625 Comments

Hi all, today’s hed gif comes from a Prince spaghetti tv advert of the late 1960’s. The story behind it is nice. Click here for deets: https://martiniambassador.substack.com/p/anthony

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Ahh memories of "If it's Wednesday, it's Prince Spaghetti Day."

Thanks Martini :)

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I still tend to make a pasta thing on Wednesdays (usually using leftovers from Sunday). My MIL yells “I’M PUTTING THE POT UP!” at us all as a 20 minute warning.

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Kudos for the Italian colors on "tabs" the way Prince has. Your attention to detail is why you get all the cakes we like.

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Thank you for noticing! The Prince box design has changed over the ensuing decades, but I definitely wanted to reference the original design.

You Wonkers, I love that you recognize the details. 😍

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The first time I realized the true value of a smart phone was about 12 years ago, when my daughter went to school in the North End and I played that ad for her *in the car* and *on demand*. :D

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I remember that commercial so, so well. So i will read the story. ;-)

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I remember that ad! That is all.

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I'm pretty sure that this isn't Wednesday.

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We will pretend it's Wednesday so in 2 days it's Friday.

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I thought I remembered the ad, and thought it was Chef Boy-Ar-Dee.

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I though Ronzoni.

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I thought it was for Ragu.

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::ded::

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If it was Prince Spaghetti, why was the whelp running home instead of driving his Little Red Corvette?

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Through the purple rain. In Minneapolis.

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He wondered if he had enough gas, maybe?

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I remember that commercial, Sunday dinner time was very much like this,

in the Irish/Italian neighborhood I grew up in.

Think that's why I liked ziggy's movie about Washington Heights, I grew up around

families like this, kinda makes me homesick.

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Even if someone has already posted this WaPo story about Sonia Sotomayor, it moved me so much that I don’t feel at alll bad about posting it again.

How I ‘bribed’ a justice to take a no-expenses-paid trip to Mississippi

https://wapo.st/3DL60pH

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The WaPo article about Stephanie Gilbert was very moving. I just don't understand some people. Who would have been hurt by letting her spend the night in the house? Nobody. What a pity that Stephanie wasn't able to buy the estate herself, because I would have loved to see what she did with it ... possibly turning it into a museum about slavery. Who do you think BUILT that house? Slaves built it. We need more living museums about this.

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I have to admit to being a a little put out. Wednesday is Prince spaghetti day. Now I’m confused.

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God, that article about the Black family and the property they wanted to be able to visit. The white owners "believe in reparations" but apparently not if it involves giving the descendants of the slaves their ancestors held anything like financial equity or, you know, ACTUAL reparations. The past isn't dead. It isn't even past.

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Vax update:

This fall there will be 3 vaxes available to older adults, young children, and immunocompromised people: a Covid booster, flu, and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). Expect to do your vaxes in the fall, as the diseases are all likely to peak earlier than they used to - December rather than February.

I'll try to remember to repost this later to Open Thread or someone else can.

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Man crushed to death by wheels of cheese.

"Damn, that's exactly how the fortune teller said it would happen..."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/07/italian-man-crushed-to-death-under-falling-cheese-wheels

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Exactly like Carol’s gypsy woman said.

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At least he died doing something he loved...

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I don't know if you take Tabs GIF requests, but if you do, I'd love to see a Tabs GIF made from the visuals of this 1990 German TV production of Tom Waits' and Robert Wilson's Black Rider.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbQkzAbCjio

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Now. there's a commercial I haven't seen for a very long time......

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NANCY PELOSI GOING TO HELLLLL TO HANG OUT WITH ME ACCORDING TO THAT ORANGE BAG OF SEXUAL ASSAULTS!

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Wait wut? Hang out with Diane the Cat Lady? Sure, sounds like a wonderfu--------

oh! never mind!

("orange bag of sexual assaults" is a lovely turn of phrase, btw)

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Say, has anybody else noticed a renewed right wing obsession with Obama?

It's like they can't get stuff to stick to Biden, so they're bringing back the evil black guy narrative to link Biden to. That's my assumption, anyway.

