose so much energy via air flow the wrong way vs. the radiation heat transfer to the room. I do like to have nothing but the grate in the middle (still got holes in the carpet from little pieces flying out occasionally).
BTW, to demonstrate heat convection vs. radiation (to a kid, for instance) hold your hand nearby with your palm perpendicular to the fireplace opening to feel the convection heat transfer (or lack thereof) and then parallel to feel the radiation heat transfer.Replies: @Buzz Mohawk
Hey, our fireplace is right smack in the middle of our living room, away from the exterior walls. Our house was built in 1958. (When Americans knew how to build things, godddammmit! LOL)
Jack D. is correct. There are all kinds of inserts you can install if you really want to. I have so damn much firewood stacked outside I don’t even care. I’ll burn a flaming fire to the end of time before I put one of those abominations in my living room.
And I can. That’s all that matters.
A neighbor started feeling "odd" for two weeks and his daughter had to move in to help him move around the house. He took a shower, wrapped a towel around himself, and called to her so she could help him step out of the tub and to the bedroom so he could dress. Got one foot out of the tub and just collapsed in a heap right there.
A step-grandmother again, just an odd, weird feeling she really couldn't describe to anybody so her daughter took her to the ER. The nurse made some little joke, she started laughing, and died.
An uncle was gardening and had just opened a bag of potting soil. My aunt told me she heard a bird somewhere and looked away for it, then looked back and he was on the ground dead.
Insh'allah, we all have such good deaths. I've seen two go out on hospice; I was the caregiver for one. Not pretty.Replies: @Bardon Kaldian, @jsm, @HammerJack, @Muggles
While this post is late, and somewhat off topic, your comments about ways of death had me thinking about something I just read today.
Some woman in Washington State was using an outhouse in a National Forest there and dropped her cell phone into the hole.
Selfie time?
So she couldn’t reach it with a dog leash and tied that around herself to bend down to grab it. No, not a good plan. She fell splosh into the hole.
Now soaked in bottom hole contents, she found her precious phone and got 911 to send EMT rescuers to pull her out.
She hurriedly fled once out without bothering to clean off.
Here’s the relevant bit for your comment. What kind of death would she have suffered had her cell phone died? Being wet and all?
Maybe someone might have found her, loose dog and all. But maybe not.
That’s a memorable death you want to avoid.
My only question is: how did her selfie turn out?
Neighbor couldn't sell a sugar beet crop to the factory, so he harvested it for cattle feed. Processing was an issue; the settled method was running them through a wood chipper.Replies: @Joe Paluka
Compared to the machines that rip up scrap metal, wood chippers are downright wimpy.
This makes me very sad, Steve, very sad. I think you know why.
The last day of his life, he went to lunch with the guys he called "the old crocks," a bunch of 80-something dudes who lunched together frequently.
He and his girlfriend went to a movie, and his grandkids so happened to come over to the house that evening.
The next morning he woke up dead.
THAT's how I want to go.Replies: @Mike Tre
Or as Tyrion Lannister said : At age 80 in my own bed, with a belly full of wine and a woman’s lips around my cock.
John Goodman as a junkie jazz piano player in “Inside Llewyn Davis” talking smack (as it were) to folk singer Llewyn (Oscar Issac) is one of the best comic bits ever in a Coen bros film…
‘Wildly off topic, but I have wondered what to do when the ice storm comes and shuts off the electricity. The gas furnace runs on electricity.’
We went through that when we had a freak snowstorm that knocked out everyone’s power.
For whatever reason, the gas furnace continued to work. I didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
https://twitter.com/UOldguy/status/1517351544231841794Replies: @Kylie, @additionalMike
Even more benign:
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/pit-bull-dies-after-protecting-young-children-from-snake-bite
You want to avoid a David Carradine death too.
One of the first questions in the homeowner’s insurance application I filled out yesterday was if I had an animal which has bitten or injured someone.
Non-pathological altruism.
🙂
Steve be careful around July 4th if there’s a fireworks display in your neighborhood. It can really upset dogs. Never saw a dog run so fast as when the fireworks started one year . Ran straight to mommy’s lap.
People aren’t dogs’ parents. They are supposed to be owners and handlers, kind and firm owners and handlers, but owners and handlers nonetheless. Dogs aren’t humans’ children.Replies: @anarchyst
Here’s a suggestion for when all the heat is off because the entire world fell for copper mine electrical industry propaganda about saving Mother Giai from fossil fuels.
Prepare yourself. By buying all the raggedly second hand fur coats you can find. In cold weather areas the thrift stores are full of them. In warm weather areas go on the Internet for them. I’d suggest Fox which is cheaper and longer fur. Probably warmer than mink.
