This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly. Flap your wings and fly!
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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
I can go anywheeeeere.
Now Audley has organised pea soup, her next task should be to organise pea soup in a brewery.
rq,
I love Camus! I’ve only read him in Croatian until now.
I’m probably starting to sound old, with the “things used to be better”, but books used to get translated better than they are now. I have La Peste (in Croatian, from the 70s) and it’s perfectly readable. Of newish books, I only liked the translation of “Girl with the dragon tattoo” (spits on the English title, btw). I can’t read it in the original, but our translation has a nice flow and it doesn’t seem to have suffered much in translation. Other books… ugh, weird sentence structure, awkward (newly-coined?) words.
So, I congratulated Stephen on the new friends he made. And I’m not one bit sympathetic of him having to deal with the slimepit infestation.
Portia
I’m sorry for the shitty situation. But maybe it’s time for your mum to accept that her son has other plans? I know that’s not a nice thing and really disappointing, but it woukd save her a lot of heartbreak in the long run.
Thomathy:
I recall you mentioning that you were going away at some recent point in The Lounge (in fact, it was probably before you went away).
I’m glad you had a successful tongue job.
****
Portia @186:
Are you feeling alliterative on this wonderful wacky Wednesday?
****
Beatrice @171:
And if you’re uncertain which foods you can eat, perhaps you should take a trip to a Guy Fieri restaurant. I’m sure there are all kinds of food there you won’t enjoy.
****
Improbable Joe @175:
Price gouging b/c name brand irritates me.
You see it with spirits. Patron and Grey Goose come to mind immediately at high priced liquors that really don’t warrant the price tag. You can find quality tequila and vodka for more affordable prices AND they just as good if not better than the aforementioned ones.
The same problem is found in cookware. Many of the Food Network cooks (how many of them are actual *chefs*) have endorsed cookware. Giada de Laurentiis, Rachel Ray, and Paul Deen all have cookware that priced higher than it should be, because of their name attached.
I WAS JUST PORTCULLISED FOR THE FIRST TIME!
+++
In other news, for those throwing pastries at Portia, may I offer bitchtarts with extra snark?
+++
And no, Tony, I haven’t been here long enough to see exactly how juvenile you all get. For the most part, you seem quite polite (you = everyone).
+++
Beatrice
I would agree. I recently bought a new version of The Hobbit, because the old one is falling apart, and a few things have changed – but not too much, which made me happy. The big difference is noticeable in Harry Potter – the first couple of books make a nice effort in Latvian to go for flow and readability rather than 100% phonetic transcription (for names – rather, they went for similar-in-meaning latvianisations, quite lovely). The later books are a bit of a fail, with the new names (the old ones they obviously maintain throughout.
I don’t like reading new translations anymore for these reasons. Somehow, they’ve gotten too pedantic (or something) about some weird phonetic accuracy – before, for the male name Peter they’d use the Latvian Pēteris; now, they do the phonetic Pīters. Technically, there’s nothing wrong with that, but it loses the Latvian bit I’m looking for in a translation. So sad. What is the world coming to?
*pushes tea and coffee cart over from the previous [Lounge]*
Lard help me, the pie-jostling has started in my family. An email went out yesterday with the subject line “pie,” asking the family how many pies we want for Thanksgiving and what kind.
As of right now, there are 8 people coming to dinner, and there are 4 pies. There will be more, surely.
Portia
Sorry about the family situation. :(
But I second Giliell on this, even though explaining to her that he has other plans will be painful, she has to realize sometime.
And it’s weird, how even among siblings, opinions about parents and attention paid to them can differ so much. I see it in my mum’s family a lot, and it’s always disappointing, but it’ll be easier on your mum if she accepts it. Sucky suckety suck either way. :( Hugs?
rq:
Oh, are you wearing the Xtra Snarkiness Hat today? Is it going to get passed around The Lounge each day? If so, you may have to pass me by.
I’m too prim, pure, and proper to be snarky.
ALso Portia @1,
what an awesome little video! I love how the girls turn into astronauts!!!
Esteleth:
Are pies a big thing with your family every year?
I hope your family members fix a variety, so there isn’t monotony.
I fucking want pie!
Also, had a bowl of potato soup that made my nose run… maybe I’ll go a little lighter on the green chiles next time?
Giliell
I suppose there’s something to the idea that she should temper her expectations. The problem isn’t so much that he has other plans, as he won’t make plans with her. It’s just that she doesn’t even ask that they spend the actual holiday with our side of the family, just that they pick a day in the general timeframe that works for them to gather at her house with the rest of family (such as it is) to relax and eat and hang out. I know no one can force him or his wife to be nice, but it makes me angry that they are so…ungrateful. To the point they can’t even be gracious to her in their rejection. She does so much for them and their kids, without really demanding much in return. And then when it’s just us kids, he makes disparaging jabs about her for no reason at all. I know I’m not him, and my relationship with her is different than his, he experienced a different time period of her depression and anxiety, but I’m eminently frustrated that he can’t even pretend she’s a person with feelings and contributions to make. He has moments where it seems like he knows this, but then he reverts to jackassery. His favorite insult to me is “You’re just like Mom.” I have taken to retorting, “I happen to like Mom.” Ugh. If he wants to be a jerk, I guess I’ll just invite his daughters (2.5 and 7-turning-8-on-Christmas-Day)to spend time with me at Grammie’s house. They do that a lot and they love it. Their parents seem to enjoy the break, too. That might work out for all involved, but it will still make me a little sad.
Thanks for the listening, sorry for the semi-coherent rambling. I don’t really have anyone to talk to about this that can hear it.
I once made pea soup back when the spawn were mere sprogglings. Girl insisted she did not like pea soup.
“But you’ve never had pea soup.”
“I don’t like it.”
“You will try it.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I will be delicious.”
“I don’t like it.”
“It is what’s for dinner.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Try it. You may like it.”
“I don’t like it.”
I put some of the homemade split pea soup, with smoked ham and potatoes, in her bowl. She looks at it. She looks at me. She looks at it. She looks at me. She says, “Oh. I thought it would be yellow.”
Turned out she likes split pea soup.
That one, and the firefly story, are being saved for the (far, far, far off in the future) pre-wedding rehearsal dinner.
Matt:
Which reminds me: I’ve got a six pack of Wachusett Blueberry in the fridge… .
Okay, haters. Feel free to gloat now– the split pea soup was too salty for my taste, so I didn’t get maximum enjoyment out of my lunch.
Tony,
*snort*
::sticks out hands with huge bowl::
Yo, Joe!
Can I haz potato soup with lot of chiles?
Beatrice! No, no pain as such. It feels really strange having a free tongue and the scar tissue is odd. There’s also a lingering deadness to the front left quadrant of my tongue. I’m thinking that one of the sutures may have intersected a nerve; there were a lot of resident students in the theatre that day. I see my surgeon for my post-op in another week and a half. I will have to ask him if he let any of the students suture my tongue and whether the apparent nerve damage will heal over time. But it’s just a slight inconvenience. In the grand scheme, it’s really much better.
As for food, I’m enjoying everything that I once loved. Although, I went to see a movie last night and was munching on popcorn when my jaw became significantly fatigued. I blame my soup diet for making my muscles lazy. I also have much less interest in really crunchy or chewy food because it hurts to exert so much force on it. That will actually make my surgeon and other mouth-related doctors happy, because I was always supposed to avoid those foods anyhow. I guess I can still eat them, just slower, in small pieces and less frequently. At least the jaw moves really well now!
So, yeah, I’m back to normal, or better than. It’ll take awhile for Thomathy’s Other to get used to the freer and longer tongue.
I have a lot to catch up on here! I haven’t even back-read the last two weeks of either the ‘dome or the Lounge. I hope nothing substantial has happened.
How was the book fair?
Ogvorbis
I love how kids taste with their eyes (or ears, as the case may be).
Brand new stuff, even when looking inocuous, gets the Ew Treatment, but at least mine are brave enough to try at least a bite (and sounds like yours were, too).
And, when it comes to vegetables, I have to wonder if my kids are normal or not. You see, they love vegetables. The eldest asks for broccoli and carrots, and the younger will do (almost) anything for string beans. My plan is to shovel as much vegetable goodness into them as quickly as possible, before they realize they’re not supposed to like them.
I personally have a not-so-good relationship with peas, so I don’t inflict them, but I probably have to, one day, for the sake of treating all vegetables as equal.
*elbows Tony in the ribs and grins at Joe*
Pretty please?
Tony
When the Extra Snarkiness Hat comes to you, you will wear it with pride and gusto! No primness, propriety or purity will stand in its way.
(Actually, I think it’s just the bitchtarts. No spider bites for me. :( )
F/X [sound of record needle dragging across a Def Leppard LP]
Checks previous iteration.
Ah.
Glad things went well, Thomathy.
I have a Wolfgang Puck stainless steel saute/omelette pan I picked up in a discount store for $4.99 and I love the thing. Works better than any ‘non-stick’ pan I’ve ever had.
Pie to person ratios of >1.5 are mandatory. (Well, that’s the way I grew up.)
We recently had an explosion in a pie factory not too far away. Out of 22 employees, seven were injured. And the blast could be heard 3.1415 miles away.
My kids have always been big fans of green beans, broccoli, spinach, kale, collard greens, turnip greens, brussels sprouts, and other strong green veggies. Part of it may be that I never boiled them nigh unto death. Sauted in olive oil, steamed, roasted, yes. Boiled, no.
I tend to use peas for colour. Macaroni and cheese casserole, beef stew, spaghetti carbonara, risotto, that sort of thing. Adds
Tony, my family on that side is a mix of Yorkshire-by-way-of-Maine and Czech-Bavarian, so we are big into pie.
There is usually a pumpkin, a berry of some variety or another (this year the consensus seems to be blackberry), a cherry, and an apple. There’s also generally a custard-y pie (this year it seems to be lemon meringue). Half of them are made with diabetic-safe sugar. There is also always ice cream.
Will it fit over a cowboy hat? (Santa hats fit very nicely over my white straw cowboy hats. Makes a nice effect when I read “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” to a bunch of kids.
Thomathy:
Thunderdome has been slow. Not enough trolls to keep the sharks well fed. There was this Hovind thing a few weeks back, where he invited himself and his students to Pharyngula (PZ confined them to the ‘dome). It was horrible, and over in a short time.
At my house this year (for three!) — pumpkin (two of them (the canned pumpkin always makes two pies, so . . . .), apple, apple-cranberry, and black cherry pies.
It was also amusing (in a pathetic and sad sort of way). I’m not even sure if the Hovindites would have passed a Turing test. Or known what it was, for that matter.
More Guy Fieri schadenfreude dog piling
Ogvorbis
That may be the secret to vegetables – not boiling them into something resembling baby food. Because I like mine crunchy, and eldest refuses his carrots if they’re too soft. Says it makes him gag.
And the Extra Snarkiness Hat fits everyone, anywhere, anytime, over any possible other hat.
pssst….
Hey Joe!
C’mere.
Shhhh.
Here’s my bowl. Give me most of the soup, and leave a lil’ bit for Beatrice. What? You say all that’s left is a chunk of potato and a chile? Gimme a potato masher…
(nope, not greedy. See what I did there? I shared some.)
Thomathy,
Audley gave birth to DarkInfant. Honestly, I can’t think of any other Big News lately.
Folks, I wish I could for real offer each of you a bowl of my awesome wonderful potato soup, since I consistently make way too much of it. Like WAY too much of it, like I’ve been eating potato soup since I think Sunday night? But holy crap it is good, there’s a richness and creaminess to it that you sure as hell don’t get from some dreck out of a can.
RevBDC:
Is there something you’re trying to tell us about your feelings for Guy? I can’t quite parse it from your comments the last few hours. It’s like you’re hinting at something but won’t come right out and say it. If you’re trying to be prim, pure, and proper, I ask that you cease and desist. That’s my job (no one else gets to be akin to driven snow).
Oggie:
Dammit, that was good tea! *fetches towel*
Beatrice, I’m slogging my way through _Les Misérables_ right now, and I think the translation from French is quite old. I gather Victor Hugo rambles a bit, but some of the sentences just make my head hurt. I don’t know if he wrote that disjointedly, or if the translation is poorly done. I’m getting an endless and pointless tour of the sewers of Paris right now, and thinking Hugo was just a bad writer. (He’s writing fiction, and he says the guys MAY have been near the manhole at Xxxx—all he had to do was say that they were there, for goodness sake.)
As for pie: My sister used to drive my parents back and forth to visit relatives. They’d always want to stop midway at a certain place to get coffee, and my sister would just nap in the car. One day she decided to go on in the coffee shop, and walked into a world of pies. She now buys several pies every time they go past the place, but she has never forgiven the parents for all the pies she missed while napping in the car. It’s Cooky’s Cafe, Golden City, Missouri http://www.yelp.com/biz/cookys-cafe-golden-city-2 http://www.kansascyclist.com/photos/KansasCyclingPhotos_020.html
rq
when my dottor was 3 we would go to a restaurant and order a porterhouse steak for her. She would finish it. Cook a pound of bacon family might get 6 strips, she would eat the rest. Now at 14.5 years she will delicately eat small amounts of overcooked chicken and no other meat will be endured. So don’t worry about your lot, they are eating healthy at any rate.
::blinks in astonishment::
A 3 year old eating an entire porterhouse steak??
rq & Ogvorbis,
I also think that not boiling vegetables dead thrice over is the secret of making kids like them.
I’m saying that as someone whose grandmother always overcooked veggies.
—
Joe,
I still haven’t decided what to cook tomorrow. Hmm, I think it will be potato soup.
—
Menyambal ,
Heh. When I mentioned those french books at home, father said that I should have bought Les Misérables instead, it would keep me busy for a while (loooong while).
Well since he started polluting the airwaves I’ve had a deep dislike of this
And the NYTs review just set me off today.
He’s the embodiment of everything bad about how food is marketed to Americans.
Menyambal
That’s Victor Hugo. I think The Hunchback was slightly better realized, but he’s a rambler by writing nature. I think it’s the style of that particular time, where writing meant painting large pictures and providing the entire history of the country (year-by-year, preferably).
But again, it’s all in the translation. The Hunchback version I read was pretty good, it flowed well and the sentences were all jointed. I can see bad translations being really bad.
Ogvorbis
I think you mean the wrong kind of pie factory.
broboxley
I figure as long as they’re eating a little bit of everything, they’ll be fine. I lived on macaroni and cheese (the real kind) for about 3 years of my life, and I’m fine. Right?
pie and potato soup
I know I’m fed, and I just ate, and I made an excellent pork rib soup (with potato, carrot and rutabaga – the kids think it’s a weird sort of potato), all this talk of pies (of all kinds – the only kind I’m not friendly with is pumpkin, even though I know my mum makes a delicious one and I try it every year, just can’t get on the same wavelength…) and potato soup (Joe can you at least share the recipe??) is making me hungry again.
This can’t be good for my ultra-slim post-pregnancy figure at all.
Oh wait, lost that a few months ago when whipped-cream-and-strawberry season was opened. Whipped cream is healthy, right? Just like strawberries…?
Just remembered. A clam chowder recipe was requested.
Finely dice:
1 large white onion
1 sweet red pepper (seeded and deplacenta’d)
2 stalks of celery
and fry in a 2 quart cooking pot, very gently, in
1 Tablespoon of butter.
Meanwhile, in another pot, fill with cold water and put on the burner on high. Add
2 cups diced potato (I use multi-coloured fingerlings, but any potato will do)
bring to a boil, allow to boil for a few minutes, and drain (keeping the potatoes, not the water).
Add 1/2 the potatoes on top of the vegetable mix. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon flour. Add the rest of the potatoes. Sprinkle with another tablespoon of flour. Add enough water to cover the the potatoes by 1/2 an inch and set over medium heat and simmer gently.
Meanwhile, open 2 cans of chopped clams. Decant the clam liquor into a microwave safe container and warm it up in the microwave. Warm up two cups of whole milk in the microwave (not in the same bowl as the clam liquor).
Melt 2 Tablespoons of butter in a 1 quart saucepan. Add 2 Tablespoons of flour and whisk together. Over low heat, allow the roux to brown just a tad. Not too much. Add the clam liquor and whisk together until it thickens. Keep over low heat.
When the potatoes are cooked, add the hot milk and the clams. Heat until it simmers gently (do not boil — it will curdle the milk and turn the clams into rubber). Add the thickened clam juice, test taste, then add salt and white pepper as needed.
Then serve.
This is a simplified version of a recipe from the Northern Pacific Railroad. They used to make this on railway dining cars. In a kitchen that measured 20 feet by 5 feet. Including all the cupboards, iceboxes, stoves, ovens, everything. How the hell did they do this?
Thanks for that, Ogvorbis. I’m going to wait for a suitably chill night to make this one. It sounds divine.
