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March 28, 2024

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Friday, January 28, 2022

Open Thread – Threefer of Brians

Here’s a threefer of Brians to start your weekend! I took this picture a while ago, but a good gathering of bachelor moose never seems to go out of style. There were actually three more of them out of the frame. I’m not sure what cosmic occurance transpired that brought them all together in my yard, but I didn’t look a gift moose (or six) in the mouth. I just grabbed the camera and snapped away from the safety of my car. Enjoy!

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Comments
80 Responses to “Open Thread – Threefer of Brians”
  1. Man_from_Unk says:

    Nice picture – animals know when hunting season opens – they hang close to humans in order to survive another year.

  2. leenie17 says:

    Here’s an interesting video about the Emergency Manager legislation passed in Michigan and how it’s affected Detroit. For those of you not familiar with this legislation, it allows the Governor to determine that a municipality is in a financial emergency and appoint an Emergency Manager who has almost unlimited authority with no one to answer to except the governor. The EMs are allowed to dismiss elected officials, close schools, cancel public contracts, sell public assets and even dissolve municipalities completely.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mY0aG16aac&feature=player_embedded

    Benton Harbor is a small city located on the shores of Lake Michigan, between two wealthier cities. It’s been taken over by an EM who wasted no time in taking care of nearby rich corporations. A waterfront park was deeded to the city in 1917 by a couple in honor of their daughter who died as a child.

    “Jean Klock Park, the city’s public lakefront, has been leased to a non-profit associated with the locally headquartered Whirlpool Corp. and turned into an elite private golf course.”
    http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/16-12

    Rachael Maddow did some excellent segments on this law back in March and April. If you missed them, it’s well worth looking them up. This may very well be the future of more states if we don’t fight back against radical right wing Republican governors and local legislators. I do believe that Wisconsin’s Scott Walker is taking very careful notes on what is happening in Michigan and I doubt he’s alone.

  3. mike from iowa says:

    I,the world traveller,spent part of two days in John Wayne’s hometown of Waterloo.Iowa. did not encounter Michele Bachmann-Gacy while I was there. Did not encounter any John Wayne memorabilia either. I don’t understand why Waterloo wouldn’t embrace a true giant like John Wayne. Disclaimer-I am not a John Wayne fan,never have been. I will be going back hopefully next week to spend some more time with my numero uno nephew. I will not,however,be looking for celebrities. BTW my nephew isn’t John Wayne or Ms Bachmann.

    • Baker's Dozen says:

      How about your niece?

    • slipstream says:

      The airport in Orange County California features a larger-than-life (if such a thing were possible) statue of John Wayne. I believe that tells you more about OC than JW.

  4. Baker's Dozen says:

    ATTENTION!

    Sign the petition to support the jobs bill!!!!!!!

    Thank you, Barbara Boxer

    http://www.barbaraboxer.com/petitions/american-jobs-act?utm_source=sp4102500&utm_medium=e&sc=sp4102500&refcode=sp4102500

  5. Wow! I love seeing three of Brian in one place. And, sorry AKPetMom, but I think they look different. I thought I posted earlier, but I think I got distracted when I realized that Brian had gone missing in my house. I’ve actually been missing him for about two weeks. Turns out he got tired of sitting amongst the tea cups in the kitchen and meandered up to the bedroom. I’ve now placed him by the books in the living room. It’s cheery there and he can see everything that is going on.

  6. AKPetMom says:

    I think that at least two of them look like they were photoshopped into this scene. There is no way that three Brians with identical racks were sitting there in your driveway, much less 6 of them. I blew up the photo and I see “artifacts” and “seams” surrounding those two in the background which leads me to believe that this photo was altered. The one in the background, on the right, looks as if he is “levitating” and there are strange “pixels” around him and that tree in the background. Nice try, AKM, but I’m not buying it. There was only ONE moose and the other two are just manipulated images of the one in the front. There’s a reason that you didn’t show us the other THREE, that’s because you didn’t have enough time to photoshop them into the background.