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This might be interesting (albeit not happening before Aug 22)

"It appears the Special Counsel’s office filed under seal its support for a Garcia hearing to evaluate Walt Nauta’s lawyer’s alleged conflicts, and Judge Cannon has decided to have it out in public."

https://nitter.net/nycsouthpaw/status/1688554278506434560

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I remember that ad from my youth. Someone shared it on Wonkette a few years ago, which is when the light bulb went off over my head and I realized that as a full-time-working-mother I had been operating under the premise that Wednesday was spaghetti night for decades! Because on Wednesday you're beat and spaghetti is easy and everyone likes it. Or was I programmed to believe that?

Oh, advertising, you insidious beast.

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Meanwhile, in Canada, today is Civic Holiday! The most generic holiday of the year!

"Surely you mean Simcoe Day."

NO! It's CIVIC HOLIDAY.

"Um...Heritage Day?"

NO! It's CIVIC HOLIDAY.

Relax! Spend some time with family and/or friends! Maybe have a picnic or something! We're not entirely sure! CIVIC HOLIDAY.

*singing*

"It's the most civil time of the year!

Ding-dong, bing-bong"

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My grandma in Niagara County NY never got the concept of why Canada had a holiday for no reason.

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Lol- my grandma in Erie County NY always thought it was called "Boxers Day."

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Former British colonies have “bank holidays” I am from Trinidad we have holidays nearly once a month for every single month.

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My grandmother never quite understood things like that. To her a holiday should have a purpose of recognizing something, not just a day off work.

She literally lived next door to Canada her entire life and the concept of the Civic Holiday befuddled her every damn year.

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I only have a Toyota, though, so I cannot celebrate.

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Why are we lionizing a man, Paul Reubens, convicted of possession of child pornography? Surely there are people better deserving of our appreciation. While he pled to a lesser charge, even his legal team admitted that he was in possession of lots of images of minors engaged in sexual conduct. Fucking gross. Fuck him, hope he ends up where he deserves.

<<In March 2004, Reubens pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of possessing obscene material, including obscene images of minors. Moses said, with that plea, Reubens' legal team acknowledged possessing 170 images of minors engaged in sexual conduct, AP reported.>>

https://www.snopes.com/news/2023/08/03/paul-reubens-child-pornography/

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Did you read the snopes article that you included a link to, which contradicts what you state?

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His legal team "acknowledged possessing 170 images of minors engaged in sexual conduct." That is an admission of guilt despite the plea to a lesser charge. He was a pedophile.

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From the Snopes article:

"...Reubens was never convicted of possessing child pornography."

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Yet "Reubens' legal team acknowledged possessing 170 images of minors engaged in sexual conduct"

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The quote is from the Snopes article. So go read it again.

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Harsh, Phil. Yes, despicable behavior, not arguing that point.

But I will offer this: I have yet to hear of someone who was into child porn, let alone child sexual assault, who was not a survivor themselves. For this reason, it's very hard for THIS particular wonker to wish hell on the transgressors. Understanding of what harm they caused, in whatever passes for an afterlife, hopefully? But eternal damnation, nope.

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I don't believe in either heaven or hell, so I believe he's simply going to rot like the rest of us. But playing Pascal's wager, I hope he ends up where he doesn't want to be. And using the "victim card" for him is despicable. He had the resources to seek help. I just don't think we need to lionize him or believe he's anything other than what he showed us.

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Yes, he was what he showed us. And you are what you have shown, also.

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I appreciate that Phil included a link to a snopes article that, other than pleading to a lesser charge, contradicts everything Phil stated.

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Except it doesn't. Reubens legal team ADMITTED HE HAD THE IMAGES. The plea deal got him convicted of a lesser charge without a trial. So yeah, he was a pedophile.

<<In March 2004, Reubens pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of possessing obscene material, including obscene images of minors. Moses said, with that plea, Reubens' legal team acknowledged possessing 170 images of minors engaged in sexual conduct, AP reported.>>

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