Do what our prehistoric ancestors did. Before coal and gas furnaces. Another thing is for all the family to huddle together in the dark.
Or get your own generator. And spend even more money saving Mother Giai
The most important thing to remember when dying is making sure you don’t shame your mum: clean underwear is essential.
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/pit-bull-dies-after-protecting-young-children-from-snake-biteReplies: @Alden
Pit Bull wasn’t protecting the kids. It just found the snake was more interesting prey than the kids.
On violent methods of suicide: a few years ago I heard about a young woman who was traumatised by witnessing a First Nations kid offing himself with a chainsaw at a party in BC. It was her uncle who told me about it and I have every faith that he was telling the truth. He’s far too successful to need to indulge in BS quite apart from being a fine guy.
But those older models worked great don’t you think? My dad’s old one was an absolute beast. It was all metal and no plastic. I never thought of disposing my siblings with it though.
I can’t imagine this movie being made after the 2013 Great Awokening. Sure, hillybillies and rednecks have been used as chaotic evil villains for decades but “Tucker & Dale vs Evil” provided a level of self aware parody of it that most studios couldn’t demonstrate in contemporary film. They flipped that formula and turned it into a great horror comedy.
I’ve seen that story. It was as much where he was doing it as when. Out of season, in the middle of winter, snow on the ground. Which attracted attention.
I may be misremembering but I think he burned the chipper later to erase evidence but the police managed to find bone fragments on the riverbed.
Los Angeles, being somewhat of a third world hellhole, is currently in the midst of a street lamp copper wire chop-a-thon.
The Bureau of Street Lighting report on copper wire theft says it would take 80 years and $400 Million to secure Los Angeles streetlamps against the huge increase in vandalism since 2019.
I wonder what growing ethnic group might be responsible for the wholesale dismantling of our street lighting? 🕵🏻♂️
https://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2022/22-0156_rpt_BSL_4-19-22.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3zaWwF80EA_gftwFr-tS5-LIdQLxQj1kUKpg9QkKjF4pITFstGF0HRV54
A gas furnace does not use much electricity, so it is possible to run it with a battery backup. Just get one big enough to start it and run it for while. Here is an article discussing that, but note that the figures they give for start/run wattage are significantly higher than my furnace (i.e. YMMV). Measure your own and try the backup before you need it. Here is an article on the topic.
https://oofgrid.com/battery-backup-for-a-gas-furnace/
I’ve often remarked about the colossal home fireworks exhibitions in the Mexican neighborhoods of the San Fernando Valley on July 4, 2020. Was that because you didn’t have to pay your rent that year?
Umm when you die your muscles go completely flaccid. So even just out of the laundry gets soiled.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/1815-kilt-curiosity.gif/375px-1815-kilt-curiosity.gif
American hat. After defeating the Japanese, American military units stationed in the neighborhood partook of the iconography (I think there was an F-14 squadron with the Rising Sun on their vertical stabilizers). Notice the rest of his costume is pretty much Vietnam era American olive drab.
He was fantastic playing Satan at the end of Constantine.
Gosh! I wish I’d known that before. Thanks.
I moved to the Northwest three years ago. Then I had a large maple in the backyard cut down, which generated a lot of firewood.
Heating with a fireplace is a pain in the ass. Aside from getting the damned fire going, you have to keep adding wood -- incredible quantities of it. Finally, at some point the ashes need to be cleaned out.
I can't see it. The wood's there, and I've already split it, so I burn it occasionally for a thrill, but otherwise...
Even given the free wood, it still comes to saving about two dollars on the gas bill for every hour of labor -- if that.Replies: @Achmed E. Newman, @Inquiring Mind, @Old Prude
Wood stove. Fireplaces are misbegotten and wildly ineffiecient. A wood stove with glass on the front door gives the same ambience and can nicely heat a room and sometimes a whole house if the layout is right.
Getting rid of excess wood and giving the bird to the oil man add to the enjoyment.
What about hogs for “body disposal”?
A number of years ago some northern Michigan “lowlifes” murdered some hunters and disposed of the bodies in a hog pen.
They would have gotten away with it, if not for their drunken stupidity, bragging about their “exploit” in a bar…
It would appear that there were enough human bones left in the hog pen to secure a conviction.
https://www.ansa.it/english/news/general_news/2021/01/07/businesswoman-slain-by-mafia-and-body-fed-to-pigs-informant_93292e0b-2f01-4ee4-a61e-2dffff9834b5.html
Lebowski was an awful movie. Cover to cover obscenity. The worst part of the movie was when my mother-in-law came around the corner to see what I was watching, right at the point where the chick in the bikini says “I’ll suck your **** for one thousand dollars”.
