Oh, look what the climate scientists have been saying for the last 30+ years.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Oh, look what the climate scientists have been saying for the last 30+ years.
Morning All! Sanity is restored, various alcoholic metabolites have been whizzed out of my system and coffee is an optional extra not a vital necessity.
However, it is the beginning of a 40 day health kick (I do these periodically). So no more booze or comfort fodder until May the 11th or so. I pity the fool who crosses me before I can relax with various intoxicants and indulgences again.
Try pretending that lettuce is as fun as bacon. Go on. I defy you to actually manage it. Mind you, all complaining and comedy aside, I do enjoy a good health kick. If I can sort myself out I can join my wife on her next half-marathon…which believe me is anathema to me. I have loathed distance running since earliest childhood. Other endurance sports have never been an issue, but distance running…eurgh. It’s a really massive personal hurdle.
There you go, how’s that for Topic of the TET Day? Name a personal hurdle that you would like to overcome, but historically have a bit of a nightmare with. I’m aiming for light, but, well, I can break out a couch and my Freud beard if needs be! ;-)
Louis
Kerosene is an excellent rocket fuel, easier to use than hydrogen.
— — — —
“We call it paraffin, but the Brits call kerosene “paraffin,” so it’s all confusing”
Don’t get me started on the meaning of “billion”. Or “fag”.
“Ooo..I forgot chigau was in Canada. I get free healthcare!”
My 84-year old mom recently spent 12 days in hospital, with fluid in her lungs and a flu infection on top of that. The bill just arrived. Only ca. 700 Swedish kronor -roughly 100 USD. I love single-payer universal health insurance
Enjoy the post about the town with a name that makes me giggle “Wivverin.” It sounds like something Elmer Fudd would say.
@Walton:
Wivverin is a representative democracy.
I am now sitting at home waiting for the doctor’s office to open so I can go down and ask them to fill out some worker’s comp forms which, I’ll bet dollars to donuts, they will tell me that I can pick them up in 1 to 3 days which means that, legally, I shouldn’t have been at work yesterday and, without those papers, shouldn’t be there today doing what I did at work yesterday.
There has got to be a better way.
Oh. There is. And our lawmakers think it is evil.
No, different needs. [[[WARNING — TRAIN NERDING]]]
There are some electrified lines in the US. Most lines, however, do not have the traffic loads to make converting to straight electric (as opposed to diesel electric) operations. It is only cost effective on relatively short and extremely high-density lines.
One of our local lines sees 6 to 8 freight trains per day. Each train is 60 to 100 cars being pulled by 2 to 6 locomotives. It is far more cost effectie to put the electric power generator on each locomotive than it is to put up, and maintain, the power lines. There are many places in the US where the railroad (a private company) would have to pay for, and install, their own electrical system for, in some cases, thousands of miles.
Some parts of the US system were, or are, electrified. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific’s route over the Cascades and the great divide were both electrified. They used a three-phase system that allowed for speeds of 6, 12, or 18 miles per hour. They also created a separate company to provide the power and signed a 99-year contract in which the railroad promised to buy 100% of the power produced (whether needed or not) at exhorbitant rates. Oddly, the CMStP&P was basically abandoned by the 1970s.
In much of Europe, the towns, cities, and, more important, the electrical grid, are much more compressed. Which means that electrification not only works, but is most likely more efficient.
[/TRAIN NERDING]
No peanut butter sandwich in the VCR?
And an ID10t version of how this proves goddidit in 3 . . . 2 . . .
Fucking “awareness campaign” days. I’m currently rampaging all over Twitter complaining about the uselessness of wearing a stupid color for stupid awareness days.
@Carlie:
I hate “awareness” days too. “Wear red for awareness of women’s health issues!” Umm… why don’t you just set up a fucking donation? I can wear all the red and yellow and whatnot in the world. Everyone and their mom could wear special colors or have a ribbon and it wouldn’t do one lick of good in the end. Sure, they draw attention to the problem, but they don’t do anything else beyond that.
Plus some of the things are ridiculously stupid, in college we were told one day was “wear jeans for gay rights.” It didn’t matter if you were for or against gay rights, it was a nice spring day. Everyone (except people in shorts) was wearing jeans. The only way to show your solidarity with the event was to state “I’m wearing jeans because I’m for gay rights.”
If they are just about wearing a particular item of clothing, or something of a particular colour then I agree they are useless.
However I do know of awareness days for medical conditions that aim to educate the public about a particular condition by getting coverage in the media and encouraging members of the public who are concerned to see their GP. Diabetes UK has run such days I know. It even had booths in shopping centres and workplaces where people could get tested.
I am currently running an awareness campaign for atheism.
Our symbol is no ribbon.
Looks like everyone supports atheism. Even those wearing ribbons, after all, they’re not wearing all possible ribbons are they?
I declare victory and shall now retire to water my vegetables.
Louis
@Louis:
Best. Awareness. Campaign. Ever.
Katherine Lorraine
When the gay-rights-folk at local University did this, they meant to convey the notion that supporting gay rights should be the default. If you did not support gay rights but were wearing jeans, you would be put in the position of explaining yourself.
Too subtle?
—–
Ogvorbis
DVD player?
——-
Louis
Are you still witty and clever when sober?
Josh:
No. Then again, I’m too busy giggling at the use of “come” for “cum” in her spiel. Are you going to respond, or will you just ignore the missive?
Giliell: Caffeine aggravates mitral valve prolapse via nervous system stimulation.
Carlie: Gah, “awareness campaigns.” Do you remember the “Post a cartoon character to show you oppose child abuse” one? That didn’t even deserve the title of “slacktivism.” I don’t blame the people who posted images like Pedobear or Homer Simpson trying to choke Bart.
Chigau,
Well I am currently sober and at work (and admittedly trying to avoid odious paperwork, which I don’t actually avoid because I post between bouts of work), so I’ll let you decide!
