June 2, 2017

At the Peony Café...

P1130789

... you can talk about whatever you want.

(And please think to use The Althouse Amazon Portal when you have some shopping to do.)

60 comments:

traditionalguy said...

We want the cute ant back.

JohnAnnArbor said...

Lots of peonies here.

Chest Rockwell said...

The Joe Rogan podcast had Brett Weinstein as his guest today. If you want a primer on why Evergreen College is a shit show, do listen. It's clearly a madness of their( and his ) own making.

Zero sympathy.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xq4Y87idawk

Michael K said...

The NY Times has blown another anti-terrorism secret.

The name and identity of the CIA director of Operations in Iran.

It's OK. He probably like Trump better than Obama.

Or something.

Brookzene said...

"Bear with us. After we've exercised all other options we'll do the right thing."

Sec of Defense Mattis

FullMoon said...

So, you know how you sometimes remember someone from the past, and do a search to see if you can find them?

Thinking again about an acquaintance, hell of a nice guy, unless he was drinking. I was told twenty years or so ago, that he had escaped the penitentiary in Texas and taken a family hostage, or something. Can't remember if he lived or died, and not sure if it is true.

Not having any luck finding him, and not even sure if I knew his real first name. His younger brother was my friend. Doctor said his heart exploded when he shot up too much speed. Is that possible?
Anyway, reading of Texas prison escapes and people involved sure makes me appreciate being a normal person these days.

Anonymous said...

Was his name Fen?

Marc in Eugene said...

The peony is lovely. Has anyone ever heard the word pronounced with a long O, stressed? Pee-OH-knee? Heard that the other day and almost laughed but didn't.

Am trying to get my head around Arthur Honegger and Jacques Ibert's opera L'Aiglon & came across this video of Sarah Bernhardt performing in 1910 the lead role (l'Aiglon, the eaglet, Bonaparte's heir, the Duke of Reichstadt) in Edmond Rostand's eponymous play.

FullMoon said...

Was his name Fen?

His name is Bond, James Bond

Ken B said...

Evergreen is an example of an obvious truth. Too many people go to university, and too many already there are in shit subjects.

Fen said...

The party in Paris is dying out as guests follow America's early departure.

German industry is warning that Europe needs to reasses it's commitment to the Paris Accords. As America's non-compliance will put European production at a serious competitive disadvantage globally.

Wait. I thought the earth was doomed. But Germany considers its economy above Global Armageddon?

Fen said...

I enjoy watching Trump "bumble" his way into the endzone for the touchdown, over and over again. And we're still in the 1st Quarter!

His opponents are so super smart and he is so stupid. He must be the luckiest man in human history. Yes that must be it.

Which reminds me, how is that impeachment going?

From what I hear, the only thing of consequence is that Obama engaged in illegal surveillance of American citizens. It's going to be hysterical if your impeachment fantasies result in Obama and Hillary getting frog-marched off to prison.

Tripling down on stupid. Kathy Griffin truly is the face of the Democrat Party.

wildswan said...

The Blue State Model

I think the news says that California is going to abide by the Paris Accord which means it has carbon caps so it is going into is going into carbon cap and trade with China. China, the biggest carbon polluter on earth, has no caps under the Accord till 2030 so it has carbon allowances to sell which California is going to buy with tax dollars so that California can say it abides by the Paris Accord.

Am I right? Have I understood correctly? Is California is going to go into a deal with the biggest polluter on earth in order to show Trump.

And Sanctuary California is filling up with criminal illegals - also showing Trump.

The California pension fund is underfunded but the benefits are really great if they could pay for them and that shows Trump.

The California single payer insurance scheme will cost more than the total budget of California but hey, they showed Trump.

If Trump were to disappear how would California justify the mess they are making of a beautiful state?

Fen said...

California, Washington state and New York.

Ralph L said...

Has anyone ever heard the word pronounced with a long O, stressed? Pee-OH-knee?
The old lady who stayed with my grandmother at night 30 years ago called them that. Mozelle Self. I saw her obituary in the paper in the 90's and several months later she called me to say hello. I almost said, "I thought you'd died." How could there be two Mozelle Selfs of about the same age in a town of 20,000 or so?

Big Mike said...

@Fen, They've tripled down in another direction now that so-white-you-need-sunglasses-to-look-at-him Bill Mahler has decided to describe himself as a ni**er on TV, joining Shaun King and Rachel Dolezal in transracial identification. Like Griffin, he claims it's "just joking." Uh huh.

