This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly. Flap your wings and fly!
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly. Flap your wings and fly!
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
broboxley @498:
from your link:
I wonder if he got the attention he was looking for with his non suicide attempt.
Ah, that’s inappropriate sexual conduct with a patient. According to wikipedia:
he’s a practicing physician.
So which is it shart-face? Anti-woman or pro-choice?
Company Thanksgiving lunch today.
I skipped the blessing, should have skipped the food too.
This is proof there is a god and he fucking HATES everyone.
Fuck this I’m going out and getting a banh mi.
Beatrice,
Yeah, I wrote the bad check to the locksmith.
Joe,
Sorry, I misunderstood and thought the bad check was for the grocery store.
I’m sorry you’re having stupid problems when you least need them :(
How is the search for the house going? You mentioned that there were some problems with background checks because of current issues.
Rev:
The food was that bad?
seems like a pretty rich guy to me
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20243493
“Shart-face”. Hee hee.
Beatrice, we gave up on looking for a house for the moment. We don’t have the money to pay for a bunch of background checks, especially since a lot of people also want the security deposit immediately following passing the background check. Since my wife won’t have any money until Wednesday and won’t have the deposit/rent money until at least the 30th, it isn’t barely worth the bother of looking for anything.
broboxley @6:
Was that sarcasm?
Joe,
Sorry to hear that. I hope it all solves itself in some reasonable time (so that you don’t end up without a roof over your head).
Charles Stross has a thread on his blog about the future in that difficult zone between the near future and the far future: 2512. Lots of quite clever comments.
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/
Single Molecule Determines Complex Behavior, Say Scientists
(Tip o’ the hat to In the Pipeline.)
–
Texas struggling with life under communism
–
Cats as error messages.
–
Sure do! Bitsy-cat will jump half-way up the wall in her futile attempt to catch that bright red firefly.
:)
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Certainly nobody that I know!
:D
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Howdy, Have a Balloon! Petitions do get linked here, but if that’s your sole purpose in commenting here, and you do it a lot, I’m not sure it’d be appreciated very much.
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feralboy12, I don’t know how common this is, but my sciatica is close to 100% dependent on my sleeping posture; if I sleep flat on my back, I will have an episode, if I sleep on my right side with my left leg forward of my right, there’s a not-quite-100% chance of an episode. Sitting slumped forward in such a way that the curve of my back flattens is also strongly associated with episodes, but since I tend (these days) to catch myself at it, and stop before it becomes more than a faint hint of pain, I can’t assign a probability. Worth a bit of cautious experimentation, maybe?
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#9 Tony, no it wasn’t. He is rich in the way that counts
Beatrice,
I think I mentioned before, my parents have an empty house they’re trying to sell, and it is sort of on my way to the new home, so I can crash there for a few days while I wait for a place to open up. So I won’t be “homeless” although I will be mostly incommunicado for a little while since there’s no Internet in the empty house, including cellular data.
In the plus column… the old house is in the country, and it is INCREDIBLY FUCKING QUIET OUT THERE!
Yes.
Now admittedly, I’m a bit of a food snob so take it for what you will, but this was awful. The only thing I tried that ware reasonably ok were the rolls. And those came from a bakery. Almost everything else tasted like it came from a box.
A very shitty fucking box.
On a better note, the Banh Mi was fantastic.
/rant
Time to start whisking… making homemade mayonnaise for the crab/clam cakes I’ll be making later. Too bad I packed my blender, it would be so very much easier that way!
Joe,
No internet and INCREDIBLY QUIET. That’s going to be interesting.
Just remember: if a cat/dog’s in the room, you’re not really talking to yourself. :)
If I win the lotto I want to have dinner here
http://www.prekmurska-gostilna.si/Storage/FlashObject/jedilnik.swf
broboxley,
I can go there for you next time I’m in Ljubljana. :P
But I’m a bit low on money, so I can only choose some of the cheaper week menus and not any of the fancy stuff.
Any special reason you want to go there?
19 Beatrice
The food was described as interesting and delicious. What I could read from the menu it looked very good. No restaurants like that here. Heck I have to drive to Tennessee to get a really good steak. Although I haven’t tried Ted’s Montana Grill yet.
Beatrice,
I’ve got plenty of music on my laptop, plenty of books on the Kindle, and I’ll have my guitars in the car. Plus, yes… I guess I can talk to the pets. Often, I have conversations with them. With Randall, the oldest cat and only other male in the house, we have long conversations in Cat-speak. :)
Sigh.
Just talked to boss today.
We have about 70 cub scouts (plus adults) visiting tomorrow. Guess who gets to deal with them. It’s a day away and my pulse is up, my guts are squirming, I have a headache, I feel flushed. Just trying to ride the wave, let it pass through me (almost like the Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear).
Bleah.
broboxley,
Yeah, the menu does look good. A lot of traditional things I haven’t even heard of, and I thought I was fairly familiar with their cuisine, having a set of grandparents from there and all.
They have some recipes in the section in Slovenian, so if you want to try making something by yourself, I’ll shoot you a translation.
Avoid.
Where outside of the ATL are you?
Oggie
*hugs*
Rev BDC # 24 I am in Cherokee county GA NE of Cobb
Ruth Chris serves an adequate steak
Place in Tennessee is a family joint run by Greeks that understand steak.
#22 Og gonna be a tough day. Perhaps some chemical head twisting might help. In the morning try taking 3 of something like these or something similar to dampen the heebee jeebees. The B12 in there helps me out.
Ogvorbis,
You’re going to be OK. You’re going to absolutely be OK.
one of the best things I ever ate was a big handful of fresh raw sauerkraut right out of the barrel in the Ljubljana market.
The bread and cheese were excellent too but omg that kraut.
broboxley:
I was thinking something more like this . Course, I can’t really come to work drunk, but in the evening to unwind? It’ll work.
I hadn’t thought of B vitamins. I do know that I am very allergic to niacin (which I think is a B?) so I’ll take a look at it. Carefully.
damn that sound awesome
#30 Og if you are allergic to niacin stay away from those pills, far away
Done.
I’ll stick with the distilled stuff.
Isn’t niacin one of those things you sort of need to uh live?
Yes. And the amount I get in normal foods is enough to keep me alive (such as it is). When I tried a supplement that had niacin in it, I came down with a nice allergic reaction: hives, pain in the stomach, trouble breathing, watery eyes, etc. Discussed it with my doctor, she sent me to an allergist who told me that it was the niacin. The large doses in the supplement were enough to set me off.
*hugs* for Ogvorbis.
–
Ahh, so any exposure to niacin isn’t the issue, just in supplement form. got it.
that sounded snarky re-reading. Wasn’t meant to.
Not really.
You succeeded.
I’m just going to get really really really really drunk now. And then I’m going to imagine finding a place to live someday, where I can get an actual desk, and a Marshall amp refrigerator AND an actual Marshall amp too. Yessssssss… oh YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Ogvorbis
*hugses*
++++
dum-dum-di-dum
We decided to go for grocery-shopping in France tomorrow
dum-dum-di-dum
<green><underline>JEALOUS</underline></green>
Wow… just wow. You are the luckiest person on earth. I don’t even know what French groceries look like, and everything I can imagine is vaguely bigoted.
Nope, I simply had the good fortune to be born a mere 25km away from the border and clever enough never to move away ;)
I bet going to another country for groceries is more fun than going to Superstore.
From chigau’s link:
Now, I know that I am not the most well-traveled person around. I know that there are holes in my corpus of knowledge that one could drive a train through. But what in the name of the seven pluperfect hells is a ‘gas bar’? People sitting at a counter sucking down nitrous oxide? A helium karaoke? What?
Ogvorbis
“gas bar” is a Canadianism for one of those places that has only gas-pumps and a place to pay for the gas.
No mechanics or service.
Maybe they’re really progressive, but they misspelled gay bars?
Oh.
Why don’t y’all speak English up there? And by English, I mean ‘Mercun English? It would save much confusion on my part. And it’ll be far easier to change Canadian speech patterns than it would be for me, a denizen of the USA! USA! USA! to actually, y’know, learn something. Or change.
Oh come on Beatrice, the Y and S aren’t anywhere close to each other on the keyboard, not even on the Dvorak layout.
This story doesn’t add up. Are we sure France is a real place?
And now I’m hugely depressed. Wonderful. Do I power through and keep drinking and hope something changes, or go to bed and stay there until Sunday?
hth
Well, that was a joke.
And qwertz keyboard here, btw.
Your keyboard is made out of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra? Doesn’t that make it kind sharp?
SGBM:
It’s real…in the Matrix.
Oggie
I hafta drink my cheap yellow beer out of 355ml tins because that’s 12 American fluid ounces.
Do you have any idea how inconvenient that is?
I’m not giving up any of our sekret code words.
Oh, and
colour!
neighour!
metre!
zed!
Oh jeez…
Beatrice:
Is qwertz a reference to the location of the keys?
If so, the z is next to the t?
Oh. A horse-lover.
chigau:
Neigh…
[channeling cicely’s favorite animal]
Tony,
Yes
Joe,
I don’t know what suits you best, but I like to just go to sleep and hope to wake up fine.
(even if we know how that usually turns out)
fouck spleling
Beatrice,
My problem is that my depression often expresses itself in anxiety and insomnia on top of the “I just want to sleep for a week” apathy and lethargy. So sometimes I can sleep all day and night, and sometimes I sleep two hours and then stay awake for four, then sleep a few more and then I stay up the rest of the day. That happened last night, I went to sleep around 10:30, woke up around 12:30, stayed up until 4:00 and slept until 7-ish, and I’ve been up ever since. The night before I woke up at 3 and stayed up until 7 and then slept until 9.
How unusual!
An article titled ‘the new fascism’ which is actually about new(ish) fascism.
Beatrice:
How odd.
Of all the things I remember from high school, typing is one of them. I remember all those silly, repetitive lessons learning where the keys are. I wonder how much of an adjustment one must make if accustomed to a typewriter or keyboard with a more traditional setup for the letters…
cicely
I’ve never slept flat on my back, so that’s not an issue. Yeah, I’ve been more or less experimenting, trying to correlate different positions with how I feel in the morning.
Sometimes I sleep on my right side, left leg forward, right leg (the bad one) mostly extended; it feels OK for a while.
Sometimes I sleep on either side with legs together and a pillow between my knees. Feels OK for a while.
What seems to work best, though, is getting up and drinking a cup of coffee. Eventually it mellows out enough that I can get back to sleep for a bit. Movement seems to help, up to a point. Cold temperatures suck.
Thanks for the advice.
Tony,
*shrug*
It’s standard here.
I don’t remember many lessons in which we practiced typing. We only had a couple of computers per class in elementary school, and a teacher who thought pulling the plug out of the wall was a perfectly reasonable way of turning them off. I guess that tells you enough about our computer education.
In high school, we did a perfunctory power point presentation and then learned pascal. Reasonably fast typing was expected
I was able to take a typing class in high school. Lots of fun putting caps in the electric typewriters. Or unclipping the ball on a Selectric typewriter so it would jump out of the typewriter when a student tried to type with it. Oh, yeah, and I learned to type. At one point I was up at about 115 to 120 words per minute (adjusted). Which, considering my handwriting (bad) and my tendency to use thee words where one would do, along with my penchant for 30 to 40 page unergrad term papers, being able to type was not only a good thing but also quite enabling.
er, ‘unergrad’ should have been ‘undergrad’. All Hail Tpyos.
Huh. I never thought of that.
When I went to high school, electric typewriters were state of the art. Electric, not electronic, mind you. We had compulsory typing classes—I still remember sitting there thinking I’d probably never touch another keyboard in my life.
Which may be why I still have to sneak peeks at this keyboard. I have very seldom ever needed to type without looking at the keys, even with all these dang computers.
—
Improbable Joe, if you are having trouble sleeping, I really do recommend an audiobook under the pillow.
I took a typing class in eighth grade. Manual typewriter, with a teacher drilling us by calling out a…a…a…space…d…d…d…space…
Then in high school, I worked for the local daily newspaper writing sports stories. I spent a lot of time typing on yet another manual machine while cradling a Ma Bell phone receiver between shoulder and ear. Yup, back in my day…
Now if everyone could please get off my lawn, I’ll pass out the ribbon candy, moonpies, and penny whistles.
Menyambal,
Good advice, but generally doesn’t help. If I’m sleeping anyway it helps, but if I’m not sleeping I get engrossed in the story. Same for podcasts and DVD commentary tracks. Well, except maybe for anything Star Wars prequel. I remember my wife and I trying desperately to watch Attack of the Clones over several nights and falling asleep every time. Not one of us, both of us. Around 30 minutes worth of movie each time.
Joe,
Would it be so bad if you got engrossed in the story? It would pass the time, you wouldn’t have to think about things. And the bonus is that you might fall asleep.
I’ve just watched Derren Brown on channel4 (UK) induce a very strong religious experience in an atheist. Remarkable. She was babbling on about the sudden overwhelming love she was feeling. All induced from her, by him, in 15 minutes of talking to her. Amazing stuff. And, as Derren was anxious to point out, all done without there actually being a god. Well worth the watch (no doubt it will be on channel 4 on demand later.
Beatrice,
It all becomes at best treading water, and I’m still not getting enough sleep… you know what I mean? When what you need is sleep, entertained insomnia versus bored insomnia doesn’t amount to much of a difference.
I appreciate the help/advice/empathy though, please don’t anyone mistake me seeming to dismiss the specific advice with me dismissing the good intentions behind it. Knowing that people care even enough to give suggestions provides some measure of help after all.
Joe,
Don’t you worry, I’m always full of useless advice. That particular well won’t drain any time soon.
Sorry I can’t offer any actual help.
davem, you do know that’s entertainment, right?
Joe
I find that melatonin supplements often help me to sleep when I’m in that state. You can find them at most drugstores. You also have my symapthies and best wishes.
ogvorbis
Best of luck with tomorrow. USBooze for you, I have some lovely pear brandy left.
Joe
Have you tried reading the bible?
A few pages of begats or dietary advice can be quite soporific.
(not entirely joking)
I used to pray the rosary in the evening in bed. I rarely finished more than one round. Best sleeping aid ever.
chigau,
I’ve read it enough times that I would probably just fling it against the wall and go back to not sleeping in peace. :)
Seriously, there does seem to be a quality to the things that assist me in sleeping, a combination of novelty and banality. New to me in formulation, but basically the same old shit. Also, in a “class warfare” sort of accent, so maybe I should put on Downton Abbey or some other assault on everything I am and that I hold dear.
No way! I bet she had an honest to God religious experience induced right then and there.
and I can second Beatrice on the rosary
Holy Mary Mother of … zzzzz
Of course it’s entertainment. So is all TV. However, it’s usually entertainment with an explanation at the end; not the usual bullshit left unexplained as ‘magic’. Today he debunked ‘God’ by inducing religious feelings on demand. Watch it, then criticise, eh?
I have no idea what “religious experience” or “religious feelings” are supposed to be, unrelated to a specific religion or at least belief in some vague spirituality.
Maybe that has been discussed here at some point, but I missed it?
Beatrice,
I don’t know what has or hasn’t been discussed, but my view is that if “religious experience” or “religious feelings” can be explained to you in secular terms, they lose the “religious” aspect… and if they can’t, then they are meaningless to me.
Marsh Chapel Experiment
Right. If it actually means “overwhelming happiness” then call it that and ditch the “religious” part.
unrelated to a specific religion or at least belief in some vague spirituality,
they become machine elves instead
Beatrice:
…at times.
Other times, you give useFUL advice.
“Oh God. Oh God! Yes! YES!!”
(Not always a religious experience)
Is that code for “you took some really good drugs”?
Beatrice,
Tony’s got a point. Even if your advice wasn’t useful to me in this case, it doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t help someone else, or that most of your advice isn’t more directly helpful.
I love how affordable fruits and veggies can be at a local farmer’s market. I just spent $40 and purchased quite a bit of both.
****
On the way home, for some reason I started thinking about some of my favorite movies. Rather than try to compile a Top 5 or 10, I just settled on 5 of my favorite movies. In no particular order:
Clue
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
The Avengers
Halloween (the original)
Memento
I’m curious to see what favorites you all have (assuming you have favorite movies).
****
Just remembered that I almost hit a duck crossing the road earlier today. It was crossing the median, and as I approached I slowed down, but the duck just stopped and waited for me to pass. Then it continued walking. Smart duck. Unlike those poor squirrels.