If you mean “sober” as in not an alcoholic, well, I’m not an alcoholic! I’m “British”, buy US standards we’re all raging dipsomaniacs, but it’s okay, I drink less than your average touring rugby team.
;-)
Louis
@chigau:
That’s kind of what I figured. It just seems a tad bit unfair – sort of a more confrontational atmosphere about the entire thing. Rather than making it an event about solidarity, it turns it into an event to confront those who aren’t following the party line. And besides the fact that it wasn’t very well advertised, there was the chance that some poor ally forgot or didn’t notice and decided today was a good day to wear khakis. So when this ally goes into the student union building he’s confronted about not wearing jeans, even though he supports the movement.
I think awareness campaigns shouldn’t force the default. Cause then you have asshats who disagree (like myself back then) more or less having to go around saying “I don’t agree with you, but I like wearing jeans” and allies who get harmed because they didn’t know what was going on.
Ms. Daisy Cutter
Well, that makes sense, but why don’t just switch to decaf?
Seriously, although I like my caffeine surge (it’s the closest to drug addiction that I have), the difference to decaf isn’t like beer vs. non-alcoholic beer.
Also, espresso has the least amount of caffeine of all coffees. That’s because it’s usually a pretty dark roast (the darker the roast, the less caffeine. And apart from that, you’re drinking much less than in a normal cuppa.) A wonderful example of the placebo-effect, as you can see people become more agitated after drinking an espresso as opposed to a big cup of mildly roasted “stomach friendly” coffee.
Louis
By “sober” I meant having a current blood-alcohol level less than whatever your local rules are for driving.
Chigau,
I drove to work this morning content in the knowledge that I did so legally. I haven’t been sniffing the solvents in the lab and I promise I haven’t even touched the absolute ethanol or the amyl nitrate.
I can only apologise for the fact that you are getting the unadulterated me. I really am this disturbed/disturbing/both (delete as applicable).
Louis
‘Limping’ cat shot dead and dumped by police http://www.thelocal.se/40042/20120402/
Dumb cops, Swedish version.
Katherine Lorraine
I saw it less about tripping-up allies than tripping-up opponents, “Ha-ha! You’re supporting gay rights! Ha-ha!”
So, “subtle” is the wrong word, “stupid” is better.
@chigau:
Yea, that too. It’s so… immature?
—
A weird note: Why has my writing on these blogs become better than it was in the past? I’m writing these really good commentaries on stuff and I’m like “wait, where’d that come from?” I’m still harboring thoughts of my first few posts here where I was a simpering tool coming down from the fundamentalist Christianity I’d just abandonded.
Whereas I in my first posts here was just a clueless moron who desperately needed to do some reading.
I like Louis’ day.
Matt – today is “world autism awareness day”. It’s ones like that, where the information is already ubiquitous, that I object to.
Katherine – I remember your first posts as being nothing of the sort. You were always a good writer.
Katherine Lorraine,
It’s my positive influence.
{Laughs} {Runs away giggling}
Louis
rorschach: Same here
Carlie,
I should do one of these too. Saw this guy of same age as me today in liver coma, family dad who got carried away with drinking, his liver is cactus for all times, and he used to drink far less than what I consume. Fuck that shit.
Rorschach,
I’m still in this state. It’s permanent.
Mind you, I do get to wake up every day with the cheery fact that the chances are I will go to bed tonight more informed than I got out of bed.
How happy is the moron,
He doesn’t give a damn,
I wish I were a moron,
Oh dear, perhaps I am!
Louis
Rorschach,
Ouch.
I’m only 37 and I am definitely at the age where there are more than a few unlucky casualties. Given the genuine hedonism I occasionally indulge in I’m more than lucky to be here and healthy.
Mind you, as you well know, genetics/luck play a massive part. The beer that kills me might not kill you.
Louis
Got to see Richard Dawkins yesterday!He did a little talk in Bellevue thanks to the Northwest Free Thought Alliance. It was great to see so many people there! Even if I did wait ‘in line’ from 9am ’til the talk started at 3:30. *Twitch* Apparently I am the atheist equivalent of a Beattles fan! With less squealing and fainting. Just thought I would share.
Luv Fo’ Evah and Evah,
KJ
On that note, the other drinker I saw today had a severe cardiomyopathy leading to bad heart failure at age 35. A condition my German collegues used to refer to as “beer heart”.
I know, right, I’m such a fountain of cheerfulness…..Let’s fetch another Beck’s.
Also, I seem to have developed a small cadre of christian followers on twitter. Oh dear. Im tempted to not block them. Just to see how fast they flee when they see exactly how…oh, whats the word im looking for? Blasphemous? Obnoxious? NSFW? How fast they flee. That works. Just to see how fast they decide to stop following me.
Full of delicious blasphemy, I remain,
KJ
Saw part of 60 Minutes show last night. Sanjay Gupta interviewed a bunch of people who say that sugar is killing us. Sugar is toxic. Sugar is poisonous. Sugar is addictive.
So which is worse, beer or sugar?
Rorschach,
That’s the spirit. After all, when observing the effects of serious drinking on other people and being concerned about the effects of one’s own drinking on oneself, I find the best solution is to drink though it and hope it All Goes Away.
It always does. Eventually. In one way or another. ;-)
Louis
Dammit, I missed a bread (and cheese!) discussion.
With Passover coming up, I’m thinking of making homemade matzo bread. It’s pretty easy: just flour, water, salt, and a little bit of chicken fat. From there you can bake it or fry it.
(It’s hard to actually find a matzo recipe. The first one I found was from an evangelist website. *shudder!*)
*adopts best Paracelsus imitation voice*
Dosis facit venerum, my dear.
Lynna,
Sugary beer.*
{Nods profoundly}
Louis
* I’m not entirely unserious here.
