Re: Atlantic Redesign

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Huh. Coates's looks pretty different from Sullivan's, which seems largely the same (in terms of the amount of text placed before a jump). Don't make me look at McMegan's.


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 10:18 AM
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Oh, I hadn't checked Sullivan yet, just Coates.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 10:19 AM
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I want the judge to slam your annoying pro se person.


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 10:23 AM
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I have hopes. My office has been full of horrible boxes and boxes of paper relating to her case for two years now (most of my cases are one-redweld (those big reddish expandable folders) deals). Being able to send those back to the client would make me very happy.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 10:25 AM
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||
Olivia Wilde aka 13 aka The Hot Chick from House is the daughter of Andrew and Leslie Cockburn (niece of Alexander Cockburn, and related to all the rest of that clan of Irish writers). Who knew?
|>


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 10:32 AM
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Re: The Atlantic Redesign -- I hate it, but it won't change my habits.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 10:34 AM
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"Something about the 'one sentence teaser, click through for the post' format is just more trouble than I'm willing to go to."

Likewise. I pretty much stopped reading Tbogg when he/she moved to Firedoglake, precisely for this reason.


Posted by: Ginger Yellow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 10:43 AM
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Who knew?

GQ readers. (A former resident of my house didn't bother to change his subscription address.)


Posted by: Laine | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 10:46 AM
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The ideal format for a blog is all of the material above the fold unless the piece is long, and when you click "Read More" the post unfolds as part of the front page, so you can scroll up to the post above and down to the one below. Non of this click to read a single post and then when you want to read the next one you have to sit and wait for the same old rubbish ads and decoration to download. Also the now ubiquitous "share this" link should require an actual click to pop up a window - this bollocks where just accidentally moving your mouse over the link pops up something that blocks the stuff you're interested in is bloody annoying.

Finally, anyone who puts anything on their page that automatically starts playing when the page is loaded should be shot.


Posted by: togolosh | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:00 AM
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- this bollocks where just accidentally moving your mouse over the link pops up something that blocks the stuff you're interested in is bloody annoying.

Tell me about it. A whole bunch of websites I read have recently started doing this and it drives me nuts.


Posted by: Ginger Yellow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:03 AM
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10: Yeah, I've been fiddling with a wordpress blog, and you can turn that preview feature-bug off. But I keep wondering: who the fuck wants it on in the first place?


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:07 AM
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Yep. Fallows is the only one that I'll click through for. Coates was mostly interesting, but not enough for all that back-and-forth.

I think the one-sentence lead may disadvantage Coates. He does a nice build-up to an interesting conclusion in long pieces, but I don't always know that I'm intrigued until the second or third paragraph. (Hey, he IS going to land this thing. Good one!)


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:10 AM
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The really annoying thing about the preview pop ups is that they take just as long to load as the actual page they are linking to. What's the point of a preview if it isn't quicker that the view?


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:14 AM
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Oh, I kinda like the preview. Saves me from clicking over if I can tell there isn't a new post.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:14 AM
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OMG. Remember when people used to argue about full text in RSS feeds? Now we have to worry about full text on the actual home page? Too annoying for words.


Posted by: Yawnoc | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:15 AM
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But I keep wondering: who the fuck wants it on in the first place?

When Wordpress initially introduced it they turned it on by default (sort of a smaller-scale version of the Buzz debacle). It was very annoying.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:27 AM
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There's a reason I don't read Spackerman enough. I click through on links, glance at other stuff but can't stand the one sentence 'read more' posts. Unless you're Glenn Greenwald most of your posts should be up in full text. Also, the FoE readmore style is much better. Shorter me: what everybody else said.


Posted by: teraz kurwa my | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:31 AM
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I read all blogs (including this one) from Google Reader, so I don't see those pages at all...or, uh, any of them, because they renamed their rss feeds without a polite announcement at the old address. Unless that's coming. Anyway.

(Yes, I then open the full page to see comments.)


Posted by: DonBoy | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:33 AM
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I don't *see* pop ups.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:35 AM
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14: Megan (1) likes the preview thing (2) hates wine (3) thinks California's not insane (4) hates puns.

It's becoming evident she's right only about the couches thing and wrong in all non-couch instances.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:41 AM
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She's also wrong about the couch thing.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:41 AM
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18: That's who I was feeling guilty about not reading -- I was trying to remember which blog I should care about that I don't read at all because of the format, and it's Spack.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:41 AM
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It's becoming evident she's right only about the couches thing and wrong in all non-couch instances.

Careful, she is also excellent at holding grudges.


Posted by: CJB | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:42 AM
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21: The Divan Miss M.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:43 AM
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Tbogg when he/she

He.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:45 AM
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21: I'm holding out judgment until I hear her opinions on nonstick cookware, Fat Tire Brewing Company, stand mixers, and whether having a famous chef spend five minutes scattering dessert all over the tablecloth is an experience worth paying a lot of money for. Oh, and also the phrase "mom jeans".


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:45 AM
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3) I think California is working under an insane system, if that helps.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:46 AM
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Megan is the anti-heebie!


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:46 AM
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Teo is wrong about the wrongness of Megan about the couch thing.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:47 AM
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M/tch is wrong about the wrongness of teo regarding the wrongness of Megan about couches.

Unless teo links to an xkcd about it, in which case I'll withdraw my support.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:48 AM
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I think comment 30 should be sung to the tune of "there's a wart on the frog on bump on the log in the hole at the bottom of the sea . . .".


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:48 AM
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M/tch is wrong about New Belgium Brewing Company, starting with its name. I don't care about the rest of the stuff in 27.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:49 AM
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Well, not-working under an insane system.

Want to hear something even more crazy? A judge ruled our furloughs were illegal. There's lots more wrangling to be done, but we might get back pay. I fucking loved the furloughs, and getting back pay for them would make "embarrassment of riches" very accurate.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:49 AM
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Fat Tire Brewing Company

You mean New Belgium?