Yeah it’s code for the felt presence of agents who aren’t there.
I suppose ghosts (or, like, animal/forest spirits) are more typical.
#91 improbable Joe like a nice vein injection of heroin mixed with top shelf mda that’s so good your nuts tingle… without the heroin or the mda should cover the feeling of “a religious experience”
not that I know much about drugs, just sayin
Tony, Joe,
You’re really nice. I was mostly joking. I have a habit of doing the self-depreciating joking thing when trying to make others feel better.
If nothing else, I can give useful cooking recommendations.
Beatrice:
As I typed my comment @95, I was thinking that you were poking fun at yourself through self deprecation. Turns out I was right. I wonder why I recognized that. .
chortle
I have meeting these elves on my bucket list.
Anyone who wants to know what a religious experience feels like should ingest some mushrooms. Feeling like you are one with the universe and everything in it is pretty cool. Oddly enough, I never had this experience in my many hours at church.
Only favorite movie that comes to mind right now: Love Actually.
It’s a guilty pleasure that I indulge in every year around Christmas.
Being an insomniac myself, I am not competent to offer advice. A night with three hours of sleep counts as “good”.
— — — — — — — — — — — —
A Question for members of the Horde living in Europe.
.
As I have previously mentioned, Uwingu is financing science projects, in part by setting up a “baby name book” for the millions of exoplanets waiting to be discovered.
http://betaclone.uwingu.com/
For just 0.99 you get to nominate a planet name for the book, or vote for an existing name to bring it higher on the list.
There is some bug, while I can vote on the existing names I cannot nominate a name (it is not my local computer that is the problem).
Have any of you living in Europe tried to nominate a planet name to Uwingu and experienced the same problem?
Another question for non USA dwelling Hordesters:
Are fast food establishments as ubiquitous in other countries as they are in the United States?
Tony,
You have fast food establishments on every corner, right? We don’t have as many, but we have a lot of bakeries*. People are accustomed to munching on pastries, sandwiches or a slice of pizza every day, possibly multiple times.
*a lot of small ones have the bread delivered from one of the main ones, so that there could be a tiny bread&pastries store tucked into every freaking corner of this town
And on that note, good night.
It’s way past my bedtime.
Beatrice:
It sure seems like a fast food place is on every corner.
There’s probably as many churches on a given street as there are fast food places.
@Tony
Anti-nourishment for the mind to go with anti-nourishment for the body?
Wow, it’s funny the posts people will comment on months after the thread has sputtered to an end:
****
Boy oh boy!
John Colaneri is sexy!
Tony,
Interesting thing about locally-grown food and such, which just about drives me nuts. I tried out the farmer’s market recently, and the food is MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE than it would be at a local grocery store. So much for local food being an economical alternative for regular folks, rather than for wealthy hipster assholes.
Improbable Joe:
For weekly markets, try attending just before closing time.
Hipster assholes get local food discounts regular folks don’t? ;)
I consider typing to be the most useful class i took i high school, even though the teacher was about to retire and came into class at least half sloshed almost every day.
carlie:
I’m right there with you. Typing was an incredibly useful skill that I acquired in high school. But boy was the class annoying (all the repetition of letters).
You know, I DO have to wonder though… when people who shop at farmer’s markets and think it is cheaper than “regular” produce? What do they consider “regular”? Because the local Save-A-Lot has tons of fresh-enough produce for cheaper than the regular grocery stores and the local markets as well. And maybe there’s better, but I live in a food desert so there you go.
Joe, I was comparing Farmer’s Market prices with what I pay at Publix or Winn Dixie.
****
Oh, I forgot to mention. One other thing I picked up from the market was Apple Cider. I discovered that Cherry, Blueberry, and Blackberry ciders all exist as well. I was on a budget otherwise I’d have purchased one of them too. I guess you can ‘ciderize’ any fruit?
And of course, the sentence about how useful typing is has two typos.
Cuttlefish has a new poem up that is totes awesome:
excerpt:
Depends a lot on the market and on timing. Farmers’ markets that are owned by a company tend to have higher prices, because it costs the farmers more to rent a slot. Produce that is at the right time for harvest and the easiest to grow in that area will often be rock-bottom prices (right now a grocery store near me is offering potatoes for 50 cents a pound from a local farmer, much cheaper than their normal store prices, for instance). But farmers’ markets usually do cost a little more, because economies of scale just don’t happen.
Improbable Joe:
By your own claim, they either are (or pretend to be) “wealthy hipster assholes”, whence it becomes “an economical alternative”.
(You need wonder no more!)
Carlie, I think my point is that the local markets aren’t the panacea that a lot of people paint them to be. They aren’t always cheaper or fresher than anywhere else, and in my experience aren’t remotely the cheapest or freshest alternative. They might be in some places, but that’s true of anything really… a Winn-Dixie could be the best place in a lot of towns, and the worst in a bunch of others.
Joe
I have never shopped at the local farmer’s’ market because it’s cheaper.
I shop there because most of the stuff is locally*-grown or made and is produced by small** businesses.
*within ~100km
**and Hutterite Colonies
—-
When we grew our own potatoes, they would last until February or March.
I think we probably saved $15 or $20 per year.
woohooo
I seem to have missed the whole patriarchy thing. The only alpha male in my home is my cat. And he is welcome to remain the boss, but I wish he could cut down on the “shredding the furniture” hobby.
— — —
Tony,
locally-grown food + the wingnut comment quote = locally grown nut.
And strangely? Have any of you shopped at a Save-A-Lot? You bag your own groceries at a counter 6-7 feet past the cash register. You can buy Hamburger Helper, but they also sell Ground Beef Assistant. There’s more “Bubba Cola” than Pepsi and Coke combined. It is awesome that they sell every variety of Goya Adobo, which is seriously cool… and they also sell a metric shit-ton of chitlins and other animal guts. The food is mostly cans where they just cut the tops of the cases off an stack them on the floor. This is the cheapest grocery store that is a national chain, the cheapest I’ve ever been in.
But their veggies, what little bit they sell? Fresh as all hell. Better than the more traditional grocery stores in the area, and a TON better than the farmer’s markets and hipster gourmet places. It is just better-quality produce and cheaper too. I’ve never got anything home from them and found that it was slimy or brown or not any good that night or the next day. I’ve bought “organic” salads that were rotten on bottom, but the cheap shit at the Save-A-Lot has always been really fresh.
chigau,
I don’t really have a problem with that. I’ve sometimes been willing to pay more for something to support a local business, and I can respect the thought behind that because I feel it myself.
All of this was in response to Tony, who said that the local market CAN be cheaper. My answer was that sometimes it also isn’t. I’m sure there are local shops that are cheaper, or better, and sometimes both! But sometimes they are neither, and they are a rip-off. Not all, not most in all places at all times, but sometimes, in some places.
I wish there was a way to consistently know what places would be the places to get the good food. It would make my life easier.
Improbable Joe – I have problems waking up worrying and sometimes trouble falling asleep. My solution has been to have a couple of audiobooks that I listen to over and over and over and over and… That way, if I wake up, I can just go into a favorite story, and the sound of the narrators’ voices can practically throw me into sleep. I discovered this when I made the mistake of listening to one of the books while driving down to Boy Scout camp last summer and switched to something less familiar pretty quickly.
Since I am particularly fond of the Lian Hearn Tales of the Otori books and LeCarre’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, I tend to have a lot of weird samurai dreams, or else dreams about George Smiley, Bill Hayden, and Karla. Oddly enough, these are not actually particularly unpleasant dreams. (Listening to Haruki Murakame led to even weirder dreams…)
Joe
We don’t have Save-A-Lot here.
but we shop at the local equivalents.
Since we have a truck and SHOP at 4-6 week intervals, that’s where we go.
Just to clarify, I have the books on my iPod and have found headphones that I can sleep in. The book goes on when I get into bed and I make sure that there’s at least 8 hours of narration to come.
If I had something whispering in my ear late at night, I would never sleep.
—
(no sexyness implied)
Tony,
you in Florida right? Look at your local carniceria for fresh cheaper veggies. (works in tampa YMMV)
random good a place as any for cute animals: Surprise baby Tentacled Snakes!
http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2012/11/tentacled-snake-babies-a-surprise-for-national-zoos-staff.html
Ethnic specialty stores sometimes have fresh vegetables for cheap compared to the regular grocery, because they can’t afford to stock produce that will go bad for languishing and often their clientele can’t afford high prices. You just have to find out which day is delivery day, because it will all be sold out by the next day. And figure out what to do with the kinds of veggies you can get.
On sleeping – there are hundreds of youtube videos designed for relaxation; you might find something that hits all the right relaxing buttons for you, and could then download the audio from it for nighttime listening on repeat. (I would ask permission from the poster to download)
Pteryxx: awwwww! Now I know what it must have been that Yoong Lambton caught while he was feshin’ in the weir. ;)
carlie,
I’ve been informed that describing my neighborhood as a type that would req
FUCKING HELL!
And it probably tastes like Tasty Wheat.
–
Improbable Joe
???
#139 it may taste like Tasty Wheat but it smells like Gauloises
RE:Farmers Markets
There are a lot of factors that go into food prices, which I’ll mention in no particualr order. Apologies for the lack of cites, I’m at work right now and have limited interwebs.
First off, the proces at commercial stores often have very little to do with economies of scale per se; the scale at which the food is grown often costs more per acre than smaller farms. However, farm subsidies distort that produce market pretty much beyond recognition, which is why there’s so much cheap food that’s basically corn and soy byproducts modified in endless ways in the supermarkets.
Secondly, as I always feel I have to point out in these discussions, the problem with food costs gereally is not that food prices are too high, it’s that wages are too low. I realize that his doesn’t help individuals (including myself) who are currently receiving such wages, but it’s an improtant thing to keep in mind when discussing food policy and prices generally.
Third, the prices at the farmer’s market are going to vary widely depending on who runs the show (civic markets are cheaper than private ones usually), how many farmers ther are nearby, and how hearby nearby actually means. Here in Portland, where I live, we have the Urban Growth Boundary, which ensures that there are farms quite close to the city, and hence the locatons opf the farmers markets. Some farms are actually inside the city limits. This reduces the costs to the farmers of transporting the vegetables. Also, it depends on what grows well in your area, and what season it is. I find that around here the farmers markets compare favorably to Safeway (we don’t have Publix out here, but I think they’re pretty similar) when it comes to prices, and the produce tastes better as well.
Lastlye for now, as someone mentioned earlier, the money spenty at a farmers market goes directly to the farmer, which means that a) the farmer gets paid a much better wage for their work compared to the big monocrop farms, and b) you get a multiplier effect as the money circualtes in your local economy rather than being siphioned off to pay the shareholders and executives of whatver remote agribusiness is selling the commercial food. They are not a panacea, but they are definitely a good thing ot have around.
Some Like it Hot.
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
True Lies.
Caddy Shack.
How’s that for shallow and uninformed?
============
Why did the duck cross the road?
To prove the opossum that it really can be done!
Some call my humour self-deprecating. I call it being honest.
I had a historiography class in college which was a night class. There were four of us in the class. Dr. Riley ushered us into the conference room in the liberal arts department, pointed to a cooler, and said, “James, I know you drink sherry. Bill, you drink Scotch. Andy, you drink Guinness, and Peter, I think you drink Jack and coke, right? The glasses and your drinks are in the cooler. Oh, and could someone please use the large coffee mug and pour me a really, really stiff sherry? Thank you.” Great class. We sat around discussing the history of history with our favourite drinks.
He did the same thing when I went for my comprehensive oral exam so I could graduate. A nice straight single malt can do so much to help one relax when facing five history professors who are about to grill you on everthing you have learned in the last four years. (I passed with flying colours!)
Our local farmer’s markets are dirt cheap compared to the local grocery stores. And for the most part, the produce is so much fresher (Wegmans buys lots of local produce, so their stuff is as fresh but costs more.).
I hated every, plodding, verbose, tedious moment of Citizen Kane.
Yeah. I said it.
An Australian perspective on what’s already been noted:
Partisan hyperbole: mistaking a claque for a clap
The Wizard of Oz
Jaws
Cat Ballou
Cloverfield
Any Lord of the Rings
I found “my” Persephone poem!
Persephone Lied
The truth is, I was bored.
My mother blissing ahead of me, rosebuds rising in her footsteps,
And I skulking behind, thinking,
Oh look. She walks in beauty.
Again.
[…]
And when a hole opened up, a beautiful black, in all the pastels of my mother’s sowing.
Let me fix the lie: Nobody grabbed, nobody pulled.
I jumped.
[…]
And the gardener said, “Little girl,
Little sunlit flower,
You belong in the world above.
Trust that they’ll come for you,
But while you wait
Don’t eat the food of the dead, for it will trap you here.”
And I said give me the fucking fruit.
chigau,
Sorry, I’m trying to get an old laptop workable for my imminent move across these United States. It is frustrating to say the least.
Also, I LOVE Citizen Kane! I mean, to each their own, since I find The Godfather to be plodding and dull, and I think that Scarface is a low-quality grindhouse movie with A-list actors.
I’m avoiding listing a top 5 of my own, but Citizen Kane would certainly make my top 20.
Cat Ballou: Never saw a man get thru the day so fast
Snatch and RocknRolla I understood every word the pikies were saying. Named my boston terrier dag after that movie.
Best Movie of all time
Fist Full Of Dynamite
Steiger should have won every award available for his work in that.
Il buono, il brutto e il cattivo
great spag western Eli Wallach did a great job
Burton and Taylor taming of the shrew. The actual sparks came across very well
Smoke Signals
well I have met many of the actors but great movie anyway
the Searchers with john wayne
Terrence Hill and Bud Spence movies
Billy Jack
LOTR of course!
Best film noir “State of Grace” the final 5 minutes were the best action sequence EVAH!
Angel Heart, awesome acting, plot hawty
Bar Fly
Shit I like movies
My experience has been that the cheap stuff tends to be more expensive and the expensive stuff tends to be cheaper. $0.75-1.00/lb for onions, $0.80-1.50/lb for pomegranates, and the local low-end grocery place just jacked their price for portabello mushrooms up to $1.48 each, which makes $6-7/lb competitive. I suppose it varies between markets…
no sports! ARRGGHH!! wait cool
Sonisphere festival 2009
Machine Head LimpBizket, Alice in chains and metalica.
AAHH, now I can relax and read
Interesting poem, kristinc.
–
Rebecca Hamilton blocks dissenting comments on her blog. Just so you know, in case you feel compelled to leave a comment – don’t bother.
Comment was on her “how gay marriage affects women and children” post. She says gay couples can’t have kids so it encourages individualism which is bad. Also it will take feminism back 100 years. I commented that if they’re worried about individualistic gays, let them adopt children, problem solved, then they’ll be as collectivist as the heterosexual couples. Also asked if the guy who suggested gays will take away things like suffrage was being serious because it’s ridiculous.
Top five movies? How about five movies and why I watch them?
The English Patient: Cathartic crying.
How to Train Your Dragon: Drawing in the Sand
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Eyes.
The Two Towers: Gollum.
Alien: Tension.
Very good flick. I keep meaning to show it to L and Becca, but we haven’t got around to it yet. Have you seen Dance Me Outside?
You cannot actually watch Dance Me Outside …
it was a complicated experience.
Anyone care for more RCC rage material? Take a look.
Oh Chas, you’re such a prince.
I did want Brian to shut up–with the chastising of women who express impatience with the desire to determine what the psychology is of people who advocate treating women as second class citizens. Yeah, I was sloppy in what I said. I was emotional. It made me look stupid. However I did clarify, even further, after that. I really don’t want Brian to shut up in general. Just want him, and everyone else, to stop lecturing me about how some people who advocate forced birth MEAN WELL and aren’t 100% evil.
But glad to have afforded you a moment of schadenfreudtastic chortling at my expense. If nothing else, my passion for equal rights has at least added a moment of comedy to your life.
On the other hand, were I to have to pick some essentials. These are movies where I started to expect more from other films and some suggestion of why:
Yatoichi by Beat Takechi. Best dance sequence ever. (No, it’s not the closing either.)
Fifth Element: Editing is key.
Moulin Rouge: Integrating music. (Yes, it’s a musical, but not.)
Final Fantasy: Most important blink in my watching history.
Oooh, Fifth Element probably makes my top ten, if not top five list. Adore that movie (and its editing).
