The unending thread drifted onto the topic of cooking…but as usual, all the threads here always revolve around arguments. Then I realized that every thread is just another Abbott and Costello routine.
(Current totals: 10,234 entries with 996,226 comments)
Who’s on first?
David:
Ham and butter on dark rye. Om nom nom nom.
I thought there was a rule about ‘firsties’ commemnts!
Here’s a link to a news item on child-raping priests and their protectors in Australia.
We haven’t been arguing, we’ve been congratulating each other on sexual self-knowledge. Right?
Carryover from last incarnation of Teh Thread. David M. writes:
Yes. Several pointed this out (including Caine, with her unacceptably violent imagery of a hammer to the head, Calling for the Hammering of Walton :-)
I’d like to take credit for having an exquisitely tuned Gaydar Set, but I can’t marshal evidence for that from Walton.
If Hansel and Gretel dropped bread crumbs to find their way out of the woods, Walton left a baguette every 10 feet right to the front door of the discotheque.
Josh:
Hey! I resemble that remark!
Cooking and arguments
sorry, but the quintessential combination of those two things just might be…
Hudson and Halls
MUSTARDBOY!
http://i42.tinypic.com/zlx9nk.jpg
John Scanlon, check the link. It’s the title of a classic Abbott and Costello sketch.
woah, dodged a portcullis
Please, somebody shoot me with a cyberpistol or something so I can just disappear without having to read these mummafuggin lab reports. Please. The bat-sex thread has seemingly finally wound down and I’m tired of freaking Bubble Shooter. Shoot a damn bubble at me. Something.
Last thread was 992k, this one is 996 – should be about a week to a million, eh?
Oh that was fantastic. Thanks PZ. I love Abbot and Costello.
Now I must go to sleep. Good night everyone.
Sven:
You’re shot. Now go do something enjoyable.
Sven: I recommend this site for a bit of time wasting: http://www.eyezmaze.com/
Hrm…
Well, my cyberpistol’s in the cybershop, but I do happen to have this link to a TV Tropes page handy…
… now my understanding is: if getting perpetually stuck browsing Tropes is not yet classified as both (a) a dangerous (and contagious) condition requiring immediate quarantine and (b) a perfectly believable and understandable reason for disappearing for, say, six to twenty days, it should be.
You’re welcome.
(/See also ‘Be careful what you wish for’.)
AJ Milne,
Once upon a time I foolishly followed a link to TVtropes from a snark board I’m a member of. Six days later, I finally left the house. Every day I would say to myself “just read the pages you have open and then close the computer.” I think I finally quit when half the pages I was thinking I needed to read were ones I’d seen before. Other archive binges I’ve been on include xkcd, PHD Comics, and Shortpacked. Of course, there’s also the time I lost reading the threads during Crackergate, which also inspired me to go to mass and eat Jesus.
I’m currently reading Mystic River by Dennis Lehane – the one adapted into the film of the same name Clint Eastwood directed and had Sean Penn and Tim Robbins in Oscar-winning roles – and it’s brilliant.
Yeah, I liked the film – though reading it I realise they cast great actors rather than people resembling the characters as described – but the book is just blowing me away. The way he writes the complex characters is awe-inspiring, the plot (even though I know how it ends) is compelling and the descriptive prose utterly absorbing.
I’ve read a lot of books, and I have to say that this is easily one of the best things I’ve read. It’s not the first Lehane I’ve tried, but it seems to have something the others didn’t – so I’m going to try and get my hands on some more.
Thanks Ichthyic,
I vaguely remember watching them as a young lad – very vaguely.
Woo! New Thread! Cocktail hour has begun!
(I feel a little guilty drink $40/liter rum on a Monday night, but what the hell. You only live once, right?)
Wowbagger:
I’ve read all the Lehane books. I read Mystic River long before the film. The movie was okay, but no great shakes. It didn’t have any of the depth of the book.
Wowbagger:
As far as Lehane goes, I would highly HIGHLY recommend Shutter Island if you haven’t already– it’s almost as good as Mystic River. His detective/mystery books weren’t bad (the best was A Drink Before the War), but I just couldn’t slog though The Given Day.
Currently, I’m stoked that The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Steig Larrson) will be released later this month in the US. If anyone wants some really good reads, check out the first two in the series, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire.
And because I have no impulse control and had to read the page I linked to, here’s the xkcd on tvtropes.
ACK! I just closed the three open tvtropes tabs I had. I have a job now and I can’t be up til 4 reading that
totally awesomecompletely evil site.ODS:
That was the most disappointing book he wrote, I thought. I had it figured out long before the end.
Caine:. Plus, I totally had Keyser Soze moments while reading it– I thought I had it all figured out, then I’d change my mind after reading a chapter or two. As it turns out, I guessed the ending pretty early on, but then convinced myself that I had to be wrong.
I loved the almost claustrophobic atmosphere of
Did you read The Given Day? I just couldn’t get into it and I’m thinking that maybe I just didn’t give it enough time.
… Shutter Island.
(I have no idea why that got eaten.)
Ichthyic #7
Those two epitomized camp.
Yes Nerd, I know that :)
I read one of the Kinzie/Gennaro ones – Prayers for Rain – and wasn’t that impressed, mostly because the two main characters seemed to have more than their fair share of outside help – his friend, her family – that meant I was never really concerned for their well-being.
Maybe the earlier ones in that series have less of that; I’ll definitely check them out now I know exactly what Lehane is capable of.
Shutter Island I’ve read, but it was a while ago now and I don’t remember being blown away by it either; I also guessed the ending. But as far as I’m concerned he’s hit the nail on the head with Mystic River. It’s really got me hooked, and that doesn’t happen to me that much anymore.
I like the bit about the cow’s milk: “She don’t give it, you gotta take it away from her.”
ODS, Shutter Island revolved on a cliche which I particularly dislike. I consider it a cop out and my alarm bells went off very early with it. One disappointing book out of many is an extremely good record for an author for me. I enjoyed the Patrick & Angela books best.
Yes, I read The Given Day. Historical fiction isn’t for everyone. I enjoy Dreiser, Michener and Rutherfurd so I read a fair amount of historical fiction. I recently finished Rutherfurd’s latest, New York.
Speaking of, is anyone else sick of books where the main character is unnamed? It seems like I’ve read a bunch over the years and let me tell you, that gets really boring really fast.
So, I’ve just discovered that my public library makes audiobooks available for download. Yay! Right?
Wrong.
The audiobook service to which they link “offers” two formats:
1. .mp3 – a standard audio format you can play anywhere, especially on your ipod.
2. .wma (Windows Media), a windows-proprietary format that “allows” Digital Rights Management, so that you can “check out” the file, and it “expires” after a few weeks. Apparently, they claim, they can’t “manage” these terms with .mp3 files.
OK, I get that authors and publishers have an interest in limiting how many times, and how many people, can listen to their works free. Legitimate.
But, .wma audiobooks *cannot be played on any portable player, such as an ipod*, so you’re chained to your computer to listen to them.
Annoyingly, *most* audiobooks on offer for download are .wma. Who is this serving? Who actually wants to be tethered to their desktop or laptop to listen to an audiobook?
The end result is that 75 percent of the audiobooks public libraries like mine offer for download are worthless, since no one is going to download a book they’re not allowed or able to put on their ipod or mp3 player.
Am I missing something, or is this really dumb?
Josh,
It won’t even allow you to make one copy? Like you could burn the book to CDs?
Ahhhh, that new-Thread smell….
Josh:
It’s really dumb.
ODS:
Like what? I can’t think of anything I’ve read with an unnamed main character.
My experience with downloaded library audiobooks is that even if they’re supposed to expire, often they don’t, which is frankly really weird. Also, you can always just check out the CD copies and copy it into itunes (remembering to merge files, so that you don’t get a separate file for each track of each CD).
Or you could just be like me and spend a fortune on audible.com.
(Spoiler alert, guys!)
Caine,
Off the top of my head, I can think of:
–Fight Club
–Layer Cake
–The Gone Away World
and to a lesser extent:
–Then We Came to the End (Which was told from the first person plural perspective, which actually made it pretty interesting as opposed to just obnoxious.)
Granted, I re-read Fight Club right before reading the rest of them. I have no idea why they all clumped together like that for me- it wasn’t intentional on my part.
Pygmy:
Haven’t tried yet. I’ve got a number of audio-ripping programs that might let me get around all this nonsense, I just haven’t sicced them on the library books yet.
@ Mattir:
True, true. But that defeats the convenience-purpose of “checking them out” online, so that I don’t have to go to the trouble of browsing the library in person when it’s open. Mind, I love the library, and I adore going there. But sometimes a
girlspokesgay needs to download some sci-fi now, at home.Mattir,
I check tons of audiobooks out from the library, but I rarely copy them to itunes since the only place I listen to them is my car (my CD changer has The Greatest Show on Earth in it right now, though Dad loaned it to me, not the library). Many people I know listen to books while they workout, but I have to have something with a quick beat to keep me going on the eliptical (not that I’ve been to the gym in forever!). Of course I don’t listen to anything but the forest when I go hiking. :)
Josh,
Ah, well maybe a program will help you get around that crap. I admit to being rather less than tech savvy.
Does anyone know how hard they’re going after people downloading books and such off of bittorrent? I may have downloaded a book that I later purchased because I absolutely had to have it that second and couldn’t wait for Barnes and Noble to open the next day.
ODS:
Okay. I haven’t read those.
The great thing about this sketch is that they maintain their usual personas, but Costello is really the straight man here. Abbot’s the one messing with your mind. (Actually, the same could be said of Who’s On First too, although Abbot’s character in that one isn’t necessarily responsible for the players’ names).
Abbot’s line of argument makes me think of some theology, for some reason.
“So say you’re God, and you’ve got a pagan’s soul. Where are you gonna put it?”
“I dunno… Heaven?”
“Can’t! They won’t let him in.”
“Oh, then, um…”
The whole argument is based on ridiculous premises to begin with.
They don’t appear to be going after individuals these days, but they did get an injunction that required Pirate’s Bay ISP to turn off the connection.
Well, I would tell you to pick them up if you have a chance (at least Fight Club* and Layer Cake) but I kind of totally ruined the premise for you.
*IMHO, Fight Club is the only book by Chuck Palahniuk worth reading.
Nerd,
Good to know. I really have subsequently bought the few books I downloaded, but I get a bit paranoid sometimes. :) OTOH, I didn’t have to buy Emma nor worry about copyright crap since I got a public domain pdf off of google books. Which reminds me, does anyone have suggestions for public domain books? Keep in mind that I’m in the US, so unless it was intentionally put in the public domain, it’d better be older than Steamboat Willie (btw, fuck Disney and their ridiculous extensions of copyright).
In unrelated Minnesota news, fuck Tim Pawlenty: http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2010/05/pawlenty_vetoes_1.php
Pygmy Loris, check out http://www.authorama.com/full/ and http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
@OurDeadSelves
I’d say that Invisible Monsters is a much better book than Fight Club.
I never made it to Invisible Monsters. After reading Lullaby, Choke the beginning of Diary, and Haunted, I gave up hope that he could actually write another novel that wasn’t a complete waste of time.
Caine,
Yeah, I’ve seen Project Gutenberg but not that authorama page. I was looking more for specific books that might be good to read. People here have recommended good books in the past (like People of the Abyss) that are in the public domain.
It’s certainly possible to convert DRM-crippled audio files to .mp3:s or .ogg:s. Basically, it only needs to be played back and the output saved to another file, leaving any DRM-nastiness behind.
Simple software for this specific use exists, so it won’t require too much tech savviness.
Come to think of it Uncle Tom’s Cabin is in the public domain, and I’ve never read it*. I’m going to go download it and head to bed. ‘Night all.
*I’m trying to read the “classics,” but it’s hard to remember which ones I want to read when I’m looking at a blank search box. :/
Oh, I just stumbled upon this classic piece of XKCD and now I think there’s something in my eye… *snif*
The Vatican is throwing bishops under the bus, or out the sledge, or whatever you please.
Not really audiobooks, but iTunes U allows free downloads of university lectures. I haven’t been disappointed with any of the ones I have listened to. I think if it were feasible at this point, I would go back to school. This is about the next best thing.
In the category of “you can’t make this shit up”, our sociopath-in-chief appoint to the panel of “our best minds” to investigate the oil “spill”, Jonathan I. Katz. Dr.(?) Katz is a “proud homophobe”. According to Dr. Katz, refering to innocent AIDS victims, “These people died so the sodomites could feel good about themselves.”
He is also a climate change denier and neo-con.
http://gay.americablog.com/2010/05/takeobama-admin-appoints-self.html
Pygmy Loris:
My first pick in the “classics” list is To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
I’ve been re-reading some books I first read in childhood. I’m currently re-reading A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Boy, did I ever forget the language. It’s a
triphorrorshow reading it again.Just catching up on the previous thread (yes, I’m at work – why do you ask?) and see congratulations are in order for Cerberus, Kevin, and Walton.
Woot!
@ourdeadselves
Then you kind of screwed up there, since you read the worst ones (Diary, Haunted) and skipped the good stuff.
Anyway, I stopped reading him because Snuff sounded really dumb, so I didn’t bother. These days I prefer stuff like Cormac McCarthy, Alan Gurganus, William Faulkner, Flannery OConnor, Ray Carver, etc..
@Weed Monkey, #52:
Those are my favorite xkcds. Randall Munroe is great. This one is one of my favorites.
Seriously, though, even as a straight male, I think I have a little man-crush on RM.
sacredchao:
Eh, it’s all subjective. Sometimes, certain books just don’t do it for you. I enjoy Sarah Waters’ books, but for all I enjoyed Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith, Affinity left me cold and was a job getting through. A friend of mine loved Affinity and found Fingersmith a major slog.
We like the Mooooon!
Who’s on third?
@Caine
Well, yeah, opinions are subjective. Not really sure where you’re going with that though, as the subjectivity of what I stated was sort of built into the statement itself and didn’t really need further explanation.
I watched the BBC miniseries of Tipping the Velvet and quite enjoyed it, especially how the politics of the time were intertwined with the story.
You can now watch/listen Glenn Beck’s commencement speech at Liberty University:
You might also want to watch this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/ns/msnbc_tv-countdown_with_keith_olbermann/#37201161
I’d just like to add to the insanity.
Groucho Marx – Shaking Hands
sacredchao:
The miniseries was quite good, I enjoyed it. There was a bit more on the politics in the book, but it wasn’t gone into with any great depth.
I both love and hate Cormac McCarthy. Love because his writing is so eye-wateringly good that it takes my breath away like nearly no other writer; hate because I can’t, despite being a voracious reader and a nearly lifelong student (including a BA on the topic) of prose writing, make myself understand how someone who uses words the way he does – i.e. few as possible – can tell the stories he does.
He’s one of a handful of writers* I could be convinced had sold their souls for the ability to write stories.
*JK Rowling is another; McCarthy must have asked for more skill with prose – perhaps by sacrificing (relatively speaking) mainstream popularity.
Congrats and all, but how could anyone be surprised about Walton’s revelation ? The hints were so clear you could have hit Glenn Beck over the head with them….:-)
Btw, I’m not watching that link, can’t stand the stupid….
Well, I for one was as shocked from Walton’s announcement as I was when Ricky Martin announced he was gay…..
Rorschach:
A lot of us weren’t.
I don’t need your charity!
*takes money*
And here I thought I was only amusing myself.
Oh my god, that made me want to punch the blogoblag and the tabloids. “No shit sherlock, really?”
Getting your gay on
I wasn’t entirely surprised, I had suspicions, but I wasn’t sure. yayyy, bad prose!
#44 Pygmy Loris – Have not read further down than your query as I have to head out in a bit. If no one else mentioned them, the following are very useful sites to download free books in a variety of formats:
http://www.archive.org/details/texts
http://manybooks.net/
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.mobipocket.com/freebooks/default.aspx
and get their free reader at
http://www.mobipocket.com/en/downloadsoft/DownloadCreator.asp
http://www.bookyards.com/categories.html?type=books
http://www.planetebook.com/
Most of the classics are out of copyright, including Joyce and others like that.
You already know GoogleBooks is useful. In the advanced search mode just click on Full View Only and those will almost always be free.
Hope this helps. My Kindle now has 350 books on it.
(Will raise complicated issue of own bisexuality later)- in 3 weeks or so after half yearlies
have questions.
:-D :-D :-D :-D
Rorschach wrote:
Well I am – but that says far more about me and my general cluelessness about anything even vaguely sexual than it does about Walton.
Still, I have to say congratulations on being in a good enough place to be able to admit it to yourself. Being self-aware is – as least as far as I can tell – one of the most important parts of living a happy life.
I didn’t realise until now that my wife is a reincarnation of Lou Costello, or at least went to the same school of logic.
Arrest the Pope ? How about our own Cardinal Pell !
Church failed to act against abusers
I say let’s get the bastard.