    (that’s my SNARK for the day; don’t know if any of you have been following the Sarah Palin Iowa 1/2 Marathon debacle, but this is pretty much how I feel about all the drama surrounding that and I just couldn’t help myself…)

  7. leenie17 says:

    I was simply delighted earlier this afternoon.

    I confess – I have been neglecting my poor garden lately. The first weeks of school have been bumpier than expected, leaving me just knackered and simply unable to contemplate anything more strenuous than an afternoon nap. The garden has been struggling all season due to the weather. First, record rainfall over an extended period left the yard a veritable swamp which delayed planting until way too late. The flooding killed six shrubs and numerous perennials, and I had to replant several of my veggies 2 or 3 times after they rotted out (or were eaten by Glutton Bunny). Then temps in the 90s and no rain at all left the poor plants that had survived drowning trying to deal with a new challenge. My flowers were stunted and sad and the veggie plants that managed to avoid dessication were pathetically small and weak and overwhelmed by weeds (why do THEY still grow when everything else dies???), disease, and bug infestations.

    However, the past couple of weeks have brought cooler temperatures and just the right amount of rain. As I ventured out in the yard this afternoon in search of a nice juicy tomato for my lunch, I noticed that everything is trying to make up for lost time. Plants are exploding in growth and some of my later season flowers are finally putting on a good show. The climbing rose that was eaten alive by beetles in June is enthusiastically blooming again. My sad little shrunken pepper plants have suddenly doubled their size, and the tomatoes are pumping out tasty red globes of juicy deliciousness. Even the beets, which looked as though they were in suspended animation at about three inches tall all summer are shooting up towards the sky.

    Along the back of the house, my yard has turned into the Happiest Place On Earth for all sorts of buzzing insects that are gleefully swarming over the blue blossoms of caryopteris bushes. Dozens of bees of all shapes and sizes are sharing the flowers with a host of miscellaneous flying critters. And most exciting of all, I counted FIVE monarch butterflies fluttering over my butterfly bush, along with a hummingbird moth and a plethora of other smaller insects. I often have one or two monarchs visiting the yard, especially when my buddleia, echinachea and lavender are blooming, but I’ve never had that many at one time. One seemed particularly curious about me and, each time it left one flower for another, it would zoom around me and come within a foot of my face before heading to the next blossom.

    Now that the sun has dipped below the roof and my patio is partly shaded, I am heading out to my nice comfy chair with a book, my camera and my binoculars to enjoy the furious nectar collection that is happening outside my window.

    Tomorrow will be a day for weeding, cleaning and reseeding but today is just for enjoying!

    • mike from iowa says:

      My late ex-Father-in-Law/Landlord planted two butterfly bushes next to the house about five years ago. One is over 10 feet tall and has dark pink blooms and the other is about six feet tall and is covered in lavender blooms. Had one hummingbird in them so far. They need to be moved,I think they are too big to transplant. Keep them youngsters in line and happy gardening.

      • leenie17 says:

        I don’t know if all butterfly bushes behave the same way, but I prune mine down severely every year and it still grows and blooms like crazy. It usually ends up about 7 or 8 feet tall by mid-summer so I deadhead and shape it down to about 6 feet. Then in late winter, before the spring growth spurt, I’ll chop it down to about 3 or 4 feet tall. Otherwise, I suspect it would take over that corner and squeeze me right out of my yard!

        If yours are too big for their spots and too large to transplant, you might try some selective hard pruning to bring them ‘down to size’.

  8. FAWNSKIN MUDPUPPY says:

    don’t know if it’s been mentioned:
    the reporter character on saturday’s doonesbury who stole the manuscript of “rogue”, declares that the
    book”…is boring”.
    uh oh, joe.

    http://www.arcamax.com/thefunnies/doonesbury/s-943150-654841

    • Elsie says:

      Just saw this, Fawnskin.

