Re: March Madness

1

I'm feeling crampy today. Also, when I see small children, I feel a distinct uterine longing.

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2

Kat's gonna win the whole thing.

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3

1 - I blame birth control.

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4

Possible. I say Bucky will go.

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5

Kevin Drum has a related thread.

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6

These comments make me glad I put this in the hijacked thread.

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7

I hope his dirty ass is gone. Also, Kevin. Could be Melissa, though.

Paris couldn't have been more Taylor Hicks-like last night, with her annoying singing to Ryan after her song was over.

Taylor was, I'll admit, the best one of the evening.

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8

well I say bucky done gone.

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9

Her actual singing was good though. I liked how Taylor managed to rein it in a little last night. It could be Melissa, I admit. It's a tough call. I don't think it's Kevin's time yet.

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10

heh. i don't know if i'm more confused by the sports thread or the tv thread. at least i assume that's a tv thread.

wow, i am really out of touch with (at least some parts) of pop culture..

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11

Taylor owned the stage far more than I thought he would, without being freaky; it might be that his freakiness will be better on the bigger stages. Kat's clothing is not doing anything to dispel the pregnancy rumors. Paris sang fine; good enough. Chris wasn't as good as the judges said. Ace needs to learn how to sing.

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12

not that having absolutely no clue what you are talking about will stop me from posting, natch.

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13

Top Chef has potential. I have yet to decide if I have forgiven Amazing Race for the sucky family edition and the Abusive Jonathon season but it's working its way back into my heart.

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14

Could somebody please put up a post about the Moussaoui trial? Because I really want to talk about the economy.

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15

oh, and I curse you all roundly for encouraging procrastination.

so there.

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16

Soubzriquet -- They are talking about a TV show called "American Idol", in which contestants compete to be deemed the best pop singer. The winner will receive a recording contract IIUC.

Is your nom de blog pronounced to rhyme with "Soup biscuit"?

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17

pregnancy rumors

Oooh! Do tell...

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18

a post about the Moussaoui trial

Start here.

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19

Joe, I know this is going to do nothing to sow the seeds of harmony between us, but I gotta say that this really annoyed me:

There are few things more tiresome than the Madonna/whore dichotomy, but Kellie walks that line so perfectly. So, you know: Yay, feminism.

It's not particularly feminist to dress to show off your body but to act too innocent/stupid to possibly be cognizant of what you're doing in that regard, or any other really. Maybe that's not quite what he meant (I'm not sure) but there's nothing reasonable he could have meant, because in no way is Kellie Pickler's persona something feminism paved the way for, except maybe in that she's not being stoned for displaying her breasts, but I thought we were aiming a little higher than that.

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20

At her face?

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21

[The prior comment should not be read as expressing any opinion whatsoever about American Idol. I've never seen an episode.]

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22

Did you not get the memo? Feminism is all about vaginoplasty , breast implants, and inferior orgasms.

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23

LB is the next American Idol.

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24

19 and 20 both made me laugh. Thanks, authors of 19 and 20!

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25

Good golly, that's a strange post.

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26

Here I am, BALB, but:

I caught a bit of Idol for the first time since the second season last night. Jesus--do any of the contestants know how to get out of the way of a good song? Or even just to actually sing a song instead of engage in vocal gymnastics using a pre-defined set of lyrics?

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27

Also, who are you, Powerline?

"Joe Drymala continues to remain silent on the antifeminist comments being bandied about by the pro-Pickler faction! When will Joe Drymala distance himself from his fellow sexists? When?"

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28

Chopper -- I'm wit' you. That's what I was saying last time these guys were talking up American Idol. Don't get the appeal.

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22, 25- I didn't follow the link to "Cassandra's well written thoughts" but am curious what that person's idea of well-written is.

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30

16: aha! that makes sense. See what I miss by not owning a teevee? actually I have a heard a couple of (excreable) clips from previous versions of that show, if I recall correctly. I hope the quality is a bit better than what i heard if they are going to tie up studio time somewhere.....

oh, and the `nym is an archaic spelling of sobriquet/soubriquet from the french. no idea how to enter prounounciation symbols here...