Also love Clue. Watch it exactly once a year, on Halloween, with Misterc. It’s our tradition.
Is this where I’d confess that I have a weakness for Dirty Dancing? Uh, not that I do. Just, y’know, hypothetically.
Hudson Hawk! I knew I was forgetting a shamefully bad movie that I love so much it’s sick. For years after I saw it for the first time, I wondered whether it was A Real Thing or if I had dreamed it, it’s that bizarre.
Ball ball.
Pretty ‘rupt
Venting ahead.
So, German god-botherer and singer Xavier Naidoo gets a bit of critique for his new song where he, according to himself, wants to raise consciousness about the horrible ritual murders of children that hatten every day (somebody needs some explenation on what “ritual murder” or, in fact, “every day” means. Murders of children by pedophiles are horrible crimes, but they’re not ritual murders and thankfully they don’t happen very often).
He gets criticism (and indeed got reported to the police) for being a homophobic bastard who glorifies violence and incites crimes (I want to murder you, I’m going to cut off your arms and leg, I’m going to crush your balls).
Oh no, he says, that’s not true at all. He only has respect for homosexuals and hates the RCC because they don’t!
So, I’ll give you a bit of his respect:
I must say, that’s talent.
Not everybody is able to be such a homophobic bastard and asshole misogynist in so few words.
Is there a possibility someone could offer some insight into this statement from one of Natalie’s posts without jumping down my throat (I would ask in the comments but my experiences participating there haven’t been encouraging or informative):
…if privilege is so blinding as I’ve been told, and we posit this, then where is that education supposed to come from?
Giliell,
More than I can stand have that talent.
Azkyroth, that something is not someone’s job nor their ethical responsibility doesn’t entail that they will not do that something for other reasons.
Azkyroth,
I would not argue that any victim should need to educate those who don’t get how they have contributed to the victim’s oppression. I would argue that it is beneficial that some victims do educate those who don’t get their contribution. Does every victim need to speak up?
For instance, I recently had a man who in his words was just “missing some parts” in store and complaining about his treatment at another retailer who offered similar services where he had been told “I have never worked with one of ‘you’ before.” My only comment was “It’s not your job to make them a decent human.” This struck a good nerve and I was commended for understanding. I don’t. I can’t. But I won’t say the he needs to explain his experience to others. Maybe I can let some people know that they are hurtful. Maybe someone else can. This is bigger than just one person.
Azkyroth
The fact that people will kindly explain stuff to you does not mean that they have to. Why should it be the job of the minority, why should it be their responsibility (and then, of course, their fault if it fails)?
Just like somebody might kindly tell you that this is a no-parking zone you will agree that it is not their job and responsibility but yours to inform yourself about traffic regulations before you start.
Good morning.
re:
What others said.
Hey, who was it posted that coconut loaf recipe? Thank you, whoever you are! I made a variant and it was much liked. And it was so easy.
Instead of the 3/4 cup milk, I used 1/2 cup lemon yoghurt & 1/4 cup lemon juice, and the zest of a lemon.
Films?
Highway 61
Whale Music
Princess Bride
The Lion in Winter
The Commitments
Or so it is right at this moment. At another time, in another mood, it might be different.
The pub next door is hosting some kind of party. Sounds like they’re having a good time, though I suspect that it would be a good idea if someone hide the keys to that dirt bike soon. Ah well, so long as it doesn’t end with a rattle of shotgun pellets on our roof like last New Years I’ll be happy. Country living is so peaceful.
Hello Cicely (and Giliell)
Don’t worry, I do not plan on spamming Pharyngula with petitions. I have lurked for a long time but am quite nervous about participating on blogs and things. Also partly because the people here are already good at saying the things I want to say, so I don’t always think I can usefully add things.
At the same time you are a supportive community that it would be nice to be part of, and I guess if I want you to go and consider my petition I should make an effort to interact. Maybe stay in the lounge with the butterfly to start with :)
So I will say hello everybody. I am a student at Cambridge University, and I have recently learned that it is not such an enlightened place as I thought. I like to visit Pharyngula because it reminds me that there are lots of people out there who have my back. I am interested in feminism, atheism, social justice, science, and politics.
Oh, and I like balloons.
kristinc – that’s a fantastic poem!!!
Azkyroth – in older days that might have been a more valid question, but not to sound flippant, now we have the internet. There are hundreds of thousands of words out there on the topics, written by people who were willing to educate and lay everything out. The one person who brought it up isn’t the only one to ever have mentioned it, so if they don’t feel like explaining further, it’s fairly easy to find someone else who has written it down for reference.
Hello, have a balloon!
you asked for it
*hates today*
(for no particular reason)
I can lend you some of my reasons if you wish.
Chas,
I like that song.
Ogvorbis,
Wanna listen to Nina Simone?
—
I hope tomorrow’s better.
Threadrupted beyond words.
I woke up wondering what was so different this morning — and then realized I actually felt healthy! No more joint/muscle pain, no fever, no exhaustion. It was such a strange feeling that I didn’t recognize it. I’m not at 100% yet, but definitely above 80%.
— —
kristinc
Wow! Love that poem! That first stanza really captures the “sulky teenager”* who wants to be her own person and find her own path. The “give me the fucking fruit” line made me snort tea out my nose!
*I dislike that term, because it implies they’re always being unreasonable instead of having legitimate grievances, but I can’t think of another way to express it.
—
Favorite movies: (defined as “movies I’m compelled to watch if I see them playing, regardless of how much I’ve missed or how pressing other tasks are.”)
The Princess Bride
The Breakfast Club
Clue
The Neverending Story (The first one)
They Live (It’s so bad, but I can’t stop watching it.)
and (despite the damage it does to any atheist cred I have) It’s a Wonderful Life.
In my defense, I just pretend Clarence is a confused neighbor whom George humors. I love the idea that we never know how important an effect we have on those around us and that even the smallest kindnesses can mean the world to someone.
—
Have A Balloon
Welcome!
Hey everyone!
Just checking in again. I’m feeling much better and Little One is fully recovered. We’re all good.
Now time to catch up on all the stuff I missed. Oh boy, is that going to take awhile.
Beatrice,
My wife called me this morning and said that I’m required to have a good day today, no matter what. I’m telling you the same thing. Go have a good day, dammit!
HI there
We’re back from our shopping (372 coffee-pads, that should get me thorugh the week). Kids didn’t enjoy it as much as we would have liked to enjoy ourselves (I admit it’s simply boring for them).
So Mr. took them to the playground afterwards and immediately got chastized for letting them play in the sand at those temperatures.
Joe,
:)
Well, I am meeting a friend in about fifteen minutes, so I was planning to make myself be decent company. I will endeavor to turn that into “have a good day, dammit!”
Joe,
I hope you’re listening to your wife and having a good day too!
And I’m off.
Happy Saturday, all!
DarkInfant and I are off to help Asshole Sister hang Xmas decorations. Surprisingly enough, now that I’m not pregnant, Asshole Sister is no longer being, well, an asshole. It’s rather nice. :)
Oh, top five movies?
Fargo
The Usual Suspects
Reservoir Dogs
Inception
and
Stranger Than Fiction
Crap, can I do 6 movies? 28 Days Later is high on the list.
Audley:
Are you a fan of Tarantino and Nolan, or just those movies?
Oh, and YIPPEE! for asshole sister no longer being an asshole.
Kristinc:
Ahem, I also don’t not dislike that movie.
Socio-gen:
Hi! Good to read you.
Audley:
Excellent : ) Glad you’re enjoying getting along with her.
Movies
The Princess Bride
White Christmas
Pirates of the Caribbean (don’t judge)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The Departed
====
Happy Saturday!
====
Re: farmer’s market prices
I don’t have a large basis of comparison here, but I’ve found decent prices. Except lately, my local farmer friend won’t take my money. I don’t know why and I need to figure out a way to repay him for the delicious produce.
====
Welcome, Have A Balloon! I’ve had those tough realizations, too. Disappointing to see that what you expected to be a progressive person or place is just so not.
Alethea, that was ‘my’ coconut loaf. What a good idea! I’ve thought of grating in some lemon zest before and never done it, but that sounds good. I’ll try it one day.
For some reason I can’t do a list of films just now.
The Producers
Dr Strangelove
……. completely blank.
Okay, so the problem is that I’m
A) assuming “no obligation to” and equivalents have the connotations they do nearly every other time they’re used,
B) failing to intuit an implicit distinction between “the person you’re talking to” and “the abstract” and
C) not interpreting the statement in a broader context.
Thanks. :/
And I’m back. Had a nice chat with the friend, and I actually do feel better now.
Nope, I actually didn’t.
Audley:
Do as many movies as you like.
That’s why I only asked for 5 of one’s favorite movies. I know how hard it can be to compile a Top 5 or Top 10 list.
Tony:
I am a huge Nolan fan (the only movie of his I haven’t liked was Insomnia, which I, funnily enough, slept through).
I can take or leave Tarantino. Some of his movies I really like and some I HAAAAAAAAAATE.
I remember dozing off a bit during Insomnia as well.
Oh, I’m adding Layer Cake to my list, too.
I’m adding
The Princess Bride,
The Producers (both versions)
Pirates of the Caribbean,
The Muppet Movie.
I am getting a lot of entertainment from watching the GOP flail around trying to understand why it just had its ass handed to it.
GOP needs to get with the times
Reading the various quotes in the article, its pretty clear that they really are idiots.
Yup, the silly fluffy ladies won’t notice how anti-women we are if we just talk nice to them about how anti-women we are.
Gee Ron, maybe you should work to be less of an intolerant dumbass. It would go a long way in changing peoples perception.
Recruiting candidates who aren’t flaming ignorant, misogynistic, assholes might be a better strategy.
Derp. Apparently it has never crossed Mr. McLaughlin’s mind that the policy positions are the friggin source of the massive alienation?
Clueless idiots…all the way down.
Beatrice:
Very cool :)
Pirates of the Caribbean is hardly high cinema art but good Lard it’s a lot of fun.
The sequels were not nearly as much fun IMO and therefore not as worth it. I only rewatch the first movie.
It is far better than any movie based on an amusement park ride has any right to be. I also like the way that there are no real bad guys.
OK so background: We get our internet from the company where Misterc works.
Today our 13-year-old was on the computer and his sister tattled that he was downloading music. I guessed that it was illegally, since he was trying to hush her up. I don’t have a grand moral stance against pirating but he’s been forbidden to do it because he’s a stupid teenager and gets all kinds of viruses on our machine.
I IM’d Misterc and work and told him “Call the kid RIGHT NOW and pretend you can tell he’s illegally downloading things”.
It worked; kid completely believes that somehow Dad is monitoring the intertubes and saw his illicit activity go by. “I just got an email from the abuse department,” dad said, and the kid immediately replied “I’ll stop now”.
BWAHAHAHAHAAAAAA mindfuck POWERRRRRRR
The score to POTC was what grabbed me first. I have the soundtracks to the first and third movies. I know they went downhill as the sequels progressed, but they have a place in my heart. And agreed, not “good” movies, but they are really fun.
#204 self amusement with children and things that plug in
RF controlled power strips
that is all
Shit, our washing machine is broken. It’s 14 months old. So, I called the customer service.
“You want a technician to come and have a look?”
Yes, please
“But you know that your warranty is up?”
No, I didn’t, I thought it was 24 months as by law.
“Oh yes, I’m sorry, my mistake…”
kritinc
You’re evil.
I like it
I read and enjoyed Layer Cake, but never got around to watching the movie. Apparently there were some annoying changes, although I can’t recall the details. The Producers is a classic of cinema, and there is only one. Other favorites of mine include Casablanca, Dr. Strangelove, Fight Club, Fifth Element, and a number of others the titles of which are not coming to mind. This is a chronic problem for me, and often makes it difficult for me to re-find favorite books, movies, and music.
kristinc
In fact, ISPs can sometimes monitor that type of thing. We just got a threatening letter from ours on that exact topic.
<whine>Between my ex-roomate leaving and the lack of sales from L’s shop, finances have gone from tight to nonexistent. He’s had to cancel his appoint with the psychiatrist this month because we still can’t pay for last month, let alone the older hospital bills we’re getting daily calls about. Our current housemate ( afriend of ours who’s staying with us since she lost her last job due to a mental breakdown a few months back)hasn’t been able to see anyone at all, since she’s even broker than we are. This is not helping anyone’s mental state, of course. My paycheck isn’t until the end of the month, and is only enough to cover the rent and utilities, and barely that, now that the whole thing is on us, and I’m the only one who has or can hold a steady job. I’ve applied for a full-time position in a different department, which would help a lot, but I haven’t heard back from them at all. I haven’t been out of the house to meet a friend in I dont’ remember how long, because I can’t afford to go anywhere and I’ve lost touch with anyone who I might meet anyway. I know a lot of folks on here aren’t any better off, and I don’t like to be a whiner, but I have to talk about it to someone, instead of keeping it bottled up, and it’s not like I really have anyone else to tel it to. </whine>
On a semi-related note, has anyone here written an indygogo proposal or might have some advice? We’ve been thinking that maybe if we could get some better tools an materials, we could expand L’s shop and maybe attract more customers, but I’m honestly not sure how to start going about such a thing.
Dalillama – Tell L he needs more hats in his shop. I bought one last week, when you posted the link, but GirlChild is in to hats.
Also, if he has more hats, you will need to let me know.
Full day of cooking and freezer stocking
Huge batch of chicken stock has been simmering away for 5 hours
Roasted beets for a salad later
Venison chile up soon
New cayenne hot sauce in the jar catching little yeastie beasties out side
Big batch of spicy tomato sauce waiting to be portioned for the freezer
Spiced pecans up soon for thanksgiving
May do a few more things depending on time
Rev, wow! This was my day:
Woke up
Sat on couch, surfed internet
Remembered I had to put up online material for class, did that
Made late breakfast, felt sick from said breakfast
Went back to bed
Got up four hours later
Stayed in bed another hour watching TMC
Went back to couch, surfed internet
I’ve been feeling sick for weeks, and this was the first time I got to stop for a bit. Feels very good. Well, still feel sick, but a little more coddled now.
I think I just found the quote for my life:
wouldn’t bother me
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2012/11/15/PETA-poster-equates-pubic-hair-with-fur/UPI-65121353009264/?spt=mps&or=2
It’s like PETA has a Department of Shitty, Misogynistic, Assholic Marketing. Do they just put douchebags in a room and tell them to brainstorm?
*sigh*
It’s like PETA would lose all its meaning without outrageous displays of misogyny.
#215 Portia pretty much
I was referring to the heinous Spin Doctors, but either way: *shrug* you got it anyway.
I too got a real ISP letter about my teenager’s downloading activity–actually it was because she had joined a torrent site that let somebody download something illegal from her computer (it was Zombieland dubbed in Russian, which she [rightly] thought would be a great gift for her slightly twisted cousin). I chose to just explain the situation rather than lie to her in order to induce paranoia, but hey, everybody’s parenting style is different I guess.
heh. me either.
Well… MY good day involved trying unsuccessfully to cash a $54 class action settlement check. Then I went to the two big box guitar shops in town, conveniently located in adjoining parking lots, and tried out a bunch of guitars and a couple of effects pedals. Then home, watched a couple of episodes of Fringe, took a nap through the noisiest part of the afternoon, and here I am. I’m debating whether or not to clean the kitchen enough to cook a meal, or whether I should just eat some soup from a can and call it good.
Movies? I like horror movies probably more than anything else, followed by comedies. So my “favorite” movies include stuff like The Shining and that venerable classic South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut… I’ve probably seen each of them at least 50 times, and watched both of them in the last month.
Dalillama & Chas: yep, I know ISPs often do catch ya doing that stuff because it’s Misterc’s job to smack people on the wrist when they get caught. (And to cut off their service if they don’t respond to the smack on the wrist by
finding smarter ways to piratecleaning up their act.)Chas, don’t worry, your passive-aggressive jab is noted.
Movies?
Time Bandits
Ladyhawke
Buckaroo Banzai
Lord of The Rings – Fellowship of the Ring (just Jackson’s first one)
Star Wars – entire 3 originals if I can fast forward, Empire if I can only pick one
I slept so badly through the week that when I got to catch up I slept through most of saturday, and got up at sunset. Up here, the sun sets around 14.30 but it is still pretty late.
Swedish TV showed “Layer Cake” yesterday. I was not in a mood to appreciate it. I finished reading “Assassin’s Code”. Three words; vampires with nukes.