Audley – I think I remember seeing Mark Bittman had a matzo recipe, if you still need one. Probably available online somewhere.
And this just in :
Patricia:
Since they’re both delicious, I can only conclude that both beer and sugar are the work of the Devil*, and both make baby Jesus cry.
Seriously, I am so fucking sick of all of the stupid “health advice” that is floating around out there. No, I will not give up gluten or sugar or red meat or whathaveyou. I will not OD on vitamin D supplements. I will not replace chocolate with carob or milk with soy milk.
I LIKE REAL FOOD, DAMMIT.
/peeve
*Contrary to what Ben Franklin said about beer.
Um, sucrose is poisonous at the typical level of consumption? I think not. My woo-dar is starting to ping.
Carlie:
Excellent! Yes, he has a recipe for olive oil matzo, which seems a bit more palatable than pre-made matzo crackers.
Gracias!
rorschach :
LOL. It was the delivery that earned the laugh points. Would like to see that in RL some day.
Dosis Sola Facit Venenum
Part of the anti-sugar story on 60 minutes did discuss dosage, with more than the recommended sugar per day for an adult in a single can of cola (or other sugary drink), and with extra evil points given to high fructose corn syrup.
Think I’ll search my house for dark chocolate. I need it.
Does bacon cancel out the negative effects of sugar?
Oh what the fuck?
Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinal
Great. Great. Who wants to bet that this shit is going to fucking escalate over the next few months?
@carlie:
Well I remember one of my first posts being the whole “I don’t agree with abortions cause people should adopt!” idiocy. I was quickly told why that was stupid.
Funny thing with most diet advice: eat more fruits and vegetables. Guess what most fruits are soaked in by nature? Sugars. Sucrose is isolated from either sugar cane or sugar beets, that is from vegetables. Honey is good for you. But the chemical composition of honey resembles high-fructose corn syrup. Your body can’t tell the difference of honey fructose from HFCS fructose.
What always sets off my scamdar is when the Dr./nutricianist also sells vitamins and other supplements.
Today I realized that I graduate in a year and I need to do some internships or volunteer work over the summer. So, basically, I need to get some experience in what I want to focus on in grad school… so now I just have to decide what I want to do with my life D:
I’m stuck between ecology and genetics…
I like both, but I enjoy genetics more. However, I could easily get work in ecology this summer and I already have some prior connections (working in an herbarium).
Someone help me :(
StarStuff: I’d say to focus on whatever you have less experience in, unless you have a strong preference. If one area has better summer research opportunities, go with that. It’s better to do actual research than to just to do grunt work for a summer.
I had basically the same conflict when I was choosing my Honours thesis topic. Ended up using genetic methods to answer an ecological question. It worked out pretty well, although I do wish I’d gotten more field experience before grad school.
Nerd
The way I understood it was that fruit is good for you in spite of the fructose. Because of vitamins and stuff.
RANT
Walton, don’t read.
Some people fucking deserve to be smashed with their heads into the wall and then again.
As I collected #1 from the kindergarten, one of her friends was also leaving. Three kids, the mother and the dog in the backseat of the car, not a seatbelt, let alone a proper kiddy-seat between the lot of them.
If anything happens and those poor kids get hurt, they will, of course, think that they, the poor parents, are victims and deserve help and compassion and the rest of the world needs to treat them with lots of consideration because of what they are suffering instead of slamming their head into a wall as they deserve.
No, I don’t approve of slamming people’s heads into concrete walls, but I approve of the sentiment.
[/rant]
One of my favorite posts about food and nutrition is by Kate Harding, here. (referencing sugar etc. coming along with the fruit/veg) Best quote:
I tried to make meringue cookies for the first time yesterday. I have no idea what they’re supposed to be like – these have the texture of a giant rice krispy. Is that right, or did I overcook them?
Katherine – ah, but you learned quickly.
It’s actually as expensive/ as flying from Denmark, so factoring in the trip to Berlin, it’ll be far more.
Of course, if I had time to be shown round Berlin, it’d be different, but as it is I’ll have to ask for two days extra off, so I can stay for Sunday.
Friend linked me this, Voltaire’s “un-spiritual.”
Voltaire – Oh Lord (Wake the Dead)
@ Giliell
No, thankfully not.
@ Dr Audley
Oh noze! I shall now be forced to make a mess of the tidy kitchen again… Mwahahahaha
(Bittman is great.)
and this SMBC:
http://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20120402.gif
Carlie:
How close are they to packing peanuts? (The old, terrible for the environment Styrofoam ones.) ‘Cos that’s the texture you should be aiming for.
Speaking of, I’m thinking about making a lemon pie for Passover. Instead of a crust, the curd rests on a meringue shell. OM NOM NOM.
theophontes:
Me too! :D
Also, Carlie, the meringues should be smooth without air bubbles.
Josh, I know a person with mitral valve prolapse who kept partying with meth. I finally pulled his most reasonable meth-pal aside and told him to stop fucking offering him that shit. He also has bipolar 1. He was just hankering for a self-destruct, I guess.
Giliell, you’re probably right about our domestic partnership :-)
In Cute Things Toddler Says™ today we’ve got “Can I have a down, please?” when she doesn’t want to be held.
I couldn’t even visit the emergency department for that little. With the BCBS Gold insurance coverage from my employer. As someone who is now self-employed I literally cannot purchase–for any amount of money–a plan that would get me coverage even as good as that.
carlie, I feel you on “awareness” days. The only people who know what the fuck the color is supposed to even mean are the people who are already aware. It needs to be something more outrageous, like a sandwich board that says, “Ask me about myasthenia gravis!” or something.
Yes I bet he didn’t vaccinate his little trust fund angels.
@Carlie:
Yes, that’s true. Cause everyone told me precisely where I was incorrect in my thinking.