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:51 AM
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Megan is the anti-heebie!

heebie's wrong about couches? I thought she was wrong only about that left-turn thing.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:51 AM
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31: This seems like the most appropriate one, although it's still not particularly relevant.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:52 AM
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"Also, the FoE readmore style is much better. "

The Fistful readmore style doesn't result in extra page views, so it's unlikely to be adopted anywhere else.

I suppose the one sentence teaser thing is meant to give even more page views, but I have to believe it's counterproductive.


Posted by: David Weman | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:53 AM
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What are M/tch's opinions regarding New Belgium? I dig New Belgium. But I don't particularly care for Fat Tire.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:54 AM
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What are M/tch's opinions regarding New Belgium?

He's agin' it.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:55 AM
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I don't like beer any more than I like wine. I presume it is the same deficiency in taste buds.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:57 AM
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37: One link closer to the link re-directing script. I meant to discuss strategies on this with you at the meetup, but more pressing matters came up.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:57 AM
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Where is Megan on the right to arm bears?

http://raincoaster.com/2008/08/18/fair-warning-bear-warning/


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:57 AM
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Since I do most of my reading on the iPhone, any blog with promiscuous previewing that demands clicking out of my RSS reader app to the site through Safari is pretty much a deal-breaker for me.


Posted by: Criminally Bulgur | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:58 AM
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I don't even taste buds.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:58 AM
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I don't care about the rest of the stuff in 27.

I'm not soliciting your opinion, wrong person.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:01 PM
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Agin' New Belgium? Agin' La Folie? The Transatlantique Kriek? 1554? Bah.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:02 PM
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I will attempt to distract neb from the link by basically agreeing with him about New Belgium/Fat Tire. I definitely prefer 1554 and Abbey among New Belgium beers. The nice thing about Fat Tire, though, is that it's very widely available, at least in NM, and considerably better than most of the other offerings at many places.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:02 PM
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46: I am aware.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:03 PM
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What is the deal with Fat Tire? I'd rather drink a Bud, and that's saying something, since I'm all about Long Hammer and Surly Furious these days..


Posted by: Chopper | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:04 PM
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I'm not against New Belgium. I like what they're trying to do, and I want to like them, but almost all of their beers are disappointing. I tried the Transatlantique Kriek a week or two ago. For the price, it's just not very interesting or good, and I love krieks. Would not buy again. Their Trippel isn't bad, but not worth seeking out specially. And that wood-aged one they came out with this year was interesting, but again not something I would ever crave or specifically seek out.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:06 PM
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Bears Discover Fire is a great story. Ties in nicely with the post on shuffling off.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:06 PM
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The Atlantic still has blogs?


Posted by: fake accent | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:09 PM
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For anyone who has access to but has not yet tried the Real Ale Brewing Company's latest seasonal (Phoenix Double IPA), it's really good. And I'm not generally a huge fan of the trend of the last few years of Imperializing (i.e. amping up the hops and alcohol content) every known beer style. Phoenix is big and rich and hoppy, but also very nicely balanced and just plain delicious.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:10 PM
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I thought the kriek was pretty interesting, actually; most of the other krieks I've had have either been extremely sour or oversweetened, and I thought it was nicely cherry-y and dry and kind of funky.

Of course, I only paid $3 for it.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:11 PM
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You know what beer is surprisingly good and uncharacteristically not-stupidly-hopocalyptic despite its origin brewery? Sierra Nevada's (ridiculously named) Glissade.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:11 PM
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18, 23 - ditto. Make it a pain to read your opinions and I won't.

I suspect that 38 is correct and it frosts my nads. Nads: Frosted. Dammit!


Posted by: togolosh | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:14 PM
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Also: the local beer shop is on about barleywine of late. Not really a fan, but maybe I'm missing something or haven't tried the right one.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:22 PM
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I suppose the one sentence teaser thing is meant to give even more page views, but I have to believe it's counterproductive.

Depending on what metrics they use, they might be just fine with losing some readers if the page views go up from the ones who stay.


Posted by: fake accent | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:24 PM
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Barleywines have pretty variable flavor profiles.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:27 PM
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55: I haven't been able to find a kriek I like very much over here in the States. Most are too sweet and syrupy. Cantillon is the gold standard for my palate.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:29 PM
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60: That just means they don't always taste the same, right?


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:30 PM
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I think M/tch's problem with New Belgium is that he's accustomed to actual Belgian beers, and in that context NB's offerings are likely to be pretty unimpressive. I'm coming more from the context of restaurants that have three beers on tap: Bud, Bud Light, and Fat Tire.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:31 PM
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M/tch has been to Belgium?


Posted by: fake accent | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:34 PM
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63: Really? I figure it's almostly certainly got something to do with New Belgium's presentation.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:34 PM
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65: Exactly! Around here, the sommelier comes to the table with the bottle of 1554 and then slowly pours and splashes it all over the tablecloth. It's just not my mugga.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:39 PM
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63: It's the hype around New Belgium, mostly. I think this all started when you said something to the effect of "New Belgium, great microbrewery, or greatest microbrewery?" in some ancient thread. Can't find it now though.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:52 PM
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No, no. That's Russian River.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:53 PM
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68 to ?


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:55 PM
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Note that my experience of microbreweries is considerably more limited than many people's. Also, no one should take my opinions on matters of aesthetics or taste at all seriously.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:57 PM
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I was going to say that I don't care about the redesign because I subscribe to Ta-Nehisi in Google Reader, and nothing had changed there. But then I realized that nothing had changed there because the RSS feed had stopped working at the point the redesign took effect. Ah well.


Posted by: k-sky | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 12:58 PM
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69: the claim quoted in 67.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:01 PM
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72: I'm going to need a link before I believe you.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:08 PM
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I've had the La Folie and liked it, but there's only so much of finishing everyone else's glasses from the bottle I can take until the acid buildup in my stomach cries to be set free.