Two years ago Walton was a libertarian young Tory. Now he’s a vegetarian Lib Dem voter who’s just come out as bi. I realise that Pharyngula is supposed to be a seductive vortex of liberal depravity, but this is ridiculous :)
I know you regularly check out HuffPo PZ, so you will have seen this incomprehensible diatribe (in a review of Coyne) from Michael Ruse http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-ruse/did-god-create-through-la_b_578540.html (he seems to be agreeing that if god did evolution he did it really badly – or something). It includes this gem “Coyne is also an ardent New Atheist with the glassy-eyed, moral fanaticism that such people share with opponents of abortion and lovers of guns.”
“glassy-eyed” PZ? Is he talking about you or me?
David Horton
It’s not a vortex of anything.All it is is a place where people can speak their mind and be themself in front of a mostly non-judgmental audience, and then things just happen, given time.
Anonymity helps, too.
I just noticed Pirate’s Bay web site is back up.
Slight exaggeration. I’m not vegetarian; I just have several friends who are, and sometimes cook meals with them. I don’t often eat meat any more (partially for ethical-environmental reasons) but still eat fish regularly. And though I have Lib Dem tendencies, I’m still tangentially involved in a student conservative group, though I’m planning to leave in due course.
I am, however, definitely bi.
Oh I absolutely LOVE the Marx brothers.
Tch…
Walton, you took all the fire out of my coming out *haha*
Walton,
I hate to do this to you, but meat is generally farmed, more-or-less sustainably these days.
Fish is generally harvested, and awful things have happened to wild populations and ecosystems thereby.
(I’ll let you research this, should you have any interest.)
—
PS Grats on your sexual self-affirmation, theoretical though it apparently still is.
You’ll make someone(s) a great partner, I’m sure!
Just watched the video (haven’t read any of the other comments) and it occurs to me that all arguments online seem to follow that format. It’s like a giant straw man ate a radioactive non sequitor and began rampaging through downtown Tokyo. So allow me to start an argument.
Suppose your favorite leisurely activity is chewing on cold tin foil. Why aren’t you wearing any pants?
Aww… grats to you too, Kevin. ;)
Really.
Aww.
*Claps for Kevin*
Sili the unknown virgin,
Kevin the unknown bisexual,
I’ll bake you boys a cake…
but Walton gets the first slice!
lol
@John Morales:
It’s okay. I’m a middle-child so I’m used to being ignored *hehe*
My handle has now been officially outed!
Is Woody Allen really the person Roman Polanski want’s defending him in the public?
Someone kill that random apostrophe!
@Rev BDC:
Awesome anime style murder or less exciting normal murder style?
JM: I take your point. But to clarify, my concern is not with the whole animal rights/welfare thing; rather, I’m concerned with the need to reduce our overall meat consumption, as a society, because of its impact on AGW and on land use. So I don’t think there’s anything wrong with eating meat, in itself, but I try to do so less frequently than I used to – though I still do sometimes.
Addendum to #97: I do get your point about the impact of fish harvesting on ecosystems, though, and will research this some more (once I’ve finished my exams!).
One would hope he’s paying attention here…:P
I noticed some people waxing lyrical about the language some authors use.
Granted, this can be a matter of taste, but for fiction I think John Barth is great (Giles Goat-Boy or The Sot-Weed Factor). The main problem I have with reading Barth is that he is so good he has to be read too slowly to be fully enjoyable. Additionally, he is so smart, and wants you to know it, that he tends to build towards sentences that confirm he casually knows as much or more about a subject you’ve studied all your life than you do. People have in the past mentioned Neal Stephenson too many times for me to think that I could add anything to that conversation, so I’ll stick with advocating Barth in this post.
For non-fiction, John McPhee is my go-to author. I want to become famous or interesting enough for him to want to profile me, so that I know what I do and what I am like. I haven’t the slightest interest in half the stuff he writes about (fishing, sports, and cattle-rustling, for example), but I can’t help keeping reading his stuff once I start (with the exception of sports). For the stuff I am interested in, it’s even more enjoyable. He’s capable of describing both people and situations in prose that really gets me visualising very strongly; almost hallucinating.
duh, anime
Preferably with strangely scantily clad assassins.
@Rev BDC:
Well, I was just gonna go and do some kinda katana blade thing… but if you really want me to be scantily clad… I mean, I’ve got a kinda feminine body shape – but I’m really skinny and really white…
I can bake my own cake, though.
Speaking of which, apparently my (needless) vasectomy hasn’t taken yet. I guess I must have big seminal vesicles. Or perhaps the problem is just that I’m not nearly as fappy as when I was a teenager.
@Ol’Greg:
I like cake! Cake is very tasty.
I don’t know if anyone has already posted this video from the Herschel Space Observatory – pretty amazing
Walton,
Kudos — you’re better than I in that respect, both from an ethical (animal cruelty issues) and a pragmatic (~10 units of veg food to make 1 unit of animal food) perspective.
(Bacon is nice, but I live and work in a rural area, and get to see (and smell) the loaded trucks taking pigs to the slaughterhouse. Not a happy sight, for me.)
—
FWIW, one of my sisters is an ethical vegetarian, but will consume eggs from our household (happy chickens).
How would you know? Doesn’t the body continue to ejaculate semen after vasectomy?
Or am I not understanding what you’ve said?
ha
humm well, do what you gotta do
I’ve gone back to eating meat.
(Damn, does everything I say sound loaded with sexual innuendo!?)
But I do try to eat less of it at least because I figure that there’s no need for so much of it.
@Rev BDC:
Okay…
*picks up a katana, turns to the apostrophe. A few silent moments pass… blade is drawn and quickly sheathed. The offending punctuation explodes in a shower of ink*
Vasectomies?
From Urolog: Bargain vasectomy.
(NSFW — 3rd cartoon on page.)
He might collect his ejaculate and place it under a microscope to inspect for motile sperm.
I’d have to side with “less” here, although agree with the fish part of your comment. Imo cutting back significantly on meat is one of the big things an individual in the first world can do to reduce their environmental footprint (dependant to an extent on the source, based on essentially conjecture, and something I’m hypocritical about in that I totally don’t follow my own conviction – although I do now grow my own vegetables, so at least can be said to be approaching the situation ass backwards)
@Ewan R:
But… meat is tasty.
Hmmm… maybe. That was in The World According to Garp I think. Funny how one can remember one line out of a whole book like that.
I read that, back when I read fiction.
…
I’ve definitely heard that some times vasectomies don’t work, or spontaneously reverse.
Okay, I’ve watched four minutes of that video now. What am I missing? (Aside from the occasional word – they’re hard to understand.)
On meat: the only vegetarian dish I have ever eaten that was actually satisfying used seitan (wheat gluten) by some preparation that made it very meat-like (“General Tso’s Surprise” at Sunflower Cafe, Vienna, VA; don’t know if it’s still open).
Other seitan dishes have left me still wanting meat. Most vegetarian recipes/approaches seem to have this bias towards “celebrating the vegetable” or something. I don’t like vegetables; some I hate. I hate vinegar. I do actually eat lots of vegetables though, by mixing them with meat in a nice meaty sauce.
If meat were priced correctly (e.g. if the producers actually produced sustainably/expensively) then I’d possibly be able to reduce my consumption. As it is, all my attempts fail because it’s cheap, and I will be satisfied. I admit it: I am weak. Seitan is not my motor.
#114 – my problem exactly.
That said, best things I’ve eaten this week – 2-3 week old (after emergence, not 2-3 weeks sitting around) Romaine lettuce leaf out of the garden, and a very immature pea pod (could not wait any longer)
I sense a bacon comment soon.
whew
@Ewan R:
I can’t do without bacon for more than a month… I start to get all tingly, and sweaty, and my mouth starts to get dry…
Can you get addicted to salted pork belly?
I’m watching Casablanca, havent seen it for at least 10 years I think. What a great movie…
I don’t think I’ve ever watched it all the way through. One of those things I should probably do. Like when I finally watched Citizen Kane.
I sense a bacon sandwich soon.
Although some times when I finally see things it’s been so intellectualized that I no longer can connect.
“If that’s all there is my friends… then let’s keep dancing…”
etc
#121
Yes.
On a related note, I miss what I consider bacon – good old fashioned British bacon, was most upset when I discovered the US equivalent (while still delicious) is a pale imitation of what Bacon means to me – have yet to find a source, although havent tried overly hard (suffice to say my once every 5 years trip to the UK is very baconcentric)
Did my comment @81 not have enough of a smiley on it or is today International No Hyperbole Day? Nobody told me. I shall abase myself in shame and commit seppuku.
(waits for Rorschach to call a suicide hotline for me).
Pharyngula minority. I don’t like bacon very much. A bit here and there maybe some prosciutto on occasion but in general. Not a fan.
Back bacon
RBDC – told you I hadn’t tried hard =p bookmarked…
If I get foreclosed on in the next few months due to bacon related expenses consider yourself to blame.
Honestly Ewan, if you have a good butcher I’m sure you could get them to order you some back bacon (English, Irish etc..).
And if it is a REALLY good butcher, they may even cure their own. Mine does.
But then again, I make my own bacon.
It’s very easy and the result is fantastic.
Retiring for the night, but here’s an interesting item from my local news:
‘Pinocchio’ frog discovered in Indonesia.
Yeah, I was just giving you options!
I once made delicious clam chowder with pancetta – which is kinda like bacon.
I have to see if I can find the recipe again, it was delicious. And I kinda baked some oyster crackers with Parmesan and olive oil and some parsley, and they were really good when sprinkled into the soup…
Something I’m sure a lot of stockbrokers use as an excuse as their clients wave g’bye to their homes.
@Pygmy Loris from #49,
I’m always ready to recommend some classics in the public domain. I usually download from project gutenberg, but there are other sources.
Let’s see.
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay, 1841. Non-fiction, and contains some factual errors, but generally a great start to learning skeptical thinking.
The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain, 1869. Non-fiction. In my opinion his best work, funny and accurate representation of tourism and tourists.
The Essays of Montaigne Get an unabridged translation and simply enjoy the prose. The abridged versions edit out some of the more enjoyable anecdotes and thoughts. You don’t need to read them all, but they are great for simply diving into for an hour or so. I feel there are similarities between the original Montaigne and the endless thread. The subject under discussion mutates with astonishing regularity in Montaigne.
In the fiction category, you do realize that all of Conan Doyle is in public domain? So download the great Sherlock and enjoy the ride. I can also recommend the following great reads:
Edgar Allen Poe; The Gold Bug, Murder in the Rue Morgue, Arthur Gorden Pym. Plenty of others (and some garbage as well).
Alexander Dumas; The Count of Monte Cristo.
G.K. Chesterton; The Man who was Thursday, The Napoleon of Notting Hill/.
Rudyard Kipling; The Man who would be King, Rikki Tikki Tavi.
Captain Frederick Marryat; Masterman Ready.
Jules Verne; The Mysterious Island.
Robert Louis Stevenson; Treasure Island.
Charles Dickens; Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities.
Lord Dunsany; Fifty-one Tales.
You can also find the following authors:
E.W. Hornung, who wrote the Amateur Cracksman series staring Raffles the gentleman thief.
Sax Rohmer, who wrote the Fu Manchu series. Filled with stereotypes and irrational cliff-hangers, but pretty action packed if you get beyond that.
Emile Gaboriau, who wrote the Monsieur Lecoq series of detective novels 20 years before Doyle.
There are hundreds of others, from Washington Irving to Ring Lardner, Anthony Hope to Arthur Machen, Ambrose Bierce to Edgar Rice Burroghs, but I’ll stop now.
Random bits of odd from my life:
1) Some of my colleagues report on meetings with clients and potential clients under the subject heading ‘Contact report’…
It always sounds vaguely to me like they’re reporting some first contact with aliens-type thing… Now and then, I’m tempted to respond with an entirely wordless email… just a link to something like this…
2) While I generally do try to avoid buying clothes off the internet, I am now a proud owner of both an ‘Ask me about my death ray’ and a ‘Yes, in fact, this is rocket science’ shirt from the Retropolis Transit Authority. I blame all of you.
Kevin, why don’t you celebrate by munching on this Cake?
The ‘Yes, in fact, this is rocket science’ shirt makes me laugh.
I have a friend who works as a physicist doing research that does not involve rockets and it always reminds me of this little moment as he was near completing his PhD (going rather crazy) and some one made that typical comment “well it’s not rocket science” and he just looked up and randomly yelled “damn it, rocket science is easy.”
LOL
Yeah, today is regaling people with stories day in me-land.
Thanks for obliging :D
Tardy congratulations to Cerberus, Kevin, Walton, anyone I’ve missed!
On one level, I guess I don’t need to be open about it: I have neither a boyfriend nor a girlfriend and no prospect of acquiring either, so my sexual orientation affects no one but myself. But on another level, it’s kind of liberating to be honest, with myself and with other people, about who I really am. – Walton
…and of course being bi will surely increase your range of possible partners!
yeah
see?
‘Contact report’ sounds like spook jargon, at least as far as I know from reading Tom Clancy.
So I guess it’s a bad day to mention I’ll be having sashimi for lunch today :/
*reads thread*
*looks at Walton*
*looks at Kevin*
*raises eyebrow*
*fetches camera*
Can haz Pharyngula yaoi nao? :-D
Seriously, guys, congrats! I’m not entirely straight myself, and I’m actually convinced that most straight people really aren’t. Beauty is beauty, what feels good is what feels good, and it’s a continuum, not discrete values. Maybe in a few years, we’ll all be Captain Jack Harknesses… and I’mina go think about that scenario in my bunk for a bit. ^_^
On bacon – having worked on my aunt’s hog farm in Alabama as a kid, bacon has been the hardest thing to give up since my conversion to Judaism. Mr. M and the Spawn don’t eat it, but I finally put my foot down and said “this reminds me of my childhood, I don’t eat it in the house, we all agree that there’s no god making rules, and lighten up, folks.” But I still don’t eat the yummy all that often, since I know that the age at which hogs are slaughtered for the market is when the feed-conversion ratio curve levels off, but that’s several months short of when hogs reach their actual peak deliciousness. The meat from a hog raised a few more months is a rare and astonishing thing.
Too bad I’m way too lazy to go out, find a hog, raise it, butcher it (I do know at least the basics), and devote the freezer space to storing it when I’m the only one who’d eat it. We do buy and butcher our own sheep and sometimes chickens, though, and the quality difference is similarly astonishing. Plus it’s a great way to teach kids anatomy.
flex, Pygmy Loris, and anybody looking for ebooks in English.
Check out Project Gutenberg Australia. It has a fair bit of stuff that then U.S. site doesn’t, in particular stuff written by authors who died before 1954, which is public domain in Australia. (That is, 50 years beore 2004, when they changed the law. Anything that was already PD stays PD.)
gutenberg.net.au
A lot of writers wrote great and/or famous books in the 1930’s and 1940’s and died before 1954; you can get 1984, The Great Gatsby, Gone With the Wind, most of E.R. Burrough’s Mars books, etc.
Of course, you may need to move to Australia to read the books. Downloading them from somewhere else works, but might technically be illegal, and That Would Be Wrong.
(IMHO, anything by an author who’s been dead for 20 years ought to be PD, as well as anything that’s out of print that long. 50 years was ridiculous, and upping that to 70 years was just insane.)
I have a question for the local lingual experts. I’m interested in learning Latin. What’s the best way to go about that?
From your blockquoting skills one might also suspect that you are typing one-handed.
Oh… yeah… well I was just… um… unplugging this network cable down there. And uh… plugging it back in. Because… uh…
it has nothing to do with the pics from 144. NOTHING AT ALL!
Hmmm… continuing on with food and sex here. Well food at least.
Does anyone know the common name for the type of apple I might have eaten?
I bought some fruit at a stand while I was in Paris and I got these apples I was less than enthusiastic about upon sight because they were warm yellow, small, dull, spotty, and soft on the outside. I thought they’d be old and mealy.
But instead they were really crisp, refrigerated well, stood up to cheese, and generally tasted awesome.
I’m sure they were not golden delicious. But I don’t know what kind may be common there that is yellow. I’d like to see if I come across them here.
I hate mealy textured apples with a passion.
Listen for a vrworp-vwrorp sound, run for it when you hear it, become a Companion, visit ancient Rome, but avoid Pompeii. :)
Paul W, OM, wrote,
I go a little further than that. I feel that copyrights should be treated like patents. 7 years, with an extension possible for another 7. Non-transferable, i.e. you can sell the publishing rights, movie rights, waive a certain amount of control, etc., but a business cannot absolutely own copyright even if the business has contractually been given all the rights. Copyright must be registered to be protected.
I’d even go one step further, IMO, copyright should die with the author. I don’t see any compelling reason why heirs should continue to earn income on the creator’s work. But I’d settle for making copyrights follow the same law as patents.
Ol’ Greg: I think that was a pear.
@KOPD: the Teach Yourself language series includes Teach Yourself Latin. Lingua formosissima et utilissima.
(Et nec audiendi qui solent dicere, vox populi, vox dei, nam tumultuositas vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit)
Or you could learn Italian, which is easier and more current, and learn Latin later.
Same here. One mealy apple will put me off them for quite a while. I eat about one apple every year, or as I like to say: “An apple a year, keeps the doctor in fear!”