Because I’m struggling to find the motivation to complete the last leg of this stupid project (I’ve been working overlapping projects for 3 months now, and it’s been ridiculous and I have no life and I hate it), I am going to reward myself with this if I can make myself finish it by the end of the week.
I’m not much of a fashionista, and I rarely buy anything new (let alone for that kind of cash), but I really like it, dammit, and nothing else is working to get my ass back in the saddle.
If this fails to work, I’m quitting my life and becoming PZ and Mary’s cook and laundress.
StarStuff: Ecological Genetics
A good popgen background is hella useful in conservation work.
The National Science Foundation sponsors loads of REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) programs each year in diverse fields. These are programs that provide both training and a stipend for interns, and are (IMHO) one of the best sources of undergraduate training that there is. Most programs application deadlines have unfortunately passed, but you should get in touch ASAP with an appropriately inclined faculty member, and see if xe know of any such opportunities.
While this is not my field of specialty per se, I have advised graduate and undergraduate students working in conservation/population genetics—I might could help you out.
Contact cpr003atshsu.edu– Of course, replace “at” with @.
Also, plz pardon the tpyos.
Audley – ummmmm…
Yeah, I think I did it wrong, then.
It’s not at all like pie meringue, if that’s what the cookies should be. More like dry florist’s foam. Kind of exactly like dry florist’s foam, now that I think of the comparison.
Carlie-
Nope, you’ve got it. The cookies should be much drier than pie meringue. Florist foam is an excellent comparison. :)
Not a bad career choice.
But I fear the kids have fled the nest and taken the cats with them.
Of course, you could always try to sneak some hormones into Mary’s cereal. Or just be their secretary, travel and booking planner instead.
The food substance meringue cookies most remind me of texture-wise is the inside of malted milk balls. They should sort of dissolve in your mouth. They’re also crispy and airy.
If you add cocoa powder, they taste exactly like hot cocoa with marshmallows. If you add lemon extract, they taste like lemon meringue pie.
Was it very humid when you made them? That’s supposed to matter (although it’s always humid down here, and I usually do all right).
RE: Sugar and meat health scare news
I am willing to accept (with appropriate evidence) that sugar and red meat consumption have deleterious long-term health effects (not that I will stop eating them), but the news stories often have headlines like “Red meat causes death”, and the first thought I have is that we are all going to die, eating or not eating certain things will not prevent that. This focus on . . . purity(?) is annoying, a sort of victim blaming, with the thought that if only you just do everything right, you will live forever.
I know that this attitude is not new in either religion or whatever “wellness” dipshits are selling, but both of my parents have chronic diseases that will kill them eventually, and the positive attitude bullshit they encounter aggravates them and just plain infuriates me.
In short, people are afraid of death and that makes them do and say stupid things
Florist foam is the texture I want for sembei.
Would the recipe (whatever is was ) work with rice flour?
@picool
Have you read Brightsided?
I don’t require children, Sili. They’re just so darn cute that I keep accumulating them.
Back in LA. Don’t want to be. Would rather be just about anywhere else. But classes started today.
My schedule’s pretty neat! I have class every day at ten, which is a little earlier than I’d like (not because ten is so early but because it’s just slightly too early for me to know I can consistently get there on time), and then Tuesdays and Thursdays I have class at eleven, Tuesdays I have a seminar from 2 to 4, and Fridays I have bellydance from 12:30 to 1:30. That’s a really light schedule honestly and I should be okay even with the terrifying load of Latin I have to translate and the paper and the secondary reading.
…I’m still a little scared.
Thanks for the info, Audley! chigau – it’s created entirely from egg whites. I cheated a bit and threw in some cream of tartar, even though the recipe didn’t call for it. There are lots of air bubbles, but they’re all small to medium. Sounds like I’m on the right track, at least! Jules, it had cocoa powder and mini chocolate chips in it. I thought the chips might be too heavy, but they didn’t seem to deflate the foam much.
chigau:
For… meringues…?
There is no flour in meringue (whether pie meringue or cookies). It’s egg whites and flavoring– which is why meringues are served during Passover.
Ketchuping up, with its natural mellowing agents:
Josh, the lamps look beautiful, as does the decorating and kittehs. You might be able to find/make a reflector, (polished metal or mirror), that can convert a non-shaded one into a nice reading lamp.
I made a holder for my candles on my sailboat so that a horizontal flattened brass ring sat on top of the candle and lowered with the candle to keep the arm with the hyperbolic mirror steady behind the flame. One candle power was bright enough to read by. At the focal distance. If you moved the page slightly. Kinda like reading by a penlight, but electrical power on a sailboat is a precious commodity.
I made another holder that has 180 deg of vertical mirror slices joined together by stained glass method to provide general illumination. Who needs to throw that useless back facing light away?
+++++++++++++++
“I drink less than your average touring rugby team.”
Summed or averaged? And if averaged, I bet it’s the mean drunk.
+++++++++++++++
I only run when I’m chaste. I think it’s called sublimation.
+++++++++++++++
“Then again, I’m too busy giggling at the use of “come” for “cum””
Sounds like a randophile homophone searching for a homynym. also, too.
+++++++++++++++
“Why has my writing on these blogs become better than it was in the past?”
The Carnegie Hall method; Practice, practice, practice.
+++++++++++++++
“I need to do some internships or volunteer work”
And the difference is?
+++++++++++++++
“Three kids, the mother and the dog in the backseat of the car, not a seatbelt, let alone a proper kiddy-seat between the lot of them.
If anything happens and those poor kids get hurt, they will, of course, think that they, the poor parents, are victims and deserve help and compassion and the rest of the world needs to treat them with lots of consideration because of what they are suffering”
Yes, prosecuting them and putting them in prison, which is a USAian thing, works so much better. (Please understand that I am agreeing with you but pointing out worse outcomes.)
*snuggles* for The Walton.
–
If your peas have split, then you have no peas; and this is a great goodness, nearly on par with having crispy bacon.