Laslo Spatula said...

Hack Comic Mic Nite...

"Trump, man... what a fucking mess we got into, right..? But -- shit -- it's getting hard to be a comic nowadays. I mean, decapitated heads and cock holsters? I had to throw out half my jokes because they're now too tame...

I mean, what comes after a decapitated head -- a decapitated cock? Sure, I hate Trump, but I really don't feel like standing on stage holding a bloody cut-off orange cock, you know what I mean...?

So we have the President with his head cut off and his cock in another dude's mouth: that pretty much just leaves jokes about strange items being inserted into his ass, right? Hey, Richard Gere: can I borrow your gerbil for a minute? Hey -- that was funny in the Eighties, people...

Like I said, it's getting harder and harder to tell a joke about the guy. Just a few weeks ago I worked up a riff on Trump fucking Kim Kardashian in the ass -- I was honing my craft, right? I spent several nights as a professional comic getting it just right -- refining the funniest descriptions of Kim's giant ass takes time, my friends. And now? Big fucking deal. Kim Kardashian being fucked in the ass by Trump: I can't even stop MYSELF from yawning...

Pig-fucking, folks: it always gets down to pig-fucking, doesn't it? And once the pig gets fucked, where do you go? Fuck another pig? Too late: it's been done before, now...

It's getting to be like those gang-bang porn videos. Like, the chick who fucked one-hundred-and-twelve men: what's the next chick gonna do, fuck one-hundred-and-thirteen? After a while you're just left waiting to see when her anal sphincter prolapses, I guess...

I mean, do we move on to the First Lady getting decapitated? Sorry, call me old-fashioned, but when I hear about Melania giving head I'd rather think she's sucking my cock, that's all...

Of course, there's always the Ivanka incest jokes, but that field's been plowed, too. I mean, we're being left here in a Comedy Dust Bowl, people: there are no more carrots in the ground. Us comedians are becoming like those North Koreans who are left to eat rocks: there's only so many recipes for rock soup, you know...?

Like, am I left having to make jokes about Kathy Griffin, now? Has my Life fallen THAT far? What's next -- a career in Hell's Lounge making jokes about Sarah Jessica Parker having a face like a horse for all of Eternity? Because that where it's going, people: that's what we're left with...

These are just jokes, people: I mean no offense to our lovely First Lady: I LIKE having a First Lady I can finally jerk off to...

You've been a great audience, thank you for laughing...

I am Laslo.

Fen said...

Mike, yup. Remember that golfer (Trevino?) who made the chicken & watermelon reference re Tiger Woods? Just a "joke" but how did that work out for him?

That's what Ace is getting in his Para Bellum article - the Left gets free spoech (till now) but if you or I said what Maher did, we'd lose our jobs and get crucified by a SJW mob.

Clyde said...

Maher still may get crucified by that SJW mob. That's the problem with having the perfect but politically-incorrect bon mot: The temptation is overwhelming to say it, even in a hazardous situation like live television. That's the kind of shocking witticism that one might get away with in a private one-on-one conversation, but not when it is being broadcast on HBO to a nation of hypersensitives.

Clyde said...

And to put it into context, this is what he said, for those who haven't seen it yet:

Sasse: "Would you like to come work in the field with us [in Nebraska]?"
Maher: "Work in the fields? Senator, I am a house n-----."

Sometimes you may have the perfect reply but you just shouldn't say it out of self-preservation, because your First Amendment rights won't save you from becoming a victim of the SJW mob.

Bob Ellison said...

"Peony" has irregular pronunciation. "Pee-OH-knee" would be correct pronunciation according to American rules. I thought the accent was on the second syllable until I was in my 30s or so-- but I had only seen it written and had never seen one (or at least no blooms) in person.

Ann Althouse said...

Re "pee-OH-nee-uh."

They're thinking of Peoria. Just one penstroke of difference between Peonia and Peoria.

Ann Althouse said...

Wait. What am I saying? It's not peonia.

Anyway... the first part. It starts out like Peoria.

Ann Althouse said...

I'm mixing it up with petunia.

But that's pronounced with the middle syllable accent: pih-TUN-ya.

Then there's the whole problem of CLEM-a-tis or cle-MA-tis. The first is right, most people don't realized, and you suspect they can't say clitoris either.

Ann Althouse said...

General Clem Mattis.

Fen said...

Why would we say clitorous? My smartphone can't even spell it lol

mockturtle said...