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31

Various Joes email to say that recap Joe is not the authentic face of Joes who love Kellie. But sadly, he is its very essence today.

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32

Do you think this season of AI has added drama because Kelly Clarkson's career has really taken off?

Don't watch myself (to me, there is only the WB), but it seems that way from a distance.

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33

The thing to be understood is that American Idol is not a singing competition, despite what the judges pretend. It is two interlocking competitions: a performing competition, and a who-is-best-on-TV competition. The first competition involves singing. The second competition has nothing whatsoever to do with singing.

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34

actually sing a song instead of engage in vocal gymnastics

That's why the show doesn't appeal to me. Maybe if they had the contestants lie in a tub of maggots or eat goat testicles between songs, but no.

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33: that would go some way to explaining the quality of the music I'd heard, yes.

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oh, and the `nym is an archaic spelling of sobriquet/soubriquet from the french.

Yeah, I figured -- I just like saying "Soup biscuit". Mmm. Soup Biscuit.

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36: we'll i can't argue with that. be my guest.

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38

Oh, ac, yeah, I guess so -- her winning 2 Grammys definitely gives the show some cred. Not that it needed it; it gets almost 40 million viewers each week. 40 million lovers of excreable singing.

Suckers.

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39

her winning 2 Grammys definitely gives the show some cred

Huh. I view the Grammies with roughly the same eye as I do AI.

But then, I'm old and cantankerous.

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40

I should have qualified: Kelly winning 2 Grammys gives AI major cred within the music industry, where Grammys are still really important.

It's obviously true that they don't matter like the Oscars matter to films (in the sense of "mattering" to the larger world).

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41

While I hope that terrorists attack the Final Four, that does not in any way mean that I do not hope that they will attack American Idol also.

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42

Maybe they can hit the trifecta, and attack the Donald as well.

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43

Emerson:

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you in Minnesota anymore. Well you finally snap and start killing people, it should be in a Red State. How do you feel about Utah?

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44

Where do you live, Tim?

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45

No no, red areas of swing states are ideal.

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46

My home town actually split 50-50. The county is about 60% red, though.

My mother's church council had two Nation-reading liberals and at least three Pat Robertson conservatives on it.

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47

My mom's UCC church in Kiel, Wi is packed with liberals, in as red an area as you could hope for. The blue-in-red story doesn't get told enough. Otoh, I see plenty of 3 and 8 stickers--for Dale Sr. and Jr., respectively, and W04 stickers in Lincoln Park streets.

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48

Isn't UCC a very liberal denomination? Anyway, that makes your mom blue-in-red-in-swing; maybe she can put Emerson up.

My dad, whose Bush-hatred makes me look like David Broder, drives a car with a 3 sticker on it, but it was like that when he bought it.

My neighborhood of Lubbock is surely the most liberal one where white people live, and it's still full of W stickers, Republican election signs, and an elephant inscribed in the concrete of one of the rare sidewalks.

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49

blue-in-red-in-swing

It don't mean a thing if it ain't blue in green in swing.

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50

45: I thought about that. There is something marvelously appealing about the idea of Emerson's finally-unhinged rage swinging a state our way. But I'm not sure that's how it would all work out. I think when he snaps, the killing will be pretty indiscriminate. He might well put us further in the hole rather than get us out of it. I am assuming, for example, that most of his friends would be Blues. You know those guys are the first ones to die. (In fact, I'm sort of flattered that he even thought about killing me. Thanks, Emerson!) So it would be helpful if he was unusually likely to find a Red once he was finished with hisfriends. Hence, Utah.

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51

Emerson should move to a red state where the residents tend to migrate to swing states.

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52

Nice idea, Tia! And really, we should be talking about "Emerson," as I don't think we'd want to limit this advice to Emerson alone; it should be available to anyone likely to come to the end of his tether and start killing.