That said, I finally tried Rodenbach brown for the first time. Much easier on the tummy.


Posted by: Mo MacArbie | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:11 PM
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Here, let me google that for you.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:12 PM
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75: Ah, I misunderstood. I thought you were saying that in the old thread teo had claimed that Russian River was perhaps the greatest microbrewery. That wasn't my memory of it, but I couldn't find it, so I was asking for a link to that thread, because I thought you'd found it.

But now I see what you were doing there.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:20 PM
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I am a fan of Rodenbach, but I've never seen it down here in Texas. Some place in Cleveland had it on tap though.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:21 PM
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75: "traditionally aggressively hopped"

Ah yes, the ancient, pre-1998 traditions of California microbreweries.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:26 PM
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OT food question:

Anyone make a killer BBQ sauce that they would recommend? (I'm a philistine so I do expect BBQ sauce to be sweetish.)


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:27 PM
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79: Is there a genre/style of BBQ that you have in mind and are shooting for?


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:32 PM
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80: Pulled Pork. Guess that would have helped.

Also, I know it's terrible (feel free to lecture!), but when it comes to bottled beer I almost always prefer Sierra Nevada Pale Ale to most everything else available cheaply at my grocery. (Except for Mendocino Brewing beers - Red Tail is my preferred every day bottled beer.) There's something about its reliability in the bottle that is perfect for me and my limited beer palate. However, when it comes to on tap there are about 20 other beers at the very least that I would choose before it.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:38 PM
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Great story, Megan.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:39 PM
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81.1: I've never made pulled pork so can't help.

81.2: I don't think that's terrible. I appreciate the reliability of Sierra Nevada too, and it's pretty widely available so is a good go-to beer when buying from a supermarket or the like.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:42 PM
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||

Termagant: not a kind of bird! Who knew? And why do gaps in vocabulary seem like a more telling indicator of ignorance than gaps in any other sort of general knowledge?

|>


Posted by: Gabardine Bathyscaphe | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:42 PM
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81.1 revisited: well, I could make a suggestion about what pork to use, but . . . I won't.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:44 PM
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77: Yeah, I only saw Rodenbach here for the first time abut an hour before I drank it. Heard about it forever. Before 1998 even.

81: Have you tried Sierra's Torpedo Ale yet? You're right, reliability is a big issue in the bottles. Sierra Nevada does a good job, but the Pale Ale seems a shadow of it's former (before 1998) self.


Posted by: Mo MacArbie | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:45 PM
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And why do gaps in vocabulary seem like a more telling indicator of ignorance than gaps in any other sort of general knowledge?

A lot of people feel that vocabulary is a very good indicator. That's why SATs and related aptitude tests continue to look a lot like vocabulary tests, even while other tests of general knowledge are rejected as being culturally biased.


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:45 PM
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No, no. That's Russian River.

Pliny the Elder is one of the greatest beers ever. New Belgium's Ranger IPA is pretty good, for New Belgium.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:48 PM
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84: What is the name of the bird we are confusing with this?


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:48 PM
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Ptarmigan.


Posted by: Gabardine Bathyscaphe | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:49 PM
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79: Regarding BBQ sauce, my mom swears by The Patio in Chicagoland(!) and buys copious amounts of their sauce whenever she visits. Bear in mind: what the fuck does anyone from Chicago (including my sainted mum) know about BBQ sauce?


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:49 PM
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Not "confusing with", exactly. Just reasoning in a wholly unjustified phonology recapitulates phylogeny sort of way.


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:50 PM
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Have you tried Sierra's Torpedo Ale yet? You're right, reliability is a big issue in the bottles. Sierra Nevada does a good job, but the Pale Ale seems a shadow of it's former (before 1998) self.

I haven't - I'll get some when next I run out of beer. And I couldn't legally drink in 1998* so I'm afraid I've only ever known the pale shadow that is Pale Ale today.

*Of course, this does not mean that I never drank in 1998, but it does mean that my choices were limited to the sorts of things poor high schoolers drink.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:51 PM
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88: There's a cocktail at Hearth in NYC called "Pliny the Elder," but it is, you know, a cocktail made with St. Germaine.


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:52 PM
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90: Thanks! The dreaded silent "p".

92: I should have said "I" not "we" in 89.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:53 PM
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84: I feel your pain. For some reason I cannot keep the meaning of the word "risible" available - nearly every time I encounter it I either figure it out from context or look it up.


Posted by: togolosh | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:54 PM
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92: It does sound like any number of birds, in fairness. I knew the correct definition and I still associate it with birds as well.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:54 PM
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the sorts of things poor high schoolers drink.

Ah, freshman year of high school, when my lips first met the taste of a piña colada Slurpee™ doused with shitty rum, followed by a can of Icehouse. *shudder*


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:55 PM
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||

Embarrassment narrowly avoided watch: the company at which I am doing some work is moving. They have rented moving crates from a company that I guess donates some of the proceeds from the rental to breast cancer research. Therefore, all of the crates are pink. They are stacked in an already narrow hallway, leaving only enough room for one person to pass at a time. As I let one of the women from accounting (who was headed in the opposite direction) pass before I entered the hall with the crates, I just barely stopped my self from saying, brightly "tight fit in the pink tunnel, eh?"

|>


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:55 PM
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50: since I'm all about Long Hammer and Surly Furious these days..

I'm not sure about this Odinist beer, but did you know that we have Surly Furious on tap at [place where I work] now for $3 a pint during happy hour? And only $5 non-happy hour? You should stop in soon!


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:56 PM
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81: I once made "The Renowned Mr Brown" from Smoke & Spice and was surprised how nicely it was complemented by the recommended vinegar sauce, though I usually prefer sweet-ish tomato-based sauces (here's the recipes). I also once made a sweet-ish tomato-based sauce from Smoke & Spice and didn't think it was much better than what I usually buy in a bottle.

As far as bottled sauces are concerned, I think Spicy KC Masterpiece is totally fine. My current favorite Bone Suckin' Sauce.