–
My D-i-L has some sort of small shepherd dog. When it was a pup, it would try to herd their 3 cats. Major funny to watch. Eventually she figured out that that was never gonna work, and gave it up.
:D
–
Yup. A prostitute. I never knew there was any other meaning.
–
Y’all need to figure out who’s going to do Jules’ dishes—so I can send mine over to visit.
:)
–
No problem, Carlie!
I love this time of year for the food alone. Meringues, macaroons, creme eggs, jelly beans, brisket… *Homer drool!*
Dr. Audley
Somehow I missed the switch from matzoh to meringue :/ :\
Sounds like a great schedule, CC! I hope it’s a light enough load to let you get everything done you need to do. I always overdid it in school (and also still now because I’m dumb and can’t turn down work), but my last semester I only did something like 16 credits, and it was so much better. Unfortunately, I was completely burnt out by then and so it wasn’t as freeing as it could’ve been. *sigh* And I never, ever learn to take it easy.
carlie, I love the meringue texture so much that I never add anything else to it that could alter it. Well I guess I did candy canes once. But I like their stickiness.
chigau,
A ha! That makes sense.
I’ve no idea if you can make matzo out of rice flour*. But matzo’s pretty nasty in-and-of-itself, so I doubt the sub could ruin it any further.
I’d just be really careful adding the water– keep an eye on the consistency. From what I’ve read, you’re aiming for smooth and pliable (not sticky!) bread dough.
*It’s certainly not the traditional way to make it, so you might not want to serve it to anyone seriously keeping kosher.
@ Antiochus Epiphanes
Thanks for the information! That sounds like something I’d be very interested in and a few of the volunteer opportunities that I’ve found for the summer seem to fit in with that field.
Want to borrow mine? lol
Hey Sailor,
If you’ve got any tips on how to actually make such a reflector I’d love to have them. I’m coveting a gorgeous mercury one at the antique store but I just can’t justify the expense.
I missed this…
Batman was caught in a police control near Washington DC. Video here.
(Long vowels are serious business in Czech.)
*headdesk*
*headdesk*
*headdesk*
*headdesk*
What happens when you complain about this to your publisher?
Other way around.
Look at this:
– No lawn.
– Cooking only on weekends; during the week I eat in the cafeteria.
– Enough room.
– I sit in the museum all day long, in front of a big screen, surrounded by a minimum of 5 papers at any time, plus a couple of natural-mold fossils and the latex casts made from them.
How does that sound in your head?
…Yeah, Berlin can’t compete with that.
Last time I bought chocolate, I bought 8 bars, 1.6 kg in total. So, given that there’s no yard work, how about you rinse the dishes that I’ve already licked clean (as far as anatomically possible), and I wipe the floors?
Hm. Singing wouldn’t be good, the walls and floors are carefully designed for maximum sound conductance, and the rooms for maximum echo. But I do have a big table to hide under, a bed to hide under (I’ll get the dust out first), and a big cupboard to disappear in. The sleeping bag, BTW, is in the cupboard.
Wow. 2 is common over here, but I’ve never seen more.
Surprises me.
~:-| That’s… nothing?
Exorbitant – out of orbit, or at least out of the orbis terrarum (“circle of lands” – Earth).
X-D
Heh. That would be “of the lusts”.
alle ding sind gifft / und nichts ist ohn gifft / allein die dosis macht das ein ding kein gifft ist
How about both at the same time? You know, like sequencing bulk DNA isolated from seawater or soil?
Aren’t there cheap train tickets?
…so… awesome…
…so… awesome…
Sure. Bring ’em on down.
They like espresso, right?
Ooooo…this is my favorite! And you’re in Berlin. I only spent about 2 weeks there, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. And the accent contains phonemes much friendlier to my USian tongue.
Looks like DDMFM is offering the best deal, y’all. Adding in his redheaded Spockly goodness seals it.
Bad news breaking..
“Oakland shooting: five dead after gunman opens fire at religious school”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/02/oakland-shootings-gunman-opened-fire-california
No. It was a VCR. When Boy was about five.
I have problems with DVD players. How do you get them to rewind?
No bet. Especially if Romney gets the nomination and Santorum runs an independent campaign against the cultists.
Had one of those moments today. I was sitting in the car while Wife worked her street corner and a Kia Rio two door pulled up and nine small children piled in.
But I also figure, why beat up the poor wall?
I sometimes wonder if stories like this are linked to those who think that health insurance is only for those who don’t need it because, if you need it, you must have abused your body by doing x, y, z and r.
Are there any words that don’t have a rule 34 attached?
Keep in mind, these are for-profit companies which means that the potential ROI needs to be fast.
It was also installed around 1911 and got the very heavy trains up and over some very long 2% grades.
Anyone want to make a bet as to how long it will before this is held up as an example of the persecution of Christians?
No.
Oggie:
Goddamnit, I hadn’t even thought of that.
According to the article, the shooter is a former student. My guess is OMG, HE TURNED TO SATANISM!!
One of the things I hate most about the local culture here is the incredibly deep distrust for all government. It causes so many problems. Spouse is frustrated at how it hinders child nutrition programs, but it also means no one is checking up on whether home schooled children are even still being taught a fucking thing instead of being taught how to work.
Law stays out of polygamous sect’s home-schooling
This is a general plea issued to all technologically aware individuals: How can you restrict commenters to one thread on WP/FTB? See TZT for background.
Ogvorbis
Unplug it, hold it in your arms and spin around really fast.
You know the old joke?
-Doctor what do I have to do to live forever?
*Stop smoking, drinking and having sex.
-Will I live forever?
*No but it will feel like eternity
+++++
The Sailor
My reasonable idea is to confiscate their cars.
Revoking custody seems like a bad idea because if they cared about those children at all they wouldn’t transport them like that.
+++++
Also, today I got adopted.
While on the playground I met our old neighbour who suffers heavily from dementia.