If that apple is really good, crisp-n-sweet, I’m tempted to have another one in less than a year. But the fear of mealiness makes me kind of hoark to think of it. I wait until I really, really, want that apple.
They still teach it. I almost studied it in undergrad but went on to continue with German instead. I’d just buy the text books on it at a used book store and go through the workbooks. Reading it isn’t that hard, and if you want to pronounce it I suppose you could model the sound on Italian? AFAIK even liturgical Latin sounds different than ancient Latin? But IANA-Lingquist.
I have heard good things about Rosetta Stone’s Latin program, but have only used it for Hebrew. It’s incredibly fun and very effective.
@MrFire:
Huh… well… I think that cake would be fine to nibble on a little bit *hehe*
@Knockgoats:
Thank you
@Falyne:
Haha, well, if you like looking at a skinny white (yet Native American) guy who looks younger than he is. Can’t say much about Walton since I dunno what he looks like.
When they are in season, Pink Ladys are my favorite. A bit tart and usually very crisp.
But I’m the same way, a mealy apple will almost make me ill.
Josh: I’ve heard that the Zune will play .wma files, although I can’t see getting that expensive a player just to have access to free library audiobooks.
Which system does your library subscribe to? Ours gets NetLibrary, and the librarian swears that she can put anything from there onto her iPod.
Umm… about the wma files. How protected are they?
Can’t you just convert them? You may have to uh… fix them a little…
I move file formats a lot but I don’t want to get myself in trouble over it :/ But you can strip off most stuffs that get in the way.
If you don’t already own software that you can use to do that then I know you can get some free.
Indeed. :-)
My resource says that, if it’s unprotected .wma, iTunes can’t play it but can convert it to .mp3. If it’s protected, you’re out of luck. very few players can play protected .wma files. (Doesn’t wma stand for Windows Microsoft Audio or something like that?)
wma = Windows Media Audio
wmv = Windows Media Video
Both being part of the Windows Media framework.
I missed this Sunday, because I was so focused on polishing my presentation for my thesis defense, but Ronnie James Dio died on Sunday. :-(
I’m sure everyone’s already discussed it already, but it’s definitely a sad loss for me. “Rainbow in the Dark” was my personal Pride song, as in LGBT Pride (I understand why upbeat disco is the music of official LGBT Pride, but personal tastes and all that). I’ve got a special Dio playlist going on here tonight in tribute. May we all leave legacies that outlast us as he did.
Cool odd note, I just learned that his wife runs a charity dedicated to trying to help kids get out of careers in prostitution called “Children of the Night”.
just got some more information: many players other than the Zune will play .wma files. My Sansa SanDisc e250 v2 will play both protected and unprotected .wma files. you can get them refurbished for around $30-$40.
I also have two little Creative Muvo Nomad players that claim to be able to play .wma but I don’t know whether they’ll play protected .wma or not. I’ll have to try and see. You can get those for around $10 – $20 on eBay. The advantage to the Muvos is they run on AAA batteries.
Thank you for the suggestions, folks. I’ll look into them. I’ve always had an interest in languages and have decided to try to get back into it. Well, actually my bigger interest is in writing systems, but it’s difficult to really appreciate them without some understanding of the languages they are used to represent. I figure Latin is a good one to get the ball rolling and get back into the learning mindset because I already know the alphabet and can read bits and pieces of it.
Ol’Greg,
When it comes to pronunciation, I figure I’ll take some cues from this. :-)
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.
@Cerberus:
Yeah – Dio was one of the best singers out there.
m/
I have one, and they do play protected WMA, providing you use Windows Media Player to sync.
#19 OurDeadSelves
If someone hasn’t already mentioned it:
“Life’s Too Short to Drink Bad Wine” by UK political commentator, Simon Hoggart
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lifes-Too-Short-Drink-Wine/dp/1844007421
I love the thought – I would just like the cash to fulfill it!
I probably would, too, under most circumstances. I do think it’s reasonable for an author with dependents who dies young to have the money go to the dependents for a while. (But maybe that ought to be dealt with by other means, e.g., a social safety net that acts as life insurance for such situations, rather than special-casing IP law.)
As with patents, the copyright laws really ought to be based on the constitutional principle that they’re a means of promoting productivity for the general good, not necessarily a means of protecting property rights of individuals for their own sake. It’s not about ownership for the sake of ownership. (I’m being U.S.-centric here, but I think the U.S. constitutional principle is a good one.)
Many authors are motivated to work hard to make enough money to keep being writers, and to not leave their direct dependents in a financial hole. Few are highly motivated to maximize royalty checks for great-grandchildren, so the former is a legitimate issue for the duration of IP protections, but the latter is not as important as increasing availability to everybody.
Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes.
Bloody hell. I wash up. Then I eat. And then, cor’ bly’ me guv’nor, there’s more friggin’ washing up to do! Who invented this system?!
Speaking of apples, a friend(ish) of mine told me how his mother had called him up from the market to ask “Do you like Cox?”
He is gay at least.
As for seminal vesicles, I may have chosen the wrong piece of innard. Whatever they are, they seem to be a cosy little place for old spermatozoa to hang around. Ah well.
@ Patricia
With summer camp season almost upon me, would you mind sharing your canned responses to the “are you a Christian” type questions? They still make me stammer and I want to have a canned non-response this year.
Almost done with my spiffy biology curriculum and am really proud of it. Now on to literature of science fiction and human geography for both Spawn and then to the individual interest type course descriptions.
just got some more information: many players other than the Zune will play .wma files. My Sansa SanDisc e250 v2 will play both protected and unprotected .wma files. you can get them refurbished for around $30-$40.
I also have two little Creative Muvo Nomad players that claim to be able to play .wma but I don’t know whether they’ll play protected .wma or not. I’ll have to try and see. You can get those for around $10 – $20 on eBay. The advantage to the Muvos is they run on AAA batteries.
#150 Ol’Greg
I thought we were talking about apples? I do not put industrial French Golden Delicious (“Le Crunch” for crying out loud!?!) in the same category as, for example, Cox’s Orange Pippin for eating or Bramley for cooking.
French Golden Delicious fits well with its anagram:
sorry for the duplicate post; my computer stuttered.
Commiserations to all our Australian friends over the T20 World Cup! You played an outstanding game against Pakistan in the Semis – perhaps the most exciting international T20 game ever.
I know you’ll be back!
Well, for one reason or another (including my annual pilgrimage to help run the Team America Rocketry Challenge national finals flyoffs), I missed virtually all of the last iteration of The Thread© and the beginning of this one, along with most of the rest of Pharyngula for the better part of the last week.
So I missed saying Congratulations! not only to Kevin and Walton and Cerberus, but to Patricia as well. And probably others, too… so… consider well-wishes well wished, one and all!
Falyne (@144):
Hmm… it’s probably no more true that nobody’s really entirely straight than that nobody’s really bisexual.
However often they may coincide, beauty is not the same thing as sexual attractiveness: What feels good (or looks like it would feel good) is not always the same thing as what looks good. And even continua have ends.
For myself (and forgive me for partially repeating something I’ve said in another thread fairly recently), I can find other males beautiful in the same artistic sense that I see beauty in art or architecture or other physical forms, but I can honestly say I’ve never felt the slightest sexual desire for another man, nor have I ever had even theoretical fantasy interest in sexual interactions with other men. I don’t have any religious or political incentives to lie about this (including lying to myself), and here at Pharyngula, declaring myself to be fully straight feels more like a slightly shameful confession than any sort of self-congratulation. But it is what it is.
In our zeal (which I applaud) to be open and accepting, let’s not deny those of us poor, benighted souls at the zero end of the Kinsey scale. Does anybody doubt there are people who are entirely gay?
Blargh… Dentist…
Do they purposefully make those tools sound horrible?
Teeth are excellent by the way.
Oh hey, that reminds me of something.
The Geico Gecko does not have a Cockney accent. He has a broad South London accent (and Lord, may you build a steel wall between myself and those who think he has an Australian accent).
This is a Cockney accent.
Ol’Greg,
Awwww. Thank you.
Cake is awesome. :-)
There’s the reverse-suplex technique: smile archly and say, “Are you?”
Or, take the evasive approach: “My momma says it’s not polite to discuss politics, sex, or religion with strangers.”
Then there’s the half-truth approach: “Christian as in, Billy Graham-type Christian, or Jimmy Carter-type Christian? ‘Cause I’m not a Billy Graham-type Christian.”
Then there’s the best approach: “No.” That is best followed by a crisp about-face, and a composed and distinguished retreat.
Walton (@181):
Far more awesome, in point of fact, than death! ;^)
But oy! You’ve had that whole-eons-of-privilege thing going for you :p
In that situation I’m often not very big on tact… but then I don’t think that question is very tactful, so my replies tend to have a bit of barb:
● “Cannibalism is not my thing.”
● “Talking snakes are smarter.”
● “I’m a college-educated ape-descendant.”
I try to never start the answer with no, since—it seems to me—the remainder of the answer then isn’t heard.
A follow-up, if the idiot persists, is usually along the lines of “My original answer is perfectly understandable by people not in thrall to the drunken ramblings of Bronze Age shepherds.”
Josh: for playing wma files, the most informed person I know about audiobook players recommends either the Sansa Clip+ and the Sansa Fuze, both of which are apparently on sale at amazon at the moment.
KOPD: I think some Catholic schools still teach it. So, like, go undercover. Alternatively, become a botanist. Given, botanical Latin is not Cicero’s Latin, but there is no better language for describing a plant. Verbs are a pain in the ass anyway, so who needs ’em.
I took Latin through highschool because I didn’t want to speak in class**. Everyone said it would be worthless. Then I became a botanist! How you like me know, naysayers??
*Naysayers shrug: whatever, homes.*
AE is not satisfied with this.
**Written work is easier when one is continually high.
Thanks Becca. Unfortunately, I’ve had a Sansa player before, and I found it glitchy (software was awful) and shoddily constructed. Since I bought an ipod, I haven’t had those problems, and I’m not likely to buy another player for some time. Appreciate the tip, though.
Oh, yes. And mealy textured tomatos, also.
This year I’m trying to grow tomatos in a tub on the back porch. Hopefully they won’t realise that I’m in any way involved, so they won’t die.
Bill:
No. I think there’s a temptation to consider orientation being as fluid as sexuality. That can lead to some confusion now and then.
Josh @188: Well, if you find yourself hard up for audiobooks and need a .wma player, let me know. I’ve got three Creative Muvos (one currently on loan) and I’ll be happy to send you one of my extra ones. Anything to
feed an addictionthat is, encourage a hobby – particularly for someone who likes Pratchett.Dudes, I’m talking about an answer one can give 8 year olds when they ask if I’m a Christian. I might be the first atheist they’ve ever met; I’m almost certainly the first or one of a few enthusiastic-about-science adults that they’ve encountered. They’ve been indoctrinated by a bad combination of churches and NCLB test-focused education and I have five days to give them a slightly different perspective. If I just say no, there’s a good chance their minds just snap shut – one kid last year pulled out his cellphone to call him mom to come get him when I said that.
I’m already fully fluent in giving the Bronze Age bullshit response, but Patricia is a teacher in a conservative school district and deals with this nonsense with kids all the time. I suspect she’ll have a response that’s truthful and keeps the channels open.
Or is that too accommodationist of me?
Try asking them a question then.
“Are you a Christian”
gets
“What does that mean?” or “Can you describe a Christan to me?”
Then if they say something about them being good, or nice, or whatever you can say “Well I’m very nice, I promise” or “Well if that’s what that means then of course!”
I dunno cuz I’d just wing it. Kids are easy. Unless they’re very bright they can’t think off-script, and if they’re very bright they’re not a problem anyway.
I haven’t heard it described in quite this way before… :-/
=====
In British political news: arrgh. Iain Dale gets something totally and utterly wrong, with a knee-jerk rant against human rights legislation.
It’s a shame. Normally I really like Iain Dale’s blog, and consider him to be one of the brighter and more sensible British political commentators. But in this case, he has got entirely the wrong idea.
Rather I should have phrased that differently as it didn’t express my meaning very well.
Kids can’t help being prone to learning, open, and even a little vulnerable.
Unless they stick to a script this is default.
Sigh,
I’ve come to the conclusion that an anthropologist’s purpose is to derail anthropological discussion with vague pop culture stories, sex, and booze.
but… I’m not an anthropologist.
No, not in the context you’ve (now) described. My own less-than-tactful suggestions are clearly inappropriate to the situation and should be disregarded.
I like the idea of answering with questions, but don’t have any specific suggestion off-hand.
To be fair it’s more like the superstitions of Iron Age priests.
The as-it-now-exists edited and written form, yes. The original oral legends, not so clear.
You have to talk to kids in language they understand. I say:
“Duh, no? Gross.”
Quatsch! Why would you be in an anthropology class if you weren’t an anthropologist? For personal enrichment?! lol
Out-of-the-blue, plus I know this is old, but hey:
What if The Shining had been a romantic comedy?
Well, it seemed a nice short way of expressing the sentiment. I’m all for neologisms. I guess I coulda gone with “happy fappy” come to think of it.
I will keep all of your wonderful responses on the back of my eyelids while I repeat the well- rehearsed response which I hope to filch from Patricia.
The cool thing about this kind of quasi-accommodationism is that it actually works to open minds. The kid who almost called his mom when I said I wasn’t a Christian turned out to be the most enthusiastic about insects kid in the camp that year and when I talked to his dad at the end of the week, it turned out that he had a cousin in grad school at Cornell and the dad hadn’t thought that it was time to have the metaphor vs. reality talk yet. (Yes, I know it’d be easier not to have to have that talk, but it’s still progress.)
And for the past couple years I’ve done a geology and fossil program for a Christian school that actually brings its 5th graders from about 50 miles away to our little nature center. I include a lot of stuff on geological time and noncontinuities (or is it discontinuities?) and talk about the awe I feel when I go to the Smithsonian and see rocks that are almost 4 billion years old and meteorites that are older. No god, no YEC nonsense, and the great thing is that I found out this morning that the teacher actually requested that I do the program, despite the presence, on our staff, of an actual bona fide YEC “naturalist.”
So all those silly accommodationists should just stop talking about religion at all and teach the damn science already.
The smallpox vaccination may help a lot in AIDS prevention. It provides immunity against a protein that the HIV uses to enter white blood cells.
In mice and (by parsimony) men, adipose tissue is not the same thing in the male and the female version. Specifically, the male version is a lot more dangerous. Even more specifically, bluntly even, a phat ass can apparently even protect against certain health problems (according to an earlier paper). :-)
And I just watched the Simpsons episode with the cardboard fort and the LOTR attack on it. Cramped jaw muscles.
Oh, and, it appears that the EU is going to introduce the Tobin Tax. 0.01 % taxes on financial transactions, supposed to bring in 90 billion €, and further supposed to put a damper on the crisis-triggering activities of hedge funds.
I did say “bread”, didn’t I. =8-)
Oh yes. And Order Of The Stick, which kept me up till past 4 am twice. And Hello Cthulhu, and The Noob Comic…
</TMI>
The alt-text cracks me up… that is so totally me, except – fortunately! – I’ve never visited cracked.com.
It all suddenly makes sense if you learn Russian first. I did. Did you know “horrorshow” is a pun…?
The K is her grandmother, not her. Her publisher insisted on a middle initial. X-D X-D X-D Sorry, culture shock.
Win.
What I just said.
Several glands are involved. The testes are just one pair of them.
Would require a rather powerful microscope, AFAIK.
<facepalm> X-)
Congratulations, you’re now one of the mad, mad women of Pharyngula, as Sili put it in September.
Nope. Yellow apples aren’t rare. (Red pears are, though.)
“Utilissima”? LOL!!!
That’s double.
Looking at sperm seems to be a pretty frequent gigglelicious exercise for high school biology students learning to use a microscope.
I left it for our public healthcare. Looked like a pretty standard ‘scope to me, but I didn’t ask for a peak at the objectives.
What the hell are you doing while you watch the Simpsons? Cracking walnuts?
I inspect for homunculi. I am no fsking ovist.
*Dances around wildly in a Maenad-style whirlwind, cackling madly*
Oh, and I’m of the will-waste-hours-on-Cracked-and-TVTropes mental variety. Wikipedia, too. It’s all in the tabs, the exponential growth of the tabs…
The Problem with Wikipedia:
http://xkcd.com/214/
And, you’re right, I overreached a bit with the “most of us ‘straight’ people are probably somewhat bi” thing. Sorry.
I do think it’s an awful, awful lot of the population, though. Heteronormative social pressure alone will keep folks from even considering it.
David:
No. Enlighten me, please.
On the whole Latin thing, I have 3 handmade silver bands with sayings stamped in them. One reads Non Temetis Messor and another reads Nihil Privatus. ;D
хорошо (pronounced: “horosho”) is the Russian word for “good”. That movie used a lot of Russian words as “slang” such as “droogs” for friends.