(I prefer Charles Stross´ Laundry novels)
Welcome in, then, Have a Balloon!
:)
–
Excellent news!
–
More excellence!
–
Movies…hmmm…
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Blazing Saddles
Young Frankenstein
The Princess Bride
The Fifth Element
…at least, at the moment…
…and despite the deplorable number of Horses involved in most of these movies; the Damned Things are every-fuckin’-where!
–
Goes without saying.
:)
–
Hia all. I had some fun today. ’twas a good Saturday.
How is everyone?
birgerjohansson,
We seem to have overlapping reading tastes, so I’m going to give the Stross books a try I suppose. You ever read any Scott Sigler?
Joe, I’d like to put in an enthusiastic word for the Laundry books. On accounta how they’re awesome.
–
thunk!
Doing pretty good here, cats just dumped my laptop on the floor and it survived, so that’s pretty cool. What cool crap did you get up to?
cicely,
Gotcha, I’ll pick one up next time I have cash. You folks are so helpful sometimes. :)
Improbable Joe: I can tell you it was fun for me. However, describing it would involve outing me (something which I’m not going to do on a public forum.)
You’ll just have to wonder. *evil laugh*
Ugg. The boyfriend and I just argued about dinner, of all things. I was trying to cook something, and he came in and started helping. He usually does the cooking, so I guess his natural instincts kicked in, because the next thing I knew he had taken over cooking and was making something different than, albeit similar to, what I was originally making. I got territorial, he got defensive, and now we’re both grumpy. To top it all off, dinner is only half-cooked, because in the middle of all this I forgot to make the rice. Now everything else has to sit and wait while the rice cooks. Blah.
I can’t believe we just argued about dinner. I feel so OLD right now.
No problem
Mr. PresidentLindsay LohanGodzillathunk. Your secret is safe with us.thunk
We could play 20 Questions.
Is it bigger than a bread box?
[/thoroughly dating self]
Chigau:
Mu; there’s really no good answer to that.
#232 if it’s bigger than a breadbox the porn industry is looking for you
Why does it always hafta come down to sex?
sex sex sex
sheesh
blogofmyself, something quite similar is going on here. And yeah, it feels old. Sympathy.
Chigau: agreed
That thinking, in retrospect, is super-annoying. Just because I don’t have a SO doesn’t mean my life isn’t fulfilled.
thunk,
There, there.
Nothing wrong with masturbation. :)
Chas: Please bookmark this post and refer back to it in case you are ever in doubt as to whether I am “asking for” any commentary from you.
For the record: I explicitly DO NOT WANT and REJECT your stupid bullshit. Whether it involves the Spin Doctors or not.
Dalillama:
No spoilers! The ending of Layer Cake was HUGELY changed between the novel and the film. I actually think the movie’s ending was better *shrug*
Today was a good day. I hung out with Asshole Sister all day and she’s still! not acting like an asshole. Our relationship is pretty much what it was before either one of us became pregnant. So, *whew*.
Also, I got a delivery– my managers sent DarkInfant a beautiful gift basket with a bunch of little outfits, pacifiers, and a cute plushie giraffe. I can’t help but grinning ‘cos the general manager of my company (who picked out/sent the gifts) is one of those Jersey Tuff Guise and the gifts are just so damned girly. :D
#235 chigau
because that’s the way my brain often works, you should feel sorry for me
broboxley #241
Sorry.
All of my pity is reserved for myself.
Mitt: Thanks for all the help, but fuck you guys, I’m out.
Rev:
I think your link is borked.
chigau @235:
because “It’s SEX all the way down”.
****
John Morales:
For some of us, masturbation is all we have.
****
Caine (in case you’re lurking):
How is Pearl doing?
For that matter how are all the rats doing?
Tony, you are not old, yet.
(Don’t give up hope!)
question for you sciency teacher types out there. my 14yo dottor has a project that requires her to build a catapult with DIMS of no more than 30 centimeters long, 30 centimeters high and 30 centimeters wide. that can launch an egg(no specs) 10 meters 3 times in a row. Now in real measurements that is 23.25 inches for the catapult and 30ft for the egg. She has to describe the method as well as the catapult. Now nothing in that description proscribes a winged delivery vehicle does it? Am thinking spring steel, short stop and a glider. Does that seem within scope? a rocket engine ignited with a flint during release comes to mind. Ya think a science teacher would allow such or whine?
She also has to present a HOWTO as well as some history.
Tony
I miss Caine here, too.
but here is a ratlink
http://ratifiedtwentyfive.wordpress.com/
—
Caine
I hope that’s OK.
broboxley, the onager was so-named because it had a kick like a mule.
PS Car Catapult
(Eggs are heavier than cars, but then, trebuchets are better than catapults)
[erratum]
“Eggs are heavier than cars”
(What idiot made this claim?)
broboxley: she could catapult a quail egg (they’re about the size of a US quarter).
Internet connection all gorn away for most of the last two and a half days; having kittens (metaphorically) and panicking about sending work off (or indeed finishing work properly in the first place) BUT it seems to be back for now, so, BELATEDLY:
Beatrice
Absolutely. I forgot to ask, though, if Due South is any good to you at all (though mind you, anything I can think of there is from a little while ago, so you’re pretty much bound to have come across it already).
Ogvorbis, my internet connection is currently shot to shit so I may never get the chance to post this in time – but hugs for the Extremely Difficult Day and I hope you get (got) through it OK.
Good ongoing packing to Improbable Joe and massive good luck to feralboy12. That’s a lot of shit to have to deal with :(
Tony et al, favourite films – off the top of my head, Wilby Wonderful has to be one of them. Have you ever seen it? It’s a great Canadian black comedy with a strongly positive, affirming vibe centred round three relationships – mother-daughter, marriage on the rocks het couple, just-met gay couple – with a struggle against small-town corruption, homophobia, classism and sexism. And it’s touching and sad in places and funny and did I say really positive. If you’ve never seen it, check it out :-)
Audley, yay for a non-asshole-ish day with the Sister Formerly Known As :-)
Check out Diamanda Hagan’s review of The Genderfellator! It’s got a guest appearance by FtB’s own Zinnia Jones!
Hello.
Happy Friday.
Wife may have tomorrow off (the school had an electrical problem and the part is no longer in production or in any warehouse).
Yesterday went fine. I had my nice panic attacks the day before and got through the scouts with no problems.
Audley: Glad things are back to ?normal? for you and SFKAA.
And is it really telling that I consider a night with no remembered dreams a personal victory?
Oggie:
Thanks!
No dreams = good dreams.
Yay for dreamlessness and untraumatic scouts
I hope you don’t mind me buting in here for a moment with a recomend? If you have never heard it before the BBC Radio 4 program “The Infinite Monkey Cage” is back (Monday, 4.30pm Local. Podcast avalable same day). If you like your Science with funny, then Prof. Brian Cox and Robin Ince do a pretty good job; this week with added Patrick Stewart!
Thanks. I hope to pluck up the courage to comment here more, but with a type speed of about 1 wpm. it probably will not be frequently. All the best to you all. G
george3,
Thanks for the info. Sounds like a show worth listening to.
Depending on the time you stop by, things can be quite slow here (mostly when the American contingent in still asleep), so you’d have no trouble keeping up.
DC Comics character the Shining Knight comes out as the company’s first intersex hero?
kristinc @202:
Never seen any of the PotC movies.
Now that I think about it, what other movies have I not seen that cause people to shake their heads in bewilderment (or are considered classics)?
Gone With the Wind
Forrest Gump
Saving Private Ryan
The Neverending Story
Blade Runner
2001: A Space Odyssey
Oh boy, I can think of a lot more than that, but those are the ones that immediately sprang to mind.
****
kristinc @204:
I’m loving that.
You’re going to have your son second guessing himself whenever he’s on the computer. That was awesome.
****
Not a fan of Fifth Element.
****
broboxley @214:
I’m also irritated at websites where fucking advertisements pop up at you, or move across the screen, trying to grab your attention. I didn’t click on that link to search for a new product. I clicked on the link to read the article.
****
Chas:
This comes across judgmental. In a passive aggressive manner.
****
Joe:
Fringe fan too?
I haven’t watched any of this season yet, but I’ve heard things take a quantum leap forward, not necessarily in a good way.
Oh, let me add Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Blazing Saddles to my list of movies I’ve never watched (when I was dating K, both he and T raked me over the coals for never having watched the former).
****
george3 @259:
Welcome.
You could always comment once in a while. Some people who are threadrupt will respond to chunks of comments at one time, then be gone for several days and do it again. Plus it’s not like you’re required to comment on everything you read.
****
Beatrice:
I see my comments above were on the mark. Must be American exceptionalism! Now if I could just get everyone to revolve around me, rather than the country I live in–all would be good. Speaking of which, where are my minions with those seedless concord grapes and those fans. I’m getting hungry and hot (the other ‘H’ is always present and rarely gets satiated).
Silly Joe, no one would be passive aggressive on the lounge, especially not Chas.
*Tony
Getting your name wrong was not an attempt at passive aggressiveness…though I could see why YOU would think so
Good evening
Quite often when watching TV with the kids I want to bite into a cushion or something, but today there was something really good.
One of the longest standing German kiddy-TV series, Die Sendung mit der Maus had the topic “what happens when somebody dies”?
First they kindly advised everybody to watch it with the children and then they did a really good job. The moderator (who was the moderator already whe I was a kid) invented a twin-brother for himself who suddenly died. He went through all the things that happen then, and how he would feel if this really were his twin brother, and when the point came to the funeral he presented it like this: Often, this happens in a church, but because my twin was never a religious person it would be dishonest to pretend that now and act as if he had been.
There was a bit of philosophical bullshitting in the very end that nobody knows whether there is a sould and what happens to it, but just for the serious lack of religious wankery, I love them.
Ing:
Oh, no worries. I knew what you meant.
BTW, did you check out the link I had about Shining Knight?
If so, thoughts?
Tony – Until about 2 weeks ago, I had not seen 2001: A Space Odessey either. Got it from Netflix. It was the slowest movie I have ever watched. Also, HATED it.
@ImaginesABeach
No no no you’re confused. 2001 is not the slowest movie ever, it is the longest music video ever.
I also think there might have been a film inserted somewhere in the middle though so that’s probably where you’re confusion stems from
ImaginesABeach:
I recall trying to watch Blade Runner, Godfather, and 2001: A Space Odyssey over the years and I couldn’t get into any of them. The first put me to sleep and the second & third bored me to tears within the first 20 minutes.
Ing @269:
::snicker::
[Looks around sheepishly.]
I like 2001: A Space Odyssey. But, remember, I am ջարդված.
Seeing that many people here love The Princess Bride (as do I):
Did any of you make it through the book or love it like the movie?
@Giliell
I enjoyed the book for what it is
Giliel, I thought the book was pretty good but didn’t have the fun and charm of the film.
Thanks for the replies
I just couldn’t make it through the book, it lost me pretty early on (and I don’t read books I don’t enjoy unless I have to)
*nomnomnom*
Just made a whomping 4.2 kg of cinamon waffer dough. People on the street pay 3-4€ for a meager 100g of waffers….
Improbable Joe,
I will check out Sigler.
I can recommend “Crysis” and “The Great North Road”.
Plus Neal Asher’s older books (the Polity novels, the Spatterjay novels and the Prador War novles).
Many others that I do not recall the titles of, I need to check my records.
birgerjohansson,
As an added cool bit, Scott Sigler is only one step removed from the Skepchicks. Plus all of his books are available for FREE as audiobooks(with commercials) on his website.
And… I’m putting off the move for a few days. We’reprobably not going to have an address certain on the day I was going to have my stuff picked up, and I don’t want to pay $350 for storage unless I absolutely have to. I’m here for my wife’s birthday and Thanksgiving, so if anyone wants to buy my wife a gift and email me a turkey with all the trimming, let me know. :)
I watched 2001 Space Odyssey with a girlfriend once. I’d seen it before and read the book, both several times. She kept stopping the movie to ask what the hell had just happened, and we finally switched to me stopping the movie to tell her what was going to happen.
Ing, thanks for the clarification. I like 2001 better now.
In my #279, I was blaming Kubrick, not my girlfriend, for the confusion. My regard for Kubrick is best summed up by a scene in Barry Lyndon, where Ryan O’Neil shows extreme anger by slouching around looking petulant for 15 minutes.
So why’d I watch? I like Arthur C. Clarke and the book 2001, and some of the scenes in the movie, so yeah, I’ve seen it several times. Barry Lyndon was on cable after being hyped as the greatest—it wasn’t.
Oggie
I don’t like your newest ‘nym extention on the vegan thread.
Please change it back.
Please?
Speaking of vegans, and PETA, I’m shocked that I haven’t heard more about PETA protesting Assassin’s Creed III. There’s all sorts of hunting going on there.
Ogvorbis,
:(
@Tony
Not quite sure what to think of SK. Do contend it’s better than the Buffy idea…by a lot but those sort of things I tend to like more if they’re jsut there and it doesn’t have a lot of winking and nodding at it. I was really behind the idea itself till we get the devil literally forcing the issue…that to me moves it beyond the ‘it’s just a thing’ and more into forced writing if that makes sense?
Favourite movies? That’s a hard call because there are some I will rewatch, and others I’m glad I saw but I do not want to see again for a long time, if ever.
On the rewatch list: Blazing Saddles; Life of Brian; Cabaret; Rocky Horror; LotR.
***VEGAN TRIGGER WARNING!!!***
… so I’m making Thanksgiving dinner. For myself. FOR MYSELF!!! ME! Turkey and ham and duck and goose* and several kinds of stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy and macaroni and cheese and cranberries and wild rice and green bean casserole and sweet potatoes and corn and roasted Brussels sprouts(if I can find them!) and biscuits and rolls and a mess of hors d’oeuvres and spiced drinks.
AND PIE! PIE!
I’ve been feeling pretty sad about Thanksgiving. I put a lot of love into my cooking, and we were supposed to have Thanksgiving dinner with my parents and my wife’s parents this year, and since my wife is in New Mexico that’s just not going to happen. I wasn’t going to do anything, because I would have felt like I was betraying my wife by eating well while she’s eating crap. But since she’s been invited to have a real dinner with the family of one of her co-workers, I guess it is OK for me to cook just for me. And since I’m going to be here for a while longer than I expected, I can cook a full feast!
The plan is to cook the feast, clean everything, and then PACK everything, and live on the leftovers until I leave. I’m going to clean out the fridge on Tuesday, buy the feast fixings Wednesday, cook Wednesday and Thursday, clean and pack as I go, put everything in aluminum pans so I can throw them out as I empty them, and be done with the kitchen except for the microwave by Saturday. Practical AND emotionally satisfying.
Then I hate to be the one to hafta tell you this, Tony…but you’re Uncultured.
–
I enjoyed the book, but I liked the movie much better.
–
I agree with this assessment.
–
I had to post somewhere – Mythbusters had Alton Brown on …Good Eats and Mythbusters…Squeeeeee.
Good to know you could cook Thanksgiving dinner in and around the engine compartment if you had to.
*happy dancing*
I’m about to become an auntie again! My newest niece or nephew has FINALLY decided to leave xir happy nest and join the outside world! (Three and a half weeks after xe’s due date!) My brother’s SO is in labor, contractions 7 min apart.
*offers the Lounge chocolates and your choice of beverage — alcoholic, non-alcoholic, hot, cold, room temp*
Also, found out via Date Duration Calculator that I will be 16,000 days old on Tuesday. I think that deserves cake and possibly a nice bottle of wine.
— —
Giliell:
The book was okay, but the film worked better for me. (Which is usually not the case.)
—
Improbable Joe:
Sounds like a yummy feast!
—
cicely:
Uh oh. That means I’m uncultured too. I’ve never seen them either.
And crap… should be “xir’s due date.” That’ll teach me to rewrite only part of a sentence.
Jeebuz, I still screwed it up. All hail Tpyos and may these offerings keep you from attacking the data analysis paper due tomorrow morning!
Socio-gen,
I’d invite people over for the feast but I know no people and I have no table. :)
Outrageous – cemetaries screwing the families of the dead – http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57437573/final-resting-place-cemeteries-lack-oversight/
It is very slightly possibly that I have had too much Scotch tonight. Mildly very slightly possible. There’s a pebble of possibility laying next to the Himalayan mountain range. Just saying.