Good lord. Explain THAT to the Wife.
https://twitter.com/UOldguy/status/1517351544231841794Replies: @Kylie, @additionalMike
Looks like there was a cat or other small animal that had taken refuge inside the engine compartment.
Just look at the tearing force those little devils are exerting on the bumper cover. The power of a pit bull’s jaws is amazing, pound for pound, probably greater than that of a German Shepard.
Most animals have a fear of loud machines. Lawn mowers, leaf blowers, even the vacuum cleaner will send a good percentage of animals running.Replies: @Curle
Some bureaucrat figured out how to fill his days with useless work.
Aye, he was a spry ol’ codger. We joked, when he was in his 70s dating 50 y olds, his death was gonna come being shot in the back as he climbed out the window of a jealous husband.
OT – Rod Dreher is getting a divorce:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/tears-at-golgotha-communication-from-a-broken-heart-dreher-divorce/
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/tears-at-golgotha-communication-from-a-broken-heart-dreher-divorce/
Replies: @Twinkie
How convenient that he is no longer a Catholic.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/resurrection-in-jerusalem-dreher-divorce-healing-holy-sepulcher/
And he got a tattoo:
https://twitter.com/roddreher/status/1516187380557959172
https://twitter.com/roddreher/status/1516187523608977410Replies: @Reg Cæsar, @Twinkie
And “mommy”* rewarded that fear-fueled behavior.
People aren’t dogs’ parents. They are supposed to be owners and handlers, kind and firm owners and handlers, but owners and handlers nonetheless. Dogs aren’t humans’ children.
Are you the alpha male for your dogs?
If so, good for you, if not, YOU are the problem.
The problem is that many dog owners are either stupid or just ignorant and unaware of their dog’s behavior and idiosyncrasies.
Every friend of mine that owns dogs is impervious to the smell that their houses and furniture get from having dogs living with them, not to mention the hair, urine and fecal smell that their dogs and abodes secrete.
(They replace their furniture and carpeting every three years or so). Thankfully, being exposed to such disgusting smells can be minimized.
Some dog owners are so “brainwashed” that dogs actually control them. They put up with behavior from their dogs that they would not allow a human to do.
Rather than the human being the “alpha male” which is the normal, proper order of things, the dog is the “alpha male” ruling the dog owner who is too stupid to see that he is being manipulated by an animal.
Inconsiderate dog owners just laugh when their untrained, undisciplined dog “humps” the legs of visitors or begs for food by jumping on visitors, thinking that their dog’s behavior is “cute”.
One of my pet peeves is sitting at the dinner table as a guest and having their dog bump and nuzzle, begging for food. THAT is a major irritant, in my book. If I can get away with it, a good “fist to the nose” usually stops that behavior.
A well-trained dog should NEVER beg for food and should be restricted from areas where and when humans are eating.
Dogs crapping everywhere is but another inconsideration that many dog owners overlook or ignore.
I have run into many dog owners who insist that their dogs won’t bite, despite their snarling unfriendly behavior.
Well-behaved dogs who know their place can be a pleasure, but unfortunately there are too many dogs and dog owners who need to “trade places”.Replies: @Twinkie
By the way, regarding our previous conversation:
https://www.unz.com/isteve/pit-bulls-and-stunt-men/#comment-5304174
Here are a couple of news reports about those things you assured me never happen and about which I was lying:
https://www.wafb.com/2022/04/22/woman-attacked-killed-by-her-own-dog-coroner-says/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5418343/Autopsy-proves-woman-mauled-death-dogs.html
Perhaps those dogs just hate white women.
Rod has a follow-up, with signs that the divorce is the will of the Lord:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/resurrection-in-jerusalem-dreher-divorce-healing-holy-sepulcher/
And he got a tattoo:
Now that's a valid reason for a tattoo. On babies, to boot(ie).
So that’s what “going regimental” is all about!
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/resurrection-in-jerusalem-dreher-divorce-healing-holy-sepulcher/
And he got a tattoo:
https://twitter.com/roddreher/status/1516187380557959172
https://twitter.com/roddreher/status/1516187523608977410Replies: @Reg Cæsar, @Twinkie
Copts have been tattooing crosses on newborns since they lost their homeland in the seventh century. (Our seventh century.) In case those newborns are ever abducted. They’ll always know whence they came.
Now that’s a valid reason for a tattoo. On babies, to boot(ie).
Sir David and Lord Richard Attenborough
George and Ira Gershwin.
Richard, Margaret, and Barbara Whiting
Alfred and Lionel Newman. And their nephew Randy.
Dick and Jerry Van Dyke
(Dick is also a member of the same high school class as Donald O’Connor, Bobby Short, and an older brother of Gene Hackman, who would hang around them.)