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53

Tia, we should talk about how crazy it was that Ace and Lisa were in the bottom three. And Kevin and Bucky were not.

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54

I'm ashamed that my prediction streak has come to an end. I was thinking before the show that I had chosen...wrongly, and then I realized I forgot the principles that allowed me to make my other predictions: Bucky has fans and AI watchers aren't sheeple; they actually don't do what Simon tells them to, so go with your gut, not Simonic pronouncements.

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55

I'm more shocked about Ace. I know why Kevin stays, now: armies of pre-teen girls have AI parties where they all vote literally hundreds of times for the people they like, and one of the people they like is Kevin. Poor Melissa McGhee couldn't hope to compete with that.

But shouldn't Ace be the king of the pre-teen boy-crazies?

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56

If I were a pre-teen girl, I would like Kevin better than Ace. Ace would feel too threatening and grown up.

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57

I'd try to argue with you, but then again, he's the one who sang "Father Figure".

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58

Also, Ace's performance was bad, but his fans were complacent. I'm sure he won't be in the bottom three again for a while as Ace voters mobilize in response to the threat. But I don't think he can possibly win. He just doesn't have the talent to carry it off.

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59

I agree.

My gf had a meeting with some William Morris agent who claimed to be in the know, saying that Ace was being "groomed" to win, whatever that means. But he might have just been talking out his ass.

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60

WOT, but I thought I'd put it here instead of at one of our abortion threads, even though it's sorta about abortion.

Chicago Tribune has a story,

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/chi-0603190317mar19,1,3918240.story?coll=chi-sportscollege-hed

about the suicide of Jim Izard, former Depaul (and Indiana) Women's Basketball coach. Turns out his wife, a former player, self-aborted two preganancies, and stored them in jars. 6 months and 8 months, sources say. She's in a mental hospital.

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61

60 me.

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62

How do you self-abort an 8-month fetus? Or even a 6-month fetus? That's just fucking weird.

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63

I know; must be much more to the story than this.

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64

Actually, I emailed an ob/gyn friend of mine to ask. She says that if you managed to pierce the membranes, you'd probably bring on labor, but that a successful labor at 6 months is pretty unlikely (which I take to mean complete placental delivery, etc.), and she points out that any jar that holds an 8-month fetus is gonna be a damn big jar. So I guess it is *possible.* But yeah. Obviously a lot is going unsaid here.

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65

Neither Hall nor any other friends or family contacted about Izard knew for sure whether his wife's secrets drove him deeper into that depression, or if he had discovered the truth about the aborted fetuses before his death.

must be much more to the story than this.

"Hey! That doesn't taste like abalone...."

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66

How could he NOT have known his wife was EIGHT MONTHS pregnant? Honestly....

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67

When I was in high school, I worked with a woman who delivered a full-term baby she had no idea she was carrying. She was, uh, a very large woman already. Also, not exactly a Rhodes Scholar.

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68

Twice??

Yes, I know it's *possible.* But it really boggles the mind.

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69

More from the Indianapolis Star and from Rome, Ga.:

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060316/LOCAL/603160514

http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/680/public/news704049.html

For once the Chicago Tribune seems to have most of the details right.

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70

Ick, ick, ick.

How much you wanna bet this is gonna be used as evidence that, "see? Women can't be trusted to make reproductive decisions!"

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71

Yeah, and even though Unfogged is surprisingly troll-free, I put it here in this thread for a reason, so that we don't contribute one little bit to that meme.

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72

Inasmuch as some people will use anything to make that argument, sure. But mental illness is so obviously front and center here that I can't see it being at all persuasive.

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73

Fetuses in jars - yeah, maybe it is mental illness.

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74

mental illness is so obviously front and center here

Shh. I don't want anyone to find out about the fetuses in my basement.

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75

There is a developing literary/storytelling trope here, though: preserved-evidence-of-madness-in-storage-facilities. In "Bee Season," which I do not recommend, read for a book club, the mom is a kleptomaniac who stores all of her stolen trinkets in a storage facility as a kind of work of art.