Anyone have a jug of Gatorade that they can text to me?
Joe
No gatorade.
I have pomegranate juice…
chigau,
Send that shit to me on Twitter!
Joe
No twitter, it’ll arrive by USB, hold out your mug.
I have large quantities of tea. Hold out another mug, I-joe.
I have lots of mugs! I have so many mugs that I’m throwing away mugs when I move? Not my Aperture Science mug, mind you. :)
I have plenty of water. I’ll send some to your kitchen sink.
Socio-Gen:
That site is cool.
I’m 13,488 days old as of today.
Improbable Joe:
I’d take sitting on the floor over my planned Turkey Day activities. I’m going to dinner at my cousin’s. Normally, that’s great. We get together every other week or so, and I adore hanging out with her family.
The difference this year is that her dad and step-mom (my uncle and aunt) will be there. Very nice, kind people, and they’ve always been good to me, but they are SO far above me in social class that it’s uncomfortable. I’ll spend the day painfully aware of how little social knowledge I have in comparison, like there was an instruction manual somewhere that other people got and I didn’t, and trying not to make any horrendous mistakes.
I know they truly love me and wouldn’t care if I did goof, but they’ve always been people I admired and, in my uncle’s case, wanted to make proud. He believed in my potential long before anyone else, and, when I was a teenager, did a lot to give me a chance at a different life from what my parents expected. (Just wish I’d recognized those opportunities at the time.)
—
No Gatorade, but I have orange juice, Tylenol, and your choice of lemon ginger, chamomile, lemon chamomile, peppermint, Irish breakfast, and regular orange & black pekoe teas.
—
ImaginesABeach:
The main cemetery in my hometown, where the majority of my father’s family is buried, has been the center of controversy for three years now. The sexton is a piece of work who destroyed 20 Revolutionary-era headstones by felling three trees by himself, has yelled at mourners who are “blocking” the lanes during services, called bereaved family members threatening them if items are left at the graves, told the family of a 6yo who died of cancer, “It’s not like she cares” during the tour of the cemetery to choose a plot, and had all the eternal flames removed “to save money.”
In late April 2011, it was discovered he’d removed (and tossed in dumpster) not just plants, baskets, wreaths, etc, but the bronze veterans’ markers — including markers for 13 members of my father’s family, 2 of whom were Civil War veterans. The American Legion, VFW, and county historical society (with a raft of volunteers) had to work for three weeks straight to locate, verify, and re-mark graves in time for Memorial Day.
He still hasn’t been fired, despite continuing assholish behavior toward grieving families, massive public protests, and investigations by two county newspapers. No one knows who owns the cemetery, although we were told they have a board of locals that oversees operations and employees, but we aren’t allowed to know who is on the board. There is nothing the state can do, because there is no one who oversees cemeteries (unless there is fraud or desecration as described in the article, in which case the Attorney General’s office handles it).
Joe:
Sending shit via Twitter is usually frowned upon…
6028 here, Tony. I’ve ticked past 5000 recently *sob*.
I’ll never be a child prodigy.
thunk:
don’t sell yourself short Mr. One Day I’m Going To Be A Meteorologist
So, I’m on this dating site called Adam4Adam and I came across a profile for a guy that seemed intriguing (plus he’s a nice looking guy). He mentions that he’s a “cleanse coach” in his profile, which prompted me to ask him what that was. His response:
Ugh. Wooooooooooooooooooo. Given that I don’t know the guy, I’m not about to get into a discussion about it, but my initial reaction was “what toxins?”
Tony, I was once dating a person who used the word “toxic” for the liquid in a can of olives—olives they had bought and opened and were about to eat. All the liquid had to drained off because it was “toxic”.
I was 21000 a little over a month ago.
Tony,
Can I make a suggestion? Maybe less dating sites, and more dating-related message boards/forums? I’d feel safer hooking up with someone who had 2000 posts on a forum over a couple of years, and there’s a little less pressure on immediate hook-ups and more focus on getting to know each other.
Off to bed folks… and good luck to you all. You deserve it.
Joe:
Thanks.
I’m only on there halfheartedly though. It’s something to kill the time. For the most part, I gave up on trying to find anyone here a while ago.
Your point is well made though.
See and my first thought was “Toxins? What LD90?”
Discworld news! (I hope I’m not the last one here to hear this)
The BBC is making a City Watch TV series. Sort of like CSI: Ankh-Morpork. His daughter, Rhianna will be a co-writer. She’ll also be taking over writing the Discworld novels once he’s unable to.
http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2012/11/terry-pratchett-my-daughter-rhianna-will-take-over-discworld-when-im-gone
@Ragutis
Looking forward to the Watch TV series, was following the rumors.
Friend spoke with TP last month at an appearance. He is reportedly awesome and was very encouraging of her.
I am however forced to desperately pray that his successor is better than Herbert’s/Dune’s
I was right: 3 parts tawny port to 5 parts vanilla coke is really good :D
I don’t believe you. Vanilla coke is an abomination.
Joe
I would so like to come over
I love roasting big birds but Mr. hates them :(
mildlymagnificent:
Vanilla coke-however not good it may be-still beats any Pepsi drink. Granted, I don’t drink a lot of soda, but I’m definitely a coke guy. Root beer is my soda of choice though. Barqs, IBC, and Mug are grrrrrrreat (to be read in your best Tony the Tiger voice).
Drat. Now I want some Frosted Flakes.
Giliell:
Your comment about roasting big birds sent my brain off in an odd direction. Initially I was going to attempt a joke about Big Bird, but couldn’t think of anything witty. Then, since Sesame Street was on the brain, I started thinking about random things, and began wondering what kind of creature Oscar the Grouch is supposed to be. Turns out, he’s a Grouch. Oh, and he was initially orange.
Huh.
The more you learn.
So, in an attempt to make the world a better place I just took all the “hey depressive woman, what you really need is Jesus” leaflets and will throw them away.
Also, shopping: A guide how not to do it
1. Go shopping when it’s really busy
2. Buy stuff
3. Wait in line at the check-out for 5 min
4. Wait patiently while the cashier scans all your goods
5. When the cashier tells you the amount you look at hir a bit surprised and start looking for your purse.
6. Be killed by the people waiting in line behind you.
Tony
As soon as I posted it I was aware that somebody would probably call me Romney because I wanted to roast Big Bird :)
Daaaaaaamn
I’m allergic against books. Whenever I work in the library my nose gets blocked…
Giliell:
I’m fairly certain I can speak for most people in the Lounge when I say this: we like you. We would never insult you by comparing you to Mitt Romney.
What would not be insulted by being compared to R-Money ?
Whew! That’s a relief. There is someone more ancient than me (too fecking close to 20000…).
World Bank fears devastating 4.0 degree warming http://phys.org/news/2012-11-world-bank-devastating-degree.html (the World Bank is not exactly a hotbed of liberal activism, wonder if the report will make people listen)
— — — —- —– —–
Unkindness linked to alcohol, drug abuse in black populations, study finds (actually, this is a no-brainer) http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-unkindness-linked-alcohol-drug-abuse.html
Blacks who feel mistreated and discriminated against are more likely to abuse alcohol and illegal drugs, and a new study from Purdue University shows this usage can become a problematic pattern.
— — — — — — — —
Contraception could save world $5.7 bn, says UN report http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-contraception-world-bn.html
— — — — — — — —
Mormon Singles, LDS Singles Wards Rise As Members Delay Marriage http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/14/mormon-singles-lds-singles-wards-marriage_n_1875524.html?ir=Religion&ref=topbar Singles in their 30s? Luxury! I am a single in my 50s (and I grew up in a cardboard box in the middle of the street).
Portia #190 (aka #690):
Yeah, it has been an eye-opener lately to see how much sexism, racism and homophobia still exists here. There have always been rumours about traditionalist fellows in various colleges who still don’t believe in allowing women to join their college, or who deliberately favour their male students, or who have got away with repeated harassment of students and colleagues. But it’s horrible to see that kind of stuff manifest in the student body.
Our student papers have been particularly depressing (trigger warning, I think? Rape apology):
– Last international women’s day, there was an opinion article published that basically boiled down to “you women should stop complaining and actually take some responsibility for your own personal safety. That way maybe you wouldn’t get raped so much. [Burglary analogy].”
– Last week they reported on the awesome response to a horrible anti-abortion demonstration on one of our main roads (standard aborted-foetus-gore photos). This week they published a letter from a medical student, complaining that they were too biased towards the pro-choice viewpoint, and why didn’t they give equal consideration to the many valid points of the anti-abortion people.
– Every week they have a debate section, where they get two students to write arguments for and against a ‘controversial’ topic. This week, the topic is ‘should gay couples have the same marriage rights as straight couples?’ because apparently it’s still totally ok discuss the merits of depriving people of their rights. Again: the arguments are awful: “[Statistic showing gay couples are less monogamous than straight couples]. Conclusion: they can’t possibly agree to “forsaking all others, till death do us part”. No marriage for you!”
All that, plus all the invitations to alleged rapists to speak at the Union, plus the constant abuse directed at the Women’s Officer in our student union, plus having to work in a heavily-white-male environment. It gives me a sad. So I joined the campaign to fight back.
This place seemed somewhere to go to blow off steam and find a supportive environment, maybe even find some other Cambridge people (anyone?). I hope it’s ok to dump this all here? I realise it’s sort of out-of-place among all the turkey chat…
News: Fires can cause tornados. Holy shit.
Joe – Mugs make cute little planters. Or you could drop them off at Goodwill. Or you could sneak into an office nearby and leave them in the break room. ;)
Is anyone else getting really annoyed at everything retail this season? I’m a Black Friday shopper. Partly it’s fun; I used to go with my mom, and I enjoy the ridiculousness of getting up so early and snagging good deals. Also, though, I’ve always used the sales to be able to get other things we need that go on deep discounts then (I don’t think there’s a blanket in the house that wasn’t a 50% off holiday purchase). But this year? It’s chaos. Everyone’s been running different sales in the last few weeks, sometimes for a day at a time, often that are better than the “classic” sale times, and most are starting Thursday evening and running separate sales for Thursday evening, Friday overnight, and Friday day. It’s stupid, and it’s got to suck for anyone who really does need these sales to get things in an affordable way (especially anyone who doesn’t have easy access to the internet). Jeez, retailers. Either run a sale or don’t, but stop making me dance like a monkey to figure out if I want to shop with you or not.
Have a Balloon:
This is exactly the place for that. We have a lot of regulars and a diverse number of interests. People are up at all times of day and/or night as well. Hang out here for a few days and you’ll see a wide range of topics discussed.
You’ll find this is an open forum, with no specific topic, so feel free to chat about whatever you choose.
The Lounge also functions as a safe space, which is extremely beneficial for minorities and other oppressed groups. That doesn’t mean you have to be part of a minority group to post here, just that this is an area where you can let your hair down and relax without worrying about sexism, racism, misogyny, homophobia, ableism, ageism et al. To be honest, Pharyngula as a whole is similar in that regard. On a depressingly regular basis, you’re likely to see regulars criticize someone who uses racial or gendered slurs or dehumanizing language. I mean that in a good way. I’m so incredibly happy to be part of a group of people that not only doesn’t tolerate shit like that, but call it out (incidentally, if one of the regulars slips up-which can happen, we’re human too, except for LOUIS*, we’re still trying to figure him out-they will typically be called out as well-> though often will a little more finesse).
Oh, and WELCOME!
*Louis, just kidding buddy. If you’re reading, how’s all the fun work on the new home going?
carlie:
This may or may not be true (I didn’t confirm the truth of this claim when I first heard it), but I’ve been told that Black Friday “sales” aren’t terribly special prices. I want to say a friend in retail mentioned this to me, but I may have read it somewhere. I also remember reading/hearing that the best sales are after the new year.
carlie,
They want you to come on Thursday, and on Friday (twice), hopefully each time buying more than you would have bought if you’d only come once.
Manipulation.
Bastards.
Yes. Thank you.
I want more writers writing more articles discussing this. It’s fucking ridiculous to attempt to divert attention away from the child sex abuse scandal permeating the Catholic Church by claiming “other people do it”.
Ooooh, and for once, reading the comments to an article (@ my 332 link) aren’t depressing. There’s quite a few people condemning the church and confessionals. Of course there are the defenders of the Church, but in the first 40 comments I read (yeah, I counted), far more people were calling for priests to report child sex abuse.
I wasn’t going to do anything, because I would have felt like I was betraying my wife by eating well while she’s eating crap.
Having been in your wife’s situation, might I suggest that you eat well and make it up to her next year by outdoing yourself in the Thanksgiving cooking department?
USians: Boycott black Friday. You’ll be happier not fighting the crowds and the prices aren’t really any better than what they’ll be next week anyway.
Hey everyone!
Things are good here. Mom has lucked out better than we hoped and her treatment plan doesn’t included surgery currently. Yay!
As far as moving plans are concerned, we are still looking. I was looking into a city and now apparently my parents don’t want to go there. Mom was talking about the cold and such, yet suggested another wintery state. Like WTF? Then Step-Dad start spouting all kinds of ignorant shit about the state I was thinking of escaping too. He wants to go to Colorado or Washington due to the new weed laws of course.
I mean I was all set to sign a lease for a place before mom fell, what if she hadn’t and I had moved there? Would they have waited until after I put money down on a place and expect me to drop out or have us move there and make everyone miserable?
They keep suggesting sort of near by states and don’t get the fact I want as much mileage away from fuckface as possible. Like Maine or something. But nooooooo.
Ugh. We’ve agreed I make the final decision but am at least willing to consider other places and have outlined what places are just NOT acceptable. I also told them they would have to pitch in with looking into the places they are suggesting because I’ve got my hands full as it is. They can’t dictate where I go and if they want to suggest a place they better do the work because I’m not researching 20 fucking places. Goddamn, looking into one city and making all those calls is pain in the ass enough.
Families are complicated. I love them and hate them. I want them to move with me but I don’t.
Besides that one fight everything else is fine and moving. Things are being cleaned and I have the boxes/bags to move. Mom needs to stay in intense physical therapy for at least a month but by then she should be good to move. We’ve talked to the doctors about switching health care due to the move and all that. They’ve been really great. All the doctors and nurses have fallen in love with Little One as well. She loves going to keep an eye on Grandma, be supportive and now getting presents every visit from the staff.
They are both much better. Step-dad is okay but still not being very…helpful. I’m not going to lie I kinda wish we could leave him behind.
Excuse me sir
ALIENS GAVE MY CAT A BEARD
Tony:
Can you not gender me like that? Please?
Carlie:
Fires do weird shit to weather. Pyrocumulus causing further lightning strikes, powerful downdrafts and updrafts, etc. Tornadoes aren’t surprising.
The Peshtigo fire jumped over Green Bay– quite a bit of water.
Black Friday:
I mainly come there to look around at stuff anyway.
The mildly deranged penguin is again trying to organize a turkey revolt for the previous day. She’s looking for promises from turkeys to rush out the ovens with meat thermometers firmly held underwing and give those feckers who are trying to roast them a sharp jab.
So far there are no takers. I keep telling her she should (1) Not keep all the cheese for herself; and (2) Try to organize far in advance (before the mass turkeycide).
Tony – depends on what type of item it is and what kind of sale. Some things are routinely after-New Year’s, some things are generally better after Thanksgiving. What I look for are the unpopular early deals on boring staples, the ones that they throw in there at 50-70% off just to get people to grab more on the way out and as consolation prizes if they don’t get the limited quantity of whatever the big items are. That way I duck in and get to (x) first while everyone else is flocking around a different area. It’s nigh-surgical precision.
I get things we need but mostly can live without (hence not wanting to pay any more than I have to for them), but the last few years I’ve been seeing more and more people doing seriously necessary shopping then. If you want to know how bad the economy is, go see how many people are waiting in line for over an hour in the KMart line at 4am the day after Thanksgiving with toddler-sized coats b/c that’s the first time the outerwear is cheap enough to get, and they can’t wait any longer for the kids to wear coats. And then see how many of them are shopping in the tiny break between holiday shifts at their minimum wage job at WalMart. I wish I could grab every Congressperson and make them go stand in line and talk to those people.
No silly. That “cat” is the alien. Your cat is now flying through the air, having been launched from the mildly deranged penguin’s trebuchet. The airborne cat and alien “cat” will probably annihilate if they ever meet…
(I don’t think the mildy deranged penguin is in league with the aliens. Well, not those aliens…)
I saw a terrifying news article today re: the candidates for Virginia’s Governor seat once Governor Ultrasound is out of the job.