Willem Dafoe and Barbara Dafoe Whitehead.
She might not be “cinematic”, but she merited an hour on C-SPAN, and is the more impressive of the pair.
People aren’t dogs’ parents. They are supposed to be owners and handlers, kind and firm owners and handlers, but owners and handlers nonetheless. Dogs aren’t humans’ children.Replies: @anarchyst
I agree 100%. thanks for a good comment…here is my “take” on dogs and their “owners”…
Are you the alpha male for your dogs?
If so, good for you, if not, YOU are the problem.
The problem is that many dog owners are either stupid or just ignorant and unaware of their dog’s behavior and idiosyncrasies.
Every friend of mine that owns dogs is impervious to the smell that their houses and furniture get from having dogs living with them, not to mention the hair, urine and fecal smell that their dogs and abodes secrete.
(They replace their furniture and carpeting every three years or so). Thankfully, being exposed to such disgusting smells can be minimized.
Some dog owners are so “brainwashed” that dogs actually control them. They put up with behavior from their dogs that they would not allow a human to do.
Rather than the human being the “alpha male” which is the normal, proper order of things, the dog is the “alpha male” ruling the dog owner who is too stupid to see that he is being manipulated by an animal.
Inconsiderate dog owners just laugh when their untrained, undisciplined dog “humps” the legs of visitors or begs for food by jumping on visitors, thinking that their dog’s behavior is “cute”.
One of my pet peeves is sitting at the dinner table as a guest and having their dog bump and nuzzle, begging for food. THAT is a major irritant, in my book. If I can get away with it, a good “fist to the nose” usually stops that behavior.
A well-trained dog should NEVER beg for food and should be restricted from areas where and when humans are eating.
Dogs crapping everywhere is but another inconsideration that many dog owners overlook or ignore.
I have run into many dog owners who insist that their dogs won’t bite, despite their snarling unfriendly behavior.
Well-behaved dogs who know their place can be a pleasure, but unfortunately there are too many dogs and dog owners who need to “trade places”.
A better way would be to ask politely, but firmly the owner/handler to prevent the dogs from engaging in an unwanted behavior with you. That dog is not yours to correct (and a fist to the nose is not the way to correct a dog).I have heard dog owners say all kinds of things, including "Don't worry, he's totally friendly" as that dog lunged at and initiated a fight with one of my dogs (now long dead, RIP), followed by "I don't know what happened, he's never done that before" (unsaid by this owner, "There must be something wrong with YOUR dog").
There should be fewer dog owners, period. Dogs aren't toys or children substitutes. They are companion animals that require proper nurturing and training (and then should be put to some use). Too few owners do any of this and end up impinging on their own lives and those of others.Replies: @anarchyst
He left the Catholic Church for Orthodoxy 16 years ago. His wife is the plaintiff. I think you can remarry in the Church in Orthodoxy without presenting a case to a tribunal. Not absolutely sure.
And then, that deterioration that comes with old age is terrible. Especially with the loved ones. Even when not in pain, they frequently humiliatingly age before their sons' or grandkids' eyes, and it is painful for both. Winding down of mental faculties is bad, but not as frightening as gradual diminishment of one's personality and body.
And it could take years, as was the case of one my grandmother who had been literally decomposing for more than 8 years, her sense of self & mental capabilities remaining intact.Replies: @Curle
Why do you say that?
I seriously doubt it.Replies: @Curle
A lot of high IQ people are absent minded and/or clumsy. I can see it, easily.
Disallowed I’d venture.
A number of years ago some northern Michigan "lowlifes" murdered some hunters and disposed of the bodies in a hog pen.
They would have gotten away with it, if not for their drunken stupidity, bragging about their "exploit" in a bar...
It would appear that there were enough human bones left in the hog pen to secure a conviction.Replies: @Cortes
A disposal method often used by OC groups in Italy, I believe. Here’s one “eminent domain” example:
https://www.ansa.it/english/news/general_news/2021/01/07/businesswoman-slain-by-mafia-and-body-fed-to-pigs-informant_93292e0b-2f01-4ee4-a61e-2dffff9834b5.html
We went through that when we had a freak snowstorm that knocked out everyone's power.
For whatever reason, the gas furnace continued to work. I didn't look a gift horse in the mouth.Replies: @res
If you have a wall furnace with a pilot (no fan, no electronic ignition) it should work without electricity.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/resurrection-in-jerusalem-dreher-divorce-healing-holy-sepulcher/
And he got a tattoo:
https://twitter.com/roddreher/status/1516187380557959172
https://twitter.com/roddreher/status/1516187523608977410Replies: @Reg Cæsar, @Twinkie
Good grief, he is a whiney poser.