I’m going to tell the kids that the clams are funny little potatoes, too. (I’ll tell them the truth afterward; it’ll work. Alternatively, I could invest in pre-clam marketing, by explaining how awesome clams are – that works, too.)
Also mystified how they managed to cook things in railway dining cars, and managed to make it all look so classy.
Broboxley last thread
No, I ‘m saying that the people who invested make a little bit less money. Also, I may be misunderstanding you, but you appear to be conflating sales tax and income tax again.
Menyambal — in flagrante delicto
That’s in the original alright. The lengthy digressions in that book are famous, although generally considered worth it do to Hugo’s skill as a raconteur. If that’s not coming through in your copy, either something was lost in the translation or it’s just not your style. I recently found ebook copies of the Three musketeers and sequels in French, but I haven’t got around to starting them yet.
So getting away from the “goatee-framed sphincter-mouth” but staying on food
My two first batches of fermented hot sauce are now bottled and god damn they are good. Will have a blog thing up about it tonight.
Red is a basic fresno, yellow is a basic habanero.
Fermented 40 days then mixed with some vinegar (braggs apple cider for the fresno and brown rice for the habanero) then put up for another week then bottled.
Tony:
Thanks.
Ogvorbis:
Thanks, too
Beatrice:
I think the DarkInfant was born the day I announced my absence.
I don’t know whether to be releaved or not that nothing really happened. Humm …
Spoon-Boris
Luna-Boris
moose and squirrel – Boris
“Wait two, three days, it’ll fall off all by itself!”
–
I’ve no objection to spiders…provided they don’t look reclusive, or widowed.
Somebody’s gotta eat up alla those ants, and it ain’t gonna be me!
–
Nononono! Peas are round, green, and passively loathsome; whereas Horses are more rounded-rectangular with appendages, and seldom (I’m tempted to say, “never”, but there’s always some wiseass with too much time on hir hands and access to paint) green, and actively loathsome.
By which I mean that, left to their own devices, the peas will just lay there and be loathsome, but Horses will come after you, and be loathsome.
It’s really quite easy to tell the difference. Rolling loathsomely and leglessly around on your plate = peas. Galloping loathsomely towards you with malice on Its mind = Horse.
They are, however, both Organic.
–
And yet, here we all are.
:D
–
Tony: You should probably not eat the Horses, either. They are certain to disagree with you.
–
–
Citation Needed.
;)
–
*throws custard pie at Ogvorbis*
–
*reads upThread comment re chiles, turns pale, and backs away slowly, eyes fixed on Pot Full of Menace*
–
You mean, covered in muddy tire tracks?
–
cicely
You’re right about green horses. Have you seen The Wizard of Oz? There’s a green horse in that. Which also happens to be a horse of a different colour, so I don’t know if it counts…
Kindly consider buying my Atheism Quotes calendar. I’m outa flippin’ work.
cafepress.com/a_theism.183495361
Portia
That’s sad. Your brother should be at least civil. I don’t think that parents are entitled to kids or grandkids time, but yeah, don’t take and never give.
+++
I hate it how people indoctrinate children into not liking veggies
Thomathy
Welcome back, I missed when you left, but I thought I’d noticed you weren’t around much lately.
Ogvorbis
I think that some of the storage was offloaded to other cars . As far as the space itself, I’ve cooked bigger meals in smaller kitchens; it’s a pain, but you can do it. What I wonder is how they managed while the train was in motion. Those old trains rocked like a ship on the high seas.
Dalillama, same where they cooked on ships on the high seas :-) like this
I hate it how people indoctrinate children into not liking veggies
The mother of a friend of my daughter’s used to complain when her child ate too many vegetables. Some people simply can’t be pleased.
Considering the obscene amounts of boiled* cabbage and boiled* string beans I have eaten in my childhood, it’s a miracle I eat vegetables at all.
But I love vegetables. Especially now I know there are actually numerous ways to prepare them.
*when I say boiled, I mean boiled out of this one and several other lives of poor veggies
RevBDC:
Ok, this is interesting. When you’re talking about how food is marketed, what are you referring to?
Improbable Joe, you can make potato soup? Recipe, please!
Menyambal, I suspect bad translation. The origina translation for Verne’s “20,000 League Under the Sea” is notorious, and the author who purported to correct it did so by footnotes instead of writing a new version. I particularly remember that someone had been to the disagreeable territories of Nevada to collect fossils. That would be the Badlands, an excellent location for them.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/your-gadgets-are-crawling-with-germs-but-experts-say-don-t-worry-1.1038217
#55 Beatrice
that was ma’s favorite saying on boiling vegetables for several hours
“you have to boil the goodness out of them.”
cicely:
Please see the Holy Atheist Book. That’s all the citation I need to prove my prim and proper-ness.
I sometimes think that kids hate vegetables because they instinctively know that veggies are supposed to be colorful and crisp and tasty, and they rightly object to the soggy, grey stuff that is called vegetables. Spinach, raw, is pretty nice—spinach boiled to death in a metal pot is nasty shit, and really doesn’t have the iron that most folks think (it was a long-ago typo, folks, and if you want nutrition from your spinach, don’t boil it all away).
Victor Hugo is pretty good in some ways. I got the religious analogy back around the first part of the Les, and enjoyed the tour of Waterloo, and the sewers are interesting. It’s just that everybody told me it was a gripping tale of Javert and Valjean, and it isn’t. He’s waxing poetic about quicksand right now, and it is chilling to think of drowning in quicksand in a sewer, but I can’t help but remember that quicksand really doesn’t exist, and if you get in something like it, you just lie down and float. When he says it’s water and soil, I just can’t imagine sinking in either.
I’m going to go clean and cook a bit. Thanks for the recipes.
rq and everyone else.
My potato soup isn’t so much a recipe as it is a way of life… which is to say that I’ve got no actual recipe. Chicken stock, roast the skin off of whatever peppers you like, a light roux to which you add half & half for thickening, boil potatoes in the stock and then puree about half of them along with the peppers, salt and white pepper to taste.
If I had a recipe, I might not wind up with a gallon of the stuff every time I make it.
When the kids ask for a carrot ot an apple people will act all surprised like they aren’t really supposed to eat them I hope they don’t pick that up…
Menyambal:
I’m with you on spinach. As a child, I was turned off to it b/c it was always served boiled and mushy and icky looking. As an adult, I’ve come to love spinach–>raw. In a salad it is awesome. I can eat it cooked if it’s just lightly wilted, but my preference is still raw.
#63 Gilell, whats the carrot for? Poke a hole in the apple? When you are done playing with them you can give them to the horses
When the kids ask for a carrot ot an apple people will act all surprised like they aren’t really supposed to eat them I hope they don’t pick that up…
Maybe they’ll take up eating carrots and apples as a way to shock the adults and rebel against authority. If they take to peas, they’ll shock certain members of the horde…
Speaking of vegetables, I don’t know how many times I’ve discussed with people the various ways veggies can be prepared. I’ve had many parents say their children don’t eat veggies. I often ask how the parents are preparing them. If they’re overcooking them, I don’t blame children not liking them. It just seems that for many people, veggies are automatically categorized as “kids won’t eat them”. I’m not a father, so I don’t know from firsthand experience, but from what I’ve heard from parents, there are *many* children that love vegetables. Not to mention there is variety to be found in veggies. It’s not as if corn, broccoli and brussels sprouts are the only options.
Yeah, I hope my kids keep eating fruits and vegetables and everything else good and crispy and colourful in the world.
My middle one prefers apples to cookies. No joke. The first time he did it, I was surprised. But then, eldest always has too many ham-and-pickle sandwiches at parties, before hitting the desserts. I really hope they don’t grow out of it.
+++
Joe
Thanks for the directives, at any rate. Sounds like how I cook, although usually I’ll have a recipe as a guideline. A vague guideline, for repeat recipes. I’ll try this out, too, sometime in the winter, and will let you know as to the results, but it already sounds DELICIOUS…
+++
Also, I have to get offline. I went back and read more of the comments about Ireland and the Catholic Church and I got upset all over again. :/ And it makes me hate the church and those doctors and it’s upsetting, is all, because things like that just shouldn’t happen.
It’s for these kinds of events that I hate being pregnant, it scares the shit out of me, and even though I’m not right now, it sitll freaks me out… Because the mother and infant mortality rate in this country is really high, because… because not the church, just bad medicine, but still. Anyway, going to go watch some hockey and get mad at the players, that’ll take some steam off.
Good night, all!
Got this email yesterday:
Go sign up, if you think you are eligible! Or throw ’em some coin, at least. I guess I’m still on the potential hook.
Thank you again for your patience during this process. Your compassion and selflessness give hope to patients and make our life-saving work possible.
broboxley:
The carrot is for eating. Dipped into red pepper ranch dressing and it’s delicious!
fekkin irish http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/14/ireland-abortion-law-woman-death
rq,
I cook like that too.
Have fun yelling at the players (I don’t watch sports often, but on rare occasions I watch football, I get upset and yell at the tv). Good night!
Ogvorbis @41
So, clams, is that like a generic bivalve in the US or should you use a specific type of bivalve to get the best clam chowder?
Incidentally I’ve never seen canned clams here, diced or otherwise. Guess I’ll have to go harvest some fresh ones.
broboxley,
There’s a thread on that topic, if you haven’t seen it:
http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/11/14/its-time-to-abort-the-catholic-church/comment-page-1/
Oh, two things about the potato soup:
1) Don’t let it come remotely close to a boil once you add the half & half!
2) You can add a dollop of butter to the bowl as you’re serving it to add a bit of extra velvety texture to it.
There is a small, but significant, difference between “shock” and “revulsion”. Unless they are electric peas, I just don’t find them shocking.
–
Tony
The hangovers and lack of sleep.
fastlane
Wow. Crossing fingers for the patient. I registered many years ago. Nobody needed my marrow so far but I’m here, just in case.
+++
Their grandma will make peas just for them…
deciding between fried kosher hotdogs for dinner and chinese take out. Decisions…..
Ah, I see Dano is back. Apparently he’s not a Republican, but is a proud conservative and member of the Tea Party.
Any kind of clam can be used. Quahogs, gooeyducks, pinkles, you name it. Use live clams. Tap each shell gently with a spoon. If the clam closes, put it in the pot. If the clam stays open, it is already dead and you should toss it. Steam them in white wine until they open wide (those that don’t open, toss).
Strain and reserve liquid.
Chop the clam meat (remove the guts if you so desire, that is a matter of choice).
You need about 1 cup of minced clam and 1.5 cups of clam liquor for the recipe.
Here in the states, both Doxsee and Snows (now owned by Bumblebee) should be in your local grocer wherever the tuna fish cans are.
Grrrr…
*glares at the aborting Catholic Church thread*
re: the article Rev BDC posted,
The closing line is also a winner:
Rev. BigDumbChimp, the picture of the bottled hot sauce was lovely. I’d like to know how the fermentation part was done. I don’t care for Tabasco and other fermented sauces, as much, but it sounds like a good thing to know.
I made some hot sauce recently, out of some mixed peppers I was given, just in a blender, and decided it needed to be simmered a bit to mellow it. Fermenting might be better (I kept the seeds, and will try to grow my own and make more).
My moniker is Indonesian for “making chili sauce” but mostly I get my sambal from http://www.huyfong.com/no_frames/oelek.htm
—
Guy Fieri annoys my wife something fierce. She can’t stand his carelessness about sanitary matters. I figure if the guy keeps his sunglasses on the nape of his hair-gel, he can’t be much worried about cleanliness. He seems to me to be hung up on himself and his image, but he does manage to be friendly with a lot of folks.
—
Improbable Joe, I’m a fair cook, but I don’t follow recipes and I never measure. I was making “curried” chicken yesterday, and made ‘way too much roux before adding the buttermilk. I now have a BIG bowl of curry-flavored paste with some chicken chunks stuck in it. It’s good, mind, but it isn’t gravy.
Menyambal,
I’ve been careful of late to make less roux than I think I need, and then make a second batch if necessary. I’ve wound up with a couple of giant batches of “not gravy” too.
Menyambal:
my emphasis is meant to highlight why you’re getting THIS: ♥
I like hot sauce. I like many different kinds of hot sauce. I typically prefer my hot sauces to have *some* heat, but nothing overwhelming. That said, there is one brand I don’t like: Tabasco sauce. It tastes just like semi hot vinegar. It smells like semi hot vinegar. I want a hot sauce with bold flavors. Sure vinegar will be in hot sauce, but there should be a few more ingredients (yeah, I know Tabasco has more than those two ingredients, but it doesn’t smell or taste like it).
has anyone ever fixed chili with chicken?
My refrigerator is running out of food, but I have a chili packet, some chicken and a whole mess o’ canned beans (of different varieties). I wanted turkey (or even pork) chili, but I’m broke, so I have to work with what is available. Then I started thinking about maybe a gravy of some sort (I’m horrible at fixed gravies though, so I think a packet works best for me), combined with seasoning and shredded chicken with beans atop brown rice.
Tony,
Chicken and white beans if you have them, white sauce/gravy sort of thing.
‘… two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of ’em says, “Boy, the food at this place is really terrible.” The other one says, “Yeah, I know; and such small portions.”‘
Do you know your meme?
Some of these are hilarious (as are the accompanying examples). Seems a few of the internet memes originated on 4chan (which I’ve been warned away from by you fine folk, so I see no reason to even venture there).
Joe:
No luck on white beans.
I’ve got kidney, black and baked beans.
Tony,
I don’t know if I’d make chili with baked beans, but if I had some BBQ sauce I might dump that on the chicken and serve it and the baked beans with rice.
Here’s my thing with hot sauce – and spice in general – I love it.
Damn is it awesome.
But.
WTF is up with Tabasco? Nasty shit.
Also, while sriracha is good, what is up with the OMG GOTTA PUT HALF A BOTTLE ON MY BURRITO thing?
I have to keep telling myself… sriracha is NOT ketchup! I put in on my fries and on most everything fried that would get a dipping sauce. When I get Chinese food, I mix it in with the sweet & sour sauce.
Tony, I agree about Tabasco. Now that I think, I’ve some imitation Tabasco that is fairly good—it’s just the Tabasco itself, not the fermentation, that is bad. (It has that certain level of popularity that almost guarantees poor quality.)
And I agree that hot stuff has to have flavor, not just bite (not that sambal oelek has much flavor). One time I took a mouthful of rendang, and just sat there letting the flavors float up my nose while the heat bit my tongue, and I almost wept (it had been a horrible morning, and breakfast had been Swedish Cocoa Puffs and reconstituted milk). I grew up on good chili, and used to fight with military cooks about their “chili” and its bitter edge. Flavor, not pain, should be the goal.
Menyambal:
Ah a chili lover eh?
As am I.
My mother attributes it to the fact that she ate a lot of chili when she was pregnant with me.
I attribute my love of chili to the fact that I ate a lot of chili as a child and always liked it. Few people that I’ve encountered in Florida have ever though to put chili atop white rice. They think it’s odd when I do it. Recently, I’ve taken to putting chili atop pearl couscous. Then a dollop of cheese and some onions…mmmm mmmm.
Woke up to find no less than three copies of the paper I requested in my inbox. Thanks, Horde!
Apparently I am expected to wait until Christmas for more Downton Abbey.
*whines*
Relatedly: has anyone else watched Season 3? Care to have a chat about it? Because it gave me all the fucking feels.
You’re quite welcome, Setar.
Esteleth – what’s the word on JAL and her mom? Are they safe? Is her mom doing ok?
I don’t know, ImaginesABeach. I haven’t heard from JAL in a few days.
Tony, my mom used to make chili based on her own Southwestern upbringing, although not too often. Then she got a recipe from a family friend, and started making damn big pots of it quite often.
I remember it started with celery sizzling in the bottom of the pot, and no beans and stirring so there were no chunks in the ground beef, but that’s about all. See, the guy made her promise to get his permission before passing on the recipe, then he passed on before giving his permission. And she still won’t tell anybody the recipe.
She makes a mole’ sauce from chile pods that divine. With some slow-cooked beef and her tortillas, well … put it this way, she sent me a batch of her tortillas once when I was far from home, and when I opened the lid, I did weep. Fresh tortillas and beef and pinto beans and the sauce … lawsy.
I make my own chili, now, by throwing stuff into a pot. I like chunks of pork in with the ground beef, but usually keep the beans separate. I make a big batch and freeze containers of it.
Chili on rice is good. Sometimes on spaghetti (my chili and my spaghetti sauce are very similar, before the final spices, anyhow). Pinto beans are still my favorite. I’ve done chili on mashed potatoes, but that just felt strange.
Oh yes, I always put pinto beans in chili. I’ve never thought to put it over mashed potatoes. That sounds intriguing.
The man who wrote the book The Pink Swastika, the man who has ties to the fine christians who want to pass a law in Uganda that would make being LGBT punishable by execution, the man who founded , Scott Lively?
He wants to be Governor of Massachusetts.
