Tracy Clark-Flory has a nice father's day post up.
Sausage links maybe. Standing in the sun doing something that gets harder the more beer I drink isn't my idea of fun.
I'm pleased to have a father who finds Father's Day ridiculous.
I had one of those too. So I don't even save the price of a bottle of whisky to compensate for the regret at his no longer being there.
My dad, too. I sent him and my mom a couple of drawings a week or so ago, as a combined mother's and father's day and shit-did-I-forget-your-birthday present. Maybe I'll call later.
I find it absurd, too. Not sure if my dad does. Guess I will find out later... After the Egyptians pound the US this afternoon we will commiserate.
I got waffles and bacon several cards (the 4 year old likes making cards) and permission to go fishing by myself this afternoon. Woot!
Permission to go fishing in the afternoon is pretty transparent permission to get trashed.
I got a tie made out of construction paper, which strikes me as hilariously funny.
We always try to get my dad a combined birthday/Father's Day present, since his birthday is in June, but we're always at a loss for what a man who can buy anything he wants for himself might want as a present, so for the past few years it's been increasingly expensive bottles of scotch.
Come to think of it, my birthday's in June, so the combined present is probably in my future as well.
(I received a ceremonial tie for my first Father's Day. I was kind of hoping for a "World's Best Dad" mug.)
I bought my father a blender -- he was complaining about the price of hummus, and sounded intrigued when I mentioned how easy it was to make, if one only had the requisite blender. Buck got a bunch of gardening books purportedly from the children.
I am thinking the canonical answer is the most dangerous game, mrh: a manhunt.
I got a tie made out of construction paper, which strikes me as hilariously funny.
It is.
Why's Father's Day hard for people? Because it's an assigned gift-giving day, I guess. My work-partner's coffee mug at the shop is a "World's Best Dad" mug. He related to me yesterday that his Father's Day gift via his wife was a high-quality saute pan from Williams-Sonoma, something he's been wanting for ages, he said ...
I said, "Mm-hm, uh-huh?" As in, "Go on ..."
"... NOT!" he added, with a laugh and a shrug.
It's difficult to know what to say in that situation, isn't it?
he was complaining about the price of hummus
Awesome.
I instructed my sister, who will see our dad, to pick up the Straussian motorcycle book. Obscure affiliations aside, it seemed like a bulls-eye.
My birthday was the day before Father's day this year.
I got a super-bright (2700 lumen) flashlight from my kids so I can fry eyeballs at a distance. Great!
My dad doesn't care about it either - he'd probably be appalled if I did anything for it. Some of ur kids had made things already elsewhere and I made them all sit and make C cards this afternoon whilst he was walking the dog as they were being annoying.
My 6 year old woke me on Mothering Sunday this year with, "I've got you loads of presents and I didn't buy any of them!" Oh crap great.
I got one of these. Good times.
http://www.knifeworks.com/kabartdilawenforcementknifeplainedge.aspx
You know what brightened my father's day? Watching this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNQGpk6RxRc
20: Well, happy belated birthday, Biohazard!
23: All I ever want are weapons. All I ever get is clothes and books.
I probably should have said "further brightened" as that knife is exactly what I wanted.
Kind of gruesome, but handy. If someone's trying to take your gun it's nice to have a small fixed blade on your weak side.
I would think that having a fixed blade on your weak side is going to be more help to the guy trying to take your gun.
Even a folding blade would probably be disadvantageous to you.
27-8: The knife's website copy suggests the blade remains rather well concealed, and thus the presumed taker of the gun would not know of the blade's presence. Of course, that information's coming from the people who are trying to sell the knife, so what do I know?
Yeah, typically at least partially concealed behind your spare mags or somewhere similar. Strong hand clamps down on that gun and holster for retention, weak hand gets that blade and starts cutting. Much better than just flailing away.
29: you see, I'm pretending that gswift's "small fixed blade on your weak side" means something like "small fixed blade in your weak side". You see? If I am stabbed already, this does not help me fend off your further attacks.
How we all laughed!
"Much better than just flailing away."
That's what my adviser said about majoring in poli sci as opposed to 'undeclared.' I never saw much difference.
I guess for infighting a small knife is better than flailing away, but I invite you to keep the flail in mind when you're a little more separated from your opponent.
Switchblades were really irreplaceable.
Nonsense. Modern assisted-open folding knives are, for all practical purposes, switchblades. And even if you have a folding knife with no assisted-open mechanism, you can generally loosen whatever mechanism is in place sufficiently that the barest wrist-flick suffices for the blade's locking into place.
Neat knife, G. I like some of the throwing knives they have.
but I invite you to keep the flail in mind when you're a little more separated from your opponent.
Ah, but Ben, the point of the game is that the opponent is going for the gun, as if it were magnetized; if he is close enough to prevent drawing of the weapon, the opponent is close enough to knife while he is trying to steal the main weapon.
max
['Happy Birthday, Biohazard!']
Ah, but max, I was just making a mild paranomastic comment on "flail away".
What this place needs is a good female-friendly knife fighting group.
This is making me feel the need to get a concealed-carry permit. How I am supposed to pull a knife on someone if they aren't distracted while going for my gun because my gun is in a box at home?
Why would they be distracted by your concealed gun? Wear it openly!
Because that wouldn't get my any funny looks in the Whole Foods.
Being concerned about funny looks in a Whole Foods is no way to perform masculinity, Moby Hick.
If they kick me out of Whole Foods, where will I get my organic arugula?
You wouldn't let them kick you out, MH, nor would they dare try.
Every white person must grasp the truth: organic arugula grows out of the barrel of a gun.
