New fren
This girl was waiting for me at work today. Never seen her before. She was skinny, but I think she’s old. She seemed intrigued by her surroundings, so I have a suspicion she’s someone’s inside cat that managed to get loose. I kept checking for her through the day, but she didn’t come back.
I hope she’s safe and warm someplace – the weather is wild again today.
You, though – you need to get out and VOTE! VOTE LIKE THE WIND!
I understand machinery is on the blink in key cities and the news media has been calling it “totally normal” for the vote count to take days. How ever will we ever clean up the hot spots?
November 8, 2022 — 6:00 pm
Comments: 13
I don’t mean to brag…
…but I got a thousand followers on Twitter now. And it only took 14 years, a change in ownership and firing half the staff.
Twitter does seem a little different. The big accounts say their numbers are galloping. Mine are slinking, but seldom moved at all before. Definitely not seen an uptick in ‘hateful’ language. Not as much stuff seems deboosted (hidden under a “click for more” button). And he says he hasn’t actually changed anything yet.
He did urge everyone to vote Republican tomorrow – for the perfectly libertarian reason of a divided government – but you can imagine how the blue-checks have reacted.
So far, none of the people who’ve said they are leaving have, in fact, deleted their accounts. The ones I’ve checked, anyway.
November 7, 2022 — 6:36 pm
Comments: 7
Dead Pool 160: this time he’s really dead
Jerry Lee Lewis was dead. Then he wasn’t. Then he was dead again. Hottytottygirl nipped in during his brief period of resurrection to claim the dick, in the fine tradition of a weasel’s Dead Pool.
He was 87, which is a pretty good run for a man of his inclinations.
Looking for a good link about him, I found this whey-faced, scoldy article in Rolling Stone: “Jerry Lee Lewis Was a Rock & Roll Titan. That Doesn’t Justify What He Did Offstage.” Rolling Stone is now indistinguishable from your maiden aunt.
No link because to hell with them.
Anyway! I forgot this all happened last week and I swore there would be a Dead Pool this week, so here it is! Knock yourselves out!
0. Rule Zero (AKA Steve’s Rule): your pick has to be living when picked. Also, nobody whose execution date is circled on the calendar. Also, please don’t kill anybody. Plus (Pupster’s Rule) no picking someone who’s only famous for being the oldest person alive.
1. Pick a celebrity. Any celebrity — though I reserve the right to nix picks I never heard of (I don’t generally follow the Dead Pool threads carefully, so if you’re unsure of your pick, call it to my attention).
2. We start from scratch every time. No matter who you had last time, or who you may have called between rounds, you have to turn up on this very thread and stake your claim.
3. Poaching and other dirty tricks positively encouraged.
4. Your first choice sticks. Don’t just blurt something out, m’kay? Also, make sure you have a correct spelling of your choice somewhere in your comment. These threads get longish and I use search to figure out if we have a winner.
5. It’s up to you to search the thread and make sure your choice is unique. I’m waayyyy too lazy to catch the dupes. Popular picks go fast.
6. The pool stays open until somebody on the list dies. Feel free to jump in any time. Noobs, strangers, drive-bys and one-comment-wonders — all are welcome.
7. If you want your fabulous prize, you have to entrust me with a mailing address. If you’ve won before, send me your address again. I don’t keep good records.
8. The new DeadPool will begin 6pm WBT (Weasel’s Blog Time) the Friday after the last round is concluded.
The winner, if the winner chooses to entrust me with a mailing address, will receive an Official Certificate of Dick Winning and a small original drawing on paper suffused with elephant shit particles. Because I’m fresh out of fairy shit particles.
November 4, 2022 — 6:00 pm
Comments: 63
My poultry empire groweth
I fully intended to downsize my flock, but the boys have all hung on tenaciously and there’s one poor rooster whose housing is simply unacceptable. It was okay in Summer when he could swan around a sunny garden all day, but completely inadequate for the long dark nights and biblical levels of rain we’re having.
This is the cheap little house I bought and it’s just right for one adult bantam. It’s due here tomorrow. I suppose I can always use it as a hospital pen or a way of introducing baby chicks to the flock.
No more roosters, ever again. Sadly. I’ve enjoyed my boys, but they are a helluva lot of extra effort.
I reckon this will just fit between my first house and my second, making a sort of chickenhouse city skyline. Though I’m mighty tempted to put wheels on one end and roll it around the garden. (Some of the really expensive ones do that).