Despite all of the genuine harm he has caused people around the world, I cannot help but to laugh.
Maybe being on a quixotic quest will temporarily keep him from more actions that will harm people.
Tony @ 185 –
(BitchTart)
I like it! *thumbsup*
Do you need a place to ride out the prophesied Mayan apocalypse? Here, have a bunker.
I may have an appointment on friday.
I was still asked to provide a phone number. This phone fetishism is kind of frustrating, but I’m hoping this is just a requirement for the paperwork, rather than continued failure to understand that phone-conversations aren’t a thing that will happen.
Senator Nina Turner (D-Ohio) kicks ass.
She’s on the Ed Show talking about how the bill to defund Planned Parenthood in Ohio is likely going to pass. She called out Republicans. She did not mince words. She said they’re out to make women second class citizens. She said that they won’t be happy until women are at home cooking dinner by 5:00. You could tell she was outraged.
What’s even more fucked up is that 56% of the citizens of Ohio voted in favor or abortion (whether across the board or in certain scenarios).
Ms. Turner said it’s fairly certain that the law will pass.
Shit.
Glad to read your update, Jadehawk.
And then there’s the Heartbeat Bill:
Pelting Portia with pastries
Kids that like veggies
Ogvorbis in a Santa hat
Soups and Pies and Recipes Divine
Thomathy on the mend
AudleyZ stopping by
Horses yea or neigh
Pie factory explosions
and
PEAS
If you don’t see your name
Have no fear
You’re in here <3
I am weary, but my heart is light.
Thank You All
Did you know that the Obama administration is going to allow gay and lesbian service members to collect “homosexual bonus pay”?
Well apparently that’s going to happen. At least if you believe gay exorcist Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt.
excerpt:
Wow, it’s apalling no catholic from the patheos network has written anything so far about the Irish disaster. Somewhat disappointed former atheist, catholicism-is-morally-true Leah Libresco decided to post about her baptism, praying and Frankenstein instead.
Really great week to officially join the catholic church, isn’t it? I don’t understand people.
ednaz @111:
I like that. Here’s my version
Portia Pelted with Pastries
Horses we say YEA
AudleyZ has a baby
Rq is snarky today
Yuck sez cicely, oh no peas
No tabasco for Menyambal
Giliell to kids: eat more veggies
Upthread we talk about it all.
Lastly now, I must say
All of you* enrich my day
*(including those not mentioned; with props to ednaz for the inspiration and some lyrics)
jose:
Really?
None of them?
That’s screwed up. It’s not as if this is some random story that no one has heard of.
Tony – I like yours better. : D
You two are so adorbz, ednaz and Tony!
In other news, the owners of my local watering hole bought DarkBaby a kyoot! winter outfit. How awesome is that? :) :) :)
PZ, if you are reading this thread; I have sent you three e-mails about problems trying to comment on this thread. Could you please answer me.
And if any one is in regular contact with PZ reads this, please tell him to give me an answer.
Hi Janine #118
have you cleared all of your cookies closed then re-opened the browser. then Login to comment. If you have already tried this I apologise
Because I am incapable of posting posts with links. That has always been beyond my abilities.
Hia all.
Happy for everyone’s random antics.
Peas and horses. I don’t have much personal experiences with either though, so I’m neutral.
Ogvorbis:
I ate either half of, or a whole, chicken when I was three, according to my parents. So there.
Also Janine I can’t remember if you around ND they have had several dammits affecting innertube traffic all da> Been dealing with a provider earlier who swears its not them its the LEC
Tony–Queer Duck Overlord of The Bronze– (#121) wrote:
Is that what kids are calling it now-a-days?
Not to worry, it looks like the Republicans really are trying to impeach Obama in his second term, so there won’t be any collecting of “homosexual bonus pay”, whatever that euphemism means. John McCain is pushing hard for a Watergate-style panel on the deaths in Benghazi, Libya.
#121 around my house as a child spaghetti with meatballs involved pasta and a can of Chef Boyaree spag with meatballs to spice it up. My uncle married a lady called aunt Tony who was Sicillian I first met her when I was six. Her mom didn’t speak english and cooked Spaghetti and MEATBALLS I ate 6 full plates. My mother was appalled her mother was beaming and shoveling it on. I wanted to visit auntie tony every weekend but she was foreign and therefore dodgy to my mother and it was an 8 hr drive. I still remember the taste of that food. Tried to re-create it many times but close, no cigar.
Also had Dutch friends, had spaghetti once at their house. Big bowl of pasta. Asked my friend where the sauce was. He looked at me in surprise and said, right there and pointed at a bottle of Heinz ketchup. Dutch Reform farming folk.
You know those teens called out by Jezebel for their racist comments in the wake of President Obama’s reelection? Well Jezebel has gotten some “criticism”…:
I think we need to reeducate many of the citizens of the United States. They clearly think that the First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech and freedom from *criticism* of that speech.
ketchup as spaghetti sauce?
Hellz no.
if I had hair I’d want to pull it out thanks to that duckshart nolajim.
Damn that one is dense.
QFT
Good night all. Pleasant dreamless sleep.
Tony I must have missed something
felps gagathon has freedom of speech
and I cannot criticize them? If I do my employer must be called. Police brought to investigate just because? People calling my peers and co-workers bringing my posts to their attention? Sorry, I had that happen once at work. I politely asked them if they wanted me to stop posting on my own time from my home computer. They read on my face what the response would be if they said yes. I started looking for a new gig the next day and they were really unhappy that I left.
This is very similar to outing gay folks who don’t want to be outed.
my 2 cents
link where I got the outing part
http://jezebel.com/5958993/racist-teens-forced-to-answer-for-tweets-about-the-nigger-president
yea a teachable moment by morons to morons
cool janine, now I’m infected
appears that I had a lengthy post to go up. Guessing we are hitting a load balancer with space problems behind it. Bat signal to the admins
Does anyone know where the North American Union bit got started/who came up with it and started pushing it? It seems to have gotten a lot of currency in right wing talking points the past few years.
this reminds me of something I always found noteworthy.
Obama is squeaky. fucking. clean.
I mean, they have to invent the most ridiculous crap to try and pin on him.
I can’t recall a POTUS in my lifetime that was as squeaky clean as the current one.
it’s kinda refreshing, regardless of what you might or might not agree with regarding his policies.
Hey All! Sorry for not updating sooner. Didn’t mean to make everyone worry or anything.
Little One and I have come down sick. Sneezing, sniffling, fever, congestion, headache, nausea, diarrhea, fever, cramps, ache-y, exhausted with bouts of insomnia and feeling fucking out of it sick.
Little One, of course, has re-bounded quite nicely and her ability to go to school tomorrow rest solely on my ability to drag myself back and forth to take her.
I doubt I’m going to make it since the trip sounds like dragging myself by my hands through hell.
Ugh.
My mom is better, not good but better. She got sent home but can’t move around much at all. Good thing my parent’s already have a hospital bed for her and a friend gave them a walker since we don’t have a wheelchair for her. She’s going to her doctors tomorrow with medical transport and they will be able to tell her then what’s going to happen in regards to surgery and treatment plans.
I’m going to go try to keep some food down and get the pounding in my head to stop. Being unable to keep up addictions while sick just makes it all worse.
JAL! Great to see you again. Did you get yesterday’s emails?
I got more deaf than dense. Hir was refusing to listen, though they seem smart enough to understand.
Dalillama, Schmott Guy
North American union
logical extension of NAFTA from an economic/geopolitical viewpoint makes perfect sense. Allowing latinos and french folk freaked out the regular folk
http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/nau.asp
Argh!
Sandy Rios, of the American Family Association, compares marriage equality with slavery
broboxley @131:
I think you misunderstood me. I’m arguing that many citizens of the United States need to be properly educated on the First Amendment (the entire Constitution, honestly). Look at the some of the support Rush Limbaugh had in the wake of the Sandra Fluke incident. Many people seem to think criticism of speech is violating the First Amendment. They need proper educating.
****
JAL:
Good to hear from you.
Sorry you and the little one aren’t feeling well.
Glad your mother is doing better:
****
Ichthyic:
You’re more generous than I am (wrt nolajim).
Borkquote up there. Hello to JAL, hope you and the little one feel better soon.
Tony @140:
They compare every damn thing to slavery, I swear. Abortion=slavery, marriage equality=slavery, welfare=slavery, etc, etc, etc. It gets really damn tiresome, doesn’t it?
Anyone else see ROmney’s temper tantrum about losing the election now?
Ing, it is nice to be able to say this. It is time to leave the MittBot 3000 in the dustbin of history.
Just a link to a post that was trapped by the spam filter.
PZ was kind enough to approve it. Thank you.
@icthyic
Didn’t Obama smoke something illegal in his youth? Not that I mind, but right wingers could use that to fuel the outrage of stupid people.
@Ing
This video should be displayed to every right wing sour losers out there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAlTOfl9F2w
http://www.politicususa.com/vintage-romney-mitt-blames-loss-obama-voters-wanting-gifts.html
Christ what an asshole
Ing, the MittBot 3000 was a mormon golden boy who got to do what ever the fuck he wanted to in life. The is one of the few times he was denied what he wanted. He thought he was enitiled to be president. Is there any surprise that he is an asshole. Shit, the story of how he teased and cut the hair his gay college classmate and how he responded to the news when this was revealed decades later shown just how much of an asshole he is.
May he be but a footnote in history. That is all he is worthy of.
Ing: Damn those unwashed masses. How dare they be allowed to vote! In the United States of Mittland, only old wealthy white male property owners would be allowed the vote, just as God had intended. Those uppity women, minorities, and youth mess up everything.
Oh, but there’s a major moron on the CC thread…
Improbable Joe–Did you see my note about the cat carriers? If so, are you still interested?
Hey Obama!
Where’s my gift?
Good morning
JAL
Good to hear your mum is better. Sorry you got sick.
Patheos
Doesn’t surprise me one bit. But I’m sure some of the fatheists will tell us soon enough that they are good people who really care.
JAL, yay! for incrimental mother improvement, boo! for viral infestation. I hope you all three of you feel better soon.
Fucking hell, nolajim did my head in. I’m going to go home, hug my child, kiss my wife and maybe cry a little over the inhumanity of some folks who claim to be on our side.
That thing about kids and veggies is funny. When the mr and I first shared domestic duties, he adamantly refused to cook green stuff (apart from peas) and refused to believe that the green stuff I cooked could be edible ….. he was 35. His mother was an awful cook, apart from cakes, think English boarding house circa 1930 and you get the idea. My mum was a bit better with veg but we were used to good food cooked reasonably well.
But our kids! Still have the vision of walking into the kitchen with the still-in-nappies rear end poised over the veg basket at the bottom of the fridge, right next to the little kiddie chair her not quite 4 yr old sister was standing on to get at the icecream in the freezer.
Not many years later, the older one was infamous for shocking her American host family by a “Yes, please” when offered a second helping of broccoli. Turns out they’d only cooked it because the advice to hosting families for touring kids was that it should be ‘healthy’, broccoli was not a regular on that table.
Having a fun weekly visit to our city’s biggest fresh food market probably helped, as well as getting them to help with cooking from the time they could reach the bench while standing on those little Fisher-Price chairs. Nowadays they’re both into organic & grow your own. The younger one is a bit of a coffee-chocolate-wine fanatic as well as being a fan.tas.tic. cook.
well i WAS.
now I think it’s an intractable dolt. probably just trolling for lols.
Why, it’s right under your chair!
no, wait, that was Oprah…
who?
if they could, they would have done so already, in spades.
most of them smoked pot too.
Ichthyic:
You must not be over your cold. You’re not thinking clearly. Republicans don’t use and illegal substances. That’s what Fox News says.
ANY, not ‘and’
Good morning everyone!
And wow, I just ruined my own morning. Should not have gone back there.
I am only slightly heartened by the fact that the article in Latvian, while with its share of god-loving christian god’s-plan she-deservists, is overwhelmingly commented by people of the stupid-church-doctors kind.
Tony
Lovely poem, and I’m glad I made R.
ednaz
That’s a list of things that made me happy yesterday, too.
JAL
Yay for the good news, sucks about being sick. :( Get well soon!
+++
Everyone seems to be well, so it’s time to head out into the rain and go to market.
Republicans don’t use and illegal substances. That’s what Fox News says.
silly me and my fever addled brain.
maybe if I toke up, it will balance out and I’ll be rational again?
Good morning
Nope, still not a peep about Savita on Patheos’ Catholic Channel.
Kudos to everyone who had enough patience to argue with nolajim.
Obama is squeaky clean. What I don’t like about him is that he is a “Rockefeller Republican”.
— — — — — — —
Sometimes people can like a politician who shows some human flaws.
Lars Werner, a former chairman of the Swedish communist party (who helped his predecessor to throw out the Stalinists) would sometimes get drunk and make a spectacle of himself in public. While his party rarely got more than 5 per cent of voters, polls showed he was one of the most popular party leaders among the public.
Incidentally, when my brother got married to a woman in what was then East Germany, Werner wrote to the East German party leader to plead the case for her getting a permit to emigrate to Sweden. I don’t know if this is what got her the permit, but it surely did not hurt. I see his help as an example of how even those who believe in an utterly flawed ideology can still on the personal level be decent people.
Kudos indeed. I decided to read the comments today, and I’m impressed with people’s general willingness to explain, even though nolajim is extremely, extremely dense… ‘Yes, I agree, but…’ Ugh.
Yelling at hockey players was definitely stress-relieving, and we lost, too, so I feel justified in my anger towards them, even though I know that at least some of it is frustration for the likes of nolajim.
If I keep reading, will have to find something equally stress-relieving for tonight.
What Romney calls gifts, I call social conquests. Every and each of the rights and guarantees we have, we took from the hands of the powerful. They would not just give them away. We had to march, demonstrate, strike, riot, be beaten up by the police, and sometimes die, to win the match against the modern aristocracy. And at least over here, the match never stops. Whenever we relax, the aristocracy attempts to regain their lost territory, to take away what the working class won through generations.
Romney knows nothing of this because he was born a millionaire. He’s as out of touch as prince Siddhartha in that old legend.
I had to go to bed half-way through, but he was hard work. That one is world-class when it comes to the stupid.
Hmpf
The traffic-jam bastards are still going strong, so boo-hoo, late
Also, I need to re-work this presentation, because it’s too long.
Last time I rehearsed getting the basic definitions done was 7 min out of 20….
In financial ecosystems, big banks trample economic habitats and spread fiscal diseasehttp://phys.org/news/2012-11-financial-ecosystems-big-banks-trample.html
— — — — — — — — —
Another reason why big banks suck.
JAL – Thanks for the update. Sorry about the illness, but I’m glad it’s something temporary.
JAL – Sending you a warm blanket, warm slippers and hot tea.
Glad your Little One is feeling better. May your mom’s condition improve as well. And of course *hugs*
rq:
“L’Etranger should be a treat. I liked that book a lot, in 3 languages. :) (The other books translating well for me have been The Hobbit and Solaris. Each language gives the story a certain new… something.)”
.
Solaris is now available in a direct-to-English translation instead of the previous Polish-to-German-to-English version.
Åke Ohlmarks who translated Tolkien’s works to Swedish was very talented, but sometimes embroidered the text (he was familiar with Icelandic, itself close to old Norse) to the point that the translations were not always faithful to the original.
— — — — — — — — —
Peter Hamilton’s new novel “The Great North Road” references “Alien” in that a civilian advisor to a group of soldiers is the only survivor of a previous encounter with an alien entity. But unlike Ripley she was not only met with disbelief, she was actually convicted of murder of the victims of the alien.
— — — — — — — — —
“And at least over here, the match never stops. Whenever we relax, the aristocracy attempts to regain their lost territory, to take away what the working class won through generations”
Alas, it is even worse in Russia. The oligarchs and their political tools are rolling back basic human rights.
birgerjohansson
I didn’t know Solaris was Polish-German-English translated. Will have to look into the direct-to-English version, just for comparison.
And it makes me wonder about the Latvian version of Solaris, too.
As someone who does translations (not only official ones but sometimes literary ones), I know that it is very important to be extremely comfortable with both languages, because sometimes translating literally takes the life out of a sentence or passage. It requires some (justified) linguistic gymnastics sometimes to get the real meaning through, and as a result, the translation isn’t always 100% faithful to the original, but the literary spirit of the work remains alive. So I’m inclined to forgive Ohlmarks’ liberties, unless they’re quite egregious and lengthy additions not intended by Tolkien at all.
(Of course, the translations that I have worked on have been short pieces, with the author having a lot of (sometimes too much) input into how things should be translated**, and so I can’t speak for those who translate the works of dead authors, but I hope the point still stands – languages aren’t 1-to-1, especially in literature, where figures of speech differ, and similar objects can have diametrically opposite feelings attached to them in various languages.)