But that’s not what’s scary about it. What’s scary is that Governor Ultrasound has already made it clear he wants to be President.
Maybe Walton might have some good advice for Have A Balloon? I know he’s graduated and everything, but at least he knows the place better than many and he’s a really interesting person anyway :-D
Has anyone heard from him lately?
Outside of food and alcohol I avoid any Black Friday shopping experiences like the plague.
JAL,
YAY! Sorry about step-dad, and good luck with packing. I got like 85% done and now I’m stuck stuck stuck. Probably will just throw more stuff away rather than bother packing it.
dianne,
Next Thanksgiving we’re hoping to have both sets of parents over, plus maybe one brother each. Probably no leftovers, and I might have to rent an extra oven. :)
Boycott black Friday? Well, not like I’ll have any money anyways. Except maybe I will by leftovers Monday? There’s a magical money avalanche about to happen to me and my wife… last paycheck from old job on Wednesday, first paycheck from new job on the 30th, and somewhere in between my wife should get her relocation bonus, possibly THIS Friday. The sum total of the three checks should be somewhere north of $8000, which pays for the moving truck, deposits and rent for the new place, settles up any old bills here at the old place, take the pets to the vets, and leaves us enough money to buy the sorts of unexpected odds and ends that you always wind up buying when you move into a new place.
And maybe enough left over to put a few bucks down on a new guitar? A man can dream of the OfficialSpokesGuitar, can’t he?
I admit I had to look that one up. The Grauniad explains…
Governor “War on Women” Ultrasound, OMC/VI (Order of Misogynistic Creeps with Vagina Invading special mention), seems appropriate.
Didn’t sleep well, waiting for the phone to ring and announce the newest family member. Which, of course, didn’t happen because this baby is determined to take xir sweet time….
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Tony:
I had fun calculating the numbers for everyone I know. My kids are 9400, 8468, and 7414, respectively.
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Ragutis:
That would be so cool! I just watched The Colour of Magic and Hogfather on Netflix.
Part of me is excited that Discworld will continue after Pterry, and part of me wonders if it should.
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mildlymagnificent:
Agreed. Coke adulterated with any substance that is not rum is just wrong.
Then again, I’m a person who occasionally mixes her wine with ginger ale, so i probably have no taste.
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Have A Balloon:
Depressingly, it sounds like there’s very little difference between Cambridge and my college in western Minnesota.
— the student paper just ran a 3-part anti-abortion guest editorial series featuring some seriously stupid arguments and mental masturbation. (Think of the babies! Reasons you can’t afford a child = reasons you shouldn’t have had sex! My friend had a baby at 25 weeks; imagine aborting it!) They printed my very long LTE and the response was overwhelmingly positive. (Seriously, I wanted to cry at the number of young women who came up and told me how much they appreciated it and shared their own stories.)
Of course, because they are idiots (I’m being charitable and assuming it wasn’t deliberate), they also printed my address and phone number, so this week I’ve had a number of nasty voicemails (all males, oddly enough…) and my mailbox is overflowing with “come to Jesus” and “abortion hurts” pamphlets, letters, and postcards.
— our campus public safety director, when questioned about an off-campus assault of a student, said women have to be more careful about who they’re around and not drink so much or do things that make them vulnerable.
— our drug and alcohol counselor used Take Back the Night to caution women not to drink too much, avoid being outside after dark, and learn self-defense techniques. Oh, irony…. (Good news, about half the attendees booed her off the stage.)
Pharyngula’s my safe haven from that, though I mostly hide out here in the Lounge because I’m usually reading the threads long after everyone else has said what I’d say.
—
carlie:
I don’t shop on Black Friday, usually because I’m broke but also because I’m lazy and have no intention of getting up at too-fucking-early to stand outside for hours in the cold.
My son and brother love Black Friday, however, and they strategize from the moment the sale circulars come out.
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Tony:
It’s not that the sales aren’t huge discounts, it’s that they’re loss-leaders. People come in for the super-cheap items but end up buying a whole lot that isn’t on sale, or isn’t as good a deal.
I’ve worked Black Fridays before and… *shudder* I still have a scar from the woman who brought her own box cutter so she could get the shrink-wrap off the pallets before the employees did.
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dianne:
Agreed.
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JAL:
I’m glad your mom’s recovery won’t require surgery, but ugh! on them making things more difficult for you. *hugs*
Can someone lend me… carry the two… $21166.99? Please? I’ll bake you some cookies…
Oh, and what I’ve noticed about Black Friday deals on guitars at least, is that they are largely end-of-year closeouts anyways, and will likely be on sale until they all run out and might go down even more if they don’t sell this month. For instance, there’s “great” prices on lower-end American Fenders and Gibsons, and Asian-made Marshall amps. Of course, they are all 2011 models that have been superseded by 2012 models and it is almost 2013. So those prices are pretty good, but they are never going back up so there’s not exactly a huge rush to buy them this week.
I’m sure most of the electronics deals are the same, stuff that should have sold out a long time ago pulled out of the back and put out to lure people in.
Impending Collaspe of Mt Goober…
Now that the USAlien election is over and the nostril status quo remains, the initial concern is Mt Goober.
All those nostrils in The Nosegress (better known as the NoGoMess) need regular cleaning. The pickings have normally been carted away by the Pages when they are not preforming their primary duty, serving the nostrils whilst naked by bouncing up-and-down.
The Pages dump the pickings in an ever-growing heap now known as Mt Goober. Due to the usual no-foresight policies, Mt Goober is about to collaspe. Bits of it have already tumbled off and are contained only by a hastily-erected Sequestering Fence (and some fanatic shoveling by the Pages). It’s largely agreed Mt Goober can’t be allowed to collaspe, since the nose-pickings, as they roll & bounce away, might be seen by, and traumatize, a Major Donor, threatening the nostrils’s palm-grease.
What to do is a fierce argument between the Nostrilites and Nostrilistas. One group wants to start a Mt Goober ][, created initially by using the Pages to remove some of the existing Mt Goober I to a nearby slum. New nose pickings will also be carted to the new Mt Goober ][. They insist this will not cost anything, and using Proof by Magic Faerie Logic, claim it saves money.
The other group insists this will cost money, with extra wages being necessary for the Pages, and compensation for the slumdwellers. That means less palm-grease. Whilst they approve of the basic plan, to preserve the palm-grease, they propose relegalizing slavery, and enslaving the Pages and slumdwellers. Which means they can be naked all the time, and rented out for additional bouncing services. It also lowers payroll tax and welfare costs, and reduces pesky profit-eating things like holidays and sick leave. A minor investment in whips is required, but that’s just normal “office expenses”.
Many voters, of course, think both sides are completely nuts. And that Mt Goober is disgusting. (Some claim it is “traditional” or required by various Magical Sky Faeries, and most believe it is the only useful thing the nostrils in NoGoMess have ever created.) However, the polls are disputed and claimed to be skewed. “Corrected” polls suggest enslaving the female Pages is a necessary first step.
International opinion is hard to obtain with all headdesking and open jaws…
@BLF:
It would be terrifying if he were to become president.
I don’t think the mildy deranged penguin is in league with the aliens.
That is what the penguin wants you to believe…
thunk: my deepest apologies. It won’t happen again.
Horses?
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*contemplates divorce statistics on hetero marriages, smiles with extreme ironic wryness*
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Cautiously optimistic about the future of Discworld.
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Nonono, you’re good; this is the place for blowing off steam, finding a non-misogynistic environment, and discussing things even if they don’t involve turkey.
:)
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Ummm…because the lawyer doesn’t claim to have “moral” authority based on ?
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JAL, glad to hear that things wrt your mom are looking unexpectedly good. The faster you can get moved….
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I thought the mdp was in league with The Cider?
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Yes. Yes, he can.
:)
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Mark Rubio, also an moron.
It’s like they aren’t even trying to hide the pandering.
I just remembered that I saw (for the first time) Blackberry, Blueberry and Cherry Ciders when I went to the Farmer’s Market the other day. Can I just say how excited I am by that prospect? I’ve never tried any of those, but given how much I love hot Apple Cider, I cannot wait to get my hands on them. Heck, maybe I can mix them together and create a Cider Punch!
****
While we’re discussing Black Friday shopping, here’s a list of NoNo buys on that day. It appears electronics are most prevalent on that list.
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cicely:
Should we mention to hir [Have a Balloon] the rule about peas?
“We may never know how the Earth was created”?
Firing up the Universal Translator.
Atomic batteries to power… turbines to speed.
Alfred the Universal Translator sez: Translates as god did it.
I need a pillow. I’m going to faint from the blindingly obvious answer. How could I have been so wrong? All along I thought there was a proper scientific origin of the Earth. But now I know… and knowing is half the battle.
(now I’m wondering how many pop culture phrases can be included in a conversation in a sensible manner).
Tony:
Hmmm…probably should, in a spirit of Fair Dealing….
Have a Balloon: You should be aware that peas are Anathema, and an Abomination Unto Nuggan; speak not well of them, therefore, lest ye be pummeled with a thousand Intarweeb hitsies.
Verily.
–
Have a Balloon,
Hello.
Don’t listen to the pea haters. They don’t speak for all of us.
Pretty good article I guess, I know I like the pictures.
Soon-to-be niece or nephew is just fucking with us now. The brother’s SO had contractions 2 minutes apart and lasting about 1 minute….and then it all just stopped.
I’ve spoken to both the brother and the SO a couple times, and I’m being all non-judgmental and supportive with them (which is a lot easier since I’m 1300 miles away) but, you all get to hear my panicky rant.
She was in labor for 26 hours, her water broke about 20 hours ago, but now that things are at a full-stop… they’re just going to wait Baby out and continue with their home birth plan. Y’know, because the doula says it’ll be fine. (And maybe it will. I have no idea.)
It just seems that if you have a baby who is 3.5 weeks past hir due date, with a labor that was going gangbusters but just stopped dead, and a cervix that’s wide open to germs, it’s time to let go of your crunchy granola fantasy of the perfect labor story??
Someone please tell me I’m over-reacting and this is perfectly fine and not worrisome?
For all you Guy Fieri fans Salon has an SNL skit mocking Guy:
I look like I’m playing the sun in a school play.
****
Wal-Mart workers are protesting.
Socio-gen,
*hugs*
I hope it all goes well for your SIL and that niece/nephew joins the family soon, and safely.
If you want a 140 character snippet by 140 character snippet into the mind of an egomaniac clown, follow @readldondaldtrump
Holy shit what a fucking disaster zone that dude’s brain is.
Someone please tell me I’m over-reacting and this is perfectly fine and not worrisome?
Sorry, but no. The baby’s at risk and so is your brother’s SO. She’s overdue, has had nearly 24 hours of ruptured membrane and labor has stopped. Those are all bad signs. She needs to go to a hospital. Now. There is still a good chance everything will go well, but the chances of problems are skyrocketing. Sorry.
RevBDC:
But remember, since the Donald is so financially successful, he automatically is an authority on *anything* he talks about, and people should follow his advice.
::let’s do the eyeroll::
Socio-gen, I’m with Dianne on this one. In the best of circumstances, there’s good reason to go with a hospital rather than “crunchy granola fantasy” and this isn’t the ideal situation.
thunk:
One comes here, one goes there.
Someone please tell me I’m over-reacting and this is perfectly fine and not worrisome?
are you constantly on the phone with them informing them that their risks are increasing tremendously?
telling them that death of both mother and child is no longer implausible without hospital assistance?
sending them information on the risks of late deliveries with ruptured membranes?
If not, I’d say you are UNDER-reacting, and if you care about them, you should be shrieking at them that it’s time they went to the emergency room at the local hospital to at least get an ultrasound.
..hell, even send them a link to the recent story of concern on the very subject.
::let’s do the eyeroll::
…sung to the tune of “Time Warp” from RHPS.
a rough draft of my history of feminism project is due on the 27th. a few weeks ago, i made a list of all the books i might need for it, separated into 4 sections (NDSU, MSUM, Concordia, Interlibrary Loan); then, before I managed to borrow/order any of the books, NDSU library decided to block me (I suck rocks at returning books on time), and only removed the block this weekend; the same day, my boyfriend trips over my laptop and cracks the screen, making it temporarily useless. Guess which computer my book-list was on.
*sigh*
Add my depression to this mess, and it’s pretty much guaranteed that I won’t finish this project anywhere near on time.
oh! and I also bookmarked/downloaded some public domain texts. also onto the now-broken laptop. Teh Grr.
better yet, send them the link to an actual OBGYN talking about the risks, which apply in your relative’s case similarly to the case she is talking about:
http://drjengunter.wordpress.com/2012/11/14/did-irish-catholic-law-or-malpractice-kill-savita-halappanavar/
true, this is a full-term birth, which I figure means the risks would be slightly altered. But it should at least get them thinking, and I can’t see how a visit to get an exam would hurt at this point?
I bet these strikes won’t be happening anywhere around here. But just in case, I’ll probably have a look on Friday to see if anything is going on.
One can go from perfectly fine with ROM to septic really fast. It’s possible to achieve a crunchy, no-intervention birth in a hospital, but she needs at least monitoring. Heck, if she gets to the hospital and gets a little IV fluid, the contractions might start up again. If she stays home, she’s got an unfortunate chance of making a guest appearance on Amy Tuteur’s blog.
Teh Grr.
..the wonderful thing about Tehgrrs, is Tehgrrs are wonderful things…
Ichthyic,
Maybe a bit lighter on the “if you care about them” bit. She’s already worried and upset.
She’s already worried and upset.
true, but there was a question asked, and being worried and upset doesn’t get anything accomplished.
if what I said is motivating, then it was needed.
if not, then my apologies.
Socio-gen
My thoughts are with you, I know this has to be stressing you out something fierce. I really hope everything goes well with your brother’s SO and the little one. Take care of yourself.
Beatrice
I would say Ichthyic is correct in putting a bit of a scare on. It’s needed, because being worried is one thing; being worried enough to transmit that to the hopefully-soon-to-be-happy couple, and shake them into some positive action, that’s another thing.
Considering where things stand at the moment, I think it’s needed.
+++
Hello, by the way.
Portia, sporty and glam
Loving the new name. ;)
*waves at Beatrice*
Thanks rq :D
Ichthyic, rq,
Ok. Acknowledged.
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*waves back at Portia*
—
rq,
How did the weekend with husband’s family go?
Have A Balloon
Sounds like you’re up against quite the torrent of crap over there. I’m sorry, but good for you for standing up to it however you can.
-===-
On the topic of disgusting sexism, I have a new dispatch from the never-ending file of the Jackass Attorney Who is a Raging Misogynist.
We were doing a divorce consultation with a young woman (mid twenties). He asked her (without contextualizing it) whether any woman likes to go to gynecologist. She gave him a weird look and said “No…” He said “What does the gynecologist have to do?” her look got weirder, and I said “What?” She looked at me and said “Thank you.” He said, “Well, that’s what we’ve got to do.”
…
A little later, he called one of the not-present support staff a “girl.” She raised an eyebrow and I said “Oh, well, there’s one who is still in high school, she could arguably be called a girl.” He scoffed and said (of me) “She always gets uptight about that stuff.” Client said “Good. Someone needs to keep you in line.”
A few minutes later, I said something that came off unintentionally smartass to the Jackass Attorney, and Client says, “I like her.”
So there was that. But jeez, this guy just keeps upping the ante on what inappropriate, disgusting crap he can get by with.
Oh, yes. I’m curious too. Also, glad to have you back.
Good evening
Everything here smells wonderful due to two hours of cinamon waffer baking
JAL
Yay for mum, boo for stepdad. Hope you can figure out a place *hugs*
Sociogen
What everybody else said. There are two reasons why women and babies don’t die so much in childbirth anymore: Obestetrics and hospitals.
I hope everything goes fine, even if they shun the resonable.
I also think I need to kiss my kids now.
Jadehawk,
Do you have another monitor/LCD TV? If so, you should be able to hook your laptop into it for the cost of a cheap adapter.
Beatrice
Not too bad, actually, thank you for asking. Wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, mostly because we had to do some driving around on-location, which means he did not succumb to the familial social drinking part of things. (He’s better when he doesn’t drink, otherwise conversation degenerates to old childhood gossip and sitting outside drinking beer after beer, and avoidance of other things.)