Are you the alpha male for your dogs?
If so, good for you, if not, YOU are the problem.
The problem is that many dog owners are either stupid or just ignorant and unaware of their dog’s behavior and idiosyncrasies.
Every friend of mine that owns dogs is impervious to the smell that their houses and furniture get from having dogs living with them, not to mention the hair, urine and fecal smell that their dogs and abodes secrete.
(They replace their furniture and carpeting every three years or so). Thankfully, being exposed to such disgusting smells can be minimized.
Some dog owners are so “brainwashed” that dogs actually control them. They put up with behavior from their dogs that they would not allow a human to do.
Rather than the human being the “alpha male” which is the normal, proper order of things, the dog is the “alpha male” ruling the dog owner who is too stupid to see that he is being manipulated by an animal.
Inconsiderate dog owners just laugh when their untrained, undisciplined dog “humps” the legs of visitors or begs for food by jumping on visitors, thinking that their dog’s behavior is “cute”.
One of my pet peeves is sitting at the dinner table as a guest and having their dog bump and nuzzle, begging for food. THAT is a major irritant, in my book. If I can get away with it, a good “fist to the nose” usually stops that behavior.
A well-trained dog should NEVER beg for food and should be restricted from areas where and when humans are eating.
Dogs crapping everywhere is but another inconsideration that many dog owners overlook or ignore.
I have run into many dog owners who insist that their dogs won’t bite, despite their snarling unfriendly behavior.
Well-behaved dogs who know their place can be a pleasure, but unfortunately there are too many dogs and dog owners who need to “trade places”.Replies: @Twinkie
Yes.
That is inadvisable with certain dogs, because you will be bitten (and you will have deserved it). But, even if you weren’t, you are going to harm the relationship with that dog. Now, you may not care to have any relationship with the said dog, but if you are visiting that dog’s owner’s house, you WILL have a relationship – it’s just going to be a bad one that lacks trust.
A better way would be to ask politely, but firmly the owner/handler to prevent the dogs from engaging in an unwanted behavior with you. That dog is not yours to correct (and a fist to the nose is not the way to correct a dog).
I have heard dog owners say all kinds of things, including “Don’t worry, he’s totally friendly” as that dog lunged at and initiated a fight with one of my dogs (now long dead, RIP), followed by “I don’t know what happened, he’s never done that before” (unsaid by this owner, “There must be something wrong with YOUR dog”).
There should be fewer dog owners, period. Dogs aren’t toys or children substitutes. They are companion animals that require proper nurturing and training (and then should be put to some use). Too few owners do any of this and end up impinging on their own lives and those of others.
However, I must stand by and clarify my statement: If I can get away with it, a good “fist to the nose” usually stops that behavior. This is not a full-blown "punch", but rather akin to a gentle "shove" which may be uncomfortable for the dog and does get the message across. This is done when the dog is under the dinner table, nuzzling guests for food.
In a case like this, I don't care if the dog "likes" me. Initially, I did let the dog's owner know of my displeasure with his dog's behavior--he just laughed...
From a puppy on, dogs must be trained to know who is the "boss". The human must be the "alpha male".
As an aside, my grandchildren have one of the sweetest dogs around. Although I live a considerable distance from them and see them infrequently (much less than I would like), their dog was never aggressive and did not bark once at me, and accepted me immediately.
As I previously stated, well-trained dogs are a pleasure...
Regards,Replies: @Twinkie
He is a very other-directed man and a poseur to a degree in response to that. For all that, he’s abnormally revealing in his posts and that can be disconcerting.
The whole situation is quite atypical. He’s been married for 25 years, their youngest is still at home, he insists there’s no one else on either side, he says they started bickering 16 years into the marriage, and he intimates they’ve been more or less separated for the last two. If I take his account at face value, their domestic life began to deteriorate when they relocated from Philadelphia to Louisiana (at the same time their oldest entered adolescence). One of their children is on the autism spectrum. In recent years, they moved from his hometown to a place somewhere around Baton Rouge. He has alluded to trouble with family and psychiatric / somatic problems.
I remember towards the end of last century, a business selling burger mince to the US also added kangaroo meat to the mix on the sly. One of the crooks went missing and they believe that he ended up in the shipment as well.
Kangaroos, wild horses, wild donkeys, camels are all shot and processed for petfood.
At the time, the U.S. embargoed imports of Australian Beef, that was evaded by sending boxed beef to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, where it was ground up and reboxed.
Anyway, some rogues came up with the idea of reboxing frozen Roo meat in a box stamped as Inspected Boneless Beef fit for Human Consumption and sent it to P.R. as part of the contract.