Whatever happens in Russia tries to reflect itself here, because many of those oligarchs come to our beaches, to their summer residences and their summer music festivals, and they feel they have some kind of right to direct the way tax laws and business laws operate here… Human rights? Probably those, too.
Dalillama, Schmott Guy
start of the noth american union
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_and_Prosperity_Partnership_of_North_America led to http://www.stopthenorthamericanunion.com/TwoPeas.html
That.
Brag warning. Now: my kids actually love veggies. But then, I sauté them w/ appropriate spices, or roast them (possibly stuffed, possibly not), or pick ’em up fresh and toss them into a salad. The closest I ever come to boiling them is when I steam stuff and touch it with butter.
Wait. Not quite true: the one vegetable I do occasionally boil is potatoes. Before mashing them. Theoretically, I suppose, there may be other vegetables you could boil and not create a culinary horror, but as I also have many quite recent ancestors who were of the ‘boil it until it’s glue and make sure no flavour doth remain or intrude from without’ school of cooking things with cell walls, I now have a violent aversion to the very idea, and if you bring up such atrocities here without the trigger warning, you’re paying for my therapy.
My little guy sometimes doesn’t finish all the green bits of his salad. That’s the whole of the ‘eat your veggies’ pushback I’ve ever had. It’s pretty minor, as the tomatoes and radishes and dried berries and sprouts and bits of cheese and whatever else have you are inevitably all gone by then, and I figure, hell, apparently this bit of lettuce gets to be compost more directly this time. And even that’s usually just ‘cos I’m busy and had to throw things together a little faster without adequate thought to keeping things changing, or happened to score rather a large pile of arugula or whatever and it was the same salad a few days in a row and he got bored.
It probably sounds all Martha Stewart, but seriously, that’s the real trick, that last thing. Variety. Different berries, bits of cheese, anything to keep it changing a little, day to day, treat it as an art thing: something you’re developing, getting better… Oh, and within the meal itself, too, if any one bit is just one bit of a bunch of other interesting bits, it’s that much more interesting. Lots of little bits of things, none of this massive pile o’ anything…
I’m not sure when that thing got started, that whole massive pile of one thing, the massive pile o’ pasta or meat or even lettuce drenched in cream dressing. I’m tempted to blame the chain restaurants and their ridiculous 4,000 calorie monstrosities, but whatever; the point is: less really is more. A bit of this, a bit of that, and you get a good meal, and you’ll live longer, and you’ll enjoy it more.
Oh. Wait. One other trick: both my kids have done some after school cooking classes. I suspect this is part of the whole thing. They have ideas, they’ve seen things, they’re more involved this way, even if they don’t wind up doing much of it themselves yet. Little guy sez ‘how ’bout alfalfa sprouts on top of the salad’, and when they show up, it’s hey, cool, that was my thing, my idea, and it’s good.
Veggies are your friends. They really are. Decorative, too, remember. I’m fairly carnivorous (and desseritovorous) myself, too, but green and red and blue and orange and crisp and crunch on the plate, besides, it’s all good. Makes the whole thing livelier.
(/Steps off soapbox.)
Matt:
WIll that be first class stupid or coach?
re: vegetables for kids
Involving them does wonders. Mine are too young to attend cooking classes, but they love to participate in anything that happens in the kitchen. Salads – they get to slice (middle with butter knife) cucumbers; potatoes in soup – they get to dump them in the pot; pancakes – they stir the batter and help measure ingredients; etc. That way, when it’s all done, yes, they have the satisfaction of saying, ‘I did that!’
And everything’s delicious if it’s your masterpiece.
looks like the bullying is alive and well in BC
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/11/14/bc-amanda-todd-mother-forum.html
Tony
First class. First class, all the way, with extra luggage and pets. And a horse.
re: veggies for kids
I think the only veggies I boil are either potatoes (for mashed potatoes), or the veggies for stew or New England boiled dinner (potato, rutabaga, carrots, onions, sweet peppers, turnips, and cabbage).
Both kids, early on, loved sauted or stir-fried vegetables. And the more garlic, the better.
Oh, one other odd thought for young kids especially:
The Disney/Pixar Ratatouille is all about getting food right/taking it seriously/having fun with it. And it’s got this great little paean to the benefit of combining flavours artfully complete with an awesome visual aid–flavours as these coloured slashes in the air. Great for your foodie in training.
(/Also it’s got Peter O’Toole and a rodent rebellion, so I have to approve. Full COI disclosure: I have relatives who work in Disney’s animation mills, but, also, generally, I don’t usually talk favourably about that side of the family, as a Warner Brothers/Bugs/Chuck Jones partisan. So, honest, you can trust me on this one.)
I can’t cook anything without garlic. Preferably fresh, but dried will do in a pinch. I’ve cut down on using it fresh in salads because it does tend to have a bite (especially homegrown from the country), but recipes that don’t mention garlic are simply incomplete.
I’m thinking of putting it into desserts, too.
Food isn’t food without garlic. <- I'm a firm believer in that statement.
I have prepared dinners without garlic, with the intention of trying new things (i.e. without garlic), but those instances are few and far between.
(warning ffor AJ Milne – cooked vegetables ;) )
Let’s not go too far. Vegetable soups are things of beauty. Some carrots, cauliflower, peas and corn, for example make for a nice light soup. Just as long as they are not boiled into oblivion. That’s all I’m saying.
(YOu can’t take my vegetable soups from me! Spring veggies and chicken soup or death!!)
rq
I don’t like garlic with beef or chocolate.
That’s about it.
Lots of you are way ahead of me on the kids love veggies front (it’s true: they do. Especially sautéed with garlic, or roasted … fsm but the whole lot of us LOVE roast vegetables. I sometimes have to fight to get my own second helping of salad too) so I thought I’d just toss this in here; when they were considerably smaller than they are now, sometimes they’d get to watch a video (we had marathon Walking With Dinosaurs sessions a few times … and Blue Planet. We had cartoons too, we don’t spend the whole time knitting wholemeal bicycles out of recycled copies of the Grauniad) and sometimes people like to have snacks while they watch so we would peel and slice a vast trayful of different fruits and tomatoes and carrots (yes I know tomatoes are fruit) (and bananas are berries or something no-one can agree on) and they would scarf the lot and now they are Almost-Grown-Up Spawn and have masses of fruit and veg in their diets, so it’s all good I suppose.
When the kids were younger, and I cooked much more often, I would often go through three pounds of fresh garlic per month. Even today, one of my favourite meals is a nice salad, some rosemary – olive oil bread, and a couple dozen cloves of roasted garlic.
(Looks twitchy… reaches for ‘swatting’ spatula…)
(Breathes in relief…)
Oh. Right. Soup. I totally forgot soup! Fair enough. I approve!
(Stamps with bright, red ‘Julia Child approved!’ stamp…)
My mom, for all my recent ancestors’ cruelties, actually did a truly awesome squash soup. I totally have to
stealacquire the recipe from her toward preserving it for future generations.aeeyyiii! peeks at it again aeeyyiii!
Squash. Ick. That, and pumpkin. Not revulsed, but I just won’t eat it myself. The kids love them, though.
The one place where they might be appropriate is soups. And, maybe, pies – pumpkin cheesecake was pretty darn good, but pumpkin pie on its own – meh, not a fan.
chigau @186
I’ve had both. Yumyum.
broboxley:
I read the article. Meh.
I read the comments. Aeeeyiiii!!!!!!
The Sativa case from Ireland. The symphisiotomy article. The rampant anti-LGBTQ tirades. The denial of reality by both the religious and secular right. Misogyny. Gendered insults. Apologists. Makes we want to curl up in a small room with some nice books that show me the world really is not that bad (maybe a history of the crusades, or the 30 years war — you know, something that is, in comparison, warm and cheerful).
rq
acorn squash cut in 1/2 hollow out seeds. Fill center 1/2 butter 1/2 honey and put a lot of garlic cloves as well. Bake at 350F until done
#192 OG
it was the zombie news presenter that made me go aeeyyiii!
rq:
I’m not a big one for squash. I did find a recipe that works for me, though. Use a hard squash (acorn works nicely). Skin it and chop it into bite sized pieces. Toss with olive oil, fresh rosemary, two roughly chopped onions, 10-20 cloves of garlic (roughly chopped) and some black pepper. Roast until the onion and garlic begin to char and the squash is tender. Salt to taste and serve. It is really good with pork.
Didn’t even notice that. I’ve gotten so used to local newscasters with that vacant ‘deer-in-the-headlights’ look that I don’t even notice it any more. The comments did not surprise me either but they did make me feel ill.
Hoppy(that’sbearbeer)HippyHiccy (yeah, that’lHICl do…HIC) BeaHICuuujjolais NeHIC!ouveau Da. HIC Day.Thanks for the suggestions, broboxley and Ogvorbis. Will experiment. Good thing I’m already an experimenter, which means Family will eat what is placed in front of them, with gusto (if done right).
#197 blf already? have to stop at the store on the way home.
blf:
Within which time zone do you reside?
Should we send penguins to the Arctic as food for the polar bears?
The mildly deranged penguin is amused.
(Well, I think she is amused. She’s bouncing off the walls singing “I Shot the Sheriff” albeit changing the words slightly to “…Fuzzy Wuzzy Polie Berries”. (No, she doesn’t have much sense of rhyme. Or rhythm. Or reason. And sounds like a walrus who swallowed a clown’s Honk! Honk! horn. With attached clown.))
#194/brobroxley, #195/Og, those both sound awesome.
(Perfunctorily steals.)
As a not-much-related* culinary anecdote: after a few missteps, I now have a functional raspberry/ganâche truffle recipe to add to my growing stable.
I mostly just stole/adapted it from the net. But anyway: ~12 oz fresh raspberries. Presumably, you could also use frozen, as this was what the recipe I borrowed said…
Instructions: open raspberries. Wash raspberries. Eat several raspberries. (To check flavour, of course.)
… then: purée survivors, strain seeds out, reduce by approx. half over low heat to light syrup level (took me about 50 min a few nights ago while doing other stuff), stir into thick, warm ganâche, cool, form centres, cool, cover in tempered chocolate.
Bonus of doing a 50 minute reduction: your house may smell of raspberries for most of the next day.
(*/Cacao is technically a fruit, not a vegetable, seems to me.)
Analogous to the Monks of Cool, whichever one I decide it is.
Jolly good. Carry on.
Right now, at home, I have a block of 5-year-old aged Irish cheddar. It is sharp and bitter and butter and sweet and mellow all at the same time. And no, your penguin cannot have any.
Garlic isn’t enough garlic with more garlic.
(Can you overdose on garlic?)
Coca, however, is definitely a vegetable. Gotta eat those leafy greens, right?
Seattle Police commissioned a handy little user’s guide to pot, in the form of a blog:
You keep it in an alternative universe sealed off from all the multiverses?
Many a Fromagerie has claimed that. None successfully. Or for very long.
Besides, do you like being fed to a polar bear?
President Obama has nominated an out, gay, black guy to be a judge on the federal bench.
Nope. In the fridge. Behind the Anchor Stout and the Ommegang Hennipen.
But I am not a fromagerre. I am a rangerre. Slight difference.
I don’t know. Never had that experience before. However, I did not like being fed to mosquitos, blackflies, chiggers, a Morgan horse, a demented collie, or any of my cats, so I doubt that I would enjoy being fed to a Polar Bear.
(Notes, files under ‘potential garnishes’…)
OoHIC!ooops… “Garlic isn’t enough garlic without more garlic.” HIC Although the first version had a sortof Zen-like quality to it… HIC!
Regarding the comments @149, @150, etc. about Romney’s latest confirmation that he is a graceless, out of touch, economically illiterate salesman: Now we know that he was entirely sincere in the 47% video. Now we know that the really, really big gifts he wanted to give to rich people don’t count in his mind as gifts. They are god’s just rewards and he, the MittBot, is just the delivery boy.
Major tax cut for the wealthy
Major tax cuts for corporations
Loosening or eliminating safeguards meant to nudge Wall Street toward a semblance of honesty
Those damned people whose lives Obama may have marginally improved voted for Obama! Oh, the horror. And though it is not voiced, the voter suppression efforts didn’t work! Urban voters actually voted.
Dear MittBot, it’s called “improving the general welfare of the people.” Romney is confused by anything that is not a direct business transaction.
Romney buys his way into mormon heaven. No tithing? No Celestial Kingdom.
… tentative recipe title: ‘Schedule I salad’.
Garlic makes me thing of onions.
Mmmm…. onions.
thing -> think
(I had only one glass of wine after dinner, I swear!)
Beatrice:
Was it one of THESE wine glasses?
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/crime-law/jack-boys-leader-gets-15-life-sentences-plus-290-y/nS6gJ/
sounds about right
Wine is already in a glass…
Meanwhile, Romney is not alone in voicing his cluelessness.
Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster said in a taped interview that, “dozens of black people” voted in rural areas of Maine. This is a problem because “nobody” in those towns “knows anyone who’s black.”
Wait. Webster doesn’t even have any black friends he can use as cover for his racism? No one he lets use his bathroom?
Obama won the state of Maine by a 56% to 41% margin. That works out to over 100,000 votes.
Good evening
Noticed a considerable lack of traffic jam on my way home.
Kids need a remedial lesson of “what’s OK with mum freaks grandma out”.
10 Min break before I make dinner (Mashed potatoes and carrots with vegetarian patties)
(Kids and) veggies
Well, I quite often boil veggies. I only don’t boil them to dead. A quick bath in boiling water for beans or cauliflower before doing something else with them.
I must also say that our kindergarten is great. While the lunch comes from an outside kitchen, they serve breakfast and a snack and there’s always fruit and veg. Apples, bananas, pears, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, cucumbers…
Ogvorbis,
I wish.
Yes. And how many during dinner? And before dinner? And after the one you had after dinner?
</snark>I want to still be an undergrad!
*drools*
Hehe, today in the seminar we had one of those instances where you could seperate the young ones from us dinosaurs.
There was a presentation on the usage of English in Japan and the guy who presented it showed a clip from a Japanese band and then mentioned that they’re actually Big in Japan. Half the group laughed, half the group, including the poor guy in the front, was wondering where they missed the joke….
Oh, I forgot vegetable patties. Yeah, I love making those too and they require boiled vegetables.
You should let some of ’em grow up. Else there’ll be no more food.
More asploding Republican/evangelical heads:
The only thing Klayman failed to do was to list PZ by name.
Talking Points Memo appended a note to their presentation of Freakouts: “TPM decided not to include incidents where mental illness may have been a factor.”
Okay. Uh … thanks?
While stereotypes are annoying, lazy, ignorant etc.. there is one that i’m finding hard to disagree with.
Southerners cannot fucking drive in any kind of weather outside perfectly sunny, mid day, happy time sparkle pony.*
Any hint of precipitation sends them into complete shutdown of all lane understandings, turn signal usage, speed regulation, traffic light color representation, sign shape recognition, hand signal acknowledgement (except one), and visual acuity.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
*this may apply elsewhere as well
Tony @ 109 and @111
Agreed. Here’s a link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45755822/#49831648
May I mention that Avicenna’s paternalistic good guy sexism (that can become quite agressive quickly) is fucking annoying me?
Mmm, Alphaville. Makes me want to play with Transformers that aren’t made from plastic.
Anything in particular set that off, Giliell?
Bill-O
Always on top of it Billy.
Giliell
Thanks for the understanding yesterday. I feel better now.
-===-
Happy Thursday everybody!
Y’all are making me want some vegetables. On a vaguely related note, the organic sweet potatoes I got are far more flavorful than the grocery store ones. I’m really happy.
broboxley
I have some squash I need to cook up, and that butter/honey/garlic recipe sounds amazing. Thanks.
Esteleth
His out of context comments in the Aieeee thread about how sawing through a woman’s pelvis was actually a beneficial procedure.
Sorry, after his little temper tantrum about how good it is to force women in India to give brith to girls against their will for their own good I just can’t take it as a bona fide information about the medical history.
#229 Rev BDC add atlanta to the mix and a first sign of precip they start warming up their tires nascar style on I285
Just talking out my ass but could it be because of the climate/weather?
The southern states usually have warmer more temperate climates…until they have hurricanes which you don’t drive in. The north has more cold and fickle weather so it’s possible that northern drivers have more experience plowing through sub-optimal driving conditions such as heavy snow and rain?
Yet another calendarist oppressor.
Takes note. Portia. Not Porsche, Portia. Right.
Man…I would have made an AWESOME evopsyche person
That is a poor summary of what he said.
And that is just an outright distortion of what he said.
Nation Reels as Rush Limbaugh Revealed to Be 30 Year Long Andy Kaufman Prank
Pigs may spread Ebola not good
Well we do have non-hurricane related rain here, but yeah.
I was just blowing off steam being a bit hyperbolic. Today’s drive into work was especially excruciating. They do seem to suck here more than some other places I’ve lived, but those places were Colorado and Wyoming so they have practice as you suggest.