Posted by: Yawnoc | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:56 PM
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Ah high school. I suppose the younger among us missed out on Meister Brau entirely. Lucky bastards.


Posted by: Mo MacArbie | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:58 PM
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84: I knew the word and its meaning, but also associate it with birds, like Paren. Also, I just now noticed that it has two a's and only one e, instead of the other way around. I don't think I've ever written it myself or even said it, just read it.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 1:58 PM
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101: Thanks for the recommendations.

And thanks to Stanley too!


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:01 PM
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Also: termagant -> shrew -> IT'S MOLE!


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:01 PM
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99: "tight fit in the pink tunnel, eh?"

A former supervisor was not so lucky when she, in a mixed-gender meeting about reassigning desks, which included handy, lettered seating charts of the area to be rearranged, said "Oh, just put him in any one of those 'G' spots". And then she found $5. And she was semi-notorious for having had an affair with a much younger cow-orker. So yeah.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:02 PM
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97, 103: this is comforting. Especially 97, given Paren's level of bird-knowledge. Out of curiosity, what other bird names does it summon for you?


Posted by: Gabardine Bathyscaphe | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:05 PM
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||
Unfogged dream last night: There was some kind of glitch in the site's code, and to fix it, Nosflow had to change something so that everyone's real name was displayed with their comments. Hilarity and chagrin ensued.
||>


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:09 PM
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Thanks, CCarp. I always liked how gentle and matter-of-fact it is.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:09 PM
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Does () have a position on Moose Drool?


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:11 PM
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Ah, so that's why Google Reader suddenly swelled by 50 posts, all TNC's.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:12 PM
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107: Sea birds, mostly - Gannets, Terns, Brants*, Cormorants. No idea why, since obviously they are not all that close to termagant, but I always imagine a bird somewhere close to these ones when I hear the word.

*Not quite a sea bird, but rather a goose that likes the shore.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:13 PM
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Termagant: not a kind of bird! Who knew?

Not me.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:14 PM
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110: The first time I had Moose Drool, it was bottled (and I think rather old - not quite skunked but not tasting great either), and I managed to get food poisoning on the same day. It was hard to overcome that first encounter but I did have it on tap in Missoula and enjoyed it. You all have some fantastic bars.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:14 PM
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108- Opinionated Grandma's long-secret identity was finally revealed to be Mrs. Ethel G. Bennimeyer of Cleveland, Ohio. Much to her chagrin.


Posted by: briefly visible | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:20 PM
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108: I also had a dream about an Unfogged glitch last night, which had something to do with neb writing a script to rewrite and mock random comments that started accidentally posting them to the front page instead. It... wasn't the most coherent or interesting dream I've ever had.

I think this means I need to spend less time here.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:23 PM
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PLEASE TAKE THAT COMMENT DOWN RIGHT AWAY IT IS PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO ARE RUINING PRIVACY


Posted by: OPINIONATED GRANDMA | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:24 PM
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Just yesterday I found myself saying "Maaaximum respect" to some confused soul.


Posted by: Eggplant | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:25 PM
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Sea birds, mostly - Gannets, Terns, Brants*, Cormorants.

Also "Trogon".


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:26 PM
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I recently had an anxiety dream about an irritating case I'm working on that involved all the Unfogged lawyers milling about watching me screw up.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:26 PM
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Elegant Trogons are gorgeous. Not a sea bird, though, so it doesn't fit with my strange association.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:27 PM
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I think what adds to the confusion is that "termagant" is usually encountered in really old texts that sometimes have funny spellings or archaic forms of words anyway, so it's not unreasonable to assume it's an old way of writing "ptarmigan", like, I dunno, "ourang-outang" for "orangutan".

Or maybe I'm just making excuses because I, too, had no idea what "termagant" actually meant until today.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:28 PM
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Trogdor.
Permanganate.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:40 PM
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I continue to think that bird names are the great untapped treasure-trove of online pseuds. Inaccesible Island Rail was the greatest pseud ever. I am still mad that Parenthetical didn't go with the far superior "Ouzel" option. I realize no one else shares this view.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:47 PM
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The inability to remember dreams is something I've never regretted.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:48 PM
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There's no Google hit for "Madonna of the Permanganate", sadly.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:48 PM
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I like when they name streets in alphabetical order, with a theme. Birds are as good a theme for a neighborhood as any.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:50 PM
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124: Emerson shared your view. And I like it. I'm saving it for my next online iteration. (Really, I just thought everyone would be rather frustrated if I chose one thing and then immediately switched again. And by everyone, I mean LB.)


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:51 PM
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The other thing is that you can get from virago-sense to bird-sense very easily: termagant > harpy > ptarmigan. Though looking at pictures of ptarmigans, they look too nearly spherical to be all about the ripping talons; you might want an intermediate step between rapacious bird-woman and this fellow.


Posted by: Gabardine Bathyscaphe | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:51 PM
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I continue to think that bird names are the great untapped treasure-trove of online pseuds. Inaccesible Island Rail was the greatest pseud ever. I am still mad that Parenthetical didn't go with the far superior "Ouzel" option. I realize no one else shares this view.

I was thinking about adopting the persona of bluff Edwardian adventurer Ruddy Turnstone.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:55 PM
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The good thing about bird names for things like streets or pseuds is that there are such a huge number of them. I suspect that Apple Computer is regretting the decision to go with big cats for OS names - we're about two revisions away from OS X 10.x: Really Fat Tabby.

Of course the true treasure trove of thematic names is bacteria.


Posted by: togolosh | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 2:59 PM
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We could have a Switch Your Pseud Day the first Thursday of every month (or something like that), with a different theme each month. March's SYP Day Theme would be birdnames.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:02 PM
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There's an Ousel Peak in the Great Bear Wilderness (near Glacier), and that is the older spelling. If you're ever seized with the need to make a change, maybe S rather than Z.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:03 PM
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131: Bacteria for April then!