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76

A biology teacher at my high school kept a fetus in a jar, in a locked closet; she would drag it out as reward to her classes, who named it, alliteratively, "Freddy," as in "Freddy the..." It was not 8 mos old, though.

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77
He then invited us into his office where he illustrated his lecture so to speak. One side of this room was entirely occupied with cases, outwardly resembling wardrobes. When the doors were opened quite a museum was revealed--tiers of shelves with glass jars and cases, some round and others square, filled with all sorts of anatomical specimens. The 'doctor' placed on a table a dozen or more jars containing, as he said, the matrices (uteri) of every class of women. Nearly a half of one of these cases was occupied exclusively with these specimens....

from

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78

Ack! I just started reading this thread (mistakenly having assumed it was really about basketball) and read about the fetuses. This is really creepy because my bf's ex-wife is, at this very moment, on a trip that her parents bought her to console her over the abortion of a baby that would have been born this week, and she is currently, once again, three months pregnant, and considering waiting till the fifth month (again) to abort. She's 40.

In her family, there is a history of suddenly-crashing hormone levels. Around 37 or so, all the women start losing estrogen rapidly, their temperament changes, and usually they lose the uterus. I've been wondering if her erratic behavior and compulsive pregnancy/abortion thing is a way of self-medicating with pregnancy hormones. Maybe that's what the woman in the story did?

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79

You lie, you lie, you are forsworn,

For nine children you have born,

Nine children you have born,

As the sun shone down so early.

Oh, there's three of them lying under your bed-head,

Three of them under the hearth are laid,

Three of them under the hearth are laid,

As the sun shone down so early.

Three more laying on yonder green,

Count, fair maid, for that makes nine,

Count, fair maid, for that makes nine,

As the sun shone down so early.

No mention of jars, but once again Steeleye Span and their venerable anonymous lyricists get straight to today's headlines.

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80

Although I suppose technically that's more your garden variety infanticide...

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81

You guys are all talking as though I said something unusual or obviously wrong. All I said was that it would be OK with me if terrorists attacked the NCAA tournament, preferably the Final Four. Many people share my opinion, though I suppose we're still a minority.

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82

#78:

29-year-old; probably not it.

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83

My collateral ancestor Elizabeth Emerson was probably the first documented American victim of child abuse (1681) and also pioneered infanticide, for which she was hanged after extensive personal counseling by Cotton Mater.

Her sister Hannah Emerson Dustin pioneered women's self-defense by killing ten Indians who had kidnapped her.

It seems to me that up to 6-7 months one of those large pickle jars they have in taverns would work pretty well. It might be a good idea to keep one handy.

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84

Elizabeth Emerson

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85

http://www.arches.uga.edu/~wprokasy/Emerson2.htm

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86

Umm...I'm sure I'm wrong, but is UNC really down to George Mason? That can't be right.

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87

Speaking of early American history, George Mason was one of the few delegates to the Constitutional Convention who left without signing the Constitution.

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88

And yes, the score is accurate but it's not quite over.

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89

Now it's over.

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90

That was one sorry-ass offensive performance. We looked disjointed for the last 30 minutes of the game. Sad sad sad.

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91

I knew there was a reason I didn't give a fuck about the college game.

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92

Regional semifinal: Wichita State vs. George Mason. I doubt anybody has that on their bracket.

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93

I don't think we're likely to find there was trouble obtaining access to abortion in this case, head coach at Berry has to have been a middle-class income at least. Open access to abortion would make it more likely someone might have caught her disturbance, I'd like to think. There's a possibility that a public person/culture of shame, driving abortion a bit underground for people in this position in this area, contributed in some way, but who the hell knows?

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94

Or maybe she was just crazy. Or maybe they were a miscarriage and a stillbirth.

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95

I think that's a strong possibility, and the disturbance is in the concealment, lack of medical intervention, etc. Beats self-induced-late-term-abortion all to hell for liklihood.

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