Overall, I’d have to rate this time as a positive, and an encouraging sign that the next time will be less dread-inducing.
How was your weekend?
Portia
See reponse to Beatrie, above.
Giliell
Smells yummy.
We finishe the rest of Husband’s grandma’s home-made apple cake this evening. It’s not quite cinnamon wafers, but it’ll do for now.
JAL
Still holding lots of thumbs for you, I hope all works out to your benefit!
well, boyfriend just reminded me that we still have his dad’s old, dead laptop, so we can take the harddrive out of mine and stuff it in there. Since his dad’s laptop is a harddrive killer, that’s only a means of getting everything important off my broken laptop, but for now that’s good enough.
still: given that i’ve only have one week, every day i’m losing is deeply counterproductive. not like i’ll be able to read 10 books in a week, anyway
rq
Glad it was positive overall.
rq,
Glad to hear it went well. I hope these gatherings will keep changing for the better, for you.
My weekend was…. it was. Nothing bad, just not feeling especially cheery.
Thanks Beatrice.
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dianne:
Yeah, that’s kind of what I was thinking (and I have zero ob/gyn experience except as a patient). Right now, they’re setting the SO up with IV fluids (but not pitocin, if I understand correctly) and planning to wait. Oh, and she’s getting a massage that is supposed to align her chakras or something…
Honestly, if things go badly, I will bite my tongue off before I say “I told you so” or anything remotely like that, but…. I will be thinking it.
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Improbable Joe:
Yep. That’s my thought as well.
Fucking woo — it poisons minds. They really don’t want to hear that having done everything “right,” that their fantasy birthing experience isn’t going to happen. Which is understandable, but my thought is that, at this point, they get a choice between live, healthy mom and baby — in whatever way achieves that result — or … something really bad.
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Ichythic:
Yes. I’ve been urging them to call her ob/gyn at the very least, go to the ER like now, and straight out told them both that they’re risking both SO and the baby’s lives. And shrieking via phone to other family members that someone has got to step in before this goes very very bad.
In return, I’ve been told that natural, earth-based spiritual practice (I refuse to call it medicine) is wonderful, natural birth is wonderful and very safe, and that I’m over-reacting because I’ve been brain-washed by the medical establishment.
And motivating me to do what? I’m 1300 miles away, I’m trying to walk a really narrow line between being supportive of a woman’s choice to labor as she wants to without judgment because — funny thing — I really love my brother and his SO, and also trying to get someone who is actually THERE to be as worried as I am. Literally, all I can do is be worried and upset.
—
Thanks, Portia. I’m a wreck mainly because I can’t be there and I’m getting very few updates and every time I do get one, it seems like they’re not telling me the whole story because they know I’m already pissed/upset and will only get more so.
And, of course, I had to take an exam in Quantitative today and I have another one in 20 minutes for Media. Yay. This will go well….
BeatriceM/b>
I call it November. I hope the week is better.
Socio-gen
I really hope they take your advice, and at least call her ob/gyn. I’m all for natural birth, and in one sense I’m glad they’re being nice and calm about it, but they sound all too calm.
PS Fantasy birth experience? I hope it works out for them. With mother and new baby happy and healthy at the end, very healthy and very happy.
rq:
I’m glad your weekend turned out better than you hoped.
You can have the snark hat back. I’m not that good at it. I guess the purity of my soul and the innocence of my spirit counteract the Snark! power of the hat. Such is my cross to bear (oh my back).
Right now, they’re setting the SO up with IV fluids (but not pitocin, if I understand correctly) and planning to wait.
At home? Natural IV fluids? I suppose it’s better than nothing and in the best case scenario could lead to the baby being born and all being well. But I wish she’d go to a hospital for proper monitoring. I hope they’re not going to try pitocin at home. Unmonitored pitocin can get ugly fast. Uterine rupture is possible and it’s bad.
Sorry, I don’t mean to be giving you more nightmares. This sort of thing scares me. And there’s nothing much you can do, except tell them that you think it’s a bad decision. But SO still has to decide for herself (unless she’s unconscious or something). Anything else is assault, not medical care.
Tony
You better not have purified the Snark Hat in any way. ANY WAY AT ALL.
Portia and I and all other happy wearers of the Snark Hat will not be pleased, becuase that means triple-helpings of snark to set the hat to rights.
Your back will be fine after some acupuncture from your local chiropractor. Try it and you’ll see.
I’ll be on the lines. PZ, if ever there was a time for your blog to be part of the labor movement, this is it. PLEASE broadcast this, and people can turn out in support.
Socio-Gen
If it helps, it drives me mad reading this on a different continent, never having met those people.
And as for the support: Supporting the right to choose doesn’t mean I have to support every choice because obviously I think that some choices are fucking stupid and the one your brother’s SO is making in one of those. Seriously, this sounds like a recipe for disaster with all major warning lights having gone off already
rq is right. It really is on Tony’s head (heh, geddit?) if this place gets snarkier than normal.
(Jotting absently in recipe book…)
Noted. Coca leaves as the garnish, rum as the glaze…
(/Spragel’s Secret Ingredient as the rub…)
I’m so sorry, Socio-Gen. I guess you have the option of calling their local police department to contact 911 and get an ambulance there, but it sounds like they’d refuse service and then hate you forever. All you can do is wait and yell at them to go to the hospital over the phone.
There is actually a website called Cooking with Coke.
Not even wine?
I know of one cake that is made with Fanta, but I think this is the first time I hear of cooking with Coca Cola.
Lighting the Horde-signal:
How hard is it to knit a hat?
I kind of want to try. I’ve only ever had success knitting rectangular things. Like scarves.
I am the proud owner of a copy of an old Cooking with Dr. Pepper cookbook. Never tried any of the recipes, though.
This by the way kicks ass
Roasted Fried Beet sandwich with goat cheese, spinach and lemon.
How do you prepare the beet part?
I don’t have fresh spinach, so I’ll probably have to skip that, but I currently find myself in possession of quite a lot of beet.
Carlie, I’ve used Cheerwine to braise short ribs and to make a BBQ sauce for pork ribs.
Yes it sounds red neck.
Yes it’s fucking good.
I roasted the beets at 350 seasoned with salt, pepper, Olive Oil and Balsamic until a knife pieces them easily. About 1:15 depending on the size of the beets.
The slice them thick
roll them in panko bread crumbs seasoned with fresh thyme, salt and pepper
fry over med low heat in grapeseed oil until browned
pop in a 350 oven for a few mins to make sure they are heated through
sorry last bit at 250 F
Perhaps he should try diluting his back in water, too.
After all, some people think you can even dilute Horses…
:D
–
Rev.,
thanks!
Oh and I’d use arugula instead of spinach but the remaining arugula we had was nasty.
depression update
the good news: I had a successful counseling appointment on friday, and will be set up with further appointments at the counseling center and the (physical) health clinic later this week
the bad news: it’s getting worse; it actually physically hurts now (beyond the typical dull chest-ache, that is)
Has medical science not found a cure for people who prefer regular coke to cherry or vanilla yet? O.o
Rev: That sandwich sounds amazing. I much prefer spinach to arugula, so I approve.
Jadehawk:
:) and : (
Good for you for pushing forward.
Jadehawk, thanks for the update. I was wondering.
Sorry about that typing… Sheesh
iPad fail
Socio-Gen, best wishes for a positive outcome for your brother and his SO. JadehawkAt least they g\finally gave you the appointment, so that’s good. On the other front, best wishes and USBhugs.
I had a joyous commute to work today. Pouring rain, headwinds gusting at above 17 mph/27kph, and every intersection was flooded at least hub deep on my bike (that’s 13in/33 cm).
Well…they’re at the hospital in Ithaca now. The IV fluids restarted her labor (no pitocin involved) but then baby’s heart rate began dropping around 7:15 ET, and my aunt had the guts to step in and tell A. and H. they were out of options and called the ambulance. Doula tried to tell her it wasn’t that serious; aunt is a pediatric nurse and basically told doula to GTFO.
Hospital got the baby’s heart rate stabilized and is prepping for a c-section. She’s probably in the OR as we speak. Now, it’s just a matter of waiting to hear that my niece/nephew has arrived.
—
Giliell:
Agreed. I want to be supportive but at the same time, there is a point at which you’re just being a fucking idiot.
—
carlie:
I mostly concentrated my ragey-ness on the family members surrounding them. I didn’t want to add to H & A’s stress level when they’re already at a vulnerable point.
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Beatrice:
My grandmother used to make a coca-cola cake. She also made mayonnaise cake, which sounds horrible, but was soooo delicious.
I just bought the entire Vorkosigan Saga, for $36. When will I have the time to read all these books? no clue.
Thank goodness the police were able to arrest this guy before he carried out his plan.
Socio-gen – I’m glad your brother and his SO are at the hospital now. Hope all goes well. : )
Read more: http://www.worstpreviews.com/headline.php?id=26678&count=0#ixzz2CjLT5zOH
Has anyone seen Ogvorbis today?
Wholly frack! I made spaghetti and meatballs, today, and it took me four hours from start to finish, counting clean-up and all. And that was with all the ingredients in the house already, no trip to the store.
The reason I mention is that while I was rooting for nearly-stale bread or crackers to put in the meatball mixture, I stumbled upon a pan of brownies. I took the dry edges off the brownies, and crumbled that into the bowl. So yeah, slightly chocolate meatballs. It wasn’t really noticeable, but they were good.
I put a little Worcestershire sauce in the spaghetti sauce, which was a first for me. It added a little depth, which it needed, since my usual recipe is a can of tomato sauce and a shake of Italian seasoning, then whatever falls out of the spice rack.
It all added up to pretty good, over some whole-wheat noodles. My wife appreciated it, and one of the kids actually ate some and said it was good, and said thank you, too.
—
Bolivar, Missouri, eh? That’s not one of God’s little sunny spots, and I’m not just saying that because I went to high school at the town that was Bolivar’s football rival. Last time I passed through Bolivar slow enough to interact, there were some good folks outside of town, and a family of right goobers infesting the park.
I am glad the fellow was stopped before harm was done.
Good morning
Sociogen
I’m so glad to hear
Jadehawk
I’m glad to hear about your appointment, too. I think that “getting worse” in the beginning is pretty normal, but things are on their way now.
Jadehawk
The whole series? ‘Cause I have all but Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance in ebook format (Baen’s cds rule), but I’ve ebeen waiting month s for the most recent one at the library, so if you have that one too, I’m jealous.
So, I volunteer at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry), and I jsut got a survey from them. This survey was about ‘indigenous ways of knowing’ and how much the complemented “Western Science.” Seriously, OMSI, I thought you were better than this. There is only one way of knowing: rigorous empirical testing. There are, however, an infinite number of ways of pulling things out of your ass. This isn’t to say that I reject the idea that indigenous peoples might have knoledge that can be of use to science, e.g. “this plant only grows in these particular types of place, that animal behaves in such and such fashion,” etc, but they got that knowledge the same way everyone else does, and you have to separate the knowledge from the ‘other ways of knowing,’ which is to say bullshit. /rant
We haz a baby!
*passes out chocolates, cigars, and champagne*
Born at 9:26pm ET. Mom and baby are doing great.
The proud parents want to do their own announcing, which is fine…except I’ve been waiting for more than four hours, talked to almost every relative except the new parents, and I have to go to bed still not knowing if I have a niece or nephew!
Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance is out on baen ebooks for $6 right now. I just read it last night. Fun. Set just before umm, the previous one out. It’s almost all Ivan. Cordelia & Aral are off-planet and Miles only makes a cameo. Plenty of Illyan.
@mildlymagnificent, have you tried substituting coconut milk for regular milk? I want to do that next. Just polished off the last slice for lunch, nomnom.
Socio-gen
YAY!
srsly fukin yay
Yayyyyy, Sociogen
I’m so glad everything went fine in the end.
Socio-gen, yay for the baby! And best wishes to all involved. (Thanks for the chocolate—ooo, truffles.)
Dalillama, I fully agree with the “ways of knowing” rant.
Katie Melua – Nine Million Bicycles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTy3WA0Pq8M is a sweet and mellow love song, with a cute video.
Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance? What’s this? A new Vorkosigan book? Damn, and Amazon tells me there’s a new Pratchett out as well! How did I not know this?
Ooh, congrats, socio-gen! I’m relieved to hear all went well in the end.
BTW, AFAIK there are 2 newish Pratchetts but neither is Discworld. Dodger and The Long Earth. There’s a new Discworld companion also, too, but Snuff is the last of the novels.
Kind of ironic…
Socio-Gen: congrats to brother and SO
Alethea H. “Crocoduck” Dundee #437:<pout> Unfortunately, my bank account presently contains $1.88.
I am so very, very relieved. H & A were disappointed that things weren’t going to be the way they wanted, but my aunt apparently did a fantastic job of getting them to understand that it didn’t matter how Baby arrived, just that xe did so safely.
Socio-gen
HUGE hug for your aunt.
And a
#$%^&#$*&*tsk* for the doula.Socio-gen – So happy (and relieved) for your good news!
Good mornings!
*sparkly confetti in all colours for Socio-gen*
That is excellent news, excellent news, indeed!! And very good work by your aunt. :)
Jadehawk
I’m glad you got the appointment, and that things have been set in motion! I hope it gets better soon!!
+++
This weekend’s thoughts:
1) That whole family is mired in woo (mostly about moon phases influencing how things grow and how well your laundry gets done), so I’m planning a little experiment with Husband;
2) Sexism is alive and well in the family, coming from the older generation and also the Sister (not a surprise, but when she starts more-or-less calling youngest (17) brother’s slightly older girlfriend (19-20) a slut for liking a younger boy, well… that was a new one for me);
3) Sister’s boyfriend-of-long-years is scared of gays (and I mean scared), which in and of itself is no surprise but the extent of his fear is a bit daunting;
4) Horses are awesome.
+++
We have almost cornered a house.
er, no, I actually don’t have the last 2, because the library has Cryoburn, and by the time I get through all of these, will probably have Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance too (and if not, thriftbooks.com probably will). The only reason I bought them at all is because the library is a poopyhead and only has Cryoburn
and if I’d known baen ebooks existed, I’d probably bought all of them as ebooks instead of paperbacks, too :-p
Cornered a horse??? where??‽??
.
oh
house
never mind
looking at the prices tho, the paperbacks still ended up cheaper than the e-books would have been.
Cryoburn comes, or came, with a cd of the rest of them in ebook format. I dunno if your library left it in, but it allows copying for personal use.
Apparently Boris Strugatsky has died? It’s in the internet news here, but I’m not finding any other links yet…
why does no one tell me these things
So apparently Mabus is back in jail. But you guys probably knew that already.
Jadehawk, sorry to hear about depression and bad fortune, I hope things start looking up for you soon!
Oh, btw, Jadehawk, if you need a laptop, I have a fairly new W7 machine sitting around here doing nothing, that I can send you if you want. Let me know via mail(not sure if there would be taxes involved etc).
thanks rorschach, but I have enough computers. it just happens that that one had all my homework on it :-p
Socio-gen,
Great news! I’m glad everything turned out well.
A toast (with my cup of coffee) for your aunt for being the only sensible person in the house.
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Jadehawk,
I’m glad to hear you arranged counseling. About the bad news… I’m sorry. I hope the counseling brings you some relief soon.
“Apparently Boris Strugatsky has died?”
The last of the great East European science fiction authors I grew up with.
Stanislaw Lem, the Strugatsky brothers.
I has a sad :-(
— — — — — —
.
Improbable Joe,
I wrongly recommended the book “Crysis”
I actually meant “Crysis; Legion” by Peter Watts.
.
“Crysis” is a graphic novel by Bergting.
(it may be good, but I have not read it)
— — — — — — — —
Jindal begins to look like a an intellectual giant.
.
I just read a thread at “Despatches from the culture wars”
Another bootleg video of Republicans saying embarassing things.
It is from Georgia, where some years ago the Repubs discussed the threat of UFO abductions. Now they are warning people of Obama’s special brain-control techniques.
Something in Georgian water is affecting conservative minds.
— — — — — —
Scandinavian Airlines Systems has been saved from bankrupcy.
PZ, this thread iteration now approaches a kilocomment.
*gnarf*
Just noticed that I managed to waste my own time. Was waiting for a library computer to become free, doing still important but not that urgend reading, so I could work on my presentation only to notice that I have apparently forgotten to send myself the file…
Well, I’ll do a short lunchbreak here and then go home, but I don’t like to work there because ofthe distractions.