Belatedly, because I’ve been away from a keyboard, but ednaz and Tony, you made me smile. I like being the “P” in Pharyngula! ha!
Ogvorbis
If it makes you feel better you can say it “por-tee-uh” ;)
Matt Penfold
You’re right, I left out that I’m a man-hater.
He was defending that procedure for its medical history in the context of it being done to none-consenting women in Ireland in the 1970’s and 80’s.
So, what’s your non-distorted version of it? Sorry, but mine is clouded through man-hating pink fuzzieness
Not sure how to explain this one. I stopped believing. Journey is going to be pissed. Big time.
When I was in high school, I knew (via all-county chorus) two girls, sisters, named Portia and Mercedes. I never got up the courage to ask if they had any siblings. And, if so, what their names were. I had visions of one of them saying, “Yes, over there in the baritone section is my brother Audi and my sister Lancia.
I know three women named Lancia. Just thought of that. Hmmm.
Speaking of which, I heard a joke the other day:
Why is it you can never hear a pteranodon taking a piss?
The ‘P’ is silent.
Get it?
Get it?
The ‘P’ is silent and . . . .
Where is Pterryx, anyway?
No he was not. You are normally better than this, so for the moment I will assume you simply misread what he said.
I have no idea what is clouding your judgment, but whatever it is does not excuse dishonesty.
[response redacted on account of Lounge Rules]
List of reasons why the white vote didnt go rmoney
http://www.ericgarland.co/2012/11/09/letter-to-a-future-republican-strategist-regarding-white-people/
Lancia is a pretty name, I haven’t heard of the car. (To the google machine!) Pretty funny that they chose those names. I know a little girl named “Alexus” …apparently the similarity to the car brand name is intentional.
…I’m not gonna lie, I giggled pretty hard at your joke. But I’m a pun-lover if there ever was one.
Yeah fuck you too. Do me a favor and get off my case
So, Matt, what am I? Dishonest or just clouded in my judgement?
I’ll take it to Thunderdome if you want to.
lifted from a friend
“The General do like hisself some fruit salad, don’t he? Not like the other guy in the linked picture, who must have been a mediocre soldier: ”
http://dailydish.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451c45669e2017ee513cfb6970d-800wi
Republicans like John Boehner are saying that Obama does not have a mandate because Republicans still won in the House of Representatives. See? People still like them. Honest.
No, people don’t like them, and they tried to vote them out. Gerrymandered district boundaries, redrawn in 2010 by Tea Party fanatics, kept Republicans in power. This is a very good reason, folks, to vote in the off-years, when no presidential election is occurring, but Republicans are trying to rule the world (as they will certainly do in 2014).
Excerpt is from Mother Jones. Scroll down to see a nice comparison illustration showing how many votes it took to elect a Democratic House member for every vote it took to elect a Republican house member. Most of the stats show a marked advantage for Republicans, with 3 to 1 being the answer in some states.
Illinois and Maryland are exceptions, with the vote being weighted toward Dems instead.
Do what you want, but just stop lying.
Save us! Save us! The sky is falling!
In terms of acting on whacko conspiracy theories, Republicans in Georgia have hit new highs. Or lows, depending on your point of vies.
Video of old white guys spewing mind-numbingly dumb stuff is also available at the link.
Some of the presentation by Georgia Republicans was lifted word-for-word from draft legislation prepared by the John Birch Society. Obama is compared to Mao Tse Tung and to Stalin. I swear that these guys are devolving.
In happier news if anyone is interest comic alliance has a little piece on girls and geek masculinity http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/11/15/geek-masculinity-and-the-myth-of-the-fake-geek-girl/
I left the Glenn Beck connection out of my post @258. Beck is the author of a novel titled Agenda 21.
I think Beck is stuck at about 13 years old, and not a smart 13 at that.
President Obama is using a Cold War-era mind-control technique known as “Delphi” to coerce Americans into accepting his plan for a United Nations-run communist dictatorship in which suburbanites will be forcibly relocated to cities.
That’s outrageous! What was the man thinking anyway, letting suburbanites move to the cities? We don’t want them! Send them all back to Jersey where they belong!
Ing: Oh that makes me feel better, after seeing Ami on Eschergirls reproduce some incoherent, stupid rant by an asshole who’s apparently important in comics whining about ‘fake geek girls’.
Lynna,
Oh dear, Amazon recommended Area 21 to me today.
This part of the summary was especially hilarious, considering:
I guess we are supposed to regard this as a bad thing? But Glenn Beck is a forced birther, as far as I know, and thinks women should live to pop out babies. So, what gives?
Not area, agenda 21.
*headdesk*
Yeah, we don’t fucking care who Petraeus fucked or didn’t fuck, but the detail of the sex
triangle,quadrangle, pentagon are strangely fascinating.As it turns out, most of the players are not just dumb about the whole sex/jealousy thing. They are dumb at other levels. Petraeus is starting to look pretty good by comparison. For example, Jill Kelley and her husband Scott earned some money by founding a bogus charity:
Correction: except for the parts comparing being a geek to being the subject of serious marginalization, that was excellent.
@265: Whoops, left out the fact that Jill Kelley’s twin sister was once romantically linked to New Jersey Governor Charlie Crist.
In his Agenda 21 book, Beck postulates that the Obama/U.N. conspiracy forces women to be sluts. You know, multiple partners. This is obviously against god’s plan. However, it supports the selling-books plan. The more evil sex, the better.
Ah, the problem is that they aren’t popping out babies for their owner, but are sleeping with different men. Should have noticed that.
“Dr. Chuck Jones wrote the book on these situations.”
–
It important, however, not to debut this to squash-hating kids on Christmas Eve…and tell them there will be no presents until after they’ve eaten it. All.
*repressing memory*
–
Cacao and its derivatives are their own food group.
–
A nice theory, but not borne out by the evidence. Here in MO, we have a broad range of weather, from scorchingly hot to ice storm (though only the fading edges of hurricanes), reliably, year after year…and yet, let the precipits hit the pavement, and any hint of driving skillz goes bye-bye. I suspect that the relevant portions of their brainz actually shut down under the pressure.
–
With respect to Romney’s suggestion that Obama won because of gifts, I’m amazed that neither side realized that the way to guarantee election is to promise that bacon will be fully tax deductible. Sure, you lose the vegan votes and most of the vegetarian votes, but that’s only 5% of the population. Now THERE is a mandate.
The poison ivy has spread from my chin to my neck to my ears. *whine*
*mightily refrain from scratching*
Portia,
Ach, sounds very uncomfortable.
Inneresting re the comics alliance/fake geek girls piece. Well into the ‘well, that makes some sense’ category, I guess.
Related: I hadn’t seen that photomeme before. I iz pop culture illiterate, apparently. So much that when I saw it in an SMBC video today (this one), I briefly wondered if mebbe it was supposed to look like Rebecca Watson and was a reference to the same…
I guess I’m still kinda wondering.
The SMBC thing isn’t great or nothin’… Or just call me undecided, there, I guess. I actually found myself almost sympathetically* insulted on geeks’ behalf…
No, not at the attitudes espoused toward ‘geek girls’ and on and on. Those, actually, were generally less appalling than some of the real world toxins I’ve seen sprayed around. Hell, I get to wondering if that was a case of ‘you can’t parody this real world and still make it funny’, I shouldn’t wonder…
No, it was more the general over-the-top geekiness portrayed…
I mean, sure, granted, satire. So clichés and over-the-top/cartoonish geeks fit the bill. And it is a cartoon, sure…
But still. A bit much. Or are there parties at which people actually do threaten each other with plastic light sabres?
No. Wait. Don’t tell me. Come to think of it, I guess I don’t really want to know.
(*/No, it’s not denial. I am not a geek. Nuh uh. Yes, I do read SMBC, and, oh, just a few other webcomics on and off, but it’s… Umm… For a sick geek friend whose eyes are bandaged from surgery. Yeah. That’s the ticket.)
Sunflower seeds are cheaper and far easier to buy here than pine nuts. Has anyone tried making pesto with them instead of pine nuts? Internet says it’s fine, but I trust people here more.
I keep reading (and talking to) conservatives who claim Obama won because of gifts. So the massive tax breaks for the rich are not a gift? Opening all public lands to unlimited energy extraction is not a gift? Deregulation is not a gift? Oh, no (according to a conservative I know), those are economic incentives to get the economy going again.
ATTENTION WORLD!!! (Well, the USA anyway) WE ARE ON THE BOTTOM OF THE LAFFER CURVE, NOT THE TOP!!!
Beatrice
I’ve made pesto with all kinds of ‘nuts’ and all kinds of green leafy things.
It all turned out fine.
(Obviously, the almond/parsley kind tastes nothing like the pine nut/basil kind.)
mmmm. almond/parsley. Sounds brilliant.
I have never made pesto, but I should really try it. Father already got used to all kinds of strange (to him) foods, he’ll just have to get used to this too.
Ogvorbis @203
You got me with the cheddar. And I’m not a deranged penguin; may I? Sounds delicious.
Cheddar used to be my favourite cheese. I say ‘used to be’ because I haven’t had it in years (they have it here but it’s expensive and I don’t trust it to taste like it should).
The P is silent. Tee hee.
AJ Milne
Coca as salad garnish… I’m with you on that!
+++
Giliell
I did some googling on the symphiostomy, and yes, it did used to be performed as a necessary medical procedure in places where a C-section was not available due to lack of resources (people, materials etc.). HOWEVER, PZ’s post was not about those situations, it was about the procedure being used to make women into baby-making machines, and yes, I also found Avicenna’s comment somewhat out of context.
Because the discussion isn’t about the third world, over there. It’s about frickin Ireland.
+++
Today had the usual weekly choir rehearsal, and guess what? Yes, we’re learning Christmas songs (our excuse is that the Christmas concert run begins in a couple of weeks, so that covers that).
The first song we did, however, was ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’, which is a song I’ve never really liked anyway, but today it was difficult for two reasons: (1) crappy swing arrangement because we’re singing with the brass band this year; and (2) Savitha, because how the song is all about how great and glorious god and the baby jesus both are. It was… well, while choir is usually a place for music and relaxation, that first song killed the mood for me today.
+++
Portia
I prefer the Porsche way of saying your name. Makes you sound sporty and glam. :) And then I imagine you with poison ivy, and, well, you’re human again! I hope you’re having a better evening today.
Beatrice
What, no dill? (What’s the National Herb of Croatia? Latvians have dill; they put it in EVERYTHING, including lasagne… I don’t, I just do garlic. And onions, but more garlic than onions.)
For a Latvian pesto, I would recommend using hazelnuts and dill. Yeah. I don’t know how I feel about that combination, considering I just pulled it out of my ass.
Also, would you recommend Agenda 21 for light reading? I’m currently looking for something easy, entertaining, and unrealistic. :P
Right now, at home, I have a block of 5-year-old aged Irish cheddar. It is sharp and bitter and butter and sweet and mellow all at the same time. And no, your penguin cannot have any.
Normally I’d be fighting you and the penguin for some, but at the moment I am boycotting all things Irish.
Wife and I are always at odds over cheddar. She likes it mild and almost gummy. I like it old, dryer, and sharp as a tack. Almost all of my cheeses I like aged.
rq,
I have no idea what Croatian national herb is, but my family’s favorite herbs are parsley and dill.
Do you ever make bread with dill and sausages? Just usual bread dough, rolled out and covered with a mixture of fried chopped sausages and dill, rolled back and baked. One of the favorites at mom’s workplace and at home.
…or you meant that you don’t use dill at all?
—
I can’t say much about Agenda 21, but it certainly looks like something easy and unrealistic. Entertaining too, I guess. Maybe not so much to Americans who have more experience with the author.
It is made in Vermont. It is Irish-style, not actual Irish.
Discussing food is much more enjoyable than discussing what is being done to Irish women.
I like it old, dryer, and sharp as a tack.
The urge to say something like “I like my men like I like my cheese: Older, drier, and sharp as a tack!” is almost irresistible. But I will, of course, show superior self control and refrain.
It is made in Vermont. It is Irish-style, not actual Irish.
In that case…(Elbows penguin aside in attempt to get at cheddar.)
rq,
Another thing. I too have a problem with cheddar. I’ve only seen it in one specialized store and it was ridiculously expensive.
I sometimes buy it in Slovenia.
I guess we definitely count as backwards countries if cheddar is an unavailable/terribly expensive commodity. :(
Beatrice
I use dill. In salads and on fish, in meatball soup, and sometimes in other dishes, but I must say, I’m not a huge fan.
I don’t use it in bread, either, but Latvians do have this wonderful thing called pīrāgi, which is bacon fried with onion and salt and pepper placed in small, white-bread rolls… Sooooooooooooooo goooooooooooooood.
Ogvorbis
I like all things cheddar. I admit, I like the soft, mild stuff, because it’s great on macaroni and on bread and for munching. I love the aged stuff, especially if strong, because it is just so good. With beer, or wine, or on its own, with salads, with… yum.
rq
It’s my preferred pronunciation as well : ) I had been trying to come up with a silver lining for the poison ivy, so as not to be so miserable about it. Reaffirming my humanity is as good as any other reason :)
It’s about 2:30 pm here, but I do appreciate the thought. The itching isn’t so bad at the moment.
Beatrice
This sounds really delicious. Added to my “must make” list.
Ogvorbis
Re: Cheddar
Aged cheddar cheese is possibly my favorite. Most of the stuff I really love cheese-wise is outside my budget right now, but to satisfy cravings I get the Cabot extra sharp white cheddar. Irish style cheddar is definitely a winner. I think I’ll go make some cabot-covered nachoes now.
dianne
I was first. Let go.
Beatrice
Sadly, I agree. :( We should start a black-market cheddar business. Ogvorbis can provide the goods. We’ll sell it on the street, or, alternatively, eat it ourselves. Sounds like a plan!
Beatrice, you might get a snicker out of this conversation I had with SO yesterday:
Me: There’s a spider bite in my hair.
SO: *smirk* Maybe there’s eggs in there too.
Me: *glare* Now you know you have to check my hair, just to make up for that.
SO: *laughs heartily at my discomfort, obliges by checking through my hair* …sweetheart, that’s not a bite. That’s a zit.
Me: *sheepish*
rq
You know none of that cheese would be sold. : )
———–
In the continuing saga of “hilarious banner ads from adbots” the top of the page for me says “Considering adoption?”
rq,
I’m voting for “eat it ourselves”.
Easy and unrealistic? Anno Dracula, by Kim Newman.
–
cicely,
Did you intentionally not include “entertaining”?
I have an acute case of the irritations. I went over to the library to get a book. I look up the call number, wander through the stacks, and, on the appropriate shelf, find a sign saying, “Due to construction, all books with call numbers [number] through [number] are unavailable. Please see the librarian for an Inter-Library Loan copy.”
Now, you’d think that when I looked up the call number in the (electronic) catalog, that maybe they could have said so?
Well, for me, it would be old, dry, lame and flakey.
You might want to be careful around the Mildly Deranged Penguin . . .
Back in 1988, Wife and I (well, protoWife and I) were on vacation out west. We stopped in a Piggly Wiggly in Hot Springs, SD. Their cheese section consisted of white American cheese slices, yellow American cheese slices, cottage cheese, and blocks of colby cheese. Depressing.
You may want to talk to someone who knows cheeses. There are many cheeses that are remarkably similar to cheddar. For instance, the Italian Asiago (the aged version, not the fresh) has a taste very close to aged chedder — sharp, tangy yet buttery. There may be a local cheese that comes close.
I confess that for macaroni and cheese, I use canned cheese soup and then add some really sharp cheddar or another very strong cheese (like Asiago) to give it the flavour. If I use all grated block cheese, the oils always separate out on me.
I love Cabot cheeses.
Luckily, Wegman’s store brand sharp cheddar is almost as good and much cheaper.
I can send you the wrappers but once cheese enters my house, the only way it leaves is through the plumbing.
None of it would even make it into the box to be shipped.
It’s a little pricey, but does Vermont Country Store ship overseas? Their cheese is excellent.
Portia,
I almost missed your hair spider bite/zit.
Maybe we should avoid discussions like that one, it seems you’re getting paranoid. Er… more paranoid?
If pressured, I might confess that all the bug talk made me turn the light on and off a couple of times before going to sleep, just to check there really wasn’t anything suspicious on walls around me.
Ya see, I knew I was forgetting something! Nope, complete oversight.
–
Around here, Wal-mart* is the only store that carries that one kind of Cabot cheese, and it’s no more expensive than other block cheese (like Kraft, et al.) I’m gonna see where the nearest Wegman’s is, though.
*I know, I know. Evil incarnate. But I’m poor : p
Beatrice,
I’m honestly going to try the “verbalizing feelings” method to downplay the phobia. “More paranoid” is probably the right descriptor. Back to cheese-talk, you’re right, it’s so much less fraught. :)
Everyone who believes that the cheese would never be sold, I would have to agree. Yes.