Wanna laugh? We have a neighbor 1,000 feet down the road who has been using a wood chipper all day today. My dog hates it too, but I haven’t tried to force him into walking there.
That machine is very loud and ugly sounding. I don’t think I would want to walk near it even if my wife had me on a leash (which only happens sometimes.)
Dogs have sensitive ears. Maybe that sound hurts. Certainly it sounds nasty, and any sensible, careful animal would avoid it if possible. My only concern here is that Steve might very well have failed to assert his dominance. That is not good. He should have done everything he could to make his dog walk with him, in a heel position. That would have been a powerful lesson.
But I realize that when you must live and walk next to the 405 or whatever, these things are not so simple or easy.
According to the Wokel’s of course, you continue to live such a life, no matter how bad at it you are.
That’s not how a dogs mind work.
When you take the dog out for a walk, it’s not thinking its going to meet old dog friends, or exercise, or do its business. The dog is out on a hunting expedition. With its pack leader. You.
There is a certain number of weeks of its life a puppy can, and must get, conditioned to live like we — owners — want it to. If the young dog haven’t been exposed to those tribulations we throw at it then, it will react later irrationally. And for the rest of its life.
A better way would be to ask politely, but firmly the owner/handler to prevent the dogs from engaging in an unwanted behavior with you. That dog is not yours to correct (and a fist to the nose is not the way to correct a dog).I have heard dog owners say all kinds of things, including "Don't worry, he's totally friendly" as that dog lunged at and initiated a fight with one of my dogs (now long dead, RIP), followed by "I don't know what happened, he's never done that before" (unsaid by this owner, "There must be something wrong with YOUR dog").
There should be fewer dog owners, period. Dogs aren't toys or children substitutes. They are companion animals that require proper nurturing and training (and then should be put to some use). Too few owners do any of this and end up impinging on their own lives and those of others.Replies: @anarchyst
Thank you for your response to my treatise on canine behavior. It is greatly appreciated.
However, I must stand by and clarify my statement: If I can get away with it, a good “fist to the nose” usually stops that behavior. This is not a full-blown “punch”, but rather akin to a gentle “shove” which may be uncomfortable for the dog and does get the message across. This is done when the dog is under the dinner table, nuzzling guests for food.
In a case like this, I don’t care if the dog “likes” me. Initially, I did let the dog’s owner know of my displeasure with his dog’s behavior–he just laughed…
From a puppy on, dogs must be trained to know who is the “boss”. The human must be the “alpha male”.
As an aside, my grandchildren have one of the sweetest dogs around. Although I live a considerable distance from them and see them infrequently (much less than I would like), their dog was never aggressive and did not bark once at me, and accepted me immediately.
As I previously stated, well-trained dogs are a pleasure…
Regards,
That machine is very loud and ugly sounding. I don't think I would want to walk near it even if my wife had me on a leash (which only happens sometimes.)
Dogs have sensitive ears. Maybe that sound hurts. Certainly it sounds nasty, and any sensible, careful animal would avoid it if possible. My only concern here is that Steve might very well have failed to assert his dominance. That is not good. He should have done everything he could to make his dog walk with him, in a heel position. That would have been a powerful lesson.
But I realize that when you must live and walk next to the 405 or whatever, these things are not so simple or easy.Replies: @Joe Stalin
Apparently, Steve’s doggo needs a Happy Hoodie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1-9fG1j4-c
«ThunderShirt is the original, vet recommended, natural calming solution that helps reduce anxiety in dogs in a drug-free way.»Replies: @Art Deco
“So they come up with a minor role for John Polito as the Coen brothers are spreading all the production money around with their friends.“
The master of this kind of thing is Adam Sandler. There are about six or seven actors who are his buddies that he casts in almost every movie. With the exception of Rob Schneider, they rarely appear in other people’s movies. And some of Sandler’s later movies are so bad, it’s been speculated he made them specifically to carry out this kind of grift.
The master of this kind of thing is Adam Sandler. There are about six or seven actors who are his buddies that he casts in almost every movie. With the exception of Rob Schneider, they rarely appear in other people’s movies. And some of Sandler’s later movies are so bad, it’s been speculated he made them specifically to carry out this kind of grift.Replies: @Cortes
Hasn’t it alway been that way? When Shakespeare or Lope de Vega or Moliere secured a gig from a patron to write and stage a new piece, they’d have to ensure that there were roles for the whole ensemble, Shirley?
There are many useless and overpriced merchandise items in the dog and wedding planning worlds.
However, I must stand by and clarify my statement: If I can get away with it, a good “fist to the nose” usually stops that behavior. This is not a full-blown "punch", but rather akin to a gentle "shove" which may be uncomfortable for the dog and does get the message across. This is done when the dog is under the dinner table, nuzzling guests for food.