Falyne:
That’s always possible. Speaking as a bisexual, I think those who come out have strong enough feelings to recognize they may end up involved with a same sex partner, so it’s best to come out of the closet. People who might be curious or simply like to experiment I would tend to class as more sexually fluid, not orientation fluid. I could have easily passed as hetero these last 30+ years, but chose not to do that. I knew before I was 10 that I wasn’t hetero.
American dark rye is no more bread than the white varieties. it’s just as squishy, fluffy and crust-less; it’s just black.
KOPD:
Fabulous. Thank you.
Oh FSM… this is the most delicious dinner I’ve cooked in a long time..
Jadehawk:
Not the black rye I get – round, uncut with a good crust.
Years ago my brother had a girlfriend who was very childlike. They would watch many PG rated movies together, especially Disney animations (e.g, The Lion King, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, etc.). I had rented Clockwork Orange and my brother asked if they would enjoy it. I smiled and said yes. Apparently, they only made it to the attempted gang rape scene and he was pretty pissed with me for the next few days.
Mattir – you don’t have to answer them at all. When they ask you, ask back “Why do you ask?” then answer whatever their real question is. If it’s whether you personally will go to Heaven, tell them that they don’t have to worry about that for you. If it’s whether they’re a good person, tell them you try to be, and they can judge for themselves if you treat them well. Etc. If they press, tell them that your mother taught you that it’s rude to discuss one’s religion, so you won’t. And besides, you only have so much time with them, and so much else to talk about, so let’s get back to it.
The USAian edition (which Kubrick based his movie on) or the British edition? The endings are very different.
What I cannot recall is if both editions had a Nadsat glossary. I seem to recall one of them didn’t, but my memory is too fuzzy…
No problem, Caine.
Now if only my Russian was good enough to be up to the task of finding guitar tablature for this band.
Bwahahahahaha!
A little research could have spared him anyway. Bet he didn’t ask again.
Oh man I have a low threshold for Disney movies.
Pan-fried Ginger Pork:
Pork chops
Snow peas – with ends trimmed off
Onion
Beansprouts
Vegetable oil
Marinade:
Soy sauce
Mirin
Sake
Ginger
After defrosting, wrap the pork chops in plastic wrap and freeze for 2 hours (it’ll make sense in a minute.)
Prepare the marinade, putting equal parts soy sauce, mirin, and sake with freshly grated ginger AND the juice of the ginger. Half of this will be for the marinade and other half is for the sauce (don’t reuse marinades that have had raw pork in it – eww.)
Cut the pork into thin slices about an eighth of an inch thick and an inch and a half in length. Set these into a plastic bag along with the marinade. Soak in the marinade for 15 minutes.
Heat the oil on medium-high in a pan. Cut the onion into half-moon slices and cook for three minutes. Add the pork a few at a time and cook until they are golden – move these to a plate. When all the pork is done, put the onions and pork on the plate.
Pour the remaining marinade into the pan and simmer until it reduces by 1/3rd. Put the snow peas, beansprouts, pork, and onions in the pan and cook on medium-high for 2 minutes. (Try to keep them separate if you care about presentation.)
Pile the beansprouts on the plate and lay the pork, peas, and onions on top. Dredge with the remaining sauce and enjoy. Serve with cold sake.
blf:
British version, both times I read it. I first read it when I was around 11/12 years old. I didn’t see the movie until I was in my 20s, and was surprised that the whole ending was left off. I guess Kubrick thought it was more shocking that way, but I always thought the actual ending would be more controversial with audiences.
That being said, once when I was a little girl I found Watership Down in the kids section of the local Blockbuster and picked it up for us to rent.
I was so damned young. And when the bunnies started dying and bleeding and facing war… well let’s just say it was a FML kind of night.
in that case, I want to know where you’re getting it from, because I WANT.
There’s nothing worth calling “bread” anywhere in this town.
No bread in E. Texas either. I could live on good bread and coffee*.
*Coffee can be shitty, as long as it’s acidic and caffeinated.
Giggles…
Yonks ago, after the now-defunct MOMI (Musuem Of the Moving Image) had opened in London, I went with a friend visiting from the States. I don’t really recall much of MOMI other than I got to see a Dalek up close and personal (but sadly inert); however, one bit of snark now comes to mind: There was a mock-up of a cinema entrance with a schedule listing various well-known films. I happened to spot the very last film in the list was Clockwork Orange, which I thought was a bit cheeky since, at that time, it still could not be shown in the UK.†
† When the film originally opened in the UK, there were several incidents of violence blamed on the film. The police asked Kubrick to withdraw the film; he then asked Warner Brothers to withhold permission for any more showings in the UK (and Ireland), and they agreed. That ban stayed in effect—and was enforced‡—until after his death, when his widow(? family? estate?) agreed to a request to lift the ban. I was living in Ireland at the time, and promptly went to one of the first legal showings there in decades.
‡ Around the time of visit to MOMI, a cinema went bankrupt(?) due to a fine for an illicit showing of the film.
I don’t remember where you live but most larger groceries here have an actual bakery with real bread in it?
I would assume she gets it there?
I make a lot of my own most recently, but there are several stores I could stop by to buy real bread as opposed to that weird aged sponge cake sold in the aisles.
But I don’t know the stores in your state to suggest any. And I also may be privileged in that sense because I live in a large city. I don’t know how big your town is either :P Still seems like there’d be a bakery in it.
Maybe google it?
My understanding is Kubrick didn’t know of the real ending when he scripted the movie. It had been omitted from the USAian edition by the publisher (and I seem to recall it made Burgess very irate, albeit he agreed to the cut at the time).
Jadehawk:
I get my fix from some old lady bakers who bake part time for Stoner’s grocery in Hazen. I do occasionally indulge in bread from Zingermans.com, they have great Jewish rye.
Jadehawk is in Minot, ND. I’m in Almont. I travel 68 miles for my rye bread.
blf:
It certainly would have made me irate. I wonder why it was omitted in the first place…time to do a search, I think.
Wow! Not even your local Walmart makes it?
Amazing.
I can’t fathom living that remotely! It must be very different. I’d like to live in a larger city actually. But frankly there’s very few things I really can’t get in Dallas. I used to commute 40 miles every day and then back though so I can relate.
there’s a grocery store with a bakery. what they bake cannot be described, in good conscience, as bread. Seriously, if you can squeeze it out of shape, and it then bounces back into its original shape, it’s not bread.
What grocery store do you go to jadehawk? My local grocer provides authentic french breads, chiffon cake, pan dulce,
LOL!
I guess a lot of people are afraid of the crust. Yeah that makes sense. Soft soft soft.
Reminds me of the fetish for that nasty weird yellow “butter flavored” spread.
a local one; anyway, they do bake something they call French Bread, but since it doesn’t crunch when you squeeze it, it’s not French Bread (and it does the creepy bouncing-back thing, too)
Ugh. I hate mass-produced sliced bread, especially the kind with a really soft crust. I’ve never been able to stand the stuff.
Thankfully, most supermarkets in the UK now have a bakery section with fresh crusty rolls, baguettes and the like, often freshly-baked in the store. Again, though, I’m lucky to live in an urban area with lots of choice.
It is truly nasty. But I didn’t know it was common there?
I thought it was a US thing. There’s something very space age about that bread, very cold war, very… futurepast.
really good rye bread isn’t that hard to make. I’ve got a couple of wonderful recipes including one called Third Bread that uses wheat flour, rye flour, and corn meal, with honey and molasses as sweetner. Someone said of it once that it’s not a loaf of bread, it’s a meal… nice and chewy.
btw, someone talk me into not going over to the Sunday Sacrilege thread for awhile. Godlessfeminist seems to insist on misunderstanding what I say.
Oh man, bread. There is no good bread in Morris, either. It was the one thing I missed when I moved here from Philadelphia.
All the bread here is doughy, soft, and fluffy, with negligible crust. Rye bread has a sort of rye flavor, but it’s got the same texture as Wonder Bread. For a brief while, the local store actually got in some loaves that were chewy with crunchy crusts…and then the store for some reason replaced that brand with some other brand that brought us back to Wonder Bread mode.
Ooh, and hoagie and kaiser rolls…we can’t get those here, either.
I have to agree with you on this one… a French baguette should definitely be crunchy. And it definitely should not bounce back into shape after being squeezed. :-/
The average quality of bread in the UK has certainly improved a lot even in my lifetime. Mass-produced sliced bread (of the Kingsmill or Hovis variety) used to be more ubiquitous when I was a little kid. Now you can get decent fresh bread in most supermarkets.
on that note though, I have a bread-related story to tell:
a couple weeks back when the boyfriend was visiting his family, his mom had just finished baking bread (one of those quick-breads, rather than a yeast bread), and was pissed off because one of them didn’t work out right; she was gonna feed it to the chickens. My boyfriend picked up that loaf that supposedly didn’t work out right, and immediately realized that I would totally love that bread. How did he know? Because the loaf was heavy.
:-p
oh man… Hazen is a tad too far south… I rarely get further south than Garrison :-p But I’ll look up the website once they’re back up
Four words: The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.
Alan B:
Ah ha, my new personal motto! Once again, I got home from work and cracked open the Ten Cane rum. Why? It’s a rainy tuesday, work sucks, and dammit, I’m not pregnant yet!
To go back to Chuck Palahniuk: I gave him a shot. Hell, I wanted to like him. But there’s only so much narcissistic bullshit I can take before I get bitter.
It seems to me that he shot his wad on Fight Club, which is too bad, considering it was his first novel.
On my list of reasons why I love upstate New York:
Real bread and real bagels.
I’m sorry to hear that you guys can’t get your hands on decent bread. :(
Bread
*runs*
All that talk about bread, not to forget the marinated pork, increased my appetite beyond my lack of hunger. I’m now munching cornflakes… no, not Kellogg’s, because Kellogg’s are not only more expensive than the generics, they’re sweet. When I want Frosties, I go all the way and eat Frosties*, thankyouverymuch!!!
* That latter part hasn’t happened in the last… easily 10 years, though.
Bad grammar.
Laughing.
Hard.
Haven’t watched Aladdin, but The Little Mermaid is remarkably brutal, and The Lion King blatantly preaches the Divine Right of Kings. “Never forget who you are“… <headdesk>
QFT.
The latter, alas, doesn’t follow from the former. Paris and its surroundings are chock full of actual bakeries, but, unless you count baguette (which is great as an occasional treat, but unsuitable as staple food), good bread is exceedingly rare; in fact, it’s easier to find in supermarkets, and there it’s rare, too.
(Of course I confirm that French bread crunches when you try to squeeze it, and distributes crumbs all over the place. Baguette is rather extreme in this regard even when fresh… and it’s only good when fresh. It’s baked twice a day for the supermarkets.)
…Wow. Are you sure you shouldn’t invest in baking your own?
US and British.
…psssst… bread is not supposed to be sweet. You’re supposed to be able to eat it with sausage, ham, bacon. If you want it sweet at the moment, put butter and honey on your slice.
And… corn meal in a rye bread? I can’t imagine that’s good. Actual corn bread, though, is good – looks like rye bread, only satiated yellow instead of brown. Never had any again since we were in Istria in 1993.
And? Did you like it? :-)
Becca,
I wouldn’t worry… given that (IIRC) she expressed admiration for Trotsky in her first post on the thread, I rather suspect she’s a slightly unhinged ideologue. :-/
I’ve been avoiding that thread, but on a quick skim-read, it looks to me like she’s being entirely unreasonable in her responses to you. (She somehow seems to have interpreted “Goodness, Godlessfeminist (@315) I think you’ve been unfortunate in the men you’ve met” as “So you think that this is reducible to isolated experiences of only a very tiny few women who are somehow “defective” in some way?”)
Damn it, I’m as unable to contribute to a conversation on bread as I am to one on science, so it’s time for a pop culture anecdote; I was watching an episode of FlashForward last night – I’ve only just realised there’s little point, since it’s officially been cancelled – and there was a Big Lebowski reference in it.
How cool is that? Obviously it wasn’t enough to save the show, though.
Ah. Looks like it’s time for blogpimping again.
I haven’t visited that thread since my latest comment there, though. Maybe tomorrow, but I doubt it, I have a manuscript to write (…among… a scary amount of other things). Right now I’ll go to bed, it’s really late enough (past 1 am).
For what it’s worth, many Cambodians think that those industrially produced bread are a delicacy. I personally feel that Cambodian produced bread is too milky in flavor.
Ol’Greg:
Uh, I wouldn’t know. There’s one of those monstrous walmarts in Bismarck, but I’ve never been in it. I don’t support Walmart. Anyway, I’m 55 miles from Bismarck.
It is. I was born (and lived most of my life) in Southern California. Almont has a population of 79 (204 if you include the outlying farms.) There’s a gas station, a bank and a saloon. Every house has a generous amount of property, lots and lots of trees and every single one is different. No cookie cutter houses. No one cares about your business here, there aren’t any cops. Here is the Mayor of Almont, Russ. Gives you an idea of Almont. We’re a town of eccentrics. ;D
YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR ELEMENT, WOWBAGGER!
David – don’t knock my third bread until you’ve tried it. it isn’t sweet at all – makes wonderful sandwiches – but you’ve gotta feed the yeasty-beasties something so they’ll grow. And the wheat-corn-rye mixture works very nicely too. It’s not a RYE-RYE bread, it’s it’s own thing, and one we’re very fond of.
I don’t make it much anymore. DH is diabetic, and his exercise/diet control has slipped badly this past year, so we’re being very careful about our carbs until he’s back under control again.
I don’t blame you. Over here we have Tesco, a godawful giant supermarket chain that now controls a hefty share of the UK groceries retail market. Like many of their counterparts around the world, they’ve gone for size over customer-friendliness: many Tesco stores are now absolutely vast, sell everything from tinned beans to DVD players, and are so confusing and horribly-designed that it takes hours to find anything you need. (The giant Tesco store in my hometown introduced rollerskates for its staff, as it would otherwise take them too long to get around the store. I am not kidding.) And, of course, they drive prices to the bottom by exploiting agricultural producers as much as possible.
Thankfully, we have some decent food stores as well. Waitrose (part of the John Lewis co-operative partnership) is good, as is Marks and Spencer (which is primarily a department store, but has a food section).
David:
They are both a bit of a joke. Non Temetis Messor is the Death of Discworld’s motto; Nihil Privatus is the motto of the Assassins’ Guild, which I’ve been a member of for some years.
It’s hard to find a good marble rye…
David: The “Latatian” in the Discworld books is, by Terry Pratchett’s own admission, “very bad doggy Latin”. The whimsical linguistic flights of fancy are part of the joke. (See also “Fabricati Diem, Pvnc”, and “Ad Hoc Possum Videre Domum Tuum.”)
(Or even “Stercus, stercus, stercus, moriturus sum.”)
Walton:
Yes, I hear about Tesco quite often on Moblog. When the Walmart in Bismarck super-sized, the Target store decided they had to do the same. Just looking at the buildings makes me feel exhausted – no one needs that much crap.
There is almost no grocery competition here. It’s all Super-Valu, which are franchised, I think. There’s one non-Super-Valu in Mandan, but there’s very little difference in stock or price. Oh, there’s a Cashwise too. That’s it. Almost all of the small grocery stores have been run out of business.
Oh, I forgot “Quanti canicula ille in fenestra?”,* the official motto of Ankh-Morpork.
(From memory, of having read the Discworld Encyclopedia some three years ago, the motto – “How much is that doggy in the window?” – was introduced in a past century by a mad King whose only other two suggestions were “Bdum bdum bdum bdum” and “I think I want my potty now.” His advisors chose the one that sounded best in translation. This is probably on the Pratchett wiki, but at nearly 1am I can’t be bothered to check.)
OurDeadSelves wrote:
Calmer than you, Dude. Calmer than you.
*shrugs*
I don’t either, but probably for different reasons.
But a lot of people around me say their bakery is good so I figure maybe it is.
I had a mild sense of conflicted interests when one of our companies secured a large and highly exclusive contract with Walmart though.
Luckily for my *interests* we don’t own many companies that have products in retail anyway.
Okay I know this is going all the way back to #1 but……
Who’s on first. This comedy bit is responsible for the first time I actually felt old. No joke here, had a tape called “Radio Reruns” with the routine. Was listening to it on my WalkMan when one of the kids in the dorm asked me what I was listening to: I say “Abbot and Costello” to which he replies “I like Elvis Costello too” like that was the oldest thing he could think of.
Wowbagger, what is flashforward?
Oh and has anyone seen Celtic_Evolution?
Wait, what’s a WalkMan?
*runs and hides!*
Celtic_Evolution was in the Donahue thread earlier.
Nice try OurDeadSelves, my days of feeling old are over. Age (sometimes) is just a number. :-)
@ Mattir
Thanks for the tip on the Eve thread. I appreciate it.
I spent much of today mulling this over and decided to not change it.
I’m trying to say this in a positive way, because I enjoy the clever pseudonyms many people have here. But as I mulled this over I realized that a major thing I like about Pharyngula is that it seems like a safe place for atheists. There’s a part of me that likes using my real name here. Maybe it’s kind of a baby step in coming out as an atheist for me.