But I see now that Ogvorbis is a threat to our potential business, so we (Beatrice and I) will have to go straight to the
dealerprovider ourselves. That means local, because I’m pretty sure cheese can’t be shipped overseas (unless you have all those commercial licenses and blablabla paperwork).Ogvorbis
What kind of cheese is old, dry, lame and flakey? (Just wondering.)
cicely
Until you find a book that is, in fact, also entertaining, I refuse to accept your offer of easy and unrealistic. (Right. Because I’m capable of turning down book recommendations of any kind. Right. Because that’s why I read Divergent.)
Alright Beatrice, let’s eat it ourselves.
This is a link to a two part Sinfest cartoon. The punchline, IMO, needs to be immortalised and used whenever a theist spews all over a thread. I can hardly wait.
We usually make cheese sauce for mac&cheese.
With lots of left-over sauce for spreading on toast.
Oh dear, why do I still read Feministe? The commentariat there is getting seriously annoying.
This article http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/your-money/opting-out-of-parenthood-with-finances-in-mind.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0
is apparently condescending because someone dared write about financial reasons for not heaving a child.
The author obviously should have put in more caveats about how her decision doesn’t mean that babies aren’t amazing and beautiful and the bestest thing ever.
(feministe post)
…I didn’t know there was any other way of pronouncing Portia (other than the slightly porsche-car-type way with a shh sound)…. ?
Cheddar was almost the only thing missed when living outside the UK. Addicted since childhood, I suppose.
My respects to those who stuck it out in the murdering-bastards-fucking-up-in-Ireland thread.
No cheese. That describes me.
When I’m in Germany, the presence of really good herb cheeses reconciles me to the lack of cheddar. Vice versa in the US. All places have their good points and bad points with respect to cheese.
dianne:
German cheese can be good, but their sausage is the Wurst.
Oggie, go stand in the corner. Also, wear this.
*gives Oggie a Green Bay cheese hat*
If I laughed, do I need to stand in the corner too? : )
YES. >:(
My cubicle is in a corner. So I am sitting in a corner.
Sorry. Will not fit over my cowboy hat or my Smokey Bear hat.
Is Green Bay Cheese any good?
:o
*steals Oggie’s cowboy hat and Smokey bear hat*
Chigau, do you know what a Green Bay cheese hat is?
Wisconsin fromagers makes some pretty good cheese. Some of their ‘Italian-style’ cheeses are pretty darn close to the real thing (and cost half as much).
My desk is also in a corner of my office. So I’m covered.
Oggie, as an aside, what does “ջարդված” mean?
*squints at Og’s nym postscript* Whazzat?
I have more than one! Thppppppppppppppppt!1!
*catches the tongue as it sputters*
Google sez Armenian?
I’m going to go stand in the corner, too, because I laughed, too.
But herb cheeses = the best here. I discovered a local farmer (heck, every Latvian producer is a local farmer; small country) who makes his own totally awesome bestest cheese with herbs, and one with peppers, and one with nuts and seeds.
What is a Green Bay cheese hat?
Esteleth
*sigh*
My ability to make jokes is wurst than Oggie’s.
Apparently, Portia. Armenian for “broken.”
BTW, how do people like my new postscript? Seemed apt.
‘Tis Armenian. Means cassé.
Cheese hat.
rq, a Green Bay cheese hat (aka one of these things) is a hat that is shaped like a wedge of yellow cheddar cheese. Commonly sported by fans of the Green Bay Packers.
And for context, rq, it’s a favorite of fans of the
dirty rotten scoundrelsAmerican football team to the north of Chicago, known as the Packers.Esteleth, I like your postscript : ) And we seem to be on the same comment wavelength a bit. Didn’t mean to step on your answers, sorry.
Well, that puts us all in the corner, then, for better or for wurst.
Oh, sports fans.
Oggie
I like your new ‘nym extension.
(even after googletranslate)
My disclaimer is that I’m not a Bears fan, I’m just contractually obligated to disparage the Packers, having been a Chicago resident.
Thanks for the explanation. I thought it would be a more important piece of information.
Armenian has a beautiful written script.
6 Insane Superstitions That Are Still Shockingly Influential, according to cracked. And no, unfortunately, the list does not read:
1. Protestantism
2. Catholicism
3. Islam
4. Mormonism
5. Climate Change Denial
6. Zygote=Behbeh
WRT football:
I am not a football fan. My family jokes that this is because I was born in Illinois on the one Super Bowl Sunday in the 80s that the Bears were not in, so everyone in Illinois refused to watch out of spite.
Based on where I grew up in the state, I could have gotten away with rooting for Chicago or St. Louis.
And then I moved to New England! But I couldn’t bring myself to be enthused about Tom Brady.
And now…I live in Buffalo Bills territory. -_-
rq
Google Translate var tulkot gandrīz jebko!
(parasti slikti)
Kinda important to me. In any language.
I just thought I’d try some different languages for a while. Doesn’t really change how I feel.
Out of curiosity, are you Armenian?
Nope. English, German, Polish, French, Scots Irish, Abenaki, Italian, and probably a few more thrown in. My ancestors got kicked out of the best countries of Europe. My great-grandfather emigrated from Poland. Twice.
chigau
But, as you can see (I can see), Google translate has made yards and yards of progress, and can actually make sense from time to time.
Ogvorbis
The ‘not important information’ was about the hats, not about the addendum to your ‘nym. Sorry for the confusion.
When I write things in Latvian, it usually means it’s more important, not less; don’t know if it’s the same for you and Armenian (why Armenian, if I may?), but still… I wouldn’t call that unimportant. :( Especially considering what it means.
Black rye bread as amends?
It’s a beautiful language. Both vocalized and written. No other reason.
Not dissimilar from myself.
I decided that if I’m going to have holy cheese and crackers, I’m going to have them in Urdu. And no, I am not Pakistani, but I do have a family connection to there.
Ogvorbis
Well, you partially answered my question about Armenian. :) And it is a nice script.
And be careful about that ‘best countries in Europe’ bit, there. You have some Latvians and Croatians here who aren’t seeing themselves on that list.
(Although, as Latvians like to joke, everyone in the world either knows a Latvian, or is secretly related to one; we’re everywhere.)
And no need for amends. Thanks, though.
rq:
Considering I am part Polish, I am sure there is some Latvian blood mixed in there.
I’m not a fan either. I would really enjoy it if there were a Super Bowl that everyone in Illinois refused to watch!
gotta run.
Don’t have too much translating fun while I’m gone.
Portia re: the superstition link
Excellent post. Giggles all the way through; thanks!
When I was an undergrad, one time a group of us got together and had the “whose ancestors conquered whose” game.
I tied with someone else for “most conquering:” I am English, Scottish, Scots-Irish, German, Bavarian, and Swedish. She was Japanese, Han Chinese, and Mongolian.
We went around, with much laughter (we’re odd people, okay?), until we came to one person who looked taken aback and said, “I’m a Polish Jew. I lose.”
…and everyone has a Croatian ancestor hidden somewhere. Especially if “everyone” is some kind of a sports star, then a distant relative who may or may not have emigrated from some place that may or may not have been part of Croatia at the time will definitely be found to have existed.
chigau
If translating people’s opinions about the Erasmus program counts as fun, then, well, I’ll be having way too much of it over the next two hours or so.
Ogvorbis
Better chance of having someone Lithuanian, but yes, Latvians, too. Meh, we’re mixed in with the Germans and the Russians and also the French (Napolean stopped by in the early 1800s), I’ll bet, so there’s a good chance.
Well, I’m German
For millenia every conquering or retreating army passed through my little corner of the world. Not to mention the French folks who fled to ’round here, the Germany who went to Russia and came back and the Hungarian gypsies that are somewhere down the line from my great-grandma.
Yu’re allowed to call me a mongrel ;)
Ist mir Wurst
“I’m a Polish Jew. I lose.”
I’m part Central American Amerind. I lose too. Can’t even name my presumed tribe.
Actually, apart from a couple of Brits, my ancestors don’t seem to have been able to pick a winning side to save their lives. Literally. Non-Catholic Spanish, Amerind, Dutch, Irish, German, and…um…we’re really not quite sure who some of them are. Genotyping of my father’s Y chromosome produced a wall of text that included the phrase “unheard of”. Several times.
Esteleth
Is it ok that I laughed at that?
I mean, Latvians never conquered anyone at any time, but even we have some sympathy for the Polish Jew.
Beatrice
Oh, sports stars? Ha. Prove it. Meanwhile, Mark Rothko was born in Latvia, as was Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Richard Wagner wrote an opera here, and Immanuel Kant had a book published in our capital city (can’t find a link, but it was something about nature or the natural world).
Also, the Amber Road. (That one was just for gloating.)
I am both German (Saxony, IIRC) and Bavarian. And the Bavarian branch of the family gets grumpy if they’re called “German.” They will grudgingly accept “Germanic,” but that’s it.
dianne
That’s awesome (the ‘unheard of’ bit). Makes things more interesting!
Considering how many armies have run over Poland . . . .
@352: Indeed. Do those who seek “racial purity” in Germany know just how long ago they lost?
Esteleth
Why are Bavarians held in such low esteem? Is it just a cultural thing, or does every country have its own outcasts from within its ranks? (Here, everyone beats up on the Latgallians, if there are too many Russians about.)
Okay, I’m completely screwed.
My credit card, a week overdue for payment, has been cut off and that means I have about $40 to my name. I’m behind on my rent & bills, although no one has given me notice or anything yet. I’ve got some bikes & guitars for sale, but if nothing moves quickly…I’m screwed.
I’m still looking for work, but I’ve been laid up with sciatica (nerve irritation, causing moderate pain all down my right leg and limiting physical activity) for the last six weeks.
I have an interview Monday for a part-time office job, but that’s all.
Shit. I suppose I’ll have to apply for food stamps, but it’s been so long I’m just assuming that still exists here.
Shit.
*facepalm* I was on the phone with my sister, and this is the conversation I just had with her:
Sister (referring to discovering the gender of her fetus): “I’m gonna make the cupcakes blue or pink.”
Me (teasing): “Oh don’t do that, it – oh what do feminists say – it reinforces traditional gender norms!”
Sister: “You’re not a feminist [real name.]” (note: I’m a male-bodied trans-woman not out to my family yet)
Me: “Uhh, yes I am. I believe in equal rights for women.”
Sister: “Men can’t be feminists, ask any woman who is a feminist.”
Me: “I can assure you that women feminists agree that men can be feminists. PZ Myers is a feminist, and he’s an old white guy.”
Sister: “Feminists don’t want men to be feminists.”
Me: “That’s ridiculous, men can believe in equal rights for women.”
Sister: “Feminists don’t even believe that, they think women are better than men.”
Me: “No no, you’re talking about second-wave feminism. Third-wave feminism believes in dismantling the patriarchy.” (note 2: I’m probably wrong with the waves, but still)
Sister: *laughs nervously*
Me: (continuing) “The patriarchy is the societal norm that masculinity is better than femininity, and not only women are *can’t recall the word* not only women are *word blank**mumble* but also that men who don’t conform to rigid gender boundaries are the same as well and I can’t remember the word.”
Sister: “Don’t hurt yourself [real name.] I gotta go.”
*facepalm again*
Ogvorbis
Ah, but Latvians didn’t run all over Poland, Poland ran over (half of) us. :) Back when it was all the Lithuanian-Polish empire (See? The Polish won a little bit!).
Also, Latvia got an entire crusade devoted to it. (Is this something like the oppression olympics?)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Sartori (Wisconsinites of Italian extraction) make the Bellavitanos. In my opinion among the bestest things ever. Try the espresso variety. I’m pretty sure I could live on it.
Diego Maradona almost certainly had a Croatian grand(grand?)mother or g(g?)father, of course.
And yeah, ok, he’s the only one I can think of right now, but every now and then articles pop up about this or that famous person having some Croatian ancestry. It’s become a joke and I mock it fiercely.
Beatrice
It’s mostly, like you say, a game in our family, but I think on a national level, it’s seen as a matter of pride, if you can find a Latvian connection to famous people in the world (supposedly, the story of Crocodile Dundee is based on a Latvian exile living in the wilds of Australia who once accidentally wrestled a crocodile).
Of course, the bad ones are never mentioned (those still wanted for participating in Nazi war crimes during WWII, for example).
“Mercedes” was originally a woman’s name. The car was named after a particular woman, and I think the reason was a tad sexist.
—
Cheddar cheese? Damn you people, or rather damn my digestive system. I loves me some cheddar, or at least the top half of me does.
I grew up in rural Kansas and Missouri, without a TV, and somehow wound up walking around lower Manhattan in NYC when I was about 19. I saw a cheese shop, and could not for the life of me imagine why such a thing existed. I mean, there’s two kinds of cheese, right? American and Velveeta, and you don’t need a shop for that. I looked in the window, but my mind just boggled, so I left. Sigh. I was in that area for some time, with money to spare, and didn’t know enough to go inside.
—
I just rehabilitated a deep cast-iron skillet, by soaking and scraping off a thick layer of crud, and coating it with olive oil while hot. It’s marked as a 10 1/2 inch chicken fryer, and it’s deep enough that I’d call it a pot, almost. I never use more than a drizzle of oil to fry stuff, so I’m not sure what to do with it. I do like fried chicken and other fried foods, I just can’t see using that much oil—not so much in the cooking, but in throwing it out afterwards. Can I keep used oil? Do I need to filter it, refrigerate it, or what? What’s a cheap frying oil? (I hate to ask about frying after all the cheddar and pesto talk, but I want to use this pan after all that work, and the Horde has much wisdom.)
rq,
Yeah, it’s about national pride. THe last article I remember was about some beautiful woman – a model, I think. And there are no bad ones. Those probably had some Serbian ancestry, but someone wants to “plant” them as “ours”.
(this last bit is sarcasm [just in case])
Beatrice
For us, they’re usually Russians someone wants to pass off as Latvians. Or Lithuanians, or Poles… Either way, their other nationality gets emphasized a lot. Planted indeed.
This place isn’t safe for me anymore. I don’t know if it ever was.
I’ll be reading. Maybe you’ll see me on some contentious threads here; I’ll definitely be elsewhere on FTB and still on the A+ forums if you want to find me I also got a Tumblr last night. But this is my last post in the Lounge.
Bye everyone. It was fun, until it stopped being fun.
the Lounge isn’t safe for you?
But what about all the kindness?
Setar, sorry to see you go
it’s not a big deal in the greater scheme of things, but I think this could use a few more downvotes…
To be fair, depending on the second-wave feminist in question, my understanding is this generally ranges from a not-especially-charitable paraphrase, to an actively uncharitable paraphrase, to an outright “strawharpy.”
I get what you mean though.
http://www.fromageblog.com
It’s the most cheese I could concentrate into 26 characters.
(Yes, I know, bit.ly, but that’s cheasing.)
Well, I broke in the “new” skillet with a half-inch of Crisco I found in the back of the fridge. I dropped in some corn tortillas, one at a time, flipping them, and wound up with some pretty good chewy/crispy/greasy/toasty discs.
I also made some emping http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emping which are an Indonesian “chip/cracker” made from nuts. Uncooked in the bag they are like little wafers, but they puff up when fried, and are REALLY good. They are easy to make—the instructions, according to this bag, are “Use sufficient oil, heated, fry for long enough.”
#366 Menyambal I use lard and toss it when I’m done because it is good, healthy(as any deep fried food is) and cheap but you will probably see a lot of horrified posts about why that is not a good idea.
rq @184:
I knew there was a reason I liked you :)
I wholeheartedly agree.
****
Oggie:
Thank you.
I think you’ve just decided my dinner for the night.
That sounds delicious.
So many choices.
Is that what is meant by American exceptionalism?
Howzabout that Pharyngula commune…?
****
blf @205:
No.
I do think there’s one thing garlic doesn’t taste good with—>cereal.
****
AJ @211:
Cocaine isn’t a great garnish.
Oh, you had said cocoa…
****
RevBDC @229:
Some have difficulty driving even in those conditions.
****
Portia @271:
oooh, my sympathies. Poison Ivy. On an itchy scale of 1-10 where are you?
****
Beatrice @281:
::blinks, fascinated::
You can do that?
****
rq @286:
I *must* have some of this.
Where are my minions?
****
Portia:
I pronounce your name the Porsche way as well. I’ve often wondered how to pronounce other Pharyngulite names. Especially Giliell.
chigau @302:
How do you make the cheese sauce?
****
All this talk of cheeses…
Before I was unceremoniously fired from my last job, I’d frequently venture down to a bar/restaurant called The Wine Bar (which was downstairs from us) to look at their cheese selection. I don’t know enough about cheese to know how great their selection was, but there was AFAIK nothing common to be found. I discovered my most favoritest cheese ever: Rosie Gouda. It was rosemary crusted gouda cheese. I don’t like to eat cheese on its own. I’ve always needed to pair it with something. But this stuff…? This stuff was divine. I did occasionally buy a nice salami to go with it, and oh boy that was a great idea.
