One thing will never end, the endless thread goes on


This is my last day in California, and you people have filled up the cosmic thread I started here. You know there’s only one sentiment I can express here, and the words to this song are just perfect.

On the day I went away… goodbye…
Was all I had to say… now I…
I want to come again and stay… Oh my my…
Smile, and that will mean that I may

Cause I’ve seen blue skies, through the tears
In my eyes
And I realise.. I’m going home.

Everywhere it’s been the same… feeling…
Like I’m outside in the rain… wheeling…
Free, to try and find a game… dealing…
Cards for sorrow, cards for pain

Cause I’ve seen blue skies through the tears
In my eyes
And I realise.. I’m going home.

I’m going home, I’m going home.

My mascara is running. I can’t go on. You’ll all have to keep chattering away for me.

Comments

  1. Miki Z says

    Pygmy Loris,

    I don’t think anyone here is judging dendy for being an adjunct except for dendy. My comments were addressed to him on that.

    Rorschach,

    It may be different elsewhere. Here in Japan, most things are sugared with either sucrose or HFCS. The exception is glucose tablets sold at the pharmacy for use by diabetics. These are both expensive and small.

  2. Bill Dauphin, OM says

    Janine:

    I can’t make the link @992 work, but this is obviously what you need to send for when you’re in trouble!

  3. Pygmy Loris says

    Miki Z,

    I just wanted to make it clear that I’m picking on Dendy for being a liar, not for being an adjunct. I didn’t want anyone to think my lack of respect for Dendy was in any way related to his rank on the academic career ladder.

  4. Miki Z says

    Pygmy Loris,

    I think we’re cross-posting. I know your disrespect for Dendy has nothing to do with his status as an adjunct. :) It’s not the first time I’ve read your posts.

  5. Pygmy Loris says

    Miki Z,

    It does seem that that’s what is going on. :)
    I’m never sure how much of what I’ve written before is in someone’s mind when they read subsequent comments.

  6. John Morales says

    Miki Z, are there home-brewing shops there?

    If so, you should be able to buy 1 Kg bags (relatively) cheaply.

  7. Miki Z says

    John Morales,

    I don’t think so, at least not in our area (we live in the middle of Nagoya, a dense metropolis of 2 million people). We’ve been ordering candy online in bulk from Australia. (Walker’s Candy Company) We don’t need raw glucose, rather glucose in an edible form.

  8. Pygmy Loris says

    My stock is done, so I’ll probably head to bed soon. Since we’re leaving recipes anyway, here’s Pygmy Loris’s recipe for chicken stock.

    1 or 2 pounds of chicken pieces*. (I use whatever is on sale)

    2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into halves

    2-3 potatoes, scrubbed and quartered

    2 parsnips, peeled and cut into a few pieces

    2 onions, halved

    3 celery stalks, washed and cut into 2-3 pieces

    1 leek, cut in half

    a few cloves of garlic

    Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme

    Place veggies on a roasting pan and brush with olive oil. Roast chicken and veggies in a 375 degree oven for an hour.

    Put roasted chicken, veggies, and herbs in a stock pot with 4 quarts of water. Cook at a low simmer for a couple of hours. DO NOT let it come to a rolling boil!

    Strain the stock, saving the chicken for soup or salad. I also munch on the cooked carrots and potatoes.

    Refrigerate strained stock overnight in a narrow, but tall vessel. Rubbermaid type pitchers are good for this. Skim the fat off of the top the next day. The narrow vessel makes the fat-skimming easier.

    At this point one can freeze the stock; reduce it and freeze it; turn it into soup immediately; or refrigerate for a few days.

    Note: all amounts for ingredients are approximations. I toss in however much feels right to me. Sometimes I add shallots or beets. Beets give an interesting taste and color to stock.

    * You can leave the skin on or remove it. I usually remove it, but there’s a lot of taste if you leave it on.

  9. Miki Z says

    Oh this is just priceless :

    The Muppets–Bohemian Rhapsody

    ;)

    This was great. The last 5 seconds had me laughing aloud.