Ol’Greg wrote:
It’s a (now-cancelled) tv series – not sure what network it was on in the US – which had, as its premise, that all over the world everyone blacked out for just over two minutes – but in that time had a vision of what they were doing on a day several months in the future. Afterwards, a branch of the FBI was tasked with working out what happened.
Kind of a woo/science show with definite Lost-inspired qualities. It wasn’t brilliant by any means, but I was intrigued enough to keep watching; sadly, there weren’t enough other people who shared that opinion – hence the cancellation.
Here’s the Wikipedia page for it.
Haha… Kirk if you hadn’t said anything I’d have assumed your name was a Star Trek reference anyway.
Yeah… names are a passing thing to me too but it was confusing enough that I changed mine once so I’ll hold on to Ol’Greg and frankly I’ve grown fond of it anyway.
Maybe I should change my real name to Greg.
Well, like many other Disney movies,they caucasianized many of the lead characters. Speaking of which….
The 9 Most Racist Disney Characters
A while back Piltdown Man wrote that children having an easier time understanding monarchy* than democracy or republicanism was a good argument for monarchy. o_0
* Hence one of the reasons for its prevalence in children’s tales.
wait. Flashforward got cancelled? shit.
Caine,
To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the two books my high school curriculum required, so I have read (and enjoyed) it.
Interesting. How far is it to the nearest town? I spend most of my time in a village somewhat larger than that, but there’s no gas station. OTOH, it’s only 5 miles to the gas station in a nearby town.
JefferyD,
Thanks for the additional sites. I’m bookmarking them :)
Flex,
Thanks for the recommendations! It’s time to download some (legal) free books! Having a list at hand is something that’s immensely useful to me. I often think to myself that I need to get/read a book, but I forget what I wanted by the time I’m somewhere to download (or buy) it.
Paul W.,
There’s always public wi-fi with no sign-on to download stuff that may not be legal here. I copy and pasted Nineteen Eighty-four off of an Australian site.
Ol’Greg,
They no longer taught it at my alma mater. In fact, I’ve attended a school that taught Latin.
Bigger than Dallas? Wow, that’s not many cities in the US. If you go by MSA, you’re only looking at Chicago, LA and NYC. City proper would be Philly, and a couple of others…I could google it, but I’m feeling lazy.
Josh,
Really? I use my two Sansa players for working-out and I’ve loved them. Both have been dropped multiple times and are just fine. Also, they’re far less expensive than my ipod (gift!), so I don’t worry nearly as much about breaking them. :)
GHP,
How long did it take you to come to that conclusion?
There’s also the long tangents about the gross things they ate while doing fieldwork during a discussion of ethnocentrism.
Walton,
I heard even Wal-mart couldn’t compete and filed a complaint against Tesco for unfair business practices or some such.
ODS,
Oh no you didn’t! I had a WalkMan (well, not a real one, an imitation) and later a DiscMan (again, an imitation) many years ago. Mp3 players are so much better since you don’t have to haul around tapes or CDs! It would have made traveling for band easier.
About bread, I usually buy mine from Panera or the local bakery (depending on what time of day I’m buying. The local place closes earlier) Panera’s French bread doesn’t bounce back, and neither does their sourdough. The everything bagels, though, aren’t that great. One of the things I really liked about Germany was the bread and the salami.
Yeah, my sentiments exactly. I’d be less annoyed by it if I knew someone, somewhere would publish what the writers were eventually going to do with it (i.e who caused the flashforward and why and how it was all going to end) but I don’t expect that to happen.
At least we got more of it than Firefly. Oh, on all things Whedon: I was recently buoyed by the news that Joss will be directing the upcoming The Avengers film for Disney/Marvel.
Pygmy Loris:
18 miles to Glen Ullin, 22 miles to New Salem, 55 miles to Mandan/Bismarck. Glen Ullin and New Salem have grocery stores, hardware stores, etc.
Sheesh, picky picky picky. Is it possible to make peanut-buttered toast with “real” bread? If not, then I’m not interested.
@ Ol’Greg
I’m laughing and crying at the same time.
Re-mulling my decision.
I think I’ll go watch Galaxy Quest again for a diversion.
Caine,
I figured it would be farther between towns in the sparsely populated north :) The nearest hardware store, Wal-mart and such are about 13 miles from here, but there’s a general store if you’re around between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM M-Sat. Interestingly, the nearest grocery store is a Mexican one. The town with a gas station also has lots of migrant agricultural workers, so there’s an actual Mexican restaurant and small grocery in a town of 1,000 people. I go there all the time for chilies and Coke with real sugar in it :)
Pygmy Loris, we’re kind of tucked away sideways from the nearest towns, in a little valley. I’d just about kill for actual Mexican food. One thing about ND, it’s about the whitest place there is.
Oh I hope so.
Because that is funny.
lol
oh god, yes.
but at least the grocery store does stock mexican coke.
Caine,
But I thought that was just the snow. :P
Mexican food. Yes. One thing I do like here is the sheer variety of Mexican food I can access. Mmmmm…
I came close to moving to NYC for grad school. I was going to go to Hunter but changed my mind at the last minute. Sealed my fate as far as finishing grad school, but a moment of logistic brilliance in some ways. I dunno. Maybe not.
Maybe I’d have found a way over there and the distance would have protected me as the shit hit the fan with my family one last time.
I doubt it though. Probably would have been a lot worse, and to be honest my mom would have been SOL.
So yeah, I figured something would fall apart and it did. Good call :/
Now I don’t care anymore. I think I want to save my money for a little while and then live in Berlin for a year.
Pygmy Loris:
:D ‘Fraid not. The whiteness was real culture shock for quite a while.
My local library only has about 15-20 of Pratchett’s books. At least they had the one I was looking for.
my library doesn’t have any, so STFU, m’kay? ;-)
We have a lot of Mexican/Central/South American restaurants in our area. That’s not surprising considering most of the new small businesses are geared toward and owned by the recent immigrants.
Nerd:
If there’s one thing I miss about SoCal (besides the ocean) it’s the wide variety of food. You don’t know how much you miss Mexican or Korean or Japanese etc. foods until you don’t have them anymore.
Maybe I’m just weird (but then I frequent Pharyngula!), but I’ll take my own home made bread over almost any other. The one cookbook that I probably use more than any other is called “The Italian Baker”. And I keep a container of biga (an Italian version of sourdough starter) in my fridge and use it often enough to not have it go bad.
But as much as I love European style breads, the one I make most often is a version of naan that you grill on the barbecue. It’s so easy and so delish!
Naan
Ingredients
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
Directions
1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
2. Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3. During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.
4. At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.
Stories from inside the dying cult of $cientology. The comments are quite interesting, several of them stating the equivalence between this cult and the mainstream churches.
On leaving asian/mexican food behind: 7 years ago, I left southern CA to spend 5 years in Central Pennsyltucky.
After I realized my college town was, by virtue of being a college town, the cultural center of the surrounding area, I ran like FUCKBALLS to NYC.
About two months later I was literally sick of eating Unagi. And that was a damn good sensation.
(I’m now back in San Diego, so I get the nummy food, plus the awesome weather, plus family, plus family drama, minus the whole center-of-the-universe thing. It was a bittersweet move.)
All this, and wildfires and droughts, too! :)
First of all, I have been belated in my congratulations for Kevin, Walton, & Cerberus.
On the subject of bread, the M family had goats for several years. We would buy the fluffy sandwich bread stuff for kids to feed to the goats, and to this day the Spawn call that stuff Goat Bread. It’s actually sort of a treat, since we almost never get it. The only thing that it’s good for is toasting and smearing with beluga, but since there is basically no legal caviar anymore (which is as it should be), there’s really no excuse for such bread.
And fiscal implosions! :-D
(But also zoological niftiness. And oceans. And mountains. And weather of goodness. So, yeah.)
Oh! Totally random baking question. I just bought a set of Star Wars themed cookie cutters, and want to make a batch for some bodies of mine. Does anyone have any tasty cookie-cutter-ready cookie recipes?
Oh, and no peanut butter. I love peanut butter on its own, or in nearly every other form, but for some reason, I can’t stand peanut butter cookies. Yick.
And, oh yeah, there was a minor earthquake felt here earlier today, too.
@Mattir, 173
Don’t know if this was intended for me but since I am a science teacher and I have been asked this question I’ll put in my two cents. (Wrote that before I read more of thread, I now am fairly sure this is directed at me. So here is a go.)
To start with, I am most commonly asked questions about biblical conflicts with something I have just talked about, age of earth, big bang theory, and evolution (years ago when I taught 7th grade). These are the easy ones since I simply explain that this being a science class we look at the evidence, and the evidence and the best explanation for that evidence is ….. . I have enough science background and know enough specifics of the research that I can give multiple examples of evidence and how it is explained with whatever theory/principle I am discussing.
BTW I love talking about the Atomic theory since it is such a good example of how science has been “wrong”, but how new evidence increased our understanding improving the original atomic theory. How it has been modified to best explain the vast amounts of new evidence over the years. It also is another good time to tell the students how much more they know than the best minds 100 and more years ago. And generally this isn’t a controversial topic. I can subtly insert ideas about how science works without raising the religious defensiveness.
When I taught life science I would do something similar with structures that improve survival, how competition affects the survival of individuals and how populations of predators and prey osculate before mentioning evolution since they were far more receptive BEFORE evolution is mentioned.
Harder is when they ask me what I think, or if I believe in the Bible or which church I go to. I live in a conservative enough place that I don’t think it occurs to them to ask if I am Christian as opposed to Muslim or Buddhist or even Jewish. Not that there aren’t teachers here of those faiths but that they take the default position that we are all Christians. When confronted directly with a personal question I try to turn the question into the easier to answer (got the answer to that one down). But first I talk about how I am not there to instruct them in my beliefs or customs. That it isn’t appropriate for me to impose them onto my students. (BTW this goes over very well with the defensive ones.) I relate it to political views, and social views that the class isn’t about me passing on these either. Then I go back to this is about science and in science we look at evidence and form theory based on the best explanation of the evidence. I also tell them that I am not withholding information because I am ashamed but because I don’t think it is appropriate. I say when they are no longer my student, if we encounter each other outside the school, I will be happy to discuss any off this with them.
Most importantly I try to emphasis that my job is to teach them how science works. I try to get them to follow how theories change over time with new evidence. This in an attempt to get them to think about the world from a more scientific perspective.
Hope this helps.
Falyne:
Aah, earthquakes. Been a long time since I’ve felt the earth rumble.
Hooray for Patricia. Now I just have to rehearse that, which engraving the snarky ones on my eyelids. I really love doing summer camps, because some of the kids I get haven’t ever had a chance to enjoy learning. A few even get put into the camp as day care because their parents wanted the cost and convenience. By the end of the week, they’ve collected and pinned bugs, held a tarantula, learned to use a binary key, taken photos and movies of bugs, used digital microscopes, unreeled silk cocoons, dyed silk scarves with cochineal bugs, eaten fried mealworms, and learned a lot of latin and greek word roots. Plus they’ve absorbed the lesson that they should have as much of an “unmediated experience of nature” as possible (EO Wilson’s prescription for nature education – I explain it and call it UMEON in camp) and that learning is the most pleasurable thing that humans do. (Plus that gives learning a certain naughty quality which is very appealing.)
Oh for fuck’s sake:
An arrested al-Queda operative just announced that al-Queda has been planning to attack the Danish football team and their fans at the World Cup, because, you know, those nasty old cartoons 5 fucking years ago.
Just finished writing about it for a blogging gig for the Danish national team, but golram!
It was 5 fucking years ago and it was a fucking picture. People are dropping actual bombs on your head and you’ve still got the mother of all hate-ons for a fucking racist cartoon. What the hell is wrong with you people?
These fuckers and their “unending jihad” over the “unforgivable insult” that has made Denmark terrorist target number one for the last 5 fucking years have yet to succeed (and I’m betting that’s half the insult these days) and by continuing to drag this shit out, they make themselves and their religion look as idiotic and reality-detached as the Catholic Church.
Not to mention this can’t be helping Danish muslims who get to be placed on additional surveillance and scrutiny to make sure they’re not part of the nutjob brigade, the nutjob brigade that most of them fled from to come to Denmark.
I think the most apropros bit was the fact that they regarded the World Cup as “an obvious terrorist goal”. Yup, world-wide unifying sporting event equals “hey, we’ll get a lot of press for our hate cause”. It’s like a perfect map of how empty and stupid their lives have become that things like unity and joy can’t be regarded as anything other than a means to a political end (and yes that would be a stealth conservative reference).
Seriously, what the fuck?
@Mattir, 301
Glad it helped and please excuse the typo/tense errors. (I swear I proof, just not well enough.)
On another topic mentioned much earlier. Doesn’t take much magnification to see sperm. I borrowed a microscope from our school to look at the sperm when I was doing AI. Our microscopes aren’t that great.
And from another earlier topic, of messaging in children’s stories. When he was much smaller my son loved Thomas the Tank engine. Always creeped me out a little since I saw it as a defense of slavery. Any one else ever see the parallels between the way they talked about the trains and how slaves were discussed.
And finally been battling a migraine for last day. Good news is seems to be receding. (Yeah since there is nothing quite like trying to teach 8th graders with a migraine.) But the discussion of bread has reawakened my appetite (can’t eat much when head hurts and stomach upset). So I have gone in search of bread in my house. Ate some homemade biscotti, two slices of cheese bread (all that was left), an english muffin and now have some corn bread in the oven. How is that for a balanced dinner?
Religion, it fucks up your brain.
FYI Sestak beat Specter and Lincoln will need to go into a runoff election with Halter.
Pygmy @304
Yeah, I know. The whole thing reminds me of the Olympic bombing by Eric Rudolph as well. Another case of religion poisoning the brain so that a unifying world-wide sporting event became just a place to advertise his hate cult against women (because of the Babeez donchaknow).
It’d probably make a good general test to see if religious bullshit has completely robbed you of your humanity. Show a picture of an international scene of unity or friendly competition, if they respond with excitement or indifference, they’re more or less human, if they respond that that would make a great target for political leverage, THEY’VE LOST THEIR FUCKING HUMANITY.
Grargh. Besides, no one hurts our players, this momma bear won’t stand for it.
Thomas is a machine. A very useful one.
FYI Sestak beat Specter and Lincoln will need to go into a runoff election with Halter.
without looking at context…
I’m imagining chicken chariot races.
…conveniently ignoring the word “election”.
Besides, no one hurts our players, this momma bear won’t stand for it.
just so long as you don’t start calling yourself “mama grizzly”…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/sarah-palin/7725912/Sarah-Palin-calls-on-mama-grizzlies-to-help-Republicans-win-election.html
This song suddenly popped into my head just now:
Beast of Burden
Ichthyic @309
Blink.
Blink blink blink.
Billy Bob Gringo in the Sky, that woman is an insane moron.
One shameful admission before bed:
Today was the day for local school board elections and budget vote.
… I did not vote.
Cerberus,
Good idea. We do need a reliable method of determining who has lost their humanity so that Atheistland (ya know, that place where we can all live without religionists fucking with us) won’t be infiltrated. :)
Isn’t this what the Gom Jabbar is for? Paging Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam and her black box…
Pygmy @313
It’ll be part of the entrance exam. That’ll be the first question.
The second one will ask the following question:
“Someone you know is having problems and needs help, do you A)Offer genuine material aid and comfort or B)Pray them through their troubles”
Anyone answering B will be shown the door as well.
And it is way way way too late here, so I’m going to make another attempt at getting a little sleep after failing to do so earlier this evening. I’ll set my alarm for noon so I don’t screw up my sleep schedule any worse than it already is.
Billy Bob Gringo in the Sky, that woman is an insane moron.
sadly, she’s the people’s choice.
well, ok, the teabagger’s choice.
I’m still finding it difficult to call teabagger’s “people”.
I had my suspicions when the professor told us about her binge drinking after her thesis.
Ah yes those. My favorite derailment occurred when discussing how the archeologist was pissing blood before he found San Bartolo. Because you know, we all run the risk to pissing blood while on the field.
Cerberus,
Can we add one more question just to weed out libertarians or would that be covered under “lost their fucking humanity?”
GHP,
:P
LOL. The greatest risk I ran while in the field was tick-borne illness, but that doesn’t make for a very good story.
I really have to go to bed and pray that FSM and IPU will poke some sense into that creepy christian rape weirdo. Since I’ve concluded that it’d be unethical to harm the fool myself, perhaps the divine appendages will make some new orifices.
simply too weird NOT to post here…
I’m still recovering from the viewing.
@Ichthyic – there is not enough merino-based castigation to make up for that link.
there is not enough merino-based castigation to make up for that link.
we’ll see…
I haven’t shown it to her.
yet.
*owwwwww*
OOOFF!
OK, OK, I promise to never show that again mistress!
Yay! Weird Star Trek music video sing-along!
@Ichthyic
That is quite possibly the greatest video I have ever seen. I had a good laugh.
That was way too heinous for merino.
This calls for chastisement with the scratchy corriedale.
Hah. Corriedale’s too good for him. I’m getting out the itchy felted Punishment Shorts.