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:04 PM
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Back to the OP -- LB commented on Na-Tehisi's site.

I guess she decided the site wasn't that big of a pain.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:04 PM
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But bacteria names haven't got the charm of old common names. Birds and plants (meadowsweet dropwort! powdery live-forever!) may even edge out English villages to win the naming stakes.


Posted by: Gabardine Bathyscaphe | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:05 PM
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(A friend of mine went up it once -- an easy day trip -- and said the view was magnificent).


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:05 PM
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Pity there's no Wry Coot. But really, I think Inaccessible Island Rail is the greatest bird name ever, and cannot possibly be improved on.


Posted by: briefly visible | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:05 PM
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I have to say I agree with 136. Plants for April then!


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:06 PM
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briefly visible, you should totally be Lesser Spotted Gull.


Posted by: Gabardine Bathyscaphe | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:07 PM
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I wanted the computing center at Berkeley to name their computers after STDs.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:08 PM
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Ok, not an easy day hike, but clearly worth doing. When are you coming up, ()?


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:10 PM
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I was fixing on Snail Kite, but that's pretty good too.


Posted by: briefly visible | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:10 PM
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I suspect that Apple Computer is regretting the decision to go with big cats for OS names - we're about two revisions away from OS X 10.x: Really Fat Tabby.

There's plenty of non-big cats for the increasingly minor upgrades. Manul, margay, jaguarundi...


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:10 PM
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135: I really do like Coates -- I figure maybe if I comment, I'll get used to it enough to not let him drop of my radar. And I have thoughts about Paterson.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:11 PM
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145: I "liked" your comment! I also liked it.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:13 PM
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142: Not soon enough. I think for the next few years all of my traveling is going to be work related. I want a major conference to happen there - that would be great.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:13 PM
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Hey, Mütch, when's turtle pseud week? Because, boy, have I got an idea...


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:23 PM
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A lot of people feel that vocabulary is a very good indicator. That's why SATs and related aptitude tests continue to look a lot like vocabulary tests, even while other tests of general knowledge are rejected as being culturally biased.

This is true, and I cop to being one of those people.

At the same time, though, having a large vocabulary is not always viewed as positive. There are definitely situations in which one's social standing goes up by not knowing certain words (and many situations where it goes down if you reveal too great a knowledge of esoteric words).

Vocabulary is one of the particular challenges in doing a public presentation to a socially and cultural diverse audience. In a well-lit room you can make eye contact with enough people in an audience of 150 to be sure they are hearing your message. Beyond that, it gets tricky.

Some presenters can recognize it when a presentation is going sideways, and others can't. I saw one woman pause and reframe when she was talking about parents wanting a child to be "big," sensing that not all of her audience got it, and another who stumbled in trying to convey "hold in abeyance."


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:24 PM
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I saw one woman pause and reframe when she was talking about parents wanting a child to be "big," sensing that not all of her audience got it

???????


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:29 PM
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saw one woman pause and reframe when she was talking about parents wanting a child to be "big," sensing that not all of her audience got it,

This, I'm not getting. What point was she making that escaped her audience?


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:30 PM
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Vocabulary is one of the particular challenges in doing a public presentation to a socially and cultural diverse audience.

Quite.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:30 PM
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Big like make it big, or big like large?


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:36 PM
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Halford and LB are my plants. Thank you, lady and gentleman, for proving my point.

The speaker was the author of this book, and she was trying to communicate the idea that adults who had been raised in slavery wanted their (free) children to be somebody of importance -- to accomplish something in the world. Not to be physically big/strong.

She was doing the presentation in a fairly well-lit room with a middle/upper-middle class audience of white and black Americans (and one single solitary Asian American). The whole thing was a pretty impressive performance of double-checking to make sure the audience was absorbing her narrative.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:38 PM
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||

I don't quite know what to make of this.

|>


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:43 PM
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You know, even as a melanin-deficient American, I'm pretty sure that I would have understood that use of the word "big" in context -- it's fairly common! -- and that, in any event, my failure to do so would not have been a product of not knowing that the term "big" can mean "make it big." But maybe I'm missing the point.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:45 PM
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Every conference on Ousel Peak is major.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:56 PM
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And yet, Southern white people are fatter, and thus bigger. Ironic.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 3:57 PM
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At the same time, though, having a large vocabulary is not always viewed as positive. There are definitely situations in which one's social standing goes up by not knowing certain words (and many situations where it goes down if you reveal too great a knowledge of esoteric words).

Or too great a knowledge of not at all esoteric words, for that matter. IME, depending on who you're talking to in these situations, you can either lose status or sort of move sideways, getting marked as Quite Smart, But Let's Not Invite Her To A Party Any Time Soon---the latter when people value vocabulary as a proxy for aptitude but feel self-conscious about falling short of the mark. I've been surprised by how far into my academic career the latter has persisted.


Posted by: Gabardine Bathyscaphe | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 4:16 PM
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Dumb Southerner defense rejected.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 4:20 PM
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This is true, and I cop to being one of those people.

For me it depends. Are you unfamiliar with a word? Okay, no big deal, here's what it means. Do you confidently and incessantly misuse not-uncommon words? I'M JUDGING YOU RIGHT NOW.


Posted by: Gabardine Bathyscaphe | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 4:22 PM
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161: It's 48 degrees in Missoula right now? You guys are all wearing Hawaiian shirts and doing a little windsurfing, right?


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 4:25 PM
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We'll see 50 next week. The loss of our winter is very serious business: we don't just curse and try to get rid of our snow, but live on it through the summer.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 4:31 PM
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Not quite as good as IIR, but I am fond of "Fulvous-vented Euphonia".


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 4:32 PM
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||

I just screamed, ran across the room, and turned of the radio, because I heard the Marketplace anchor say "With me today is a writer for the Atlantic Monthly, Megan McArdle"

|>


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 4:38 PM
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Sounds like one of those puzzlers" "A man walks into a room turns on the radio and shoots himself. Why?"