Oh! I forgot Jerry Lee Lewis died last week and I promised you a Dead Pool this week. Okay, okay…queueing one up now…DEAD POOL TODAY.
November 3, 2022 — 7:04 pm
Comments: 9
Sad
Another covid casualty: St Mary in the Castle, Hastings. This weird old building is a decommissioned church that has been used as a music venue since 1997.
Uncle B and I have been to a few events there over the years and we’ve always remarked what a nightmare it must be to keep up. It’s Grade II* listed (any work done there is hellishly expensive) and it’s built right into the cliff face. In fact, I think parts of the back wall are literally the stone cliff.
Can you say damp?
The acoustics weren’t great but the building was a treat. I suppose it will deteriorate pretty fast if it’s left empty for any length of time.
And, yes, this was the exciting post I forgot to hit SEND on last night.
November 2, 2022 — 6:43 pm
Comments: 4
Happy you-know-what
I saw this warty pumpkin and had to have it. It’s a variety known as knucklehead.
Mistake. The outer skin is like iron. I almost gave up on it.
If it looks like it was chewed into shape by a band of chipmunks on meth, that’s why. I basically chiselled holes in it. Stupid pumpkin.
Our clocks went back yesterday. This is my first day of work when it was dark by five. I’ve just checked the weather forecast and it’s rain every single day for the foreseeable.
Now, that’s some scary shit.
October 31, 2022 — 5:39 pm
Comments: 11
Wait for it…
I’ve been F5’ing it every few minutes. It’s going to happen.
Mood on Twitter is jubilant. People are shouting “learn to code!” and “transwomen are men!” It’s like the fall of the Berlin wall, except pointless and stupid.
I just passed Katie Hopkins in my timeline. Elon Musk has replied directly to Catturd. Oh, it’s pandemonium!
Exit question: what in the heck is a Castro nudist protestor?
Have a good weekend!
October 28, 2022 — 7:35 pm
Comments: 17
The high price of being goth
Behold, the Benu Skull & Roses Fountain Pen. I got a promotional email from my favorite pen dealer today. It comes in all black, all red or red and black (excuse me: crow, red rose and smolder).
I’ll be honest. I thought about it for a second. But at £140, I didn’t think long.
That’s not much to a pen collector, but I ain’t one of them.
An article from this same dealer once said, a pen over £20 and you aren’t paying for a better nib any more, you’re paying for decoration. I don’t have any >£20 pens on my desk.
October 27, 2022 — 5:45 pm
Comments: 12
Yes, that Ragnarok
This is one of the doors to All Saints Church, Staplehurst, Kent. The ironwork depicts Ragnarok, the Norse apocalypse.
The South door of Staplehurst church illustrates the Scandinavian myth of Doomsday, when the serpent which holds the world together will loosen its grip on its own tail, the world will fall apart, and chaos will ensue. The fish will jump on land. The gods will fight. Only one man and one woman will be spared to start the world again. Surt the sunwheel is top centre. Above flies Nithoggr, who eats the dead, and above him is the small cross which turns the pagan myth into Christian art.
The only door in England resembling this one is at Stillingfleet, ten miles south of York, in the middle of what was Danish-held territory in 1000 AD. Taken from Canon Walker’s 1938 edition of the Church Guide.
From A Brief History of Staplehurst from Acorn to Oak (pdf). (The Stillingfleet door is pretty special, too).
The door has been reliably dated to around 1050; the church was built in 1100. Perhaps the door came from somewhere else, or perhaps there’s enough wiggle in the dating that it really was made for the church.
The big-C Church – in Britain, anyway – was remarkably chill about mixing in ancient pagan-y bits. Remember this Mithraic altarstone in the little village church? Elizabeth I had a court astrologer (though Mary had him imprisoned once for the crime of doing math, the blackest of arts).
Not my photo, alas. But Staplehurst is close enough — just — for a day trip. Maybe when the days get longer again.
October 26, 2022 — 6:17 pm
Comments: 11
My lunch had a good life
Oh, Waitrose. I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me. Did he have a winsome smile? A mellifluous squeal? Did he have a crush on the sow in the airy barn next door? At night, did he look up at the stars and…
Nah, screw it. There’s only so much I need to know about my lunch.
October 25, 2022 — 7:37 pm
Comments: 5