      I took a look at the arrogant ass’ site after all his smugness about the preceding strips, and found this blow-off:

      “Given Sarah’s life and career, that quote could be about almost anything. But if Hedley finds it boring, who cares? It can’t be a reference to anything interesting. So pay this episode no attention. It’s just Roger and Garry and I—The Unholy Trinity—trying to distract you from important issues by making you wonder what’ll happen next.”

      Yeah, WHATEVER, ya old blowhard, you.

      • beth says:

        He actually wrote, “It’s just Roger and Gary and I”?

        He’s a professional author and yet didn’t learn that: if you’ve any doubt about whether it should be “I” or “me”, take out the other party(s) and use whichever is gramatically correct? He’s perfectly happy writing [under the test model] “It’s just I” instead of “It’s just me”?

        What a piece of work – I do believe I’ll be perfectly happy blowing him off. “It’s just Roger and Gary and I”, indeed! beth.

  9. jimzmum says:

    Just finished with tech rehearsal for “The Guys”, and wow. Just wow. I can not wait until tomorrow when we have our benefit performance. There will be sixty-some theatres all over the country presenting tomorrow, and every single one of them is a benefit for a First Responder organization. I am so proud our theatre is part of this. We are having our performance in a HS theatre that seats 500, instead of our theatre that seats only 184. We are pretty sure we will fill all the seats.

  10. auni says:

    Well, yes Michele is in there now–being completely ineffective. The only bill she got moving was something to do with lightbulbs. I think it had to do with cutting back on making bulbs more energy efficient. There has to be a joke in there about dim bulbs. When is she up for reelection? Have you heard the song, “Michele, one L”? So funny! I see the President and First Lady went to Arlington Nat’l Cemt. today. He seems to go there frequently. I think it reminds him of what his decisions about sending troops means. That’s something the previous administration somehow overlooked.

    • I was unbelievably moved when we went to Arlington. I have seen pictures of it and I just had no idea that being there would affect me that profoundly. So I can understand why President Obama goes there. It does put things in perspective.

    • leenie17 says:

      There are some beautiful pictures here of their visit to Arlington that are bound to bring a tear to your eye.

      I am always so touched by the compassion that the President and First Lady show towards people in pain, either at cemeteries or the scenes of natural disasters. You can see that their concern is heartfelt and that they really make an effort to connect with people on a personal level.

      http://theobamadiary.com/2011/09/10/respects-5/

  11. auni says:

    Finally read Blind Allegiance. To think that this country could have had her as president (if the old guy died) leaves me cold. I have a family member, who I finally cut off all ties with, who has much the same personality. Nothing was ever her fault, family history was rewritten, anger issues, get even at any cost, abusive to her kids, food issues, etc. In order to stay on her good side you walked on egg shells. But, could be very charming and was well thought of by outsiders. You ended up doubting your own sanity–such is the power of that personality. Remember the book by Scott Peck about evil people (can’t remember the name). It fit her, and fits Sarah. My family member was beautiful, but has developed a hard look that mirrors her inner self. My grandson pointed out “That lady looks like Sarah Palin”. the first time he saw her. I think Sarah will continue to be in the public eye, but she will never hold any office, and thankfully, neither will Michele Bachman, at least I sure hope so.

    • Zyxomma says:

      Unfortunately, Michele Bachmann DOES hold elected office. Of course, that will never include POTUS, but a lot of Minnesotans are stuck with her as their Representative in Congress.

      • Well, if they have any sense at all, they will vote her out. And maybe putting her in the national spotlight will serve to wake up voters who were apathetic and let such a nitwit get in office. If, not, then they deserve what they got. It’s just too bad the rest of us have to put up with her nonsense.

      • London Bridges says:

        Doncha think that if McCain had won, he would have had some sort of accident or sudden medical failure by now?

        • leenie17 says:

          You mean, like a carving knife sticking out of his back? That kind of accident?

          • mike from iowa says:

            In keeping with her “Outdoorsy” personna,I’m betting it would be a flensing knife stuck in McShame’s back-over and over.