In a case like this, I don't care if the dog "likes" me. Initially, I did let the dog's owner know of my displeasure with his dog's behavior--he just laughed...
From a puppy on, dogs must be trained to know who is the "boss". The human must be the "alpha male".
As an aside, my grandchildren have one of the sweetest dogs around. Although I live a considerable distance from them and see them infrequently (much less than I would like), their dog was never aggressive and did not bark once at me, and accepted me immediately.
As I previously stated, well-trained dogs are a pleasure...
Regards,Replies: @Twinkie
You don’t correct a dog by putting your hand to its nose/muzzle area regardless of intensity. I have decades of dog training and handling experience, including for personal protection – that will lead to you being bitten with some dogs.
Having good leadership over a dog isn’t about hurting it or cowering it with force – it’s about developing trust with consistency and predictability by 1) proper bonding, 2) rewards, and 3) appropriate corrections that encourage positive behavior that are incompatible with the negative behavior.
Thank you in advance for your response.Replies: @Twinkie
I learned about ThunderShirt right on this site. It can’t hurt. lol
«ThunderShirt is the original, vet recommended, natural calming solution that helps reduce anxiety in dogs in a drug-free way.»
Huge scandal in Australia in 1981.
Kangaroos, wild horses, wild donkeys, camels are all shot and processed for petfood.
At the time, the U.S. embargoed imports of Australian Beef, that was evaded by sending boxed beef to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, where it was ground up and reboxed.
Anyway, some rogues came up with the idea of reboxing frozen Roo meat in a box stamped as Inspected Boneless Beef fit for Human Consumption and sent it to P.R. as part of the contract.
What is “appropriate corrections” for such a situation?
Thank you in advance for your response.
So you ought to ask - politely, but firmly - the owner to restrain the dog from bothering you. And the owner ought to oblige without any ill feeling. That's just basic manners. If the owner does not oblige, you should not visit that home.
Now, if you were the owner of the dog, obviously you should establish boundaries early in its life: don't bother the humans while they are eating. All my dogs stay outside the dining room or the kitchen table when my family eats. But that wasn't done overnight. First the dogs had to master "Sit." Then, "Down." Then "Stay" and so on.
As for corrections, I generally don't like to use them unless there is no other option. If there is an unwanted behavior, the best is always to get the dog to follow a command and engage in a behavior that is incompatible with the unwanted behavior. For example, if a dog knows that a "Down" and "Stay" elicits praise and high-value treats, you can use that to dissuade jumping on people. Dogs can't do "Down" and jump on people at the same time and most dogs will soon learn that one results in a high-value treat and the other doesn't. (There are, of course, highly social/persistent dogs for whom the interaction is a greater reward - there are other methods for such dogs.)
Now, I do correct dogs on occasion. For example, when I teach heeling to dogs that are very independent and like to take off on their own, there is going to be a pinch collar. That is a self-correcting mechanism with a little help from me. I go one way, the dog follows, but then decides to race ahead, then I immediately turn 180 degrees and the dog gets pinched by the collar unless he turns around and follows me quickly. When it does, I praise and reward ("Good job!" and treat). The dog is often none the wiser that I was the source of the pinch. The only thing that the dog knows is that it didn't follow me and something pinched it.
But a proper use of the pinch collar requires some training - on the part of the handler. It should be momentary, never prolonged (the leash should never be taut, but for a moment - it shouldn't be used as a strangulation device by pulling on the leash). Handlers also should be aware that an over-reliance on a pinch collar to restrain dogs from interacting with other dogs or humans (whether positively or aggressively) will tend to increase the reactivity of a dog.
Also, and I cannot emphasize this enough, all handlers and owners should know how to break up dog fights properly: https://youtu.be/f7xrLXQNG0I
You might also read the exchange I had with a commenter earlier about breaking up dog fights six years ago: https://www.unz.com/isteve/pit-bulls-account-for-half-of-dog-fatalities/#comment-1390865Replies: @anarchyst
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1-9fG1j4-c
«ThunderShirt is the original, vet recommended, natural calming solution that helps reduce anxiety in dogs in a drug-free way.»Replies: @Art Deco
That’s a handsome dog.
Thank you in advance for your response.Replies: @Twinkie
As I mentioned before, you should not be correcting someone else’s dog. You don’t have a handler-dog or owner-dog relationship with it. You don’t have a relationship based on trust. So when a stranger smacks a dog on the nose, whether it is hard or not-so-hard, some dogs may cower and retreat (which is not a success, because that dog will now perceive you as a potential threat and will react unpredictably toward you in the future), some may stand their ground, and some will react to the pain by biting the source of the pain, the hand.