  10. Bill Dauphin, OM says

    Janine:

    Great link! I have this horrible feeling it might’ve started life as a real commercial.

    And I didn’t think “Lawyers, Guns, and Money” was what you linked to; it’s just where my mind went when I read your text.

    PL (@1010):

    Oh, thanks! Make me look like a total wanker for using store-bought stock, willya?

    ;^)

  11. John Morales says

    Miki, ah. (They don’t sell Jellybeans there?)

    I’m rather amused Dendy is stupid enough to think anyone here would be stupid enough to click on any links he posts, especially as he’s explicitly said he posts just for the blog hits (and it may even be part-true, though clearly he posted it to save some face).

    Ah well, he chose the right thread to post that. :)

  12. John Morales says

    here’s Pygmy Loris’s recipe for chicken stock.

    Um. My recipe is simpler — after a roast chicken meal (or similar), chuck all the bones (and other bits you don’t eat) into a pot with enough water to cover it.
    Bring to the boil, then simmer for an hour or so.

    Vegetable scraps optional.

    Freeze it if you want to keep it for longer than a day or two.

    Works with any meat bones, too! ;)

  13. Miki Z says

    Miki, ah. (They don’t sell Jellybeans there?)

    Oddly enough, the candy section at our local grocery store is marked by jelly bean shelf-papering and posters but sells no jelly beans. The Japanese are very fond of putting jelly into chocolate, cakes, etc., but I only see jelly beans for sale sporadically.

    We’ve experimented with a lot of different candies, and the hard candies appear to give the most benefit with the fewest unwanted effects. My wife’s teeth get what one Dentist in the U.S. cheerfully called “heroin protection”, which is apparently more resistant to damage than ordinary treatments. We learn to laugh. It’s been nearly five years since her last life-threatening bout, and regular exercise means she’s running again, when she was told to expect a loss of mobility. We have a lot to be happy about.

  14. Pygmy Loris says

    Bill,

    I used to use canned/boxed stock, but I discovered it was cheaper to make my own. :) 6 quarts of tasty stock for $10.00 today. (I made a double batch of the recipe above)

    John,

    Touche. I never roast a whole chicken though, and I like the flavor of all the veggies. The ones (veggies) I use now I’ve come about through trial and error. I once used broccoli, whichwas a terrible idea. At Thanksgiving and Winter Solstice I usually make a big pot of turkey stock using your method. Have you tried the remains of fried chicken? I’ve used it a few times after carefully removing all of the coating.

  15. John Morales says

    P Loris,

    Have you tried the remains of fried chicken? [to make stock]

    Not really, if you mean battered fried chicken. We virtually never get take-away, and when we do fry chicken it’s usually fillets, so there’s no leftovers. (But I imagine it would work just fine, with removal of the coating.)

    It’s good to know some of us still waste not. :)

  16. A. Noyd says

    Speaking of brewing and Japan, there’s a fairly popular comic book series for adults about a guy who can talk to micro-organisms (including ones used in brewing). It’s called Moyasimon. I haven’t tried to read it because it’s really dense and technical, but the info about micro-organisms is supposed to be scientifically accurate. Aside from them being able to talk and all.

  17. Rorschach says

    A contribution to the food discussion :

    Pharyngulites, meet Cesare !

    Cesare

    No healthy food is fattening.
    All cakes are fattening.
    No cakes are healthy.

    A valid EAE-2 argument !

    ;)

  18. Blind Squirrel FCD says

    Well, I’m not going to bother with our lying troll dendy anymore. He has removed my last two posts from his moderation queue . No profanity, just difficult questions. The man (I use the term loosely) has zero integrity. Definitely a bottom feeder. He’s going on about Ann Colter for president. Apparently Palin isn’t conservative enough for him. Excuse me while I delete a few entries from my bookmarks.

    BS

  19. Blind Squirrel FCD says

    This is the way the thread ends,
    This is the way the thread ends,
    This is the way the thread ends,
    not with a bang, but a chicken soup recipe?