****
Esteleth @335:
We won’t laugh-much-if you’re a closet Tebow fan…
****
Katherine:
Point your sister to Pharyngula and we’ll quickly correct her ideas of men not being feminists. Of just tell her you know a male Queer Duck who’s a feminist.
****
Setar:
Huh?
Where did that come from?
If someone offended you or made you uncomfortable, I’m fairly certain they would like to know. I know I certainly would.
This is intended as a safe space for all, so if you feel it’s not safe for you, I think that’s cause for some concern.
The waves refer to time periods. The older commenters here are second wave feminists. The younger are third wave. And there’s far more agreement among them all than any supposed dichotomy of label would suggest. Studying whole generations, there are developments which are of interest to historians, but it’s nigh useless to say of any particular individual “this feminist thinks [idea] due to being a part of wave [2|3]”. What an individual of any age might be exposed to is highly contingent upon networking.
@azkyroth / SGBM:
Not meaning to demean anyone who may be 2nd wave – as far as my sister is concerned she doesn’t have the slightest clue what the waves actually mean (neither did I until you clarified it, thanks.)
She definitely was portraying a straw feminist, though, which is why it was so disappointing, and why I’m suddenly very embarrassed by her, and I’ve lost so much respect for her.
Riddle me this readers: cpworker used opertunity of boss leaving early to get liquid nitrogen out and make dipping dots in the hall
….in a coffee cup….without gloves or face sheild…spilling it on table and floor…and throwing out excess in custodial trash. My future safety and the integrity of peoples research may depend on this idiot. Should I report this or would that make me a narc?
@Ing:
Yes. Report him. It’s unsafe. It’s not snitching so much as “holy crap this guy can seriously HURT people if he’s not careful.”
Anyway I distracted myself from saying the other bit I wanted to say:
Katherine, if I was you I wouldn’t worry that you fumbled on some details. You still conveyed a lot of information. But if you want, you can always assure her you personally know feminists who say anyone of any sex can be a feminist. (And email her this.)
rq:
That side of my family’s irritated insistence that they are not German but Bavarian has nothing to do with Bavarians being held in low esteem, it is more about how Bavaria is a distinct linguistic and cultural group within Germany (and the further back you go historically, the more pronounced this is), and the fact that Bavaria was an independent country until the 20th century.
In any case, that side of my family, based on where the country lines are now, aren’t German in any case – they’re Czech.
Oh yes – and the word I was mumbling for was “marginalized”
My ancestors, the Koreans, spent most of history either conquering each other or being conquered by the Chinese, the Mongolians, and the Japanese. The latter one is particularly fresh in the memory of many elderly Koreans.
Katherine:
Admittedly, it sounds like your sister is ignorant of some important aspects of feminism, as well as the strawman fallacy. Do you think it would be possibly to educate her over time?
****
Ing:
I agree with Katherine. Report him.
I realized a few years back, that one of the key factors for me to consider when narcing on someone was the potential for harm to others. If it’s something that doesn’t bring harm to other individuals, I can more easily not go to a superior. If it could potentially harm someone else, I’m not going to hesitate.
There’s some hope that she’s internalized a lot of feminism without calling it “feminism” though, yeah?
I mean, that’s pretty much the default position for under-30 women, isn’t it? That’s why there’s books written about why feminism-as-movement still matters, because young people are now encouraged to think of themselves as living in post-feminist times (feminism having already succeeded at every worthwhile goal).
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=349146358515743&set=a.236078483155865.51289.190602724370108&type=1&ref=nf how to tell when your human sucks
@sgbm:
I hope that’s what it is. My family is all heavily Conservative Fundamentalist Evangelical Christian (with the exception of myself.) It’s quite possible that she’s merely repeating what she’s heard about feminism.
I know I could teach her, but I’m seriously worried she’s going to be one of those types of people who absorbs Conservatism. She was excited by Romney (voted for him,) upset that Obama won (my entire family was depressed,) and she’s been listening to the pro-life idiocy to the point where she refused to continue to use contraception and now she’s pregnant, and she can’t afford the kid, and neither can her husband, and neither can my parents.
Even second wave rarely believed women were superior to men. Second Wave’s problems were far more related to bullshit like “Patriarchy is the root of all oppression” and the like.
This isn’t exactly a solved problem mind, it’s just become a lot less blatant.
Generally, yeah. The only PR war the previous generation really lost was solely on the label, and while that sucks, it doesn’t suck as much as ‘women can work and are people’ not being popular in the public mind.
That sounds rough. As she’s family, I would think patience is the watchword though. Still, I’d be prepared for All Other Women are Like That.
@Tony:
I hope, but like I said above, I’m concerned her environment won’t allow for it.
My sympathies, Katherine, and hugs if you want ’em.
broboxley, thanks for suggesting pan-frying in lard. I’ve a tub in there somewhere, and I’ve read that it is no more unhealthy than anything else. (That Crisco just looked scary white in the can.)
—-
Cheeses: My wife and I like popcorn and cheese for our Friday evenings. Big bowl of popcorn, plate of cheeses, pickles, veggies and beverage (and nobody else around, please FSM).
—
Garlic: The other folks got home, and I decided to not fry garlic tonight …
GARLIC OLIVE-OIL BUTTER
Garlic – crushed or minced
Olive oil
Butter – roughly same amount as olive oil.
Heat olive oil in pan, add garlic and fry/saute garlic to desired level — softened or crispy (do not overheat).
Reduce heat, melt butter into oil/garlic.
Let cool, stirring a bit to keep mixed.
Store in fridge.
It’s soft enough to spread, tastes yummy and is supposedly more healthy than straight butter.
#395 Menyambal take your garlic-butter-olive oil add lemon juice and shrimp
serve over fettuccine
Ouch, Kat. Sorry about your situation.
Portia:
Represent! I’m a chicagoland resident of russian/belarusian extraction. (Sorry, rq. :p)
As it is, I’m sorta happy, but in no mood to do anything except procrastinate. It’s weird.
rq, Anno Dracula is not only easy, something-or-other, and entertaining, it also contains no speaking parts for either Horses or peas. Higher praise I cannot give!
:)
–
feralboy12, you have my sympathies. That is, indeed, a formidable stack of suckage.
–
Safe journeys, Setar. Sorry you have to leave.
–
Menyambal:
That garlic olive oil butter stuff is going on my to do list. I’m addicted to butter but also trying to cutdown my fat intake. Thanks!
Thunk:
Yay Chicago! I miss the city so much. Also, good to hear you’re feeling happy.
Tony:
It come and goes, but it’s been getting up to about an 8. It makes me feel self-coonscious, too, having a rash on my neck : /
Katherine:
Sorry for the frustrating conversation with your sister. I’ve been there. So much of my family likes to say sexist/racist/nasty things just to get under my skin. *hugs* as needed.
Pretty ‘rupt and not a lot to say, but sympathies to those whose families are on the Fox train. Also, Setar goodbye, and you will be missed.
Porta #399
pick up that pat of butter gwan
http://www.clovegarden.com/ingred/oilshealth.html
Thanks, cicely. Wish me luck selling crap and with my interview.
The pain hasn’t been too bad the last couple of days–it’s mostly a burning sensation in the lower leg. One thing really worrying me at the moment is possibly losing my easy internet connection, as they’ll be trying to charge my credit card any day now. My roommate, I hope, can help if that happens, but when I’m so often awake for 2-3 hours in the middle of the night with the sciatica, having a connection right next to my bed has been handy.
I have lots of books, but I’ve read them already. Except for the biography of Heinrich Himmler. Please, no…he was so boring. I mean, up until he became one of history’s worst mass murderers.
doppelgangers are supposed to be boring
we are so fucked
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol4no1/html/v04i1a01p_0001.htm if this is what the vaunted cia thinks about Reiny what is going to the ears of the president about today’s foreign doings is going to cause hyarge errors in foreign policy and defense.
I would almost guess a poe for co-intel purposes about Reiney’s life and times but I don’t think they are that bright
Speaking as one of those old second wave types, that is the wears-no-lipstick, hairy-underarms, safety-pin-earrings, ugly-shoes, hates-men stereotype. Along with the pinko, prudish, commie-loving, sluttish stereotype. (And we never knew how that worked either.)
We weren’t like that then. We still aren’t. We just didn’t care if any of the women who signed up for some hard work were like that. It was really an objection to us not insisting that only ‘suitable’ or ‘acceptable’ women acted as spokespeople. Even those of us who wore business suits and pearls were regarded as rude loudmouths because we said things people didn’t want to hear.
I do remember one argument with mr. He’d always hoped, as a disillusioned peace protester, that women might ‘fix’ the world when they got their hands on some power. I pointed out that that sounded very much like asking women to clean up politics, diplomacy and war after a mess made by men much as they were expected to do in kitchens and bathrooms. We sorted that one out.
I just noticed an ad for the Rational Response Squad Forums (which is apparently an atheist site) at the top of this page. Anyone familiar with that place?
Is anyone here familiar with a poem telling Persephone’s story from her point of view, saying she was sick of all her mother’s flowers and ate the pomegranate seeds on purpose so she would be allowed to return to Hades?
I loved that poem, but I can’t remember the author and Google is giving me no joy.
mildlymagnificent, I really like the point you made there. Thanks.
feralboy12
Do you need financial help?
I have no idea how but The Horde has helped others.
Hey everyone! Totally not about anything anyone is talking about, but I was wondering if anyone could recommend to me some good science books. I’ve only really developed an interest in it in the last few years, I only did it in school til year ten. Why it didn’t interest me at school, I have no idea. I’m ideally after something written for the average joe, so far I’ve liked The Canon by Natalie Angier and The Magic Of Reality By Richard Dawkins.any ideas?
jessica, I grew up on Isaac Asimov’s science books. He wrote simple, entertaining explanatory stuff, and some serious science textbooks. He’s long gone, sadly, but the science is still good, and the range is wide as the cosmos.
Stephen Jay Gould was more recent, but has also left us. He and Dawkins have similarities and differences. Biology is more the focus, with him.
Tony #378
I can make a decent cheese-sauce in about 10 minutes.
I started a wordy document to explain the process and am up to the third page.
I will continue to work on my documentation.
Good morning
Setar
Sorry to see you go
Feralboy
I’m sorry to hear you’re in trouble
Good luck with the leg and the interview
beatrice
I really liked you until you mentioned dill, which is an abomination unto Nuggan
The strategy I’ve found to work for macaroni and cheese:
~1 lb interesting cheese, grated or crumbled as applicable
2 12oz cans fat free evaporated milk
~1/2 cup white or white-whole-wheat flour
Pour milk into a pan. Scrape the congealed milk proteins off the bottom and add them. Dump in flour. Whip with a whisk until smoothish. Add cheese. Cook on high heat, stirring constantly (this one’s critical) until consistency is uniform and thickness is satisfactory. Add prepared pasta – this makes enough for about 12-16oz dry macaroni.
Optional: after mixing, transfer to a 13×9 baking dish and/or use a dutch oven. Bake at 375F (350F if using the pan, I believe) for ~30-45min or until cheese on top is browned and bubbly.
what is wrong with y’all? why has this not been linked yet*!?
– – – – –
*in the event that it has been posted already: Rebecca Watson made me do it.
chicau:
I’m not at that point yet; as I said, I’ve got several hundred dollars worth of bikes & guitars I’m trying to sell. Also, my landlord has expressed a willingness to let me work off some of my back rent–when I’m capable of work. Some days I’m more capable than others.
Sciatica is one of those weird afflictions, more of a symptom than its own condition. Could have any one of a number of causes; in my case it seems to have started with a strained muscle in my lower back, which likely impinged on the nerve, which made my leg go gunnybag. It’s more about discomfort than pain at this point, although the first two weeks were awful. I was able to get to a doctor (credit card) and got steroids and percosets, the last two of which I’m hanging onto in case the severe pain comes back.
The worrisome thing is that, from what I’ve read & heard, it sometimes doesn’t get better, not entirely.
My life has sucked at times before, and I’m still here. I just wasn’t so old then.
I have an adult daughter in town who’s been helping me out, too. That first week she came over with a couple week’s worth of food. She even brought me tobacco. And she and her boyfriend have been picking me up and taking me over to their house on Sundays to watch The Walking Dead. I’m starting to identify with the zombies.
She also hacked my hair off short for me after my inability to take care of it for three weeks caused it to turn horrible.
My roommate/landlord loaned me his heating pad. That thing is wonderful.
For now, USB hugs will do, thanks.
Oops. It’s chigau. Sorry. Gah.
For the women in The Lounge, a question:
How complex is the issue of abortion? Over at Reasonable Doubts, the author is arguing that the issue is more complex than the pro choice/anti-woman (he calls it pro-life, which I refuse to do) sides treat it.
Azkyroth:
Have you ever tried adding bread crumbs to the top of the mac n cheese before you bake it? Or bacon? Or both?
I find all of the above quite tasty.
feralboy12
Have a hug, then.
(no worries about the ‘nym)
I have a heating pad which I get to use if the cat doesn’t want it.
on another topic
there was a $46 million lottery win in Alberta!
I’m in Alberta!
I have a ticket!
meh
about as complex as whether we should force people to donate body parts; and the more stories about complications during pregnancy/childbirth, and even the “normal” consequences of pregnancies, I hear, the less complex it becomes: being pregnant and giving birth is an act of extreme altruism
This is just not right:
A surcharge?
Cutting employee hours?
What, is he not making enough money?
****
What does the death of Savita Halapannavar have to do with Twilight?
The answer may surprise you.
Good morning all.
I know it’s nearly 10 but I feel like it’s way too early – up till 4 doing translation, then fussy baby until 8, then middle child waking up and wanting to read little books. Someone please turn my brain back on.
+++
Esteleth @384
That actually makes sense. Thanks for the explanation!
thunk @397
My great-grandfather (mother’s paternal side) was belorussian, so you’re ok to me. ;)
cicely @398
No speaking parts for horses or peas? Blasphemy! But I’ll read it all the same.
Portia @399
Butter, after garlic, is the life of the earth or something deeply poetic like that. I do use vegetable oil (olive, mostly, this and that else, as it goes on sale in the grocery), but nothing tastes better than toasted in butter. Especially garlic.
mildlymagnificent @405
Thumbs up for sorting that one out! Sure, we’ll fix the world. Just like we’ll fix your sandwich!!
OH and I meant to add good thoughts, moral support and all kinds of hugs (if needed/wanted) to those who need/want!!
Tony
Yes, this case really brings all the maggots out of the wood.
I haven’t listened to the initial debate at all, but the picture alone makes me angry: two guys debating abou whether women are people or not
(Ok, ok, there are decent guys out there and Matt Dillahunty basically tore that pro-slavery idiot woman into metaphorical pieces, but still)
chigau
How often does the cat give up the heating pad…?
rq @423:
no, no, it’s nearly 2 am :)
Sirry Tony after recent events, I can’t get through that entire thread without feeling some form of extreme negativity. Especially for all those ‘But human being!’ arguers, who, should they be offered to support someone using their own body for nine months, voluntarily, and then spend another 18 years after that supporting them financially and emotionally (and probably a lot longer, too), then I doubt they’d accept. Especially if that person is a total and complete stranger, who you need to become acquainted with over the course of the said 18 years.
I’m with Jadehawk on this one, and the woman’s bodily autonomy group. True, it’s not the only issue, but it definitely is the overriding one – you can’t force a woman to do what she clearly doesn’t want to do.
Medical emergencies, unviable fetus and other clearly medical issues, I think, are obvious in and of themselves.
Boy, that wasn’t how I wanted to start this morning.
Menyambal, any particular titles? I’m kind of lacking in basics haha.
Giliell:
I haven’t listened either, but I agree with you here. Why are women rarely allowed to speak on their own behalf in matters related to their own health?
Tony,
He’s not going to provide his workers with health care, but he’s going to charge the customers more because health care. He’s an asshole, that’s indisputable. But other than that, it doesn’t make sense.
Tony
I could swear it’s 10AM.
rq @428:
Sorry your AM started that way.
I just saw started reading that thread and saw the blogger talking about how there’s a moral component to the abortion argument that needed to be addressed. Again, I haven’t listened to the debate, but it sounds like “I’m pro-choice, but…”
Abortion:
Yeah, it comes down to bodily autonomy. There are other facets of the issue, but that’s the deal breaker.
I read parts of that thread yesterday, and wow… Couldn’t get to the end.
rq:
I hate to break this to you, but the USA is the center of the world. Everything else is a distant tenth. So it’s actually 2:06 am. That is all that matters.
/just realized it’s my turn to wear the Snark Hat.
rq
The cat gives up the heating pad on her schedule.
The pattern has not yet been understood by … us.