She started chatting away in Russian and I had to stop her.
“Mrs So…, I don’t speak Russian, you have to speak German to me.”
“That’s nonsense, of course you do, all my children speak Russian!”
At that point the little one intervened, proclaiming angrily that I was indeed not a child but her mummy!
And our neighbour was sad because she had just lost a daughter and two wonderful grandchildren.
For about 5 minutes until she forgot.
I seriously don’t know what her actual daughter is thinking how long this can go on.
I mean, I don’t mind being occasionally called to pick the right key to unlock the door, confirm that, yes indeed this is her flat, and no, nobody will buy it, and our dog didn’t return due to its nonexistence.
But I worry about her.
Pour them a gin and tonic, encourage them to put their feet up, put their favourite music on, if your relationship is sufficiently close, give them a relaxing massage…
Oh. Rewind!
Another creationist logic fail eviscerated on Skeptical Nurse.
In, and this is important, the opposite direction from the direction in which the DVD spins in the player. Otherwise, there is danger of over-winding your player by jamming the gears, which will make it stop working, much as in the case of an over-wound watch.
–
Giliell, maybe the old woman’s daughter doesn’t know how confused she is. They might just talk about cooking or she might know who her daughter is.
The best way to extend your life is to exercise at least three time a week and more if you like it. Or like to feel good.
The suspect in Oakland is a former student.
Republican Assemblycritter in California quits party, goes independent. Another wheel falls off:
Here’s why:
*repeats vague allusion to cheap flights from upthread*
Friendlier than what?
Ah, that makes sense.
…In one way, that’s awesome.
Further proof that Neil deGrasse Tyson is fucking awesome: He convinced James Cameron to change Titanic.
Category error! The GOP is the darkness.
Caught up! (It’s becoming a challenge.)
Oh! Element. I know this one! It’s … it’s … it’s … *googles*
Thorium!
… which I know because of The Radioactive Boy Scout:
—
Og: “No peanut butter sandwich in the VCR?”
No. PB is not allowed in the house, and the VCR only takes Fig Rolls.
Eh?! Everyone knows the key to preserving DVDs is to make sure that before you play them, you fast-forward all the way through, then rewind to the beginning. Don’t they?
(Apparently this can also be done by sticking a hexagonal pencil in the hole in the middle, and, erm, artfully twizzling.)
Or have a mixed something up?
I thought that DVDs just played all the way through and started over again, like 8-tracks.
Somebody linked a few TETs ago to the excerpt from Jenny “The Bloggess” Lawson’s new book. I just got around to reading it now and I nearly peed myself. Apparently if you work in HR, you have to learn how to ask an employee the question “Is this your penis?” without laughing as you hand him a print-out of the email he sent to another employee.
Ya know, that comment would have worked better with a hyperlink.
a should be I.
Except after peas. Or summat.
If it’s child-the-tiny and the DVDs of the kids’ nativity plays, that’s exactly how they work. I never want to hear Away In A Manger again.
I have finally caught up with TET.
That’s it, just a simple comment about a milestone in my boring life.
For the sake of my emotional health, I need to take a long break from arguments and controversies. I thus won’t be posting for some time. (I’m going to try to ramp down my internet use in general.)
(And for clarification, no, I’m not angry with anyone or anything. I just need a break from controversy in general.)
Well you’ll be missed, Walton, and I hope we’ll see you back, but I know the feeling, and if that’s how you feel, you’re right to take a break. All the best.
Cheers, Walton.
Walton: You’ll be missed! :)
Walton, I do not know where you get the stamina to continue debating like this during so much of your time. At least you are self aware enough to know you need a break.
This madhouse will still be here when you decide to come back.
Do what you need to do Walton. Personally, I find lurking here, even if I’m not posting much, comforting in this time of my personal turmoil. But to each their own. Best wishes.
I understand, you do what you need to do, and I shall look forward to your return.
When it comes to homophobes, it has gotten to the point that very little surprises me. (For example, Scott Lively will be address a Tes Party gathering. Damn, did not see that one coming.) But sometime I am left perplexed by the point being made. Checkout this cartoon that was tweeted by an ex-gay pastor. It show two hippos dressed in pink beating a man while it is paired with a pro LGBT rights quote from Coretta Scott King.
Have to “love” what the entry ends with. Feel the christian love.
Take care of yourself Walton.
(take a walk, smell the flowers)
Enjoy refreshing time, Walton.
*hugs* Thank you all. And *hugs* and best wishes for Nerd in particular.
You better watch it or you’ll have a domestic partner on your hands.
Than the southern German accent (I spent the bulk of my time near Augsburg). The ch sound is vocalized a bit less at the back of the throat, more like the English k sound. My German friends were all very friendly about my attempts, but I find it physically uncomfortable to speak with the southern accent (much like I find saying the word y’all physically uncomfortable).
Walton, take care of yourself. *long, drawn-out hug*
*waves back at Josh belatedly*
Take care, Walton.
That’s funny, because this native of upstate NYS uses y’all pretty regularly, just because I’m annoyed that English doesn’t have a distinction between you-singular and you-plural like French does. Also I picked up saying “reckon” from the Kiwis when I was in New Zealand.
Fuck all, y’all.
It makes me feel like I’m going to vomit, Sally. It does this weird grating thing in the back of my throat. It’s not because of cultural associations. It’s because I have the world’s most sensitive gag reflex.
I almost throw up every time I brush my teeth, and I’m not shoving the toothbrush in there very far.
[CENSORED ORAL SEX JOKE]
/mostly-lurking-as-usual
Take care, Walton, see you soon I hope.
[back to mostly-lurking-as-usual]
PS Also, ongoing getting-better wishes to the Redhead – and indeed to all threadizens who are poorly.
I am Canadian.
I’ve been using “y’all” to address more-than-one-person since the 70s.