Mongolian Feltism…
whoaaaaaaaa doooooodddddd…..
Caine, Fleur du mal said on the Creepiest Christian comment yet thread:
I quite agree that it will be rocky in America.
And so my question: Was the loss of religion “rocky” in Europe or just an accumulation of ambivalence over time?
procrastinator:
That’s a good question, and I’ll leave that to those Pharyngulites who can answer best. One thing that has been pointed out before is that countries who did (and do) have an official religion seemed to come out of religious stupor first.
I always thought the first amendment was a good thing. Now its historical impact is to prolong our religious stupor? Talk about unintended consequences.
A GOP candidate for congress wrote on his Facebook page:
Worst, his actual name: Brad Goehring.
He’s no Ted Poe I tell you.
Ichthyic, you dared to link to Leonard Nemoy singing Bilbo Baggins. You have to see what someone did to that video.
O.o
can’t make this shit up… I really hope this will lead to the GOP implosion I’ve been promised, not to the radicalization of the U.S.
it’s 200 years of increasing ambivalence and exporting the crazies to the colonies.
But make no mistake: religion is just as pervasive in Europe as it is in the States, but it manifests differently, and to a large degree less toxically.
I’m quoting this from the Creepiest Christian thread just because it was a beautiful use of words by Usagichan:
procrastinator:
It would seem so. I think the U.S. has been getting bit in the ass, hard, by freedom of religion and it looks like the biting is going to get worse.
Just saw this cute little item
Glenn Beck invokes the famous Niemöller poem “First they came….” to argue why the people should care that the unionists and communists (all tied to the president of course) were coming for him.
Yes, this poem:
“THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.
THEN THEY CAME for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
THEN THEY CAME for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.”
Irony overload.
After that very brutal thread, I need a Polly Jean fix.
This Is Love
Sheela Na Gig
Taut
Didn’t you try what I suggested elsethread?
Does this search not work for you?
Is this first hit not a Russian music site?
Is this page not a guitar tab?
Caine, Fleur du mal at #259, had you pegged more for the International Wenches Guild.
(pauses to see if necessary to duck and run – errs on side of caution)
Glenn Beck invokes the famous Niemöller poem
*headdesk*
I bet, if my head didn’t hurt from reading that, I could spin that as the usual conservative projection.
Yep. It should be remembered that most European countries are majority-Christian, and that many still have established state churches.
But the political culture is different. It may be controversial to say so on Pharyngula, but I don’t think religion per se is the root cause of social problems, either in the US or Europe. Rather, the problem comes when religion is turned into a political ideology that is used to differentiate between “us” and “them”, and to dehumanise and oppress people outside the in-group. This is the root of Andrew Sullivan’s distinction between “Christians” and “Christianists”. Not all Christians are Christianists. Christianists are those who use their religion to justify a political ideology which perpetuates coercion, oppression and discrimination.
Christianists in the US are those who use Christianity as a pretext for perpetuating oppression of women, LGBT people, and members of non-Christian minorities; and who use “Christian beliefs” to promote the supremacy of their in-group while dehumanising anyone who is not part of the in-group. Christianity is the label by which they define their in-group; but in reality, it’s at least as much about racism, misogyny and maintaining cultural hegemony as it is about actual religious beliefs. Look at the way right-wing Christianists in the US react to Obama – who is a devout churchgoing Christian, but, as a non-white person and a “liberal”, is not part of their in-group. Or the bigotry against Mexican immigrants which many of them harbour – despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of Mexicans are Christian. Really, it’s not about religious belief at all; it’s about racism, xenophobia, and preserving the power of the privileged few. Christianity is the label that they use to exclude those they don’t like. It’s no accident that crypto-racists like Tom Tancredo are comfortable in the current Republican Party, or that religious-right nuts like James Inhofe are so keen on things like “making English the official language” as a symbolic strike against those outside the in-group. It all, in the end, boils down to bigotry; Christianity just provides one convenient form of excuse for the bigotry.
In Britain, the far-right practices the exact same kind of authoritarian thinking directed at preserving the power and hegemony of the in-group, and oppressing minorities. The difference is that the British xenophobic right doesn’t tend to use religion to identify itself in the same way that the American xenophobic right does. Rather, it tends to use nationalism and “cultural heritage” as its in-group marker. Liberty in Britain is threatened, first and foremost, by ultra-nationalist xenophobic far-right groups such as the BNP; and by the general xenophobia, bigotry and irrational fear of minority groups promoted by the right-wing press. It’s exactly the same problem as in US political culture – except that here, religion is not really part of the problem in the same way. Indeed, in Britain, the rhetoric of secularism, in the context of criticism of Islam and Muslims, is often used as cover for anti-Asian bigotry – as we’ve discussed extensively before, both here and on Jadehawk’s blog. We, as secularists, have a responsibility to bear in mind that secular ideas, as well as religious ones, can be abused by the far-right as cover for bigotry – and we need to watch for this, and fight it.
I am, of course, using the term “right-wing” lazily here, and I don’t want to get bogged own in lengthy
(Sorry, forgot to finish before hitting Submit… not enough coffee)
I am, of course, using the term “right-wing” lazily here, and I don’t want to get bogged down in lengthy discussions of political taxonomy. But I hope my point (@#346) is reasonably clear. The root cause of the toxicity in our political culture, on both sides of the Atlantic, is bigotry: bigotry against racial and ethnic minorities, minority cultures, women, and LGBT people. Often religion is a part of that – but religion is not the root cause, and reducing religiosity won’t lessen the need to keep actively fighting bigotry wherever we see it, whether it’s in a religious or a secular form.
JeffreyD:
:D :D :D I’m a natural wench, being an assassin held more appeal.
Caine, Fleur du mal at #348 – Oh, I agree with you about the appeal. Reminds me of my days as a mercenary in the Congo. Ah well, a story for another day. At least I was able to avoid taking out student loans. :^}
Oh, and thanks for the link to that site. Will be buying some things there to ship to spousal unit. Always on the look out for neat things for her and the spawn and grandling spawn.
Ciao bella
JeffreyD:
I’ll be wanting to hear that story, M’dear. I hope the gifties will please. :)
Glenn Beck feeling retrospective sympathy for communists and trade unionists? What a lying sanctimonious sack of shit.
Re Mexican food, it’s a bummer that there are almost no Mexicans in Australia. What few “Mexican” restaurants we do have here just serve doughy overly cheesy/creamy crap that is nothing like the real thing. The quality of the ingredients is good but it’s not the same.
You never taste cilantro either, possibly because we call it coriander here so people don’t recognise it in a recipe, or maybe it’s just not bland enough.
I can’t complain about Asian food, though. So many, many good Vietnamese, Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian restaurants here. But we’re in danger of being overtaken – I hear that Bangkok now has almost as many Thai restaurants as Sydney.
Hey Walton, can you come on this thread and help out? I know it’s only anecdotal, but short of a time machine and electrodes inserted into your brain it’s the best we’ve got.
ambulocetacean:
Coriander is the seed, cilantro is the leaf. Different tastes. I’m one of those people that tastes soap when it comes to cilantro. Authentic Mexican cooking got along fine without that nastiness for ages, I won’t eat anything with cilantro in it.
This is interesting: New clue to anti-matter mystery.
Oh, that’s what “cilantro” is… I remember people talking about it on a previous subThread but couldn’t be bothered to look it up. In the UK we call them both coriander.
By coincidence, I bought some coriander-leaf yesterday to add to the vegetarian curry I’m planning to make tonight. :-)
Cooking is awesome!
Walton:
Hahaha, it’s really good to see you enjoying it. :D
Oh really, Caine? In Oz (and by the sounds of it Britain) we call the leaf coriander and the seed “coriander seed”.
Brits have some funny names for food, though. They call eggplants “aubergines” and zucchinis “courgettes”. Must be a hangover from the days when England was a French colony, right, Walton? :)
Random useless fact: Coriander is actually a European plant. Alexander the Great or someone took it to India.
Ugh. My back is killing me this morning. I think I threw it out last night. Besides Tylenol and sitting upright in my chair, anything I can do to fix it? It’s not really even my back, it’s like… right below my kidney.
Mmm, bread. I’m just catching up, but the talk about bread reminded me of how lucky I am to be living where I do.
Here, just outside of Ann Arbor, it’s a 20 minute drive to Zingerman’s bakery and creamery for fresh bread and cheese. There are 2 brew-pubs which make good beer (and I rotate my home keg between them), and a few more that only make fair beer. There is a wide variety of good Asian markets, some of which keep live seafood available so that it’s very, very fresh.
And if that wasn’t enough, a short drive down to the Eastern Market in Detroit will provide just about any fresh ingredient you’d like. It’s gotten a little more expensive now that it’s been ‘found’, but there is still a wide variety of foodstuff available.
I love to cook, and eat, but I don’t bother with making my own beer or bread because I can easily get both in a higher quality than I can make. Which isn’t to denigrate those who do make great bread or beer at home, I simply recognize that the quality of what I can make is not as high as the stuff I can purchase locally.
And it’s likely to get even better in the future. There’s a new initiative in Ann Arbor trying to match local farmers who are willing to rent some of their land to people in the suburbs/city who want to have market gardens. This is a little different than the Growing Hope which is about personal plots for home use. In this initiative they are hoping to encourage people to rent land from farmers and grow enough to provide a supply to local restaurants.
The supply would be limited, and seasonal, but it would be a win-win situation for everyone involved. Farmers could collect a higher rent on an acre than the profits on a field of corn (farm rents around here are around $50/acre, a home grower would probably be willing to pay $20/year for 1/4 acre). The intensive labor required for crops like tomatoes or string beans would be met by the renter, not the farmer. And the renter would be responsible for finding a market. Fresh produce from small farms is less regulated than other foodstuff, mainly because the buyer can easily determine if it is edible.
Admittedly, most of the people play-farming in this fashion will likely drop out after a single season, but if even a few people stick with it there will be an increase in fresh produce in the area.
Mmmm.
Have to agree with Bill Dauphin@178. From what a late-coming-out friend of mine (self-identified as gay-with-a-bit-of-bi only at about 32) told me, when he finally “came out to himself” he initially felt sure that practically all the straight men he knew were secretly gay or bi – it took a while after his full coming-out to accept that most of them weren’t.
Pygmy @319
We could ask them if they believe in market forces. :-)
Myself @361
Sorry, forgot the link that was supposed to go with it.
Here it is.
Further random fact: peppers and chillies are American plants. The Portuguese brought them to India where they kind of caught on in a big way. Before the sixteenth century CE, no chillies in India or China. Times change.
Current contents of our tiny back garden: 24 young bean plants, three cucumber, five squash, fourteen tomato, some thyme, big rosemary bush, and nasturtiums. And a lilac, but we can’t eat that. Contents of tiny conservatory: four peppers, five chillies, some more tomatoes in case we run short of tomatoes.
It doesn’t take very much space to do quite a lot of agriculture. Horticulture. You can lead a horticulture but you can’t make her… I’ll come in again.
@Stephen Wells:
I wish I could have a garden… but I don’t even have a balcony.
Watching an interesting program that aired on British ITV on British homophobia hosted by recently out rugby star Gareth Thomas.
The first Youtube clip here.
Personally all that crap really seems to build up especially when you start bowing to it, because everyone who’s an asshole gets magnified and everyone else is assumed to follow along with the asshole’s hangups.
For the most part (and I don’t want to minimize hate crimes at all here), though, the hammer never comes and most people don’t really explode in a tizzy at public expressions of who you are and the people who are most uncomfortable need to see you being normal the most.
This is not to at all diminish the strain of coming out or the existence of very hostile and openly bigoted environments.
It’s just to add that we have far more power than we realize to change the world just by resisting the lure of self-censureship and in essence, not giving a shit about the haters. And I think that can be a very positive thing.
Owlmirror: I totally missed your earlier suggestion. Sorry and thanks.
I get lower back spasms once in a blue moon. Typically, I use an over-the-counter muscle relaxant-type methocarbamol thing (local trade name is Robaxisal, this is a methocarbomal/ASA mix). With mine, the general rule seems to be: sit still only until it’s relaxed enough to get it moving, then get it moving, but gently–slow, gentle stretches, then get up and about. But obviously your mileage may very, and I don’t even play a doctor on TV.
Owlmirror
You get major multilingual google-fu props for that. :-)
… should add: ‘sitting’ really isn’t the wise thing for mine, either. I lie down on something firm for a bit, in my case, on my back. You can also elevate whichever leg seems to give a bit of room on the side that’s pulled (as in: just bend the knee, bring it up). But again: not for long/indefinitely. Just until it’s loose enough to move again, and then those gentle stretches.
Oh, also: a bit of ice can calm things down, too, at the beginning, in my experience. And if it’s really, seriously freaking out, if you can find a competent physiotherapist-type-person to massage it out safely, that’s probably also a pretty good option.
(/Again: I don’t even play a doctor on TV. This is just works for me.)
Walton – I feel that until you experience, first hand, the pervasiveness of religion in the US, it is incredibly hard to begin to understand how massively different it is here as compared to the UK – definitely something worth keeping in mind when attempting to explain political motivations etc etc.
Stephen Wells – peppers chillies (potatoes and tomatoes etc) – always boggles the mind that food styles have changed so much in a relatively short timescale – it’s hard to imagine French or Italian cuisine without tomatoes, or how one would survive in the UK without the potato (if you’re from Northern Scotland at least, which must account for oh, my extended family and a couple other stragglers) – what footprint does your garden have? I currently have an 8’x8′ patch and struggled this year to do anything overly cool with it, have 1/4 planted to peas, 1/4 to lettuce and 1/4 to broccoli at the moment, with abortive attempts to grow canteloupe and tomatoes in the final 1/4 (now hoping onions come up before the heat kills everything) – learned the hard way that rabbits are big fans of young cantaloupe and tomato plants – down to the roots.
I was always told that collisions of that sort completely annihilated both particles involved, converting 100% of the mass to energy. I guess it’s not too surprising that that’s wrong. My interest is piqued. I will have to educate myself on this.
Try using ipubrofin or naproxin. They are better at reducing inflamation than Tylenol. Generic or store brands are the way to go.
@Nerd of Redhead:
Ibuprofen makes me sick, but I don’t know about naproxin, haven’t had it before.
I can fucking vouch for naproxen. I used it when I had hip bursitis earlier this year, and it was a huge relief.
Just be careful of it if you have a heart condition.
@NoR / Shala:
Sounds good, I’ll pick some up when I head to lunch today.
If I also didn’t have allergies, it wouldn’t be so bad, but every time I sneeze, it just hurts even more.
Well Kevin, when I have a bad spasm that really hurts me I take a cyclobenzaprine so that’s prolly not too helpful to you. Works like a charm. Also works for the problem of caring about anything that day. You know, if that’s a problem for you :P
But also I will alternate hot and cold packs.
The alternating temps seem to help the muscle relax pretty well.
SteveV, that mini-lily is indeed cute. I would go so far as to say “adorable”. :)
JeffreyD:
Ah, but can you write lucidly on it? ;)
Kevin:
It’s probably the ninj-ing. Did you remember to stretch first?
@cicely:
Arg, you’re right. I always forget to stretch before assassinations.
Depression is more complicated than I thought. And the same few transcription factors, like CREB (the CRE-binding element, LOL) are used over and over again throughout the organism…
My sisters now watch FlashForward. I find it too… spiritual-and-not-necessarily-not-religious. Oh, and, the technobabble… “How many electron volts?” <facepalm>
I’m currently eating kohlrabi soup with roux and parsley. Creamy, even though it’s not blended (the kohlrabi is just diced into pretty large pieces). A delight.
Over here some special kind of malt seems to be used for that purpose… but, of course, if the yeast manages to eat all the sugar, the bread won’t be sweet!
Also found in some hypermarchés in France.
ARGH! Sometime I’ll need to find the entire Discworld series (in the English original, duh) and go on a reading binge. I’ve read way too little Pratchett.
Ouch.
Thanks to translation, I had no idea the crow choir in Dumbo was supposed to represent anything. The version of Fantasia I’ve watched was sanitized…
You want salami? Go to Hungary. :-9
Of course, LOL!
Better yet: you can toast it, rub garlic over it, let butter melt on it, sprinkle it with liberal doses of herbes de Provence (or, alternatively, curry… or just nothing), and salt it a little. :-9
Sobbing out loud?
So we will meet after all…
Heh. Korean food is famously hot, but the one or two tolerable dishes I found in the only Korean restaurant I’ve ever been in (in Beijing!) were soooo goooood…
She actually wants to be asked how she was after school? $cientology must be even scarier than I already thought.
That reminds me of one of the most surprising bits of biology I’ve ever come across:
Tiny frogs and giant spiders: the best of friends
Reality keeps being stranger than fiction.
Seconded.
One big difference is teh ejumacation. For instance, when the theory of evolution became universally accepted among biologists in the late 19th century, all those European monarchies (and the democratic but authoritarian, incredibly centralized France) wrote it into their national school curricula, and there it has stayed ever since. In the USA, the local school boards have perpetuated the cycle of ignorance ever since. As a result, Europe is full of theistic evolutionists that didn’t even know until recently that anyone halfway literate was still a creationist – many found out during Bush the Lesser’s campaign in 2000 – and were all “lolwut? Crazy Americans” when they did learn about it.