Yes, Laslo. And once the pendulum has swung that far it can only swing back.

Fen said...

DraCORis CliTORis. In the High Valyrian.

Ann Althouse said...

CLEMatis/CLIToris
You'll be a hit with this.
cleMAtis/cliTORis
You're lost in the forest.

Ann Althouse said...

"Why would we say..."

Yes, most people are well advised not to suddenly say a word — especially a sensitive word — that they've really only been reading. Some people don't realize when they're suddenly vocalizing a word like that.

I'm listening to a series of erudite lectures by a respected professor, and he keeps saying the word "arbiter" (as in "arbiter of taste") as if the emphasis is on "biter." They are lectures about food, but he's not trying to be funny, he's just showing he's more of a reader.

CStanley said...

🎼You say "CLI-for-is", I say "cli"TOR-is"....lets throw the whole thing out.

So is that how FGM got started??

Marc in Eugene said...

A pleasure to see the peony pronunciation comments this morning; to be quite honest, my thought on hearing the word was, 'she's never said that word aloud in her life', but its entirely possible that she hestitated for a split second because she was aware as she said it that others pronounce it differently. Bob Ellison, apparently where I grew up, 50s/60s southwest Ohio, we had it 'wrong' too. This part of the Willamette Valley has large numbers of residents whose speech patterns &c come straight from various regions of Appalachia.

Grew up saying cle- not clem-; only became aware of the clem- in the 90s via television or movies. Clitoris I learned in high school from an expert in its usage.

Dr A. is a poet in the early mornings. :-)

CStanley said...

Yes, most people are well advised not to suddenly say a word — especially a sensitive word — that they've really only been reading. Some people don't realize when they're suddenly vocalizing a word like that.

This happened to me with "carabiner". I was influenced, I guess, by the restaurant chain Carrabas, so I said "ca-RAH-bin-er." Hubs still cracks up and deliberately mispronounces it now.

Meade said...

Following the closure of the reservation, the site was settled in 1880 by Samuel Wade and William Clark, who had accompanied Enos Hotchkiss to the area. The town was officially incorporated in 1902 and had its first election in July of that year. The peony roots that Samuel Wade brought with him to Colorado in 1881 inspired him to submit the Latin name for peony, Paeonia, as a town name. The post office wouldn't allow the extra vowel, so "Paeonia" became "Paonia". The full name of the flower is Paeonia mascula.

Marc in Eugene said...

"Yes, most people are well advised not to suddenly say a word — especially a sensitive word — that they've really only been reading."

It used to be the case that one could simply tsk, tsk, about your Professor Arbiter and say, 'he's obviously not as well educated as he thinks he is'-- because nobody educated in the classical languages is going to say Ar-BITER. But in these decadent times, your advice ought to be widely heard, sure.

Fen said...

I have that problem. Prolific reader who routinely vocalizes an assumed pronunciation and winds up looking ignorant. Luckily my more intelligent wife usually corrects me before I go out in public.

Matches up socks too.

"Heinous" was the most recent offense. HEN-i-ous. Ooops. Obviously incorrect in hindsight, but maybe a consequence of being taught to scan and speed read.

Also, not my native tongue, and I'm not even from this system, so cut me a little slack. I did teach earthlings about plastics, so I'm not a total doofus.

Fritz said...

Regional pronunciations of pecan

Humperdink said...

I deliberately mispronounced words for effect. "Needles" to say" as opposed to "needless to say". Drives my wife crazy. She says it makes me sound ignorant. Oh, the price we must pay.

Paco Wové said...

Had a friend in high school pronounce macabre "mack-a-bray". Hilarity ensued.

peacelovewoodstock said...

There is a National Park Service public affairs spokesman in Washington DC area whose name is Mike Litterst.

It's a stitch to hear Maria Leaf newslady on WMAL radio say his name.

David Baker said...

Meanwhile, I'm wondering if General Mattis is losing patience with President Trump - this after reiterating that North Korea is a "clear and present danger." This after China blocked additional sanctions against North Korea.



Meade said...

So it should be: pay-OWN-ya.

Fen said...

Oh my bad, that was Mars. Disregard my last.

Also, that mass extinction wasn't really my fault. And I was bored.

tcrosse said...

Some Edwardian author (Saki?) wrote of a woman who started out as a lovely English rose and in middle age became a peony.

CStanley said...