I have no idea why but it’s better than “youse”.
(my splee-check passed y’all and questioned youse)
My mother says y’uns (pronounced yens). No one else in my hometown did that. It was just something her family said. I think they got it from some branch of the family back East.
Fascist.
chigau:
Pfffft, like hell it is.
[CENSORED STREAM OF VITRIOL DIRECTED AT REY FOR CALLING ME A FASCIST]
Enjoy your time off, Walton. Remember, if you ever need employment, we can find a place for you in our Elephant Department. We’ll even supply the shovel and hip boots.
[CENSORED WHIMPERING?]
Dr. Audley
c’mon!!!
yyaaaalll:
gentle, friendly sounds
YOOOZZZ:
all loud and aggresive
We had a distinction where I grew up: “you” was singular, “ye” was plural
I wish that had caught on elsewhere in North America!
chigau:
Yeah, and? You got a problem with that?
Yeah, I’ve got a problem with that. You got a problem with me having a problem?
<This could be turtles all the way down>
‘Tis:
Yeah. I do. And I don’t like your tone*, buddy.
*Mostly ‘cos I don’t know how to do Comic Sans.
(Yup, turtles all the way down.)
Living with cats when you’re not a cat person.
Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart #639 wrote:
Neither do I — not anymore, anyway. I used it on scienceblogs, it was disabled in comments for Ftb, and now it’s apparently back — but there must be a new code or whatever it’s called. Could someone explain it to me in simple language?
Take it easy, Walton. Keep cool.
I am now watching the NCAA Championship (my prediction: the team in blue and white will win)/
And I feel like shit. Headache, neckache, shoulder blades ache. Plus my knee.
I don’t want to play anymore.
So he still believes in invisible beings that have never interfaced with reality.
You mean by focusing on people who believe that a magical being will make everything right no matter how much we fuck up the world? Sounds like a problem that actually exists to me.
Do they happen to mention how many are male?
Never expected a Rule 34 answer to that one.
We have been adopted by a 90-year-old woman who lives two houses down. She is sweet, funny, a sharp as a tack. Though she does occasionally lapse into either Polish or Engpolish.
Yet another Rule 34 answer. Who knew that DVDs could be such a hotbed of sex?
I am 46 years old and have never had a watch that needed to be wound. I wonder how many commenteers had a mental ‘huh’ moment?
But typical.
Is that better or worse than a +++OUT OF CHEESE ERROR+++?
Yet another sex joke about DVDs. I may have to check these things out.
Is it always sex with you people?
Nope. Mine would always jump to a different track during “Comfortably Numb.” Every damn time. Stupid potholes.
When I was about four, I apparently sang the first line of “Jingle Bells” all the way from Las Vegas, NV to Death Valley, CA. I am often amazed that my sisters let me live. I think I used to be quite annoying.
I can understand that. Be safe.
I think it did for a while. Of course, that was in the 1600s. You know, when Dr. Myers was young?
PZ: There’s a creobot Poe over on the latest creationism thread. You might want to take a look.
College basketball is a cancer on society and should be banned for the good of humanity.
Signed,
A Missouri student
Rey:
I feel like shit right now. No way am I going to get into an argument about college (or pro) sports. I enjoy watching — on TV or in person. Does this makes me a bad person? Go kiss Santorum’s ass.
Og: I’m sorry. I was merely bitter about Missouri’s first round exit and Kansas’ ascension to the championship.
This was a joke that doubtlessly played better in an e-mail that I wrote to my brother recently where it had slightly more context.
‘rupt, as usual, but…
Take care, Walton!
***
Dr. Darkheart:
Funny this list should begin with gluten and end with vitamin D: My wife must avoid gluten if she wants to avoid persistent diarrhea (we proved this to ourselves through years… nearly decades… of empirical study), and my doctor has just diagnosed me (using real, scientific blood analysis) with a significant vitamin D deficiency, which she thinks may be responsible for my sky-high triglycerides.
It’s a weird sort of mixed blessing when one’s real medical/nutritional needs overlap with egregious woo: Often when my wife orders gluten-free stuff, or I mention to someone that she needs it, we get that “oh, another one of those wackos” look from people[1]… but if it weren’t for those wackos, there’d be a hell of a lot less stuff in the markets (or on restaurant menus) that she could safely eat. My rational/skeptic side wishes the food faddists would smarten up; the selfish part of me is kinda’ glad they don’t.
***
[1] It’s amusing when she orders a burger with no bun: Waiters seem to assume she’s on some sort of low-carb diet (Atkins or such), and then are surprised and confused that, yes, she does want fries with that, thank you very much.
@ Walton
Auf Wiedersehen (…but come back as soon as you feel up to it.)
@ A.R
PZ: There’s a creobot Poe over on the latest creationism thread. You might want to
take a looktransfer it to TZT and let us take it from there.FIFY
@ Josh
I am baking with Phoeniciatje this morning and taking pictures of the process so that you can compare. (I hope Her Immaculate Resurrection from that near-death experience has fully restored Her to Life.)
(I have just lamed Her with a
spearknife stab to the side. All the better to rise again.)“We’ll even supply the shovel and hip boots.”
and the gloves, never forget THE GLOVES!
… or …
“What, and leave show business!?”
++++++++++++++++++++
I liked the nodogsonthebeach comic, I can relate. My rat hasn’t been around for weeks. Except for the feral and non-rent-paying aspects it was just like a roommate. Oh, wait.
Sastra, Comic Sans is very simple. It is just a “q” between the anklets, like when you bold or italicize.
theophontes: I quite agree, TZT consolidation of this troll may be beneficial.
{theophontes throws lit zippo lighter onto a well fueled hecatomb. raises paws to to the heavens and starts incantation}
Strange Gods, Oh Ye Strange Gods, wherefore art Thou Strange Gods. Hear this our prayer in this our Hour of Need. Get Thee Thy Lipstick Wielding Pitbull verily even unto Teh Zombie Thread, that Its Sage Advice may bring relief, like cooling rain, down upon Teh Ebil Oberlawd and His Myrmidon Minions. Herewith the Holy and Immaculate Linky.