Another is that somehow the idea has got entrenched that religious beliefs are something personal, utterly and deeply personal, private, almost as much as your sex life or the contents of your bank account. You don’t ask and don’t tell, unless you’re a Jehovah’s Witness. (Sure, if you go to church, you’re expected to be seen. But you still don’t talk about what and how much you really believe outside of very restricted settings.) This has become even more consolidated by 1968: woo is something you personally feel, and the mainstream churches jumped on that bandwagon to some extent.
Yet another is the example of secular societies that haven’t been smitten by lightning bolts. France has been militantly secular since 1904, and “half” of the continent was under godless rule for 40 to 70 years – sure, communism ended, but that’s perceived to be because the lack of freedom just wasn’t sustainable and because “it’s the economy, stupid”; God’s wrath would look different, wouldn’t it. In the formerly communist countries, religion did rebound as predicted, but not as far as predicted; people had seen that a godless or anyway secular life is possible.
Next, in Europe there are very few denominations that share almost all of the market; there are entire countries where one denomination is just the default state for a human being (no matter whether it’s officially a state religion). Default states are fairly easy to ignore; they can fade away without anyone noticing. In the US, the chaos means that you’re very aware of who is with you and who is against you (even though the government isn’t allowed to take sides).
The “default state” thing traces back to the Reformation, the Counterreformation, and the Thirty-Years War which ended in cuius regio, eius religio, “whoever’s region, that one’s religion”. A denomination is part of the national/tribal identities of much of Europe. On the one hand, this has prolonged fervent religion; for instance, it’s the only reason why religion plays any role in Northern Ireland. On the other hand, it means that when nationalism/tribalism fades away, so does religion as a part of it. Also, it can be replaced by similarly divisive organized activities, like football fandom. How far the Turks get in the World Cup is more visible in the streets of Vienna than their (comparatively visible) religion. I kid you not.
Then there are historical peculiarities. For instance, I get the impression that the Czechs simply lost interest in religion when the Hussites were crushed in the 15th century. Look where they are in this survey (ignore the humpty-dumpty title of the blog post). Note also that there are a bit fewer outright materialists there than in France, because France (“the eldest daughter of the Church”) has been strongly polarized ever since the Enlightenment, which forces people to think about the issue, in contrast to the Czech disinterest.
Well, that’s what comes out if you ask people “are you a Christian”. If you count the actual theists, that majority is pretty small, see link above.
How many? The UK, Malta, and? Does Norway still have its state church? Sweden disestablished it in 2000. Greece perhaps?
AFAIK he’s a rather European-style Christian, and that looks utterly godless to many Americans.
Austria’s tried two or three short times. Doesn’t work, because: 1) religion is associated with the conservatives, not the xenophobes (whose history can be traced back to 19th-century movements with anticlerical bents); 2) while few believe in, say, the perpetual virginity of Mary or even know about that dogma*, just about everyone believes in the Sermon on the Mount, “love your neighbor”, the Good Samaritan, and all that jazz; 3) a news magazine revealed that the xenophobes’ candidate for president has left the (Catholic = default) church long ago. Oops. There went the campaign that was probably planned to include holy attacks on the Social Democratic incumbent and on the heathen Turkish immigrants (the revelation came right at the beginning). In a TV interview the candidate refused to disclose the “very personal” reasons for leaving the church and said something vague about adhering to Christian values.
* Virgin before, during, and after the birth of Jesus. I’m not the one who’s kidding you.
Uh…
What?
Please do tell.
LOL! Of course, most of Thai cuisine is not for me, but the rest is delicious indeed.
Oho!!! The plot thickens.
Do look it up! We talked a lot about how some people are genetically unable to taste it, and how it appears that a few people – like me, surprisingly – can taste it and actually like it, at least in soup.
In German, the seed is called Koriander, and the leaf is simply unknown…
Read what we all suggested to Jadehawk a few subthreads ago. :-) In short: change your sitting position at the slightest hint of possible future, every few minutes in other words – this includes changing the height of your chair every once in a while; make sure your chair is tall enough for that in the first place; make sure your computer screen is at eye height (most desks are way too low for most people — I put my laptop on an extra pedestal, and that’s still not quite enough); make sure your mattress has the precise degree of hardness you need (this could be the most expensive part). Obviously, walking and running and swimming can only help.
Painkillers can remove the pain, but not the cause for it. If you don’t notice your intervertebral disks going to hell in a handbasket, nothing is gained.
(Medication against inflammation, however, can certainly be very useful! Inflation increases cell division, so long-term inflation can even cause cancer. …That’s why “strengthening your immune system” is a bass-ackwards approach against cancer.)
…and most of the rest was introduced by the Romans. Before them, all that grew north of the Alps vegetable-wise was cabbage and turnips.
Oh no, it’s right.
It’s just that quantum physics kicks in then. You get a lot of energy in a very small space. What happens? A virtual particle-antiparticle pair absorbs it, repaying its energy debt to empty space, and thus becomes real.
I think the meme should be modified to “he’s been edited lucidly on the Congo”.
Of course I finished long ago. Here you can see how long it takes to write a ten-screener.
“Inflammation” obviously
Inflammation is a short-term response to damaged tissue, and is hardly representative of “your immune system” as a whole. There are many components to “your immune system” and some of them–natural killer cells, e.g.–are indeed protective against cancer.
Yes! As originator of the meme, I approve of this directed mutation.
What the ? So many mistakes in there I don’t know what to say !
Who’s posing as David M ?
Just one recent example
Good Morning. Happy Monday.
What did Walton do? I missed something and skimmed through everything above and can find eliptical discussions of what he did, but cannot the actual thing he did. ‘
Then again, it is Monday morning, so I’m not really with it yet.
Where exactly is it Monday morning right now, on Venus ??
@iambilly: he came out as bi, to nobody’s very great surprise. More importantly, he’s taken up cookery!
I thought I might finally have the wife talked into letting me get a nice new TV. It turns out the problem with our current one may be fixable with some Elmer’s glue. Damn. I wonder what it would cost to have the tech tell my wife it’s really a whole different problem and the TV is going to explode if we keep using it.
Uh, no. Scranton. Pennsylvania. I work for the federal government and my ‘weekend’ is everyone else’s Monday and Tuesday. So, for me, Wednesday is Monday, Thursday is Tuesday, Friday is Wednesday, Saturday is Thursday and Sunday is Friday. Clear?
Stephen: Now I undersand and just let me say, Well, duh! Maybe 10% of humans are 100% hetero or gay, so he’s in the majority. But hell, we’re all just variations of homo here, so go for it.
KOPD: Fix the TV with duct/duck tape. Make it as obvious and sloppy as possible. Us two different colours of duct/duck tape. She will probably agree to the new TV based on esthetics.
And if (((Wife))) reads that, I’m dead.
@iambilly:
Wow – I work for the feds, too, but I have a normal workweek. Did you get a lot of sleep, at least?
And yeah, as Stephen said, Walton came out – but it was my fault for coming out first. *hehe*
@ Ichthyic or Buffybot – can you please share the pattern for the felted torture shorts? I’d like to apply for a grant to fund a study of their efficacy in treatment of TinglyBall Disease. I’m sure various radical knitting groups would be glad to fund such a project, and I’d be glad to hunt for the scratchiest nastiest meatsheep wool with which to construct the therapeutic apparatus.
And in general, I have to express my great appreciation for the regular posters on these comment threads. Despite three post-college degrees and life near a metropolitan area, I have found myself in a life-situation in which I don’t have daily doses of erudite companions with which to discuss cooking, Bindi Irwin, and biblical history. You have all become a blessing for me.
Even Rorschach, with whom I sparred in one of the first comment threads I joined. You never did answer my question about whether there was a hormonally-linked baseline rate of sexual ideation for individual human males, so that a given male, once he adjusted to the cultural norms wrt female clothing in his environment, would have roughly the same rate of such thoughts in cultures where women wear shorts and tank tops or in cultures where women wear abayas. I did, thanks to your non-responsive feedback, become much more careful in my writing. Which is definitely a good thing for my intellect.
<headdesk> Yes, of course!
Yes, but broad-based upregulation would be rather silly.
Of course, that’s not what any oncologist has proposed for a long time. It’s instead promised by woo merchants.
The latter may be required for watching DuckTales.
Perhaps if you weren’t so irresistible.
Congrats, by the way. I feel bad for having missed you first time around.
Kevin:
No, not much sleep. (((Wife))) works a street corner, (((Boy))) finished finals and works to be convenient, and (((Girl))) is a junior in HS and inhabits a Subway. Plus 4.5 cats, 2 rats, 3 fish and a snail named Gary.
Sounds plausible to me (I’ve proposed this idea several times), but someone should do a rigorous study of this…
@NoR / Shala:
Thanks for the recommendation. The Aleve seems to be working. I feel a little bit of residual pain, but it’s not as excruciating, I can actually sit.
Religion is the intellectual and emotional equivalent of high fructose corn syrup.
@ 391,
What the ??
What does this even mean ? Ideation of what?
Are you drunk ?? Are you trying to break the non-sequitur world record ?
Leaving aside the fact that I dont know what you mean by “a given male”, and when this “once” he adjusted would take place(at puberty ? age 5 ? when he’s 27 and married/unmarried/divorced/married but horny/unmarried and superhorny ?), what do you mean by “such thoughts” ? The thought of “I want to look at that and touch that”, or “that looks nice”, or the thought of, “rarrr drool want to fuck, want to have” ?
Look, your language is awfully ambiguous and makes any answer difficult, because I don’t really know what the question is.
I guess it’s plausible that people in given populations or cultures respond to what they see and are exposed to, it’s well known that watching porn a lot might make people insensitive to sexual stimuli, so yeah I guess if all you ever see is women in whole-body rugs, the sight of a nice foot might make you as horny as the sight of a girl/boy in a bikini might make a westerner.I don’t know the answer to that, to be honest.
@Sili:
Heh, I’m mostly joking around. I don’t think I’ve got enough of a presence here to make a big splash. I’m happy that my coming out was enough to get someone else to come out at the same time (so Walton said.)
@iambilly:
Ouch, well, take a nap at work. Just tell them you’re “thinking about your thinking.”
@Mattir:
Wearing kilts, or wearing specifically women’s clothing?
That blurt was brought to you by “Free-Associating While Reading ‘The Friendly Atheist'”.
erm, never mind about boys in bikinis in my 398…:D
Kevin:
Hard to nap while interpreting railroad history to a group of Christian homeschoolers.
@iambilly:
Hum… that does make it difficult.
Nominate one of the students to teach the class!
cicely at #377
“JeffreyD:
Reminds me of my days as a mercenary in the Congo.
“Ah, but can you write lucidly on it? ;) ”
1. I can barely write lucidly about what I am doing right this moment.
2. Need to check statue of limitations to be sure.
C. (I have organizational issues) TMI is TMI.
IV. Time for dal and crackers, maybe some rice.
Does it look like I am avoiding the question?
Good call. :^}
Delurking to say congrats to Kevin and Walton!
And Cerberus, too.
And hi to Falyne,FCD from another San Diegan resident.
I have to say the past year has been one of the lowest points in my life and if it wasn’t for Pharynugla and the never ending thread especially hearing the personal stories and identifying with so many of them – I don’t know what I would have done.
Thank you. All of you. I hope this year I move on to a better job and may be finally believe that I deserve good things.
Now back to my hidey hole.
(Oh, by the way Walton, if you need so easy curry vegetarian recipes, I would be happy to oblige. Dont want to derail the thread)
@IndieGirl:
I don’t think you can derail the Endless Thread.
I dunno Rorschach.
A girl/boy in a bikini can be quite attractive.
Androgyny is pretty hawt.
@Kevin –
What a cold reaction to such a beautiful gift, Kevin of Nine. Your new designation and assimilation aren’t good enough?
@Josh OSG:
Oh, I missed that post. I’m sorry. I usually only post at work and I was on my way home when you did that.
I’m quite happy with being assimilated, thank you. :)
Presumably, the only way to derail the endless thread is by railroading it into a discussion about closing down the endless thread, and even then it becomes a pretty tenuous attempt at building a paradox generator.
Bernard:
But if the Endless Thread(R) is ended, that would put it near Binghamton, NY (which, oddly, is where the Endless Mountains actually, erm, end).
Congrats to Walton, Cerberus and Kevin! I just caught up and I’m happy you guys have been able to come out/terms with yourselves. Also, I must be dense or too slow for Pharyngula since I missed all of Walton’s hints. Except for the metaphor of hot sex with a man in a gym shower lol =)
Also, someone mentioned Avenge Sevenfold’s Bat Country and I just have to say I fucking love that song! My ex introduced me to them and they are now one of the most played on my Sandisk Fuze. When I’m drunk enough my friends and I sing it on Rockband. A lot. LOL. It’s really fun.
I know this is all late and old news but I’m slow compared to Teh Thread.
@JustALurker:
Thanks! Also it was me who mentioned Bat Country.
hey, Flex @ 359 – where do you live? I live just north of Ann Arbor, in Whitmore Lake. Wanna meet for lunch, or drinks, or something someday?
Here is something interesting.
“Without proper context, this letter – a highly critical analysis of polygraph testing written by an ex-CIA employee – would still be a captivating read; however it just so happens that the note was penned from prison by Aldrich Ames, a former counter-intelligence officer-turned-spy who in 1985 chose to sell information to the KGB that, ultimately, revealed the identities of most U.S. agents working in the Soviet Union. Approximately $2.7million richer, the blood of many executed agents on his hands, Ames then famously passed two separate ‘lie-detector tests’ carried out by the CIA, before finally being arrested by the FBI in 1994.”
@cicely:
You missed the link.
And Aldich Ames is one of two people who I wish the agents who caught him had ‘accidentally’ discharged their weapons (him and Robert Hanssen.)
Not only did those people betray the country, but they got people killed! Hanssen was smug enough to say that it was no big deal.
Oy. Never mind. All my thoughts are on possible applications of felted torture shorts, and in the interest of sanity, I’ll cede any further interaction to Josh OSG.
That would be great. :-) And don’t worry about derailment; that’s the whole point of the endless thread. (In my experience, most subThreads turn into discussions of food in one form or another.)
I’m planning to cook later tonight, having some ingredients in stock: lentils, chickpeas, passata (tomato purée), cumin, turmeric, coriander leaf, garlic, chilli powder, courgette, and Basmati rice. I’ll post here later and let everyone know how it turns out…
it won’t make much sense to post on the Letting Go of God thread, but I was a pretty thoroughly convinced theist when I started reading here, and my de-conversion took place over the following few years to a pretty thoroughly convinced atheist now. but that’s only anecdotal evidence, and not real evidence with proper controls and all. *sigh*
@Becca:
I was de-converted before posting to Pharyngula – it was gradual over most of last year, but before I found this site, I had certainly given up my Christianity.
Now I’m a heathenous bisexual with a more liberal lean and coming to terms with more about myself than I’d originally thought.
Speaking of locations, are there any other pharynguloids from Nova Scotia?
It would be nice to meet some other folks.
@My #420:
Wups, forgot to put heathenous in quotes.
Hmmm. Looked okay in Preview. Okay, let’s try that again.
Link
That one seems to work.
@cicely:
Yep – and it’s a good read.
Welcome, IndieGirl. I hope indeed that your life picks up. It’s scary how comforting this thread is, isn’t it?
Durrr. Don’t be silly, of course you can:
So, how about that Watchmen film, eh?
Meh. To each their own.
No! No! No! In simplest terms, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.
When the price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation is also an erosion in the purchasing power of money, a loss of real value in the internal medium of exchange and unit of account in the economy. A chief measure of price inflation is the inflation rate, the annualized percentage change in a general price index (normally the Consumer Price Index) over time.
See, nothing there about cell division.
iambilly@394 (my emboldening):
Eh?
Either one who had a bad accident with the bacon slicer, or else pregnant.
Either they are both very slim or it’s a large bikini.
Nope. I have 1.25 cat at the moment. We’re four neighbours spoiling a stray.
@Sili:
I have to live vicariously through lolcats to get my kitty fix. It wouldn’t be fair for me to own a feline since I’m in a tiny apartment and am at work for nearly 10 hours a day. Plus I go on trips quite often so I wouldn’t be there for days at a time.
Flex:
I am *so* jealous! I spend enough as it is on Zingermans.com, I can only imagine what I’d spend in person.
IndieGirl:
Oh no you don’t. Get back here right now. Glad to hear things are looking up.
Certainly the only correct course of action for Red Green fans.
He’s a 28 to 30 pound ex-male who is large enough that he can rest his chin on our kitchen counter. The vet thinks he may be part Maine Coon or Rag Doll. He’s huge but relatively harmless. He’s the 1.5 cat.
Amazing. I toss out “(((Wife))) works a street corner, (((Boy))) finished finals and works to be convenient, and (((Girl))) is a junior in HS and inhabits a Subway.” and it is the extra half a cat which gets questioned. Ya’ll are weird.
