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austingirl

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Posts posted by austingirl

  1. This is a really great read. The story itself is interesting enough but the journalistic skill of the reporter brings it to the next level.

    The Jungle Prince of Delhi

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    For 40 years, journalists chronicled the eccentric royal family of Oudh, deposed aristocrats who lived in a ruined palace in the Indian capital. It was a tragic, astonishing story. But was it true?

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    The story began with his mother. She appeared, on the platform of New Delhi’s train station in the early 1970s, seemingly from nowhere, announcing herself as Wilayat, Begum of Oudh.

    Oudh (pronounced Uh-vud) was a kingdom that no longer existed. The British annexed it in 1856, a trauma from which its capital, Lucknow, never recovered. The core of the city is still made of Oudh’s vaulted shrines and palaces.

    The begum declared that she would stay in the station until these properties had been restored to her. She settled in the V.I.P. waiting room, and unloaded a whole household there: carpets, potted palms, a silver tea set, Nepali servants in livery, glossy Great Danes. She also had two grown children, Prince Ali Raza and Princess Sakina, a son and a daughter who appeared to be in their 20s. They addressed her as “Your Highness.”

    The begum was an arresting-looking woman, tall and broad-shouldered, with a face as craggy and immobile as an Easter Island statue. She wore a sari of dark, heavy silk and kept a pistol in its folds. She and her children settled on red plastic chairs, and waited. For years.

    “Sitting, sitting like yogis,” recalled Father John, a Catholic charity worker who distributed food in the train station. The children were strangely submissive, he said, reluctant even to accept a banana without their mother’s permission.

    “They were more obedient than the dogs,” he said. “They were absolutely under her control.”

    The begum’s behavior was imperious and dramatic. She refused direct conversation, demanding that queries be written on embossed stationery, placed on a silver platter and carried to her by a servant, who read them aloud. If the station master gave her any trouble, she threatened to kill herself by drinking snake venom.

     

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    • Like 3
  2. 5 hours ago, closetojumping said:

    The whole “he looks suspicious/innocent” shit is fucking pure ignorance. That means nothing. The woman from Seattle that was convicted in Italy of murder, Amanda something or other, is a classic example of someone looking guilty as hell to a majority’s expectation of “normal” behavior after her roommate’s murder. It turned out she was just a socially awkward chick. She had nothing to do with the murder and was later vindicated.

    Meanwhile, there are endless stories of the guy or girl next door surprising everyone when it turned out they were guilty of heinous shit.

    We project onto others our expectations of behavior and expect them to fit that pattern. When they don’t, there’s something you just know about them. Right. It is called “the assymetry of insight” and this board displays it in an exemplary way every minute of the day. You know more about someone you’ve never met better than they know themselves, but nobody knows you better than you. Uh huh. It’s fucking idiocy. 

    Amanda Knox also had the misfortune of being tried for a crime in Italy.

    3 hours ago, Doc Reeves said:

    Women tend to do that- statistically. 

    theres a telling case of a man who got into a yelling fight with his wife and left to cool off. When he returned he found her raped and barely alive. They convict him based on her testimony that the last thing she remembered was seeing him enter the bedroom. Guy spends 26 years in the clink until DNA proves he didn’t do it and pointed to a guy already in the system. The original detective went and interviewed the guilty guy and due to the fact the falsely accused also happed to be a Marine, the guy confesses completely. 
    the original detective and DA went to the wife and told her the news, that she was wrong and they caught the guy who actually did it. The woman refuses to this day to believe that anyone other than her former husband assaulted her. 

    What is telling about this story? 

  3.  

    13 hours ago, Deej said:

    Two dogs is actually easier than one. They can entertain themselves and tend to wear each other out in the yard, so your walks don't need to be as long.

     

    23 hours ago, sachick said:

    I haven’t checked this thread in a long time. Spent the last two days catching up. Really is the beat thread. Toby has been with us almost three years now. I fought getting a dog for a long time before finally giving in to the kids. Best thing I ever did. I had never had a pet before and now I’m a full on dog person. Open to the idea of a second dog now if the right opportunity comes up.

     

    My Toby on the left with Cousin Louie on the right.

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    “You really not going to share your dinner with me mom?”

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    Yeah, I was hesitant to have two, but looking back, I'm so glad we got our second one. Dogs are pack animals and they really do do better with other dogs. Edgar was pretty neurotic and on Prozac for a long time, but he mellowed out a lot when we got Rocket. Not that they didn't have issues getting along at first, but it's been almost a year and they are best buds for the most part. Unless one tries to take the others' bone/toy, and then all bets are off.