I hypothesize that it has to do with that little square of sunshine moving across the room divided or multiplied by the number of times the furnace kicks in.
Beatrice:
I know exactly what you mean. After dealing with nolajim for the last few days, I didn’t have the energy to slog through that entire thread (I got through maybe a quarter of it; thankfully it’s not 650+ comments long).
Does anyone have a cat that chases laser pointers?
Cassie goes crazy for one. When Kayta was younger, she would as well.
My dog, Krystal, and E’s dog, Sham, love chasing the laser pointer, or even the tight beam setting on a mag light.
Tony
HA!!! All that prim, pure propriety didn’t do you much good, now, did it!! Ha. You got the Snark Hat. Yeah. And the correct time is – 10.12!!!
And yeah, I closed that tab. Do not want to be going through it now, or probably ever, again.
chigau
Cats and abstract mathematics. They have an equation for going out on the balcony, too – something with degrees outside, degrees inside, how long they want to be out there, and how busy you are on the inside. (Currently mine is trying to convince me he wants in. I don’t believe it for one moment.)
My cat chases shadows and light reflections (from iPods, watches, etc.). We don’t own a laser pointer, but I’m pretty sure he’d go for it.
Is this sick or what?
Brian Lynchebaum is a perfectly nice guy, I’m sure. But he really needs to deal with his martyr complex.
Beatrice
Do I want to know?
And then I went to see.
And I saw an article here in Latvia about clothing exploiting this sick book. Text on newborn onesie: “Nine months ago, my mommy read 50 Shade of Grey.”
Because daddy doesn’t get laid unless mommy reads smut.
Right? :P
(I could prove them wrong, but…)
SallyStrange
I see what you mean.
I generally really like the stuff he writes, but this time around, he’s sounding like one of Beatrice’s Patheos Catholic apologist links on the dr. Halappanavar thread.
rq,
I got that link from Jennifer Armintrout’s recaps of 50 shades .
In a comment she writes:
Call from AllOut for signatures on a petition to drop new anti-gay law in Nigeria:
http://www.allout.org/en/actions/nigeria-veto?akid=949.12914.cKG98e&=&=&=&=&=&=&rd=1&t=4&utm_campaign=nigeria-veto&utm_content=english&utm_medium=email&utm_source=actionkit
(sorry for the big clumsy url …)
Fuck, I just read part of the choice/forced birther thread on Reasonable Doubts (couldn’t stomach all of it) and now I feel sick. Fucking fucking bastards. I want their bone marrow right now.
Also, Beatrice, you know what else bothers me about that onesie? The privilege attached to it – the implied ‘fuck you’ to all those women, whose husbands are dominating bastards like Christian Gray (so telling that his name is Christian, no?), against their wills, like it’s suddenly glam to be abused. :(
Fine, read the book, like it, but seriously? Don’t put it on your kid’s shirt.
Yeah, there are layers of stupidity there. I haven’t read the books, just Jennifer’s excerpts and commentary, but the whole described relationship seems seriously abusive and unhealthy. It’s weird how people don’t realize that.
Because it’s romantic and pushing the boundaries, no doubt. I haven’t read the books either; perhaps we shouldn’t judge.
Can you link me her blog?
http://jenniferarmintrout.blogspot.com/
Links to all recaps at the top.
We should judge. We should most definitely judge.
Ooh, I got a google adult-content warning for that blog!! Should be good!
:)
Ok, I read a bit, and I’m ready to judge.
Also, in that last post, I’m so glad I finished my tea before watching this (gratuitously sharing with everyone, but it’s from Jennifer Armintrout’s blog.
Otherwise I would be cleaning the computer right now.
rq,
I lost a couple of nights of sleep, reading all the recaps. ALthough, I started a while ago, so there wasn’t as much to catch up to.
Eating or drinking while reading them isn’t recommended. You’ll probably make a mess.
There was also a spider post Portia would freak out about, after she stopped rolling around laughing.
She’s an excellent writer. Definitely entertaining reading, and I’ll have to go through them all. How can I not???
Man. Yeah, not going to read the books now!
Also, the main character hates horses. Who does that remind me of? :D
jessica,
We have the start of a list here:
http://pharyngula.wikia.com/wiki/Books,_science
Many fans of evolution here, so it’s a bit weighted in that direction.
(Readers are encouraged to add to it, or leave suggestions.)
Pssst Beatrice, did you notice how the phrase ‘My mommy pretends Christian Gray is my daddy’ implies that all these women are having sex with Christian Gray, who they imagine as being their baby-daddies? Grammatically speaking, shouldn’t that phrase be the other way around?
So there’s the 50 Shades way to roast a chicken; here’s the (apparently) Swedish way to make a stew.
Sally
At the moment he’s sounding like a perfectly Nice Guy™
A soulless fruit fly is more dangerous than a traditional ghost.
http://www.gocomics.com/getfuzzy/2012/11/16
“but the whole described relationship seems seriously abusive and unhealthy”
Since when do literary reviewers care about reality?
Hello everybody,
I am a new user here although I have been reading FtB for a long time. I would like to know if it’s appropriate to post links to petitions and things on this thread? I’m involved in something at the moment and would really like to get lots of support.
Thank you.
I read the blurb on the back cover of the fifty flavours of crap book once (well I was stuck waiting hours at an airport, I had to read something). Quite enough to confirm that I won’t be reading that pile of dreck. I’ll stick to some decent m/m, preferably with plenty of laughs, action and hot sex, for my light reading, ta.
HI Have a Balloon
Sure you can. People will or won’t look at it according to their whims, but it’s considered fine to leave the flyers on the metaphorical table
Any recommendations?
Beatrice, I think Allegiance by Heather Domin is pretty good – it’s got two out of my three ;) (action and sex but no laughs to speak of; set in the Irish Civil War in 1920s Dublin). Available as a free download (sort of a promo for her work, I suppose), though I can’t remember off the top of my head where – let me know if you can’t find it and I’ll try to track back). Lots of fanfiction, of course, with gems if you search – but I find this does rather depend on one being into the fandom in the first place. Do you care for the film The Sting at all? Got a fanfic rec there. Otherwise my fictional affections are rather Brit-based, so might not resonate particularly. :)
How about you, any recs? :-D
Dammit I hate door-to-door salespeople. I am incapable of just saying no and kicking them off the apartment-step.
Hate it.
At least I don’t get flustered anymore.
Right, off to run errands. Read you all later –
Once again, wakefulness after four hours of sleep…
That’s been the norm for me since the sciatica hit. Can’t stay comfortable in bed for a full night.
It has, however, resulted in a whole bunch of interesting, sometimes insane, dreams. This time I was following a line of people out to see some sort of gigantic “demonstration.” No more detail than that. Whatever it was, it was happening out over the water in Coos Bay. The weird part: apparently I was the only person in the world who couldn’t walk underwater. I had to swim; it was hard because I don’t swim well, either, and my foot was cramping up (the one that hurts a bit in real life. Several recent dreams had “explanations” for why my foot hurt).
A few nights ago I dreamed about trying to hide from Japanese soldiers who had evidently invaded and were occupying the U.S.
#418 Tony the issue isn’t complicated at all. If you are ever in a position to have one let us know how you made your decision. Or not.
opposablethumbs ,
I’ve mostly waded through fanfiction. There are gems, but generally… *shudder*
And yeah, you pretty much have to be into the fandom to like something. Although, if the story is well written, I guess not knowing anything about the characters would make it seem like any unknown fictional story, where you don’t have any preconceptions.
I haven’t seen The Sting, I think. but it looks like something really worth watching, so I’m taking a movie recommendation from this. :)
opposablethumbs,
Oh, and thanks for the other recommendation too.
Recommending fanfics is difficult since everyone’s threshold for authors playing loose with canon character personalities varies. And sometimes depends on the fandom, or general writing skills of the author.
Sally, thanks for linking to that thread. You made me laugh:
nice clarification.
rq
Half of Latvia belonged to Sweden after the German Order buggered off, so we get kudos for everything good ever done by a Latvian :-)
“(supposedly, the story of Crocodile Dundee is based on a Latvian exile living in the wilds of Australia who once accidentally wrestled a crocodile)”
And John Rambo has a Swedish-emigrant name (comes from Ram-bo homestead in Sweden) to we take credit for all the fictional heroics he ever did.
But we will have nothing to do with Grover Norquist, or with wossname, that old bugger who made a 15-year-old black maid pregnant and then led the Dixiecrats and was an ultrareactionary senator into old age (my brain has even rejected the memory of his name, he was that odious).
For some reason, the terrain where Swedes settled in North America has given rise to a lot of reactionary wankers. Radon in the ground creating mutations?
— — — — — — —
Setar,
please do not stay away!
birgerjohansson
You get only half the kudos for anything ever done by a Latvian. :)
Regarding “50 shades of…”
If you want to read about bizarre sex, just read Philip José Farmer’s “A Feast Unknown” about the secret life of Tarzan, and his struggles against The Nine, the secret cabal that rules the Earth.
I think Farmer set out to break as many taboos as possible in that novel. The sequel, “Lord of the Trees & The Mad Goblin” is more tame.
For some reason, the terrain where Swedes settled in North America has given rise to a lot of reactionary wankers. Radon in the ground creating mutations?
Nah. Sweden sent its reactionary wankers away so that they wouldn’t mess up things for the rest of Sweden. Unfortunately, it didn’t end so well for the receiving colony…
If the quality of writing is any better than 50 Shades…, it might be worth a try.
Hello, all.
Happy Friday.
Have I mentioned today that I really don’t like to dream? Well, that’s not true. I dream of not dreaming. I dream of not feeling broken. I dream of not screwing up and hurting others. But that’s a different shade of dream.
50 Shades of Ogvorbis?
(Hello.)
Beatrice
http://www.amazon.com/Man-String-Maureen-Tanya-Waller/dp/1612048811
read that book, no idea if it’s any good but my cousin wrote it (havn’t gotten around to getting it yet)
And all of them dead grey.
I refuse to believe that.
Ogvorbis,
All I know about you is what I read here, but I don’t think I’m wrong when I say that you are a much better person than you see yourself as.
I might even say that I include you in the list of “those really brilliant people from Pharyngula”. Admittedly, that is a pretty long list. ;)
Has anyone heard from Happiestsadist or Ms Daisy Cutter?
Sorry into interrupt the proceedings with something a bit serious –
PETITION TO DISINVITE JULIAN ASSANGE FROM THE CAMBRIDGE UNION
Some background:
For those who don’t know, the Cambridge Union is the University of Cambridge debating society. It is an old, respected and prestigious institution. It regularly invites well-known speakers from all over the world to come and speak in the Union chamber, and these events draw huge audiences.
In March 2011, the Union invited Julian Assange to speak, just four months after he was put under house arrest after being accused of sexual assault.
In March 2012, Dominique Strauss-Kahn was invited to the Union to speak, the day after International Women’s Day, despite the ongoing rape proceedings against him in the US. The Cambridge Women’s Campaign petitioned the Union to disinvite DSK, asking instead for them to give a voice and a platform to survivors of rape and sexual assault. This did not end well. The ‘censorship’ and ‘free speech’ arguments were had.
Julian Assange has now been invited back to give a speech via video link. The Women’s Campaign is now appealing this decision, asking the Union to please consider how their repeated invitations to alleged rapists undermines the testimony of rape survivors. More explanation if you follow the link.
They are hoping to get as many signatures as possible on this petition to the Union.
I am not sure whether people from outside the UK can sign (please try!), but I know there are a lot of British people on Pharyngula and I hope you will consider signing this petition.
Thank you!
As an additional exception to my general aversion to the boiling of things cellulosic, I was reminded by contributors to yesterday’s Thread™ that stew is also an acceptable situation under which veggies may be immersed in hot water (tho’ not necessarily boiling), so I’m currently doing one of those.
… tho’ it’s also technically hot beer, as I started with that as the original base…
And this will be a slow simmer for the whole day. And in the end I’m likely to use like half a dozen spices as the mood takes me and as the developing flavour suggests, on top of caramelized onions and so on, so this is still a long way from the ‘turn it to flavourless paste in a stovetop autoclave’ school of veggies in hot water.
And Og, I know ‘buck up’ probably isn’t a whole lot of help most of the time, but still, y’know, buck up…
Or hang in. I guess. Do you have someone meatspace and maybe even qualified/credentialed in issues psychological to talk to, even? I’m sorry if I’m repeating a suggestion already been done or asking for repetition of anything you’ve already told, as a semi-intermittent type observer, here.
And Porsche, I can offer no help with poison ivy. I feel bad even mentioning it. It’s one of those purple cow things, y’know? Don’t think about it. But if that were the order, I shouldn’t have even mentioned it…
Ah. Right. Distraction…
Sayyyy… Portia, umm… totally out of the blue and à propos of nothing, The Hobbit is coming out soon. You into Tolkien? ‘Cos, you know… ummm… The Hobbit…
roll your own asteroid collision with earth
http://www.purdue.edu/impactearth/
Jesus. I could have burned the kitchen down. I had finished frying some sardines for lunch and came back here.
I just now went back to the kitchen and noticed that something smelled of burning – I had left the stove on, with the pan with oil still on.
And I’m generally a bit paranoid about turning off the stove – checking it twice every evening before going to sleep, and always before going out even if I didn’t cook anything.
I think I’ll start checking three times now.
*shudder*
Anyway, with that undramatic and unorchestrated note, I sign off for the weekend; going to the Place of No Internets, complete with wood-burning heating, no real kitchen, and a freezing bathroom with, at least, some running water.
I don’t want to go, but I can’t get out of it, and besides… Well, besides. It must be done.
It’s just annoying to have to go places where one feels uncomfortable, and where one’s Husband puts on Different Persona.
Ech.
Back late Monday/early Tuesday.
A good weekend to all, smiles and hugs to Ogvorbis, and happy reading to Beatrice, cicely, opposablethumbs, and everyone else I forgot!
Beatrice
Don’t worry, after a few incidents of my own, I’m now paranoid. Part and parcel of being a housewife, didntchaknow!
So, I add a HAPPY AND SAFE COOKING to all of those engaging in that activity over the next few days.
Good morning everybody.
I hate missing out on the conversations while I sleep, but I like waking up to giggle at the silliness that took place overnight :)
AJ:
No worries, you didn’t undistract me, it’s hard to ignore when it’s starting to climb up my face! :)
As for Tolkien, yes. I’m excited for The Hobbit. I read all the books as a kid, so it’s been a while. I even tried to read The Silmarillion, but Jebus, it’s as bad as Deuteronomy (which, incidentally, I did read in a childish bout of devoutness).
I’m also excited for Lincoln, though I don’t think I’ll see it tonight on opening day.
-===-
Have you all heard about the “anti-jihad” ads on Chicago buses? They are apparently the work of the people who claimed the Manhattan rec center was a “victory mosque.”
-===-
I’m off to hang out with my favorite Mormon and her adorable toddler, talk to you all later!
rq
I hope your weekend is somehow brightened and better than expected : ( Take care.
Good(?) morning. I just locked myself out of my car with it running, at the grocery store. I have no money in the bank, but they let me write a bad check and they swear they aren’t going to try to cash it until next week, but we’ll see how that goes. And all I was there to get was eggs, and I didn’t even get them.
Sorry I missed all the fun last night/times zones east of me. I don’t care about hobbits, whoever Sally is angry is at probably doesn’t deserve more than 90%-ish but we don’t get a good quality of troll anymore, try not to set fire to anything unintentionally, and fuck Julian Assange.
I have to confess I’m pretty excited about The Hobbit, too. It was one of those totally forgot it was supposed to somewhere around here, and then I saw an ad somewhere like yesterday, and realized, oh, wow, that’s like in only four weeks now. Cool!
So, yeah, this is good.
I also read The Silmarillion. Scarier still, I actually kinda liked bits of it*. I’m not sure what this says about me. I’m also, in fairness, not sure if I’d feel the same way if I attempted it again, mind… that has to be (mumble) decades ago now. I sometimes wonder if I could somehow meet myself as a teenager, if we’d really have that much to talk to each other about.
(/*But still, you know, not a geek. Nuh uh!)
rq,
Seconding Portia and hoping that husband reins his Different Persona in for you.
Joe,
I assume you solved the car problem?
—
AJ Milne,
I also remember liking (parts of) Silmarillion. Don’t feel ashamed, you’re not alone.
this guy not anti-abortion per se but just against it for the rest of us I guess
http://www.ajc.com/ap/ap/social-issues/tenn-gop-congressmans-wife-had-2-abortions/nS7Nk/
broboxley:
Yes, but those were necessary abortions. Not like all those poor people at the abortaplex.
Notice how he keeps using that word ‘choice’? For him and his women, it is a choice.
east highschool fashion show
http://www.adn.com/2012/11/15/2694182/native-heritage-month-fashion.html#wgt=rcntmulti#emlnl=Morning_Newsletter