"Heinous" was the most recent offense. HEN-i-ous. Ooops. Obviously incorrect in hindsight, but maybe a consequence of being taught to scan and speed read.

So this reminds me of a word in the revised Catholic Mass prayers. In the penitential act, we now say "Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault" and it sounds like everyone adds an extra syllable to "grievous", making it "GREE-vee-us".

Paddy O said...

"Has anyone ever heard the word pronounced with a long O, stressed? Pee-OH-knee?"

Anyone heard?! This is the only way I've ever heard it pronounced. I had to look how it is pronounced. I thought maybe it's just the "reader" thing, but while I may not have said it aloud, I know I've heard it before.

I just asked my wife, and she pronounces it "right," uh-knee.

I never knew. Hope I've never said it aloud before now, with a group of people still snickering at me.

Youtube is a great resource for learning how to pronounce names and terms. I do read a lot and so when I teach or speak I double-check any names or words that I'm not sure about. Really helpful when I teach new topics.

David Baker said...

"Clear" (unmistakable)

"present" (now)

"danger" (peony)

tcrosse said...

These comments are under Sub Peony.

cf said...

Our first years in Oregon, my newcomer status kept exposing itself through incorrect pronunciations of local names. I called the river that defines our area the "wil-la-METTE" and folks would spit out their coffee laughing.

Thing is, my brain kept rebelling until I created a little trick to say it correctly. Even today, years later, before i utter the name, I must silently say to myself (DAM-mit! It's) "wil-LAM-ette!"

Clyde said...

Wikipedia says: A shibboleth, in its original signification and in a meaning it still bears today, is a word or custom whose variations in pronunciation or style can be used to differentiate members of ingroups from those of outgroups. Within the mindset of the ingroup, a connotation or value judgment of correct/incorrect or superior/inferior can be ascribed to the two variants.

Almost all of us have some sort of local place names that we know how to pronounce but trip up outsiders.

mockturtle said...

Clyde observes: Almost all of us have some sort of local place names that we know how to pronounce but trip up outsiders.

In Washington State, we have quite a few. The town of Sequim, for instance, is pronounced skwim. Puyallup is pronounced pyu-AL-up..

tcrosse said...

Clyde observes: Almost all of us have some sort of local place names that we know how to pronounce but trip up outsiders.

For instance, tourists who pronounce the R in New York.

Marc in Eugene said...

I'd pronounce paeonia in Latin (from the Greek παιωνία, pie-oh-KNEE-a, with the long O, O mega, ni being the stressed syllable) pie-OH-knee-a with the stress on the OH, the antepenult, because the i in the syllable ni is short. But with words that are Greek in origin you can bet some Romans said one thing, another cohort said another. And then scientific and botanical Latin naming and pronouncing conventions have their own specialised history, rules &c. Personally, I find it all quite interesting but in practical terms, eh, tomayto, tomahto. :-)

Marc in Eugene said...

When I moved to Eugene, the first time I said Willa-METTE, the kindly but loquacious local lady spent five (or perhaps ten...) minutes telling me the story of the first time she said Willa-METTE in 1946, having moved here after the war.

Marc in Eugene said...

Ralph L @ 1:38 am, Mozelle must have become a semi-popular name after or during the First World War, perhaps?

Paddy O said...

"Our first years in Oregon,"

I still pronounce Tigard wrong, mostly to annoy my Oregon-native wife.

Fritz said...

Our first years in Oregon, my newcomer status kept exposing itself through incorrect pronunciations of local names. I called the river that defines our area the "wil-la-METTE" and folks would spit out their coffee laughing.

Thing is, my brain kept rebelling until I created a little trick to say it correctly. Even today, years later, before i utter the name, I must silently say to myself (DAM-mit! It's) "wil-LAM-ette!"


After 9 years in Corvallis, I still wasn't sure of the pronunciation of the Luckiamute River

Michael K said...

"Remember that golfer (Trevino?) who made the chicken & watermelon reference re Tiger Woods? "

It was Fuzzy Zeller and his endorsements dried up immediately. I think he said "fried chicken" and something.

Not watermelon but he was still ostracized.

Marc in Eugene said...

Tigard I have down, after 17 years. Had never seen the name of the Luckiamute River. If its from one of the same group of languages (Kalapuya?) Willamette is, then, maybe, Lu-KAM-it? no idea otherwise.

walter said...

Kim Kardashian's ass is indeed an easy target.
Butt what if she took out Kim Jong Un with it?
Keep the faith.