  12. Zyxomma says:

    I look forward to a photo of the other three!

  13. rebekkah says:

    Nice! The moose are feeling the love; they know they’re safe on this piece of land.

  14. leenie17 says:

    The only thing better than one Brian is three Brians.

    The only thing better than three Brians is a six-pack of Brians.

    But that might be just too much moosie goodness for me to even contemplate!

  15. MW That One..... says:

    that is a rare happening all right. I don’t ‘get out much’ but have NEVER seen more than 3 at a time….to sight six IS a phenomenon!

  16. JaneE says:

    For THE ADMIN TEAM

    Hey, guys. In the Forum I wanted to start a new topic. How does one do that? I have gone to various links to try and do this and have been given a blank page showing “Done” on Firefox. I tried to use the “Got a problem Contact Us” link with the same result.

    I successfully used the Contact Us a few weeks ago with the same questions to let you know but have not heard back on this. Did you get my first communication?

    Is it only me? I don’t have problems reading and commenting in the topics.

    Thanks,
    JaneE

  17. laurie says:

    I stopped watching the morning “news” shows shortly after I quit the Sunday political shows. One morning this week, I happened to catch a segment of Good Morning America with Lara Spencer. She had the story of the moose who got caught in the tree except she identified the moose as an elk. I few of the other talking heads on the program got in a little comment about the silly elk story, but no one apparently knew the difference between an elk and a moose???

    • Baker's Dozen says:

      It was a melk.

    • leenie17 says:

      Actually I recently learned (on either PBS or Animal Planet…two of my favorite places on the picture box!) that, in Europe and Russia, what we in North America refer to as the ‘moose’, they call the ‘elk’. It’s the species formally known as Alces alces but has two different names, depending on where you live.

      It’s gets quite confusing because in NA we use the term ‘elk’ for another species, the wapiti or Cervus canadensis, which is a completely different animal.

      Since the poor, silly critter who ended up in a tree after partaking in a few too many fermented apples was in Sweden, it is not surprising that some news accounts used the term ‘elk’ instead of moose.

      Same adorable creature, different moniker.

      • laurie says:

        Interesting. Thanks to your comment I learned something today. It troubled me that she was showing a moose and calling it an elk and no one noticed.

        • leenie17 says:

          You can take the teacher out of the classroom, but you can’t take the teacher out of the teacher.

          Or something like that! 😉

  18. WakeUpAmerica says:

    AKM, I think it’s past time for a picture of Buff the Dog, isn’t it?

    • mike from iowa says:

      Ah memories. Reminds Mikey of Mikey’s formative years(the intoxicated part). Trees were my refuge when it was time for Mikey’s bottom to get reintroduced to Dad’s leather belt. For some reason my dearly departed parents never believed that a little Indian snuck out of the neighbor’s trees and set Mom’s waste paper basket on fire,quite often and quite often with nearly disastrous results.First law of physics I remember learning was your tender bottom could burn without catching fire.

    • Aw, poor thing. That’s horrible.

    • Carol says:

      If one looks closely, those who know will recognize this cannot be Brian. The cow got stuck in the tree, therefore it wasn’t “himself” but herself. Well, don’t even need to look closely, No Antlers showing.

  19. Zyxomma says:

    Good morning, muddies! There’s a poll in the Frontiersman, asking whether or not you support the coal mine:

    http://www.frontiersman.com/?utm_source=NEW+FOMS+MASTER+LIST-+5_2011&utm_campaign=700e6497ae-Friends_of_Mat_Su_News_February_20112_17_2011&utm_medium=email

    When you open the link, look on the left-hand side of the page, and scroll down for the poll. Right now, opposition barely outweighs support, so please participate.

    • mike from iowa says:

      Got it, signed it and thanks for the heads-up. TCW-thank you for the info. Will get at it shortly. Fall is definitely in the air-I;m getting an urge to sprout wings and fly everywhere at once. Geese are headed South.

