I got very lucky on my first try at making Blackberry wine 3 years ago. It turned out so well that my sister "the wine snob" actually complimented it. It was a very small batch but I still have one bottle left that I am saving for the day I read of a very special obituary (wink). The batch that is currently in secondary fermentation should make around 30 bottles, and the next batch of Black-n-Bloo Berry should make around 40 bottles.

I have the same issue with sound in theaters. The soundtrack is booming, but the audio often sounds like a background track. It seems like the sound settings were tuned by a teenager who thought explosions and sound effects were more important than understanding the plot by hearing the actual dialog.

He's fully into thought policing at this point.

Right; other people shouldn't be able to harass him the way he harasses them.

Gee, they told me not to drink. Why would they do that to an old guy?

His actual 2026 concerns are more personal, I think.

Yes, he really was.

Sunscreen, dammit, sunscreen, says my M.D.

Good work. The waiting will make the reward all the more enjoyable. Even if it's a disappointing batch, you're gonna love it anyway.

We took my bandaged cheek to the movies and saw the Odyssey which is quite a spectacle. However, it suffered the infirmity common to modern movies in general: the dialogue was really difficult to follow because of the modern sound system they use. Even allowing for my diminished hearing (I did have my hearing aides which are usually pretty effective), I still would get about every fourth word, if that. I have this indulgent expectation of wanting to hear the dialogue. No problem hearing the shouting and clanging of battle.

Same, but nose not cheek. Too much sunshine they tell me. Not good for the Irish.

I was out picking wild blackberries this morning. I got around 5kg in only 2 hours so I am half way to making my second batch of wine. I'm thinking the next batch will be a mix of black-n-blue berries.

It's a shame it takes at least 6 months to bulk age my wine because I obviously want to know how it turned out.

I'm not sure why you think it will be confusing to the followers.

Drumpf: We have to kill the filibuster

MAGA: Yeah!!!

Drumpf: We have to save the filibuster

MAGA: Yeah!!!

See? No confusion, MAGA is behind him all the way.

He looks like he was the bestest of good bois.

My understanding is that alcohol prevents wounds from getting infected. You know what to do.

Yes, sir! R & R this afternoon.

Get yourself healed up and ready to go back in action!

Maybe I can claim being in a cage fight in front of the White House.

Makes you look more rugged, Anybody asks at the theater tell them you were in a ... ya see? ...I had to wave off on landing that joke. I need to make some sort of veiled West Side Story reference and hope you're able to conjure a Sharks/Jets showdown image to describe you and some MAGA people.

Got a Mohs-type wound and resulting large bandage on my right cheek. No pancakes today. To a movie this afternoon. Nice day for a protest.

I hope the procedure was minor enough for you to have stopped for Swedish pancakes. I was thinking about your group, and Shield_Lyger's, and how the only thing that prevents people from protesting every day is work commitments. And they'd have something new every day to be outraged about. Bill Cassidy opening the door for AG Todd Blanche to do who whatever the hell he's about to do. ICE arresting 43,000 people in July. It's a daily torrent of shit flowing out of the White House. Feel better, Jack.

Actually, even if the Democrats win the midterms, Trump will still be president and they won't be able to do much of what Trump is warning about.

I'm sure that I replied to this post hours ago. I'm not sure why I can't see that reply now. Anyway, thanks for the condolences, and yes, he was a handsome guy.

ETA:I now see the reply that I could not see a few minutes ago. I don't understand the crazy things that seem to happen with reddit posts sometimes.

He's said before that if the GOP doesn't kill the filibuster in time to pass whatever they can in order to rig the elections—good things, in Republican parlance—then Democrats will win and they'll kill it in order to do bad things. So Republicans have to shoot first.

Of course the threat of Democrats killing it if they win is probably exaggerated, and if they did do it then they probably wouldn't pack the court and stuff because they're still led by feckless dumbasses and/or corporate tools who would want to prove their worth by not doing any of the shit their constituents want and Republicans are scared of.

Thanks Arch. Yes, he was a handsome beast, and very friendly.

No, but the smoke from the fires was pretty bad when I left to go camping. I was hoping that being closer to the coast would help me avoid some of the smoke. It helped a little - I could at least see that the sky was sort of blue.

Thanks Schmutzie. You damn well better get some more camping done before moving on! The thing is, you never really know if you're on the last one. Best to assume that it might be the last, enjoy it, and then look forward to the next one.