Hi Shala (#421)
I’m in NS. I’m a regular Pharyngula reader, but an infrequent poster. Live/work in Dartmouth/Halifax.
My daughter is a great Avenged Sevenfold fan – was heartbroken at the death of the drummer. I haven’t heard anything from the group since… are they getting a new drummer? reformatting under a different name? I understand that he was a major part in their unique sound.
unique. huh. to me, they sound like they’re shouting, and I want to ask them if their throat hurts when they sing like that. generation gaps, what are you going to do about them?
(In My Day, she wheezed, groups *sang*. of course, some shouted, too, but I didn’t listen to that kind of music much.)
@iambilly:
My family has a 25-pounder cat that’s probably part Maine Coon. He’s ridiculously cute, though humongously fat!
@Becca:
They’re releasing an album in July with the drummer from Dream Theater (another awesome band / drummer.)
&
Kevin:
Dust isn’t all that fat, just huge. His canines are well over 1cm and his head is twice the size of a ‘normal’ housecat. Were he human, he’d be an NFL lineman.
My mind went to one of the cats being Schrödinger’ed. Or possibly having nine of them such a situation. Or any combination of regular/Schrödinger’ed cats that adds up 4.5.
(Although, it’s not clear to me if Schrödinger’s cat should count as 0.5 or 1/√2 of an alive cat.)
@Ewan R:
The “M” is actually just plain brindle tabby. Maine Coon cats are massive – not really fat, but they have a lot of body beneath them. They usually have a dual coat and long fluffy tail, so they make a lot of fuzz. Plus they’re REALLY smart.
Kevin @ 439 – so I ran to tell Daughter that, figuring here’s a chance I get to be a Cool Mom, and she knew already. *sigh* But thanks for the information; I’ll be on the look out for the CD when it’s released.
@iambilly:
Yeah – my cat’s not really fat, either. He’s hefty. Lots of mass beneath his fuzz. His head is a little tiny, though. It’s kinda funny.
If that’s 1.5cat then mine is 0.4cat when wet.
2nded
@Becca:
Aw, sorry. *hug* She’ll think you’re Cool Mom for buying the CD for her.
Feynmaniac, Chimerical Toad:
Never considered that. Could be 9 Schroedingered cats.
Again, (((Wife))) works a street corner doesn’t raise an eyebrow by an extra half a cat sets us off in a whole new direction?
@iambilly:
I think we all figured that she doesn’t work a street corner in the literal sense.
I don’t know about anyone else, but after some of what’s been going on in the threads lately I need a dose of reaffirmation in humanity. It’s Mukhtar’s birthday, and his friends with the help of the bus company he works for make a surprise. Watch some insanely awesome happiness.
That’s what the “stray” wants you to believe…
(Wouldn’t it be 0.25 cat?)
Kevin:
Actually, she literally works a street corner. As a crossing guard.
Speaking of cats:
http://habitathaven.com/
http://catladder.blogspot.com/
Speaking of gardens, mine is almost in. Only brussel sprouts and tomatoes remain to be planted. On May 4 it was 0
I’m in NS. I’m a regular Pharyngula reader, but an infrequent poster. Live/work in Dartmouth/Halifax.
very nice
Any messenger program you use?
Well until reading about 25 and 30lb cats I’d classify my cat as massive (and not fat – his paws are testimony to the fact that he is built to be a bigass cat), dual coat – not sure, he is ridonculously fluffy so that could be the case – not sure what is diagnostic of dual coatedness though… enlighten me – definitely has the long fluffy tail – I’d guess about average sized human arm width or so – in terms of smarts… not sure on that one, he hates most people, which certainly counts for something in my book.
Nah, that’s all—presuming we’re talking humans here—relatively normal, even well-balanced. But fractional cats? Even allowing for being a cat, that’s weird…
iambilly:
Yeah. And?
;D
@Carlie:
Aww, that was super-sweet! Thanks! Just what I needed before heading home from work.
Good night everybody, might log in tonight.
blf:
I’ve met some cats in my day who aren’t all there, man. They’re like fractional, dude.
Caine:
Just pointing out the oblivious.
Dust (the 1.5 cats cat) is dense?
All this talk of fractional beings, and no one’s mentioned The Phantom Tollbooth? For shame.
iambilly: Who said anything about cats being sane?
oblivious should be obvious in #459.
blf: Well, he ain’t too bright. Even if he was a skinny cat he’d be huge. Long, tall and big-boned.
@Becca, #415,
I live just east of Ann Arbor, in Superior Township.
There seem to be quite a few people in the A2 area who read, and comment, here. On one of PZ’s trips here we gathered at Ann Arbor Brewing Co. There was talk then about getting together more often, but nothing seems to have come of it. (Or I’m just out of the loop, which wouldn’t be too surprising.) There are many things to do in the area, and I’m quite busy myself, so I’ve been loathe to try to start anything.
Feel free to drop me a line at my personal e-mail address; flex.williamsATgmail.com. The offer is open to anyone else who wants to discuss anything with me outside of the endless thread. Not that I can compare with the knowledge demonstrated by many of the other regulars, but I do have some experience as a gamer (I used to write and run LARPs), traveler (most of Europe, some Asia and I lived for 18 month in Turkey), automotive electrical engineer (15 years), DIYer (rebuilt a house, from soup to nuts, for the experience), and politician (both campaigning and for 2 years as township trustee).
As for getting together, I’m certain it is possible, but I’m heading out for a vacation in Greece next week, so I’ll unavailable and out of touch from then until probably around the 12th of June.
My finacee would no doubt be tagging along for any gathering, she gets the RSS feed for Pharyngula, but rarely reads the comments. As a side comment, to the youngsters on this thread who bemoan that they are single and can’t seem to find anyone, remember the advice of Edmund Dantes, “Wait and hope”. I avoided romantic entanglements until I found the right person, and while it took 20+ years, and I was reconciled to the idea of living as a bachelor, I finally found the perfect partner the week after my 41st birthday.
Maybe too much information, but what else is the endless thread for?
Cheers!
In this case is not only The Customer Not Right, neither is the ‘service’.
One of my cats is fractional. She’s a dwarf. Definitely a .5
Her head is really big for her body, but her eyes look weird.
She was a rescue though and she has some issues.
How to make Felted Punishment Shorts
Knit really big shorts out of scratchy wool. Rub them vigorously under alternating hot and icy water. With the punishee inside them.
Zero-point-five kitteh story here.
We have two of our own, both “recycled” cats from the shelter, named Tennessee Tuxedo and Chumley. Adopted at different times, they still don’t like each other very much but at least the territorial screaming has stopped. ^_^ They both eat well – and regularly, so regularly in fact that the neighbours’ scrawny, neglected 8-week old kitten, which they barely remember to throw a few biscuits to once a day, started turning up with our cats, rattling the front door at the normal breakfast time of 4:40am (yes, that’s correct. Four-fourty. Eesh.) Chumley and Tux were unimpressed, to say the least, and cuffed her around the ears multiple times, but the kitteh stuck around, determined to chow down on their leftovers, at least!
Now, any person who can resist the desperate, hungry mewing and longing looks of a cold, skinny stray kitty has a heart of lead! Since we’re already both cat people and since the pantry always has a sizeable backlog of feline treats… we now have *three* cats at our front door every morning and every evening. And I’m happy to report that “Fella” (named after George of the Jungle’s wife) is now filling out into a lovely teenager-cat, sleek and sassy. (We’re just hoping that when our neighbours move back to the Northern Territory, they’ll decide it’s smarter to leave Fella with us.)
@kevin
I am not a doctor. Not to throw too big a wrench in the works but when I have had, twice, really sharp pains near my kidney, it was a kidney stone. Not wishing that on you, just saying.
yeah. My husband went: I had to work that night. He had a great time.
I wish there was a secular group in AA. The nearest active group is CFI in Grand Rapids, which is too far to travel, and all their events are on school nights. I take classes sporadically at Washtenaw Community College, and there’s a kid trying to get a Good Without God group organized (there are *lots* of religious groups there) but so far I’m the only one who expressed interest.
Are you just figuring this out?
Interesting indeed.
I’m happy to report that my home-made lentil-and-chickpea curry turned out superawesomely well. :-)
Thanks Caine and Sili.
Speaking of cats or pets in general – it is unusual to develop allergies to pet dander/fur, all of a sudden?
Growing up in India, I had furry and nonfurry pets a plenty. After coming to US, I have discovered in the last 5 years that I am allergic (start wheezing within an hour) to furry creatures. And that is a pity.
I would love to have pets, especially cats. But unless I am medicated, I cant be around them now.
Oh Walton,
I will post a couple recipes with as few “exotic” ingredients after I go home.
No. Again, just pointing out the obvious.
We had a cat once, named Bonk. As you can guess she had a tendency to run into stuff. She was rather inbread, I think, and certainly not all there. Much too low in the front end (or vice versa) and with a broken tail.
For those pondering the matter asymmetry, Ethan covered the current thinking as part of his very nice The Greatest Story Ever Told series. Guy knows his physics.
I think I’m now a new owner/slave of a fraction of a cat: I went to see some kittens near my parent’s house, and could not resist an extremely cute orange girl. :)
She’s still quite young, so I’ve got time ’till July to clear most of this junk off the floor, get a litterbox etc etc.
Also, I’d like some beer now but my fridge is in an undetermined state.
@#465: Damn you, Sili! Why did you have to link to yet another awesome amazing site on which I can waste hours of time when I should be revising for finals?!
:-p
Recipe – Walton’s Lentil and Chickpea Curry
Serves three.
Ingredients:
Lentils, one tin
Chickpeas, one tin
Passata (tomato purée), half a jar
Basmati rice
Olive oil, four or five tablespoons
Garlic, two cloves
Half a courgette
Cumin
Coriander leaf
Turmeric
Instructions:
1. Chop the cloves of garlic and put them in the bottom of a saucepan together with the olive oil. Begin frying the garlic slowly in the oil, on a low heat.
2. Add cumin, coriander leaf and turmeric. Stir and continue frying slowly, on a low heat, until the garlic turns a golden colour.
3. Add the passata to the saucepan a bit at a time, stirring so that the garlic and spices mix with the passata.
4. Chop the courgette into pieces. Add the courgette pieces to the saucepan and keep stirring.
5. Drain and rinse the chickpeas using a colander. Add the chickpeas to the saucepan and keep stirring.
6. Repeat step 5, substituting “lentils” for “chickpeas”.
7. Simmer on a low heat. Keep stirring.
8. Meanwhile, cook the rice in a separate saucepan, using two-and-a-half cups of water per cup of rice. Add turmeric and coriander leaf to the water, to turn the rice yellow and give it a distinctive flavour.
9. Continue cooking until the rice has absorbed all the water.
10. Serve and eat.
Does anyone mind if I post a recipe for princess cake here? No, I thought not.
Gyeong, that cake looks delicious… and really pretty, too. :-) I might try making one after finals.
On a related note, I’m planning to make a lemon-and-lime cheesecake tomorrow. Any hints and tips would be much appreciated.
@iambilly:
Oh, I caught that, and put on a mental post-it to harass you later. Didn’t know if you were referring to some use of “street corner” unfamiliar to my sullied mind, or if your wife was . . . a professional. So, which is it?
@Walton #478 –
I’m impressed. That’s a quite good mix of ingredients for someone who claims he can’t cook! Hope you’re beginning to enjoy it. Hint – if dairy is OK, a little bit of heavy cream, or some ghee (clarified butter) in curry dishes is nicer than olive oil (though olive oil is, of course, a staple).
Daughter has to give a 5-6 minute speech tomorrow in class on some current event. We talked about the travesty of justice that was Peter Watts’ hearing (he was beaten at the border crossing between the US and Canada because he dared question the border guard). She started looking at George Reker, the religious hypocrite. Nothing was sticking as a good speech theme.
Then I heard a Science Friday article on how washing your hands seems to help you make a decision. Told Daughter about it. She went up and washed her hands thoroughly, and started to laugh.
she’s doing her speech on how washing your hands helps make decisions.
I just freakin’ love life sometimes.
A Walton recipe! That’s nice. Snagged it for my recipe files.
I’m planning to make a lemon-and-lime cheesecake tomorrow. Any hints and tips would be much appreciated.
Don’t mix the two, similar as they sound. Choose one citrus or the other. I recommend lemons. For the lemon flavor, rely more heavily on the grated zest than on squeezed lemon juice. A little juice is good and gives a nice tartness, but too much throws off the sweet/sour balance.
Do not buy any pre-made ingredients. Crush your own graham crackers (biscuits) for the crust, and use real butter, not margarine.
Sorry about blockquote fail in 484. The first two sentences should be off-set.
Cooking is awesome! I don’t know why I had this bizarre mental block for so many years whereby I believed I couldn’t cook, and had to subsist on ready-meals and canteen food. But over the last couple of weeks I seem randomly to have become a good cook, and have cooked several successful meals for myself and other people. :-/
All in all, it’s been a very good week. :-)
Google is your friend.
I know, it is great, isn’t it? Fun (at least when you’re not obliged to do it twice a day for a family), much better tasting, and cheaper (if you know your home economics). I have a friend just like you who’s convinced himself he “can’t” cook. It’s understandable if one doesn’t like cooking, but many people convince themselves they can’t do it, which is a shame.
Shala
Semi-Luddite that I am, no. But you can e-mail me. keji_nsATyahooDOTca
I’m off-line for the rest of the night, but should be back tomorrow am.
Cheers!
manly men don’t and can’t cook. manly men either have wives, housekeepers, or live in squalor and eat cold pizza.
just one more step for you out of that idiotic version of masculinity. :-)
That’s excellent to hear (or read, as the case may be).
My favourite cheesecake:
Habanero Lime Cheesecake
Crust:
1 1/2 cups wheat-meal biscuits (or about 26 graham cracker squares) ground to crumbs
Pinch salt
1/3 cup melted butter
Filling:
3 habanero peppers
2 tablespoons sugar, plus 1 cup
24 ounces cream cheese
Pinch of salt
4 eggs
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 lime, zested
1 very juicy or 2 less juicy limes, juiced
1 lime sliced thinly, for garnish
1whole habenero, for garnish
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Position top rack in the center of the oven. Place a baking pan on the rack below this. Boil water.
Make crust: Mix the crumbs and salt together in a small bowl, then add butter and stir to mix. Set aside 1/4cup for topping. Press the rest into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan.
Turn on kitchen or stove exhaust fan. Skewer and roast the habaneros over an open flame (gas burner is fine) and set them to steam under a towel. When they are cool enough to handle, put on plastic gloves if desired. Peel and deseed habaneros, then pound in a mortar with the 2 tablespoons of sugar until a coarse paste results.
Cream the cream cheese, then add remaining sugar and salt. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time until incorporated. Add the cream and blend. Beat the zest and lime juice into this mixture. Add the habanero paste last and beat until well mixed. Pour into the crust, then gently tap the pan to level the filling. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs on top.
Pour boiling water into the pan on the oven’s lower rack. Place the cheesecake on the rack above it. Bake for approximately 1 hour or until the cheesecake pulls away from the edge of the pan. Remove from the oven and allow to set for 20 minutes. Wrap and keep in the refrigerator overnight, or if rushed, place in the freezer for 2 to 3 hours.
Garnish, if desired, with slices of lime and place a whole habanero in the center.
Caine, I snagged that recipe before, and it will go in the cookbook. I must confess I’m really leery of a hot pepper cheesecake. Really? Convince me. :)
Don’t listen to her, Walton. Some of us manly men know how to heat pizza in the microwave.
Josh:
Try it! It’s really good. I have a recipe for habanero pumpkin pie too, which is delish. Lime goes well with hot peppers and the cream cheese, cream and the rest provide a cool counter to the peppers. You can always try it with half the peppers, I have a friend who did that and liked it, but decided it wasn’t spicy enough, so made it again with the regular amount.
No one has EVER accused me of being a manly-man before. I’m just extremely lazy and indifferent to the culinary arts. And I will point out that cold pizza was hot at least on the first serving. And potato-chips over sink is not only a delicious dinner, but doesn’t make a mess and can be served at room temperature.
Here is a recipe for a cocktail, I call The Beaches of Normandy
Tumbler of Bourbon with a splash of Pastis. It’s a Franco-American thing.
Another one:
1 part San Peligrino + one part Bushmill’s Irish Whiskey. I call it the Jimmy Conway because in my bar experience, it will never be made.
that’s disgusting. cold pizza is better than slimy, soggy pizza.
Check this out if you give a rip about Alabama
Weirdest political ad ever.
@Jadehawk:
You’re so right. Better to eat it cold, or warm it properly in the oven.
@Caine:
OK, I will. After all, I do like pepper jelly and cream cheese.
I never claimed that all men who don’t cook are “manly men”. However, specifically convincing yourself that you can’t and won’t when it’s obviously not the case is a symptom of manly-man-ness, and I bet especially true in Walton’s case, since he’s suffered from manly-man-ness in the past ;-)