{theophontes notes with mild concern that surrounding buildings have started to be engulfed as well.}
Mmmh, I’d best make tracks…
@ A.R
It is now in the
handspaws of Teh Gods.Is that strine for ‘aspirin between the knees’?
I’ve missed some stuff.
We had a fire!
I ♥ radiant heat.
{Looks around at gigantic blaze from theophontes’s hetacomb} What did I tell you about offering burnt sacrifices on TET? This thread is full of recipe cards, booze, secks, tea, and food. In other words, this is a very flammable thread theophontes!
@ chigau
No no, nothing here.
I have seen this spelled “yinz”.
Sayeth the Pfft!: “…used mainly in southwest Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh, but it is also found throughout the Appalachians.” And also: “Because there are still speakers who use each form, there is no stable second-person plural pronoun form in southwest or central Pennsylvania—which is why this pronoun is variably referred to or spelled as you’uns, y’ins, y’uns, yunz, yuns, yinz, yenz, yins or ynz.”
theophontes
I see nothing.
I’m gonna need a new prescription (eye glasses).
@ Josh – for the reflector you need at least a 4″x8″ of 3-32nds” brass sheetmetal. In can be done with steel or aluminum, but not recommended for newbies.
Use a Drimmel saw blade to cut the brass in an full ankh shape (no inner diameter hole) with the round part 4″ diameter and the handle about 3/4″ wide, with cross bar about 1″ below the circular part. (It can be snipped, but the Drimmel is faster and smoother.) This needs to be adjusted to the actual lamp throat.
Clamp the handle with in a soft pad and securely fix horizontally.
Next, take a 8″ diameter bowl and scribe the circular segments at 2″ chord, 4″ chord and 6″ chord on a the 4″ side of a 2″x4″ (Kinda like ))), but each one is deeper.
Then using a jig/scroll saw cut out the 2″ circular section of the wood. Sand to taste. This is your mandrel. Soft pine works best.
Strike a ball peen hammer (or even better sheet metal hammer with a curved face) with the peen side and start whacking just inside of where the brass meets the circle. Then work your way down slowly. Strike slightly obliquely but mostly inwards.
Keep rotating the wood/metal slightly as you hammer. Do it slowly, you don’t want to work-harden the brass. It’s firmly tap, tap, tap, not POUND, POUND,. Always work flat at the very top and then pinch down slightly towards the bottom. You need more material at the bottom because it will be stretched the farthest.
If you do work harden the brass, heat it over a gas stove or a fireplace till cherry red. and then beat it some more.
Continue until you have a peened circular section in the center of the circle and it fits sorta smoothly in the wood mold.
Next Take the saw and cut the next circle. Sand to taste.
Repeat as above. You are going to have 2″ dimple in a 4″ mold. Tap the edge onto the rim. Join it to the dimple. Don’t hit hard, hit often. Gradually beat it down, adjusting your angle to try to work the brass where it needs to go.
Cut the 6″ section, and repeat. And repeat.
Your whole project will be wanting to curl in, ignore the handle cross for now.
Assuming you have a disk, flatten the handle out at 90 deg to the chord of the dish you just made.
Now polish the shit out of the beaten inner surface. As you polish it you probably see individual hammer marks. Live with them for character or pound them smoother.
Bend the handle by hand to conform below where the reflector would be centered to match the shape of the lamp throat. Wrap the arms around the throat to keep the reflector in place but still have access to pull off the chimney to change fuel and wicks.
Tidy up a bit and admire what you did over the last 8 hours.
Now, how expensive was the mirrored one?
Hi, re. the GAC, looking forward to it.
The whole fam-damily are heading over now, and from different directions. Spouse’ll be coming down from Sydney, the rest from various parts of NZ. The gels and I hit town on Thurs., and boyo hits town midday Friday.
Drinks at a place called Chloe’s you say? I’m not heading to the formal dinner, (no PZ, and maybe having to make do with Lawrence Krauss? Things have come to a pretty pass, I must say.) Eldest gel in particular would love to say Hi to PZ though, if at all possible. Pweeez.
Alethea and drbunsen, you still up for a casual night out? We’re bringing our twelve-year-old too, now, so we’ll be tag parenting.
A break is welcomed, after three years of pollyannaish, “I will NOT become cynical!” notes to self, the realisation that every bureaucracy turns out to be just like the last, has struck. And here’s my fire-setting skills gotten all rusty.
Walton,
All the best, mate. Take a moment to smell the roses as it were. Get well soon and come back and visit when you feel up to it. You’ll be missed.
Louis
Good morning
Walton
Take all the time you need.
You’re working intensly, everybody can see that
Markita
No, the daughter knows very well how her mother is. She’s living in the house here and takes the main burden, as when the mother becomes frightened and such.
I know it’s complicated. Getting her into a nursery home would probably destroy all the enjoyment she still has in life and leave her totally frightened.
I guess Walton is getting a Paladin level.
Amblebury, absolutely!
I have gmail under the nym cajela. Are you on facebook?
Ummm, I’m 44 and I have owned wind up watches. What Luddite backwater have I been living in. (ok, the last windy watch was discarded about 25 years ago, but still…..
[ObRef]
Self-winding watch.
I still own some wind up watches. One of them has Chairman Mao waving. It’s magnificently horrible.
Oh look:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/consultations/equal-civil-marriage/
This might (maybe, might – I don’t know) be worth actually not crashing but for UKnians to respond to (I assume they want answers from UKnians only).
Anyway, just thought I’d mention it in case anyone hasn’t seen it already (I don’t think it was on the thread earlier, was it? I could have missed it, of course).
NEW THREAD!