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 4:42 PM
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Because he had been mercilessly mocked for a typo in a blog comment earlier in the day and he wanted to muffle the sound of the gunshot.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 4:44 PM
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166: We live in a fallen world, Mr Helpy-Chalk. Yeah, I would have turned off the radio too.

US men's hockey team to play winner of tonight's match (Canada? Slovakia?) for the gold medal.


Posted by: Mary Catherine | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 4:44 PM
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From the Inaccessible Island Rail wiki page, I discover the Ascension Flightless Rail. I would like its species to be funicularis, please.


Posted by: Gabardine Bathyscaphe | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 4:44 PM
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141: at the company I worked at before grad school all of our network printers were named euphemisms for male masturbators. Our file server was named "Mofo."


Posted by: Turgid Jacobian | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 4:49 PM
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For example, we had Yanker, Spanker, Wanker, etc.


Posted by: Turgid Jaco | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 4:53 PM
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Sounds like one of those puzzlers" "A man walks into a room turns on the radio and shoots himself. Why?"

I always find it odd that so many of these puzzles involve violent death.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 4:56 PM
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Like this list. Extremely morbid. And some of them have answers that look like they were thought up by a psychopath.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 5:07 PM
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||
Non-cloying all-star charity single.
|>


Posted by: Mr. Blandings | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 5:14 PM
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||
Huh. Back in the early 80s, I attended summer science camp at Appalachian State with the new White House social secretary.
|>


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 5:17 PM
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174 also suggests suicide is a logically necessary response to most setbacks.


Posted by: k-sky | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 5:28 PM
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156: Right, I didn't meant to imply a simplistic notion that people from X ethnic/class group know this word, and people outside the group don't know it. Just that if a word is not evenly distributed across social groups, a savvy presenter will be paying attention to whether most of her mixed audience is getting it.

Or too great a knowledge of not at all esoteric words, for that matter.

Do you mean slang? That's part of what I was getting at in the first half of my comment. You can alienate a room pretty quickly by knowing the "wrong" kind of slang. I wish I could think now of the most recent example I saw of this....


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 5:30 PM
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178.2: No, I wasn't thinking of slang, though of course it creates the sort of problems you were talking about. More that I've gotten raised eyebrows for using words that I learned in ninth-grade vocabulary lessons, and have been taken aback in turn.


Posted by: Gabardine Bathyscaphe | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 5:41 PM
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There's a federal appellate judge, Bruce Selya, who famously sprinkles his opinions with extremely estoteric words (not just legal jargon, which is specialized but not esoteric language). List here. This could be sort of funny in the abstract, but since part of one's job in writing a judicial opinion is to be clear, it's fairly annoying.

178 makes good sense.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 5:51 PM
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179: Damn! I only got 6. In my defence, I never took Latin or Greek, and am very stupid.

Quite a few lend themselves to alternate definitions:
Decurtate - ten urtates
Dehors - work for Depimps
Exigible - available for divorce
Anent - Treebeard
Gallimaufry - where Doctor Who is from
etc...


Posted by: togolosh | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 6:06 PM
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9 made me think again that togolosh and I share a brain, but 181 convinces me this is not the case. I got zero.

since part of one's job in writing a judicial opinion is to be clear, it's fairly annoying.

One of the things that bothers me most is writers who allow their desire to be clever or quippy to override whether the audience will actually understand them. A movie review, fine. Health and safety instructions? A newspaper article about critical public issues? Booooooooo.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 6:11 PM
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Quite Smart, But Let's Not Invite Her To A Party Any Time Soon

I can't imagine a word the knowledge and use of which would cause one to not be invited to a party. This must be why I keep receiving invitations.


Posted by: Yrruk | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 6:11 PM
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181, 182: What are you referring to? Where is this quiz? I must find out how stupid I am!


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 6:20 PM
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183: It's not like people are actively organizing their guestlists by people's scores on the Selya quiz, but many people have told me that they feel like they need to watch their grammar and vocabulary around me (162.last notwithstanding, this is not true; I can keep a lid on my inner nosflow), which for many people is not conducive to the party funtimes.

Paren: follow Halford's link in 180.


Posted by: Gabardine Bathyscaphe | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 6:21 PM
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Off to beer hour. Will I commit egregious vocabulary missteps? Time will tell!


Posted by: Gabardine Bathyscaphe | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 6:23 PM
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185.2: Ooh, thanks. Yeah, those are bitchy words.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 6:25 PM
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||

I hope y'all ain't missing the great curling final.

Whoot

|>


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 6:27 PM
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||
Just stopped in at my local place and was very pleasantly surprised to find two bottles of Clear Creek's Douglas Fir Eau de Vie in stock. I decided to splurge and buy one. Initial verdict: very nice. I'm not sure it's worth the premium price over their other (extremely excellent) fruit brandies, but I'm not experiencing any buyer's remorse either.
||>


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 6:28 PM
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184: See 180.

I only knew 5. Probably would have figured out a couple more if I had tried to figure out the etymology. Those are awfully obscure words, though. (Except "chiaroscuro". That one doesn't seem very obscure to me, except insofar as its definition relates to obscurity.)


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 6:30 PM
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190.1 super-pwned.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 6:31 PM
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McArdle didn't sound any stranger than any other Marketplace commenter. It's all soundbites and mutual stroking.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 6:31 PM
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I can't imagine a word the knowledge and use of which would cause one to not be invited to a party.

Thant sounds like a challenge. "Mud people" maybe? That's more of a phrase, I suppose. Per a recent discussion at EotAW I imagine that the set of people who know what a phylactery is to be disproportionately anti-social.


Posted by: foolishmortal | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 7:08 PM
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I can't imagine a word the knowledge and use of which would cause one to not be invited to a party.