    BS

  20. Michael X says

    He’s going on about Ann Colter for president.

    My favorite kind of political opponent. You win the debate by not drooling on yourself.

  21. Miki Z says

    This is the way the thread ends,
    This is the way the thread ends,
    This is the way the thread ends,
    not with a bang, but a chicken soup recipe?

    BS

    Mmm. Is this the Hollow Mein recipe I’ve heard about?

    What shall we have while we wait? Do I dare to eat a peach?

  22. blf says

    This is the way the thread ends,
    not with a bang, but a chicken soup recipe?

    You’ve never had my chicken soup then. I like spicy chicken soups, such as the Thai one whose names escapes me at the moment. It, or rather you, goes bang.

  23. blf says

    [“Professor” bendy]’s going on about Ann Colter for president. Apparently Palin isn’t conservative enough for him.

    Yikes!
    (What else is there so say?)

  24. Blind Squirrel FCD says

    Mmm. Is this the Hollow Mein recipe I’ve heard about?

    My faith in pharynguloids has been restored.

    BS

  25. David Marjanović says

    I was going to post “What? It’s still going? 1000 or bust! Or both!”, but naturally it’s already past that.

    So, let’s get it to 1100 before the CEO* notices!!!

    * Cephalopodically Evil Overlord.

    œ?!

    The CEO likes to spell them with æ to annoy them. They took revenge by coming up with the Conservative Bible Project. The community has concluded that Poe‘s Law applies, and I like to express that in writing. I think I’m not the one who came up with it first.

    Also, pronouncing it with [ø] would sound French and gay to the people in question. I like that, as in “I’m whatever threatens you”.

  26. Carlie says

    Speaking of cans and jars, I was recently pointed to this article for making freezable single-serving pies, and they are the most adorable wee things I have ever seen (not that I could make them turn out that way). Of course, it is the wrong time of year here for canning, so short wide-mouth jars are not to be found anywhere and all I have leftover in the basement are regular jelly jars.

  27. David Marjanović says

    ..bring the jar down to the Southern Hemisphere. The threads run in the opposite direction here.

    And so, the day was saved while I was (unusually!) drinking my morning noon tea. And there was much rejoicing.

    Can anyone recommend a book that might give me some clues about how, when and why all of these things developed?

    No, but there may well be a causal connection between all three – various thyroid hormones play a role in development (metamorphosis of salamanders for instance), and uterus didelphys and tracheoesophageal fistula are both failures of fusion to occur (or occur the usual way), which, I imagine, might be caused by lack of some thyroid hormone. But that’s a guess.

    I don’t think this kind of molecular development biology is explained in any book for the general public.

    Time? Pretty early. I think the esophagus is supposed to form fairly soon after gastrulation, and so is the thyroid. But I could be wrong about this. Fusion of Müller’s ducts happens later.

    ksenko

    Hey! That’s your vocative! Also, nice to see you back after so long! :-)

    1)Anyone who takes Heinlein’s advice on anything deserves a few hits with the cluebat

    Most of my knowledge about Heinlein comes from this comparison with Clarke and Asimov. That’s not a lot, but it’s enough to make me agree wholeheartedly. Looks like he was an unpleasant character that made one argument from ignorance after another.

    Especially if she’s PMSing!

    :-D

    <headshake>

    She needs a man.

    What?
    Most of us are one-piece tools.

    LOL!!!

    how many atheists does it take to open a jar?

    ROTFLMAO!

    Yes, or just open it in the 4th spatial dimension.

    In 4 dimensions it is open, just like how a circle is open in 3 dimensions.

    In cylindrical coordinates, 4-dimensional space coordinates are given as
    (radial, azimuthal, vertical, bacon)

    :-) :-) :-)

    It was shocking that he actually was an editor for […] [Nature] at the time.

    Is he still?