      • Mag the Mick says:

        Mike, every fall since I can remember, I’ve felt the same way. And even though we’ve had temperatures in the 90’s for the last three months, we had big rain storms all day yesterday with temp’s finally down in the 60’s. I got so restless all of a sudden, and just wanted to fly away. Here’s my favorite song about that feeling, dedicatd to YOU.

        http://youtu.be/n2xODjbfYw8

        “Across the morning sky, all the birds are leaving. Ah, how can they know it’s time for them to go?”

  20. thatcrowwoman says:

    Brian and the boys…trouble looking for a place to happen?

    Open thread, so bubbles and I have an amazing link to share:

    “Watch. Practice. Learn almost anything for free.
    With a library of over 2,400 videos covering everything from arithmetic to physics, finance, and history and 150 practice exercises, we’re on a mission to help you learn what you want, when you want, at your own pace.”

    http://www.khanacademy.org/

    I saw an interview with the Khan Academy founders at the American Library Association conference in New Orleans this summer; it left me gobsmacked. I LOVE when that happens!
    Share it far and wide.

    L’Shalom,
    thatcrowwoman

  21. mike from iowa says:

    Being in the center of all things Moosie,I discovered an actual,by-god Moose Lodge in Charles City,Ioway. Also stopped at and got a few pictures of the “Little Brown Church in the Vale” near Nashua,Ioway.It is on the historic register for some reason.

    • thatcrowwoman says:

      hahahaha caw Caw CAW!!!
      Moose Lodge.

      Oh, the memories…DH Happy’s mum and step-dad, of blessed memory, spent many happy hours (and Happy Hours!) at the Moose Lodge. Those moose really know how to party.
      Thanks for the memories, mikey.

      hugs and kisses,
      thatcrowwoman

    • Miss Demeanor says:

      I’ve been through Chuck City many times!
      Memories, light the corners of my mind . . . .

      Good weekend, all, and happy happy birthday to one of my older sisters – on 9-11.
      We celebrate YOU, the world’s most fabulous nurse!

      Thanks again AKM for some great pictures.

  22. Elsie says:

    The only reason I am sorry that AKM didn’t get all six animals in one photo is not being able to tell us to take a look at her six-pack of meeses.

    It’s early here; I need more coffee.

  23. OzMud says:

    Happy Labour Day Weekend Alaska!

    (I’m thinking Brian was looking for his union card…)

    • GoI3ig says:

      Hey Oz, that was last weekend. But thanks anyway.

      • Elsie says:

        OZMud is just the first on the block to wish us a Happy 2012 Labor Day Weekend, huh, OZ? (I bet you always WERE an overachiever!)

        • OzMud says:

          ROFL – I AM soOoooOOOooOOoo the opposite! But I do admit that at my age I have no business reading a calendar while drinking wine 🙂

          • Zyxomma says:

            If the jobs act were to be passed, I could indeed get behind a SECOND Labor Day holiday, OzMud!

  24. Kath the Scrappy says:

    AKM, if you want to put in another Labor song, THIS was worthy! Kind of being ‘humorous’ (for want of a better word) and ironic poetry:

    “The Unions Are to Blame” – Roy Zimmerman
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imouDc5u3as&feature=player_embedded#t=258s

  25. Kath the Scrappy says:

    Love the 3-Brians, sweet boys are merely ‘looking for’ upcoming action! Things are going to start ‘hopping’ in your neck of the woods (I think)!

    • Kath the Scrappy says:

      Guess, I should mention – YES, I was first to post. Been years hehehe!

      • thatcrowwoman says:

        May I be the first to offer congratulations?
        🙂

      • slipstream says:

        Remember, first to post buys beer for everybody else!

        • Kath the Scrappy says:

          Yikes! I just sent all my beer money to the poor Democrats that lost everything in the Bastrop TX fires, after a plea from Juanita Jean’s.

          So I will have to send everybody a ‘virtual’ beer! Drink up everyone! Cheers!