You don't need "phylactery" for this. Try throwing "risible" around with any kind of frequency and see what happens.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 7:27 PM
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Yeah, I only got five, possibly could have gotten a couple more with patience.


Posted by: Turgid Jacobian | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 7:38 PM
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Try throwing "risible" around with any kind of frequency and see what happens.

Risible, 60 Hertz, donut.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 7:40 PM
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Isthmian is surely not very esoteric, no? There's the Isthmian League, after all.

The rest (apart from chiaroscuro & dehors, which is trivial if one knows' ones' French) but isthmian?


Posted by: Keir | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 8:04 PM
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-'.


Posted by: Keir | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 8:05 PM
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Isthmian is surely not very esoteric, no? There's the Isthmian League, after all.

How many people, even those who are aware of the Isthmian League (what is that, one of the English football leagues seven levels below the top?), know what "isthmian" means?

In fact, I know what an isthmus is, and I have no idea what isthmus in southern England that name refers to. Thus being aware of the Isthmian League actually leads me to conclude that the word "isthmian" is unrelated to the word "isthmus" and therefore I don't know what it means after all.


Posted by: Ruddy Turnstone | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 8:11 PM
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Algid - Adjective. From my knowledge of the Iowa Pleistocene Snail I think this means icy.
Decurtate - Verb
Dehors - Not an English word. Means outside in French.
Exigible - Probably means either possible or impossible. Thanks for the clarity, judge!
Encincture - Belt
Asseverational - Having to do with making claims about something.
Chiaroscuro - Like, cloudy dark painting.
Solatium - Sun room
Isthmian - Having to do with southern England
Anent - Soon
Sockdolager - Blow to the head
Nonce - Soon
Purlieu - Not an English word. I don't know what it means in French either.
Gallimaufry - Argy-bargy
Perscrutation - Inspection for testicular cancer
Longiloquent - Grandiloquent
Integument - That's easy. The part of an enveloped virus outside the capsid but inside the membrane.
Asthenic - Asthmatic


Posted by: Ruddy Turnstone | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 8:15 PM
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I can't decide whether this article describes one of the most plausible sets of circumstances for encouraging terrorism or whether I just think that because it's written to evoke that sense in an upper-middle-class Western reader.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 8:31 PM
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Back in the early 80s, I attended summer science camp at Appalachian State with the new White House social secretary.

UnfoggeDCon 2011?


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 8:41 PM
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I can't imagine a word the knowledge and use of which would cause one to not be invited to a party.

Ascertain.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 9:09 PM
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Try throwing "risible" around with any kind of frequency and see what happens.

People will think you're J/sh Tr/v/no?


Posted by: Josh | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 9:31 PM
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204: I'd never particularly heard of that person, but I guess being him would do it.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 9:37 PM
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Solatium - Sun room

That's "Solarium", Cogg-Willoughby old snoot.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 9:57 PM
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Oh, all of them were inaccurate, actually. Ha.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 10:01 PM
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Or rather most. I only know "anent" from the beginning of Springer's Progress.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 10:02 PM
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201 sounds like a total Dune ripoff.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 10:16 PM
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189 That better be some very good eau de vie at fifty books for a .375 bottle. I very rarely by bottles of that sort of stuff, but I did get a 0.5l bottle of slivovitz a couple years ago. Excellent, but barely drinkable at 140 proof. Still have most of it.


Posted by: teraz kurwa my | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 10:18 PM
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210: Everything I've tried by Clear Creek has been excellent. This is no exception, and it's very interesting and enjoyable so far. I'm inordinately fond of eaux de vie so I would say it was worth it for me, as I've been wanting to try the Fir stuff ever since I heard about it, but could never find it down here till now (I asked about it a couple of weeks ago and one of their buyers, who is originally from Alsace, said he'd see about getting some, which he was successful in doing).

On the other hand, I think I like CC's mirabelle plum eau de vie better overall, and it's about half the price, so I probably won't buy the Douglas Fir stuff again anytime soon. Of course this bottle will last me a long time as I'll probably only end up drinking a small snifter of it a week or so.

For the quality, most of Clear Creek's stuff is priced very attractively compared to similar quality stuff from Europe. I particularly like their version of Calvados: it's really good and is about 1/4 the price of anything comparable from France. I also just recently got a bottle of their McCarthy single malt and it's lovely too. Quite similar to Lagavulin, although it's not really a bargain in the same way the eaux de vie are.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 10:40 PM
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How many people, even those who are aware of the Isthmian League (what is that, one of the English football leagues seven levels below the top?), know what "isthmian" means?

Of course the word's meaning may be esoteric, but the word I think isn't.


Posted by: Keir | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 10:52 PM
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I suspect that far more speakers of English are able to link 'Isthmian' to 'isthmus, as in Panama' than to 'Isthmian League'.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 10:56 PM
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The lower end one is $25 a bottle, which is very reasonable for Calvados, but one quarter of the French equivalent? At a hundred bucks you're getting some really high end stuff, above that it's mostly twenty plus year and vintage ones. Your standard good but not amazing will run in the forties and fifties. Their higher end one is $40. I don't think I've ever had Calvados that retails over around sixty, but that stuff is damn good. I've never bought mirabelle by the bottle, though I do love the stuff. Makes amazing jams too.


Posted by: teraz kurwa my | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 10:57 PM
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214: Oops, sorry. I should have said "anything comparable available where I live". There's very little actual Calvados for sale here in Austin, Texas, and all of it that there is is very high end. I've tasted a few of those here, and I've had great stuff in Europe, and the higher end Clear Creek really is most excellent, and very well priced for the market I can actually shop in.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:15 PM
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And I do really recommend CC's Mirabelle. Their pear is also amazing.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:17 PM
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212: Not that I'm an expert or anything, but I have a feeling that it's a far more esoteric word in the States than it is in the Commonwealth.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:19 PM
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you'll be happy to know that I'm now sipping some Calvados. Nothing special, a very large producer's VSOP pays d'Auge, but it's nice. Unfortunately (fortunately?) I absent mindedly poured it as if it were wine, rather than an eighty proof brandy.