    At the very least he’s no longer the chief editor. I’m too lazy to go over to http://www.nature.com/nature/ and find out.

    a wife who disgusts him physically,

    So he’s gay?

    and (perhaps not coincidentally) three kids that another man has fathered for reasons he seems reluctant to discuss.

    That’s what I get for asking before I’ve finished reading the sentence! I submit he wanted children but wouldn’t fuck a woman for that.

    I thought I had hit cancel in time.

    It’s apparently impossible to hit cancel in time.

    No healthy food is fattening.
    All cakes are fattening.
    No cakes are healthy.

    A valid EAE-2 argument !

    Let me take issue with the first premise. Absolutely anything edible is fattening if you can manage to eat too much of it (raw-food-ists can’t). Absolutely nothing edible is fattening if you fdH* in general.

    You should see my favorite birthday cake… I could live off it… as I could off peppermint ice cream with chocolate chips (except the cheapest brand)… :-)

    * Friss die Hälfte, “pejorative-eat half”.

  28. Alan B says

    #795 A. Noyd

    Why not teach kids the anatomy of English grammar, then?

    Excellent idea – pity they aren’t doing it effectively. Too much emphasis on writing things and expressing themselves – forget the grammar and the speling …

    Now you’re trying to justify outright linguistic discrimination.

    Where did I justify it? I merely said, this is the real world and unless or until it gets changed, that is the world in which they are going to have to find their way. I suspect the change will come with the fading out of a generation who were taught their language, via Latin or by way of structured teaching of English.

  29. Alan B says

    #797

    The grammar cops may come a knockin’, but they’ll never take me alive.

    Zat can be arranged … (in faux foreign accent)

    Incidentally, well done for getting to the 1000+ mark – I win the bet with myself. Trouble is, I’m a bad payer.

  30. Dania says

    …forget the grammar and the speling

    :)

    What’s the name of that internet law, again? :P

  31. Alan B says

    #825

    Do you distinguish between a long ton and a short ton?

    Metric ton is “tonne” which is close to, but slightly less than a long ton (1 ton = 1.016 tonne).

    You may want to consider a change in your order. (Or you may not!)

  32. Miki Z says

    I use a short ton. ‘shit-ton’ was supposed to be phonetically close, but I can do absolutely procrustean accents in my head.

  33. Alan B says

    #862 Nerd of Redhead

    She just voted early in the Democratic primary.

    You know the rules: Vote early, Vote often!

  34. Sili says

    …forget the grammar and the speling …

    :)

    What’s the name of that internet law, again? :P

    The Hartmann-Skitt-Mckean Law of Prescriptivist retaliation?

    –o–

    The CEO likes to spell them with æ to annoy them. They took revenge by coming up with the Conservative Bible Project. The community has concluded that Poe’s Law applies, and I like to express that in writing. I think I’m not the one who came up with it first.

    Also, pronouncing it with [ø] would sound French and gay to the people in question. I like that, as in “I’m whatever threatens you”.

    Œg, I see. I knew about the æ, hence the surprise at seeing you make ‘a mistake’ – thought it might be a French keyboard thing (mind you I’ve seen some people use œ for æ in Danish print – wrong choice of font interpretation, I hope). Is œ ever pronounced [ø]? I thought it was a nice and logical [œ] – a rounded [ɛ].

    –o–

    Funny with all the celery/-iac hate. I’m gonna try making celeriac dumplings in a bit.

  35. Draken says

    This is the never-ending linkdump, yes?

    A couple of fundies from Germany sought political asylum in the US for the right of homeschooling their children- and they got it.

    According to HSLDA lawyer Mike Donnely, a “Western nation should uphold basic human rights, which include allowing parents to raise and educate their own children”. And the basic human rights of the children, Mr Donnely?

  36. Dania says

    The Hartmann-Skitt-Mckean Law of Prescriptivist retaliation?

    Yes! Thank you. I can never remember the whole name (Bierce-Hartmann-Mckean-Skitt Law of Prescriptivist Retaliation, apparently) and I was too lazy to google for it, so I just assumed everyone would be familiar with it.