    • Like 1
  4. On 12/14/2019 at 5:38 PM, Doc Sam Beckett said:

    This show is really fun, I can't believe there isn't more people talking about it. The Easter eggs are the best part, I like how they change things around a bit. 

    Yep, it's really great and not too gruesome - I haven't seen a lot of the movie versions of King's books for that reason. And I like how they are taking elements of his stories and making something new out of them.

  5. On 12/9/2019 at 1:16 PM, BabaYaga said:

    Any puppy advice?  Besides a military-esc schedule for potty training which we're gearing up for.  This little monkey is going to learn to love soccer fields.  Practices 4 days a week.  Games.  Tournaments.  She'll be going everywhere with us.  I run/ruck a lot during the kids practices, so she'll start that with me immediately.  

    Are you in Austin? If so, check out Hearts and Paws - they do free puppy parties on a regular basis for puppies under 16 weeks old. We did one with Rocket and it was great. Fun to watch all the puppies play and a good socializing time for them with little dogs their own size. Somewhere in this thread I posted a video from the one we went to.

    • Like 1
  6. On 12/9/2019 at 1:16 PM, BabaYaga said:

    Any puppy advice?  Besides a military-esc schedule for potty training which we're gearing up for.  This little monkey is going to learn to love soccer fields.  Practices 4 days a week.  Games.  Tournaments.  She'll be going everywhere with us.  I run/ruck a lot during the kids practices, so she'll start that with me immediately.  

    In addition to what the others have said, expose them to things like a vacuum cleaner (both running and off), brooms, and so on. It sounds dumb but those are the kinds of things dogs will bark at or freak out around, and the earlier you expose them the better. And make sure they get a chance to be around people of all colors, shapes, and sizes. If they only ever see white people, for example, during puppyhood, then they may not know what to do when they meet someone who's a different color.

    • Like 1
  7. On 12/7/2019 at 4:50 PM, dcbc said:

    I just finished the Under the Dome audio book.  This one seems to be really underrated.  All of the world and character building of The Stand on a smaller scale, a shorter timeline, and, frankly, with better pacing.  Up Next . . . The Dead Zone.

     

    8 hours ago, South Austin said:

    I thought Under the Dome was great.  Wasn't there a TV adaptation?  If so, was it any good?

    Spoiler

    I like Under the Dome but didn't think he stuck the landing at the end. A bit too "deus ex machina"-ish for me. Still enjoyable though.

     

    • Like 1
  8. these 2 dorcus' are being much more tolerant and affectionate with each other.

     

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    they alternate as to who sleeps on who.

     

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    and finally this little one is slowly trying to claim my recliner chair as her own.  This is her WTF you gonna do about it look:

     

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    How old is your lab? Her markings are remarkably similar to Rocket, including the bit of white on the tip of her tail. You didn't adopt her from the Austin Humane Society in February, did you?

    Speaking of Rocket, I took him to the vet today because he's been favoring one of his back legs for over a week with no visible sign of injury. In addition, Edgar nipped his front leg pretty good while they were roughhousing and he needed two staples. They think the limp is hip dysplasia and are going to do x-rays in 10 days after he finishes the antibiotics for the cut. So right now he's in a cone, has two staples in a front leg, is walking like an old man because of his hips, and is under vet orders to not play with Edgar at all at least until the x-rays. Oh, and cannot figure out how to chew his bone. Poor baby.

     

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  9. My parents are back home - this morning Mom told me that she talked to the fire department and they said it was up to them as to whether or not they wanted to go back. They had Thanksgiving at my uncle's sister's house in Beaumont. I'm seeing a lot of people who went back today but I wasn't comfortable doing that with the evacuation order still in place. People in that area are hardened to evacuations so I'm not really surprised.

  10. Total is by Larry’s French market, 366
    motiva refinery is 73 and Savannah, good ways away, but they have other facilities around huntsman and tpc 


    Ohhhh right. Thanks. Isn't there also a Motiva plant right on the Louisiana border? Or am I thinking of something else?


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  11. 14 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:
    1 hour ago, austingirl said:
    So my friend whose daughter took the video of the second explosion - her husband works at that plant. He left at 1247 and the first explosion was at 1258. Crazy.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    So what did he forget to do before he left?

    All I know is she said he "docked the ship at the refinery at 1247 am, walked through the refinery, and headed to pilot office." 

  12. Don't forget to grab the turkey for tomorrow.
    And the whiskey. Definitely don't forget the whiskey.


    Going to the in-laws in Crosby, who live on Lake Houston. They have a well-stocked liquor cabinet, a boat, and cable TV, so we should be set. Unless one of the plants near there explodes.


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