Posted by: teraz kurwa my | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:47 PM
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I absent mindedly poured it . . . .

A likely story.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 02-26-10 11:51 PM
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re: 208

Anent is used in Scots, so is a live word. Absurd that someone would use it in written US English, though.

FWIW, I only knew, I think, three or four on the list, but could have made a close-enough guess for a couple more. That said, my guesses for a couple of others were wrong ...


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 12:43 AM
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Well then, it just so happens that I took a photo.

Were you having Munchkins™ with your Calvados?


Posted by: mcmc | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 6:33 AM
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My friend's son said that if he married a donut and they had Munchkins, then he would eat his wife and children.


Posted by: mcmc | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 6:35 AM
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192: Its true. The other day, Kai Ryssdal asked a writer from the Wall Street Journal if an agency to regulate consumer credit was a good idea, and the writer said "Absolutely not, the government should not regulate credit markets." He said it that flatly: Not regulate credit markets. At all.

Has he been asleep for the last three years? Is he so adept at bullshitting that he can stand in front of a white wall and call it black?


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 7:08 AM
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I had my first Unfogged dream and it starred . . . Knecht! Don't worry, it was very chaste. We sat on your couch and watched WGN and Steve Martin and Phil Silvers came over.


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 7:46 AM
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YIKES! Our Hawaii commenters are under a tsunami warning! Everybody think good thoughts (or whatever your equivalent).

And then think good thoughts for earthquake-struck Chile. Wow.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 8:03 AM
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225:Dreams!

I had a dream yesterday that I was playing chess with an old friend. No idea who he was, just that he was a friend. Tall and skinny, and had a home dialysis bag. He was panicked that his gov't assistance for the home dialysis was being cut off.

I had white and the opening was d4 d6. Bastard.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 8:08 AM
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Bob, you might get a kick out of this.


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 8:38 AM
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Bob, you might get a kick out of this.

Actually that's likely a lie. Also it's sort of NSFW.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 8:40 AM
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230: Oh god, I saw that yesterday. Does one warn people prior, or just spring that on folks all unaware? That might be fairly unnerving to feel before seeing! So many questions! I want candid youtubes of all these situations!


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 8:43 AM
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231: it seems kind of painful all around, too. And what about the men? Is there no demand for dongjazzling? Are no celebrities getting balljazzled?


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 8:46 AM
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The link in 230 seems really weird. I totally thought this "trend" was a hoax.


Posted by: Turgid Jacobian | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 8:51 AM
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I cannot imagine inhabiting a sex life in which having a bedazzled crotch is a turn-on. It's like science fiction to me.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 9:30 AM
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You know what would be hip, though? If instead of crystals you used little spikes.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 9:31 AM
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Well, sure. You could also rig up some very small trebuchets or barbed wire, if you were so inclined.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 9:37 AM
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Tiny little shaped charges.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 9:37 AM
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The cheap version would be to glue a fistful of Pop Rocks to your hootennanny.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 9:43 AM
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148: For turtle pseud change day, I call dibs on Painted Box.


Posted by: Jennifer Love Hewitt | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 9:46 AM
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And here we see why I comment so infrequently these days. I can't be timely enough to make the joking worthwhile. Sigh.


Posted by: Chopper | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 9:47 AM
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And since I didn't preview, it suddenly became topical again. I love this place.


Posted by: Chopper | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 9:55 AM
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226.1: The sirens are going to get really annoying by later in the morning, but other than that it doesn't look like it's going to be a big deal around here. Hilo may get whomped a bit, but Hilo is very tsunami-aware and should get its people through OK.


Posted by: Not Prince Hamlet | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 10:00 AM
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242: Glad to hear it. It's hard to gauge the urgency from the news reports, because they all sound so urgent.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 10:14 AM
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243: I was just watching some streaming news coverage out of Chile, and they're calling it a terremoto mentiroso because a lot of buildings look okay on the outside but have collapsed internally.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 10:17 AM
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243: I have to admit that if I were a news producer I, too, would probably rather be reporting from Waikiki than trying to find my way into a disaster area in Chile.


Posted by: Not Prince Hamlet | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 10:21 AM
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232: I think we should start a craze for men to have eyeballs tattooed on their nuts and have their pubes shaved like a mustache so their genitals look like an upside down face with a long nose. That's what I think.


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 12:05 PM
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246 is me.


Posted by: togolosh | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 12:06 PM
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242: Ugh, my brother lives in Hilo. Crossing my fingers.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 12:40 PM
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248: Bullet officially dodged. And I got a bonus day with a high school buddy and his family who were rousted from their vacation place near the beach at 6 am and needed a place to wait out their flight delay.


Posted by: Not Prince Hamlet | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 5:27 PM
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Yeah, just got word that they enjoyed a lovely morning/afternoon up in the hills.

Glad Hawaii came out of safely...now just to hear about my colleagues' families in Chile.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 5:32 PM
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Yup. Chileans are the ones to be worrying about.

Is your brother also in the academical world?


Posted by: Not Prince Hamlet | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 5:41 PM
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Nope, he's in the tourism world. (And mighty good at it.)


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 5:51 PM
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(Though I say this without ever yet having experienced tourism in Hawaii. Some day!)


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 5:52 PM
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Ah. Don't really know anybody over there who does that. But I do like Hilo!


Posted by: Not Prince Hamlet | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 6:04 PM
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He just came back to Hawaii after a few years absence; he lived there for about 12 years previously, throughout my childhood (he's considerably older than me). I hear rumor that he's going back into design, but who knows. And that's more than anyone ever wanted to know about my brother!


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 02-27-10 6:14 PM
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Before this thread slips into the archive, I should point out that Coates has gone back to the old format, with multiple paragraphs above the fold.


Posted by: Ginger Yellow | Link to this comment | 03- 3-10 9:32 AM
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