Socio-Gen
Glad that your aunt could get them to their senses. It’s quite ironic that they could probably have had a vaginal delivery if they’d gone with a bit of Pitocin earlier…
Socio-gen
Goody for aunty. Boo to doula. Unicorns, rainbows and ribbons everywhere.
Alethea. I’ve thought of it, but I think it might be too sweet for my taste. I keep on doing new iterations of more flour/more coconut, less sugar, OMFSM how much milk this time!
Socio-gen
Good grief. I don’t think I’m exactly glad to hear that it’s not just me, but I feel a bit comforted that things could be worse. o.0
We do have a strong group of people in the Women’s Campaign here, and our women’s officer is always on the ball to pick up on that kind of crap, even if it’s just at a college level. Last year there was someone roaming around part of the city, assaulting women at night, and there were 5 or 6 separate incidents. The response of some colleges was essentially to tell the women not to go outside alone after dark. Bear in mind that ‘dark’ starts at around 4pm, and if you’re walking home from the library after that, your route goes right through the ‘danger zone’. Totally unrealistic. Then there was the time that one of the christian groups went and held candlelit vigils outside gay students’ rooms…
Although, there is some good news in the Julian Assange case: there’s going to be a special business meeting in the Union to discuss whether to cancel his invitation to speak. Comments under the article are, predictably, “why do you hate men?” and “why do you hate freeze peach?” (did I spell that right?)
Tony, cicely, Beatrice
Um. I like frozen peas. But not mushy peas. Boiled peas are okay. I think you should give equal time to both viewpoints. Teach the controversy.
Portia
That sounds awful. I constantly dread having to work with people like that when I graduate. Good to hear that you called him out on it. One thing I am learning is good ways to call people out on their sexism and homophobia and things. I am slowly converting my circle of friends/colleagues to use ‘woman’ instead of ‘girl’, but it’s an uphill battle given that my supervisor constantly mocks me for being ‘too feminist’ (being a little bit feminist is okay. I can ask for the vote.)
Jadehawk. I wish there was some advice I could give, some USB elixir to stop the pain and ease all that troubles you. But of course there isn’t. Hell, in this situation I’m not even sure that empathy has any meaning, because these things are the heart and meat of subjective experience. All I can do is speak to my experience and hope that there’s some tiny resonance there that might help.
At my worst I felt physical symptoms. The band wound around my chest inched inwards, imperceptibly slowly and relentlessly it stifled my breath. I felt like I was turning to wood, that one day I would simply cease to breath.
My vision narrowed, not just in outlook, in hopes and dreams, but literally too. My attention could only be gained by objects, people and events that were right before me. The peripheral might as well have been another universe shifted out of phase by some quantum trickery for all that it mattered to me. My attentional space was filled with loathing for myself and my life, with the vacuous absence of hope and relentless churning of every memory of every mistake, real or perceived, that I had made in my then short life.
Thinking on it now, I can’t imagine how I made it through. I know the events, the sequence that led me to therapy, chemical and talk. I know the decisions I made, giving up drinking for effect, cultivating an anger towards whatever miswiring the hand of uncaring genetics had dealt me, and so on. But that doesn’t explain what stayed my hand when stubbornly my body kept on breathing. That was the true bottom for me, that acceptance, that surrender to the suffocation, that almost calm willingness to just help it along.
And yet here I am. I’m nothing special, and yet here I am. My life since my slow and convoluted recovery shows that I’m no hero, let alone some kind of superhero. I’m an average guy, of average intellect and adverage education with a brain that tried to kill him. This is not a plea for praise, nor is it false modesty, it’s a simple fact.
I made it Jadehawk. I’m living, loving, messed up and mediocre proof that depression is beatable.
I’m sorry it’s all I have to offer.
Socio-gen: Congratulations and whew! I was scared last night that it might be too late by the time they got to the hospital. I wasn’t going to say that then because you were already under too much stress, but I’m really relieved to hear that the little one and mother are ok! As to the gender…you’ll really only know that when xe’s hit adolescence, so no need to worry yet.
FossilFishy,
I’m not Jadehawk (obviously), but I want to thank you for writing that.
Greenland’s viking settlers gorged on seals (and then slowly keft the place) http://phys.org/news/2012-11-greenland-viking-settlers-gorged.html Bored Norse settlers leaving for the greener pastures of… Iceland? Maybe someone had elected someone who was the wrong color.
— — — — — — —
Nuclear Bomb Asteroid Plan Calls For ‘Armageddon’-Like Mission To Destroy Dangerous Space Rocks (with two separate impacts) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/19/nuclear-bomb-asteroid-space-rocks_n_2159308.html
— — — — —
Frank Rich: So-called ‘war on Christmas’ a dig at Jews http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/19/frank-rich-so-called-war-on-christmas-a-dig-at-jews/
Murdoch, whose News Corp. owns Fox News and a vast array of other media outlets, said on Twitter that the “Jewish owned press” favoured Palestinians over Israelis.
Max Blumenthal: The idea of a “war on Christmas” begin in white nationalist circles, who blamed Jews for the alleged attack on the Christian holiday.
no sure didn’t
Argh, argh, argh fuck it’s too long.
*sigh*
Back to the drawing-board
Giliell,
Skirt? Dress? Shirt?
Come on, you must have known someone would be curious. ;)
Only one month and a day until the end of the world people.
I’m all prepared for the end of the world. Some cleaning to finish up, a few loose ends, but for the most part I’m ready. We’re heading down to the bunker a week early, just in case there’s a small mix-up with actual dates.
Portia @405:
Why do I suddenly feel like He-Man?
****
Socio-gen:
Congrats on the successful birth of your niece/nephew! Glad it worked out well.
****
Menyambal @433:
Why did it take that long to fix spaghetti and meatballs?
****
Have a Balloon:
There is no controversy.
Peas are evil.
They are a product of god.
They are not fit for human consumption.
Big Brother is watching.
****
Jadehawk:
I’m glad you finally were able to get an appointment.
Murdoch, whose News Corp. owns Fox News and a vast array of other media outlets, said on Twitter that the “Jewish owned press” favoured Palestinians over Israelis.
Wha…huh?
beatrice
Presentation. But I think I shortened it sufficiently and I’ll need to practice the talking so I won’t illustrate the points too much.
Giliell,
I took “back to the drawing board” too literally, it seems. :)
Giliell
Good luck!
I hate presentations, but, ironically, I find I talk too much when presenting, unless I talk really, really fast.
Portia
Whenever I want to knit a hat I like to cheat and use those round hat loom things. Like these:
http://store.knitting-warehouse.com/071222.html
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Have A Balloon
Wow. Sounds like a great place to be. My college is a little better than that, but we still get the regular “don’t walk by yourself” bullshit in the school paper at least once each year, usually written by a student.
If the Christians here tried to pull something like that here they’d be in some serious trouble though. We have the highest LGBT population of any school in our state (around 1/7 of our students have self-identified as LGBT) so I don’t think that would go over very well. One of the things I like about my college is that we’re relatively LGBT-friendly.
—
SC:
I wish you all the best of luck.
—
rorschach
Ahh, yes, I saw that on twitter. I sorta feel sorry for the guy. As PZ said, I hope he gets the help he needs.
—
Speaking of Twitter, I finally got my first anti-Atheism+ tweets directed at me. It gave me a chance to practice cursing effectively in 140 characters or less.
—
Tomorrow the boyfriend and I are going over to his parents’ house for Thanksgiving. I really like his parents, but they are very loud extroverted people, so being around them for any amount of time can be stressful. They are also pretty conservative (though more socially liberal than not), so I know that the election is going to be brought up at some point. I think I’m going to enforce a strict No Talking About Politics policy for as long as I can. Hopefully I can keep it going long enough for me to eat my turkey in peace.
I’m horrible at presentations. I start talking really really fast. Even if I don’t run out of material, babbling too fast is rather frowned upon.
blogofmyself
I have much sympathy for you and the boyfriend-family situation. I hope it goes well!
+++
Being a crappy knitter, I have never been able to finish anything knit – no scarf, nothing. Would be cool to do hats and socks and mittens, but…
Currently working on crocheting skills. :P Slow.
Thanks everyone! Well, it seems I won’t have to stop calling my sister’s son my “favorite nephew.”
According to my brother, who finally called me ten minutes ago, “The baby has a vagina, but xe is not a girl. Or a boy. We’re avoiding labels.”
So cool!
He also thanked me for being persistent because, even though everyone else kept blowing me off as over-reacting, their complaints got my aunt concerned enough to go to the house to check on A. The docs told them that, had they waited even a half-hour longer, they very likely would have had nothing to celebrate. (Auntie P is getting a really nice gift this winter holiday!)
I’m happy and relieved to know that they weren’t angry and didn’t see it as “interfering.”
+++
In other news, my favorite pizza place back home burned down last night. One thing Fargo-Moorhead does not have is really good pizza. Or sheet pizzas.
If I had the upfront money, I could make a fortune selling sheet pizzas to college students.
— —
Jadehawk:
Sorry I missed it earlier, but I’m glad you got an appointment and hopefully things will get better — and quickly. Ugh on the library!
—
Have A Balloon:
It’s everywhere, unfortunately. The Women’s Center and lots of loud women are speaking up here, but it’s an uphill battle against the “reasonable precautions” brigade.
At least we haven’t had any candle-light vigils to protest “Teh Gay.”
—
dianne:
I know. I was thinking the very same thing.
—
Giliell:
Good luck with your presentation! I tend to talk to quickly when I have to do them, so I start running ahead of my slides.
—
blogofmyself:
That sounds like a handy skill to have. I should practice…
—
Last day of classes before the Turkey Day break. Betting less than half of my classmates show, which will be nice since I have to be the discussant in one of them.
Guessing here, that means you’re nervous. Most people are. Being nude in public makes many people very nervous.
So try staying dressed…
</snark>Tony
But then what do you eat with fish and chips?
blogofmyself
The weird thing is, it’s really easy not to notice any of this stuff, so for most people, it actually is a great place to be, and I do like it here. It is much, much better than the rest of the country, although unfortunately it has its share of otherwise pleasant intelligent people with major sexist/racist/homophobic blind spots. If you look at the electoral map, the entirety of East Anglia is more or less fully conservative, except for one tiny yellow liberal spot that marks the city of Cambridge, thanks to all the student votes. Our MP is the one scientist in parliament, I think, and does a good job of representing my interests. That’s why it’s all the more of a shock when one day you open the paper to a rape-apologist diatribe or something. I guess it’s a similar experience to assuming that an atheist conference is a safe space, then being extra upset when you find out it’s not. I thought people here would be better than that.
I kindof want to go to London and see this: Can an all-women Julius Caesar work? I don’t think I’ll be able to, and why does it have to be Julius Caesar — That’s perhaps the one Shakespeare play I don’t like, very probably because it was the one I had to learn in school. Albeit a notably different performance than usual might make it less disliked…
Socio-Gen
Yay for obnoxious people!
So good they made a narrow escape.
presentations
It’s OK. I usually practise heavily so I avoid “reading the text of the slides”, but that also means that lots of my illustrations won’t be on the slides (some of them will go onto the handout). And it gives me some flexibility. It’s also good to formulate the actual sentences in advance without writing them, so you don’t start with one structure and end up with the other.
It also gave me the opportunity to notice that there’s a logical mix-up and that it works better with changing two points the other way round.
What I really need to rehearse is the “Indiana Jones” part because that’s really speaking freely without any text.
It’s always funny how such questions still get presented as all sensational when for centuries an all male Midsummernight’s Dream worked…
Yes, the casts (in England) of early Shakespeare had males playing female roles whilst pretending to be female. What I’m hoping here is none of the females playing male roles are pretending to be male; that is, the traditionally male parts have been morphed into female roles / parts. Julius Caesar as a cootie-infested vagina-equipped monster, not as a power-mad nutter with a penis.
This is at the Domar Warehouse, which has a reputation for good and challenging plays. They, and the Tricycle Threatre, were perhaps the two playhouses I frequented most often when I did live in London. (It also helped that, at the time, possibly the best Mexican resturant in London — basically Tex-Mex-ish in style and owned by a pair of Californians — was more-or-less around the corner from the Donmar Warehouse.)
blf
No, I wouldn’t think they would do that. But still, whenever I hear questions like “would some stereotypically male thingy work with women” and the male thingy isn’t “penis-waving contest”, my head wants to meet the desk.
Chocolate train sets new world record (video):
The mildly deranged penguin is already en route, with several forks and shovels.
Giliell, blf
re: Julius Caesar
This show is in London? I had a friend do that play, as an all-women cast, somewhere in America a year ago or so. At least, I think it was Julius Caesar; either the play itself, or a play about the play during (I believe) WWII. Was a raging success. Must find link.
blf
The mildly deranged pengiuns enjoys destroying other people’s records, no?
Beatrice
I do the babbling thing, too, but I’ve managed to get that under control by remember that, when presenting something, I’m presenting to people who know nothing about the science I’m talking about, so even the simplest words will be new to them. That helps, because then I get to be in the position of authority, rather than, say, presenting in front of professors. Although, it might still help to pretend that the audience really knows nothing…
I don’t know, I haven’t presented in front of knowledgeable audiences in a while, it’s always the regional detectives and inspectors, who have no clue about anything I’m talking about. (All these presentations haven’t educated anyone, but they get us certificate points. ;) )
Yeah, sex X playing pretending to be sex Y to play a sex Y role needn’t be all that interesting. Perhaps that is one reason Shakespeare often had the role itself cross-dress: You’d get a boy pretending to be a female whose character cross-dressed as a male.
Or, at the end of the film Shakespeare in Love, a lady pretending to be a boy playing the role of Juliet.
Socio-gen: Relieved to hear that it came out all right in the end! And a vigorous round of applause for your persuasive aunt.
–
FIFY.
–
*fetches napalm!*
Someone drive it out where I can get a good shot at it!
–
Have a Balloon: I’ll grant you that frozen peas are far superior to mushy ones, when considered as missile weapons.
–
I’m going to write a cookbook called Pea Soup with Fantastic Mr Horse.
dedicated to cicely.
You know, I still never got MY FINISHED.
rq,
You’re evil. I like it.
rq, why not go whole hawg, and make it Fantastic Horse & Pea Soup? Then we would have a recipe for something really nasty to dump through the murder holes and onto the trolls.
–
Socio Gen, glad
they’re atthey went to the hospital. Thank FSM for your aunt, and for your long-distance input, and here’s hoping it all goes OK now!Jadehawk, glad you got that appt. And I hope whoever you speak with is worth their salt and really helps.
OH!!! ETA Socio Gen, Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So glad they’re OK!!!!!!!!! Good for your aunt
And ETA again later to say, that’s wonderful not only that they are well and happy but that your persistence was actually appreciated. That’s wonderful (not to mention it speaks well of all concerned!)
I am still learning to cook, or at least trying to continuously improve from what my mom called “bachelor cooking” levels (she’d never heard of gay men with real culinary arts). The four hours of meatballs yesterday came from doing other housework, including swearing at the girl cat for being in heat. I had been requested to make the meatballs crispy all over the outside, so I wound up turning them in the frying pan—I haven’t any oven experience—frequently, for a long time. Then I built the sauce by deglazing the frying pan to get all the burnt-ish bits off (I didn’t have the apple juice I like to use for deglazing), so the sauce was NOT a parallel process. Then, when it was simmering, I started boiling water for the noodles, and tried to use enough this time, so had a damn big pot to heat up, then the noodles were whole-wheat, which takes longer. Oh, and I found another can of tomato, so I had to re-start the sauce.
Yeah, it was a learning experience, and I tend to get rattled sometimes while learning. Plus there was some frustration at myself, for not being smoother and faster. I used to run a water-quality lab, where I worked out ways to do everything better and faster and in parallel, so I expect that from myself. But this was only the third time I’d made meatballs, so I need to remember that the third time I cycled samples through the water lab, I was still doing it the way I’d been shown to do things.
But cooking is fun, and I wasn’t really frustrated—except at the damned cat, “Stop yowling, you filthy beast”—and I made some yummies for the family.
—
As for the warning for women to not be out after dark, that is sick wrong. Any organization that cannot provide basic safety should be taking full responsibility, not laying the problem off on other folks. I remember reading some time ago that when a lawman more-or-less forbid women to be out after dark, for their own safety, a woman suggested that he instead forbid men to be out after dark.