  37. Owlmirror says

    – Collar the nearest male, and ask him to open it for you.
    – He will stress and strain for several minutes in an attempt to impress you, to no avail.
    – Defeated, he hands it back to you.
    – It should now pop off effortlessly in your hands…but only as long as he is there to be humiliated by it.

    She doesn’t need a man, she needs a toon.

    No, not at any time. Only when it was funny.” (6:21-6:46)

  38. David Marjanović says

    What’s the name of that internet law, again? :P

    The Bierce-Hartman-McKean-Skitt Law of Prescriptivist Retaliation states that any article or statement about correct grammar, punctuation, or spelling is bound to contain at least one eror.

    it might be a French keyboard thing

    I use a German keyboard and the character map.

    Is œ ever pronounced [ø]?

    Hm. Perhaps in the Alsatian place name Haut-Kœnigsbourg… :-þ Not in any native French words I can think of, but there it’s always followed by a silent u.

    a generation who were taught their language

    …who were taught the literary standard of their language, plus a couple of conventions that grew out of personal preferences of people like John Dryden and never actually were part of the standard when you look at the works of people like Shakespeare, Austen, Hemingway and so on.

    Incidentally, the rule of taking semantics into consideration at all when deciding between singular and plural verb agreement (“a generation who were”) is limited to English (among languages spoken in Europe and probably far beyond). Elsewhere, Latin included, “one generation” can only be followed by “was”.

  39. Walton says

    Incidentally, the rule of taking semantics into consideration at all when deciding between singular and plural verb agreement (“a generation who were”) is limited to English (among languages spoken in Europe and probably far beyond). Elsewhere, Latin included, “one generation” can only be followed by “was”.

    I’ve wondered about this before. Should one use singular or plural verbs in relation to collective nouns? For example, is it correct to say “the staff were all on strike” (which is what I, and most people, would instinctively say), or should one say “the staff was all on strike”?

  40. 'Tis Himself, OM says

    it’s always followed by a silent u.

    Is that like the silent u in colour and harbour?

  41. David Marjanović says

    Is that like the silent u in colour and harbour?

    Yes – Old French was chock full of diphthongs, of which only one, oi, survives as a diphthong (and another, oin, was gained by most but not all people), while the spelling has been kept.

  42. 'Tis Himself, OM says

    For example, is it correct to say “the staff were all on strike” (which is what I, and most people, would instinctively say), or should one say “the staff was all on strike”?

    This is one of those differences between American and British English. In British English “the staff were” is usually used while in American English “the staff was” is more common.

  43. Lynna, OM says

    Why are all the religious fuckers stealing orphans off the street in Haiti based in Idaho? Thanks for the posts up-thread, keeping us apprised of the fact that there are non-mormon religious nutters who are also stealing kids; and they have been running orphanages from the wingnuttery enclaves of southern Idaho for decades. I cast the eye of suspicion upon thee.

  44. Carlie says

    The staff was on strike. (staff is a singular group)

    All of the staff were on strike. (collection of individuals described as staff)

  45. Kausik Datta says

    Umm… Carlie,

    All of the staff were on strike. (collection of individuals described as staff)

    That’s not accurate. The subject of the verb ‘were’ is the plural ‘All’, not ‘staff’ in that sentence. ‘Staff’ is one of those collective nouns that take a singular or plural verb depending upon context and region-specific usage (as Tis Himself points out above).

  46. 'Tis Himself, OM says

    In his extremely readable three volume history of the American Civil War, Shelby Foote makes an interesting comment:

    In formal as in common speech…once the nation emerged from the crucible of that war, “the United States are became “the United States is.”

  47. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    If Pharyngula turns into a den of grammar nazis, I’m going to have call in the entire fleet and storm Normandy.

  48. Alan B says

    #1038 & 1051

    Does that ridiculously named law take into account that there will be times when the mistake is inteshunal intenshunal intentiunal delibrate on purpoise?