So you ought to ask – politely, but firmly – the owner to restrain the dog from bothering you. And the owner ought to oblige without any ill feeling. That’s just basic manners. If the owner does not oblige, you should not visit that home.
Now, if you were the owner of the dog, obviously you should establish boundaries early in its life: don’t bother the humans while they are eating. All my dogs stay outside the dining room or the kitchen table when my family eats. But that wasn’t done overnight. First the dogs had to master “Sit.” Then, “Down.” Then “Stay” and so on.
As for corrections, I generally don’t like to use them unless there is no other option. If there is an unwanted behavior, the best is always to get the dog to follow a command and engage in a behavior that is incompatible with the unwanted behavior. For example, if a dog knows that a “Down” and “Stay” elicits praise and high-value treats, you can use that to dissuade jumping on people. Dogs can’t do “Down” and jump on people at the same time and most dogs will soon learn that one results in a high-value treat and the other doesn’t. (There are, of course, highly social/persistent dogs for whom the interaction is a greater reward – there are other methods for such dogs.)
Now, I do correct dogs on occasion. For example, when I teach heeling to dogs that are very independent and like to take off on their own, there is going to be a pinch collar. That is a self-correcting mechanism with a little help from me. I go one way, the dog follows, but then decides to race ahead, then I immediately turn 180 degrees and the dog gets pinched by the collar unless he turns around and follows me quickly. When it does, I praise and reward (“Good job!” and treat). The dog is often none the wiser that I was the source of the pinch. The only thing that the dog knows is that it didn’t follow me and something pinched it.
But a proper use of the pinch collar requires some training – on the part of the handler. It should be momentary, never prolonged (the leash should never be taut, but for a moment – it shouldn’t be used as a strangulation device by pulling on the leash). Handlers also should be aware that an over-reliance on a pinch collar to restrain dogs from interacting with other dogs or humans (whether positively or aggressively) will tend to increase the reactivity of a dog.
Also, and I cannot emphasize this enough, all handlers and owners should know how to break up dog fights properly:
You might also read the exchange I had with a commenter earlier about breaking up dog fights six years ago: https://www.unz.com/isteve/pit-bulls-account-for-half-of-dog-fatalities/#comment-1390865
Best regards,
So you ought to ask - politely, but firmly - the owner to restrain the dog from bothering you. And the owner ought to oblige without any ill feeling. That's just basic manners. If the owner does not oblige, you should not visit that home.
Now, if you were the owner of the dog, obviously you should establish boundaries early in its life: don't bother the humans while they are eating. All my dogs stay outside the dining room or the kitchen table when my family eats. But that wasn't done overnight. First the dogs had to master "Sit." Then, "Down." Then "Stay" and so on.
As for corrections, I generally don't like to use them unless there is no other option. If there is an unwanted behavior, the best is always to get the dog to follow a command and engage in a behavior that is incompatible with the unwanted behavior. For example, if a dog knows that a "Down" and "Stay" elicits praise and high-value treats, you can use that to dissuade jumping on people. Dogs can't do "Down" and jump on people at the same time and most dogs will soon learn that one results in a high-value treat and the other doesn't. (There are, of course, highly social/persistent dogs for whom the interaction is a greater reward - there are other methods for such dogs.)
Now, I do correct dogs on occasion. For example, when I teach heeling to dogs that are very independent and like to take off on their own, there is going to be a pinch collar. That is a self-correcting mechanism with a little help from me. I go one way, the dog follows, but then decides to race ahead, then I immediately turn 180 degrees and the dog gets pinched by the collar unless he turns around and follows me quickly. When it does, I praise and reward ("Good job!" and treat). The dog is often none the wiser that I was the source of the pinch. The only thing that the dog knows is that it didn't follow me and something pinched it.
But a proper use of the pinch collar requires some training - on the part of the handler. It should be momentary, never prolonged (the leash should never be taut, but for a moment - it shouldn't be used as a strangulation device by pulling on the leash). Handlers also should be aware that an over-reliance on a pinch collar to restrain dogs from interacting with other dogs or humans (whether positively or aggressively) will tend to increase the reactivity of a dog.
Also, and I cannot emphasize this enough, all handlers and owners should know how to break up dog fights properly: https://youtu.be/f7xrLXQNG0I
You might also read the exchange I had with a commenter earlier about breaking up dog fights six years ago: https://www.unz.com/isteve/pit-bulls-account-for-half-of-dog-fatalities/#comment-1390865Replies: @anarchyst
Thank you for your concise response. You make excellent points that anyone should follow. I learned a lot today and will endeavor to keep your suggestions in mind.
Best regards,
Delightful column here, Steve, and thanks to everyone contributing.