According to the Allegheny County Sportsman's League (http://www.pafoa.org/law), you need a concealed-carry permit to have a gun in a vehicle (concealed or not), but (outside of Philly), you can openly-carry without a permit. I should probably get that permit as there is no skeet shooting within walking distance of my house.
You could just tape the gun to the outside of your vehicle. Or bike. Or take a Vespa! Yes, ride a Vespa around Philly, carrying a rifle.
I'm pretty sure carrying a knife never mind using one would, as a cop, be illegal here.
47: They use a loaded cane, like Sherlock Holmes?
Batons, and mace spray. There are plans to extend the carrying of tasers. Definitely no blades.
Weighted canes are also illegal, afaik.
47: I was thinking of making a .410 bang-stick cane. I'm now sixty-eight and I won't have to fake a bit of a limp.
And finally I see the attraction of Vicodin. It's not for the very slight buzz, it's for feeling the accumulated aches and pains disappear. Good stuff, at least for a little while.
If they kick me out of Whole Foods, where will I get my organic arugula?
Which you need to arm your rocket launcher.
47: I'm pretty sure carrying a knife never mind using one would, as a cop, be illegal here.
I'm certain. Watching the UK papers hyperventilate over teens carrying knives is... interesting. Can't wait for the post-knife ban scissor panic.
MH: How I am supposed to pull a knife on someone if they aren't distracted while going for my gun because my gun is in a box at home?
This where the Rick Ranger Toy Gun for Big Boys comes in handy.
38: What this place needs is a good female-friendly knife fighting group.
I can instruct... laydeez!
neb: organic arugula grows out of the barrel of a gun.
Your honkynormativeness is oppressing me, man.
max
['Just say non.']
I have always liked car antennas. Are they illegal?
How many here carry a knife constantly? Swiss Army on my keys, here. No way I'm moving to Great Britain. Languedoc it is.
50: Just to be clear, I was talking about putting lead weights in the end of a cane to give it more punch (as was understood by 49). I'm fairly certain that it is legal here, but it isn't like I've checked. I'd also like an umbrella sword, but that's real money.
53: I never carry any weapon. I used to carry a pen knife, but after I carried that through airport security twice (both times inadvertently and successfully), I stopped for fear of losing the knife or getting sent-up on weapons charges.
54:I'd also like an umbrella sword, but that's real money.
Hard to believe These prices
I always carry a pocketknife, but have switched to a much smaller one since moving to the Bay Area; even the handy little 2.5" ones were wigging people out enough that I switched down to a 'claw'. (Which is shorter than the radius of many a piece of fruit or loaf of bread, alas.)
My advisor has had a park ranger explain that he (the ranger) had the right to shoot him (the advisor) for having a knife visible in the truck. Since fieldwork in our field is done with a knife, this is annoying. (I'm going to get a Japanese gardening knife, which is objectively scary, and paint flowers on the handle.)
re: 52/53
Knives in general aren't illegal. There's some sort of complicated set of rules around what counts as an offensive weapon and it's context dependent.
A pen knife would be fine and lots of people have them, or Leatherman type tools and carry them habitually. Some huge hunting knife, on the other hand, would be problematic. But again, it depends on context. If you are deer-hunting in the Highlands, fine, if you are a 16 year old on the streets of London, not fine.
re: 54
Yes, lead weighted canes are illegal here, apparently. I've done a tiny bit of cane training [for martial arts] at seminars, and I've read discussions on the legality of particular types of cane.
TSA once confiscated a seam ripper that ms bill was carrying on to a flight from Dulles to SFO. They let her bamboo knitting needles through.
56: For that kind of money, you probably need to resharpen after every stabbing. The good umbrella-swords used to be British, but I think they are outlawed there. Don't know if they still make them for export or not.
My advisor has had a park ranger explain that he (the ranger) had the right to shoot him (the advisor) for having a knife visible in the truck.
In ranger boy's dreams. File complaints on that idiot.
53: Always. Three inch Spyderco with serrated edge in stainless steel. I've had it for about 25 years, it doesn't seem to freak people out if I need to use it at company picnics and the like.
62: hey, I have one of those! So handy when moving.
You want an entirely different sort of knife when stationary.
I really miss my Swiss Army knife, and -- even more handy -- my folding scissors*. It's just not possible to keep taking them out of my bag anytime I might be going to a building where I can't carry them. SO frustrating.
*Speaking of performing gender, as we were, I'm sure I've mentioned here the incongruity of seeing the same exact pair of scissors packaged in plastica and pink as sewing scissors, and in the same store in macho colors as fishing scissors. I don't remember if the price was the same.
42: Being concerned about funny looks in a Whole Foods is no way to perform masculinity, Moby Hick.
I like you people, against my better judgment.
65: When moving you want a knife that will cut through that almost impervious to anything 3M filament packing tape. The serrations on the Spyderco work nicely on that stuff.
The DE is making slow progress. Still can't use the stairs, still using the walker to get to the bathroom. She says the pain is lessening though. Thanks.
I
it doesn't seem to freak people out if I need to use it at company picnics and the like.
Like when a rival company sends ninjas to steal all the pie? Or are some of your cow-orkers unusually annoying?
69: Company picnics are unusually annoying. About the only good thing about the DE's mishap is I've got an excuse to stay away from the one coming up soon.
Really, I'm often surprised when I'm the only one around with a pocket knife considering how often someone needs one for some mundane chore or the other. Getting one was one of the rites of passage way back when. I guess the equivalent is an iGadget now.
I quit smoking cigarettes in January, but I still carry a lighter most of the time. Surprisingly useful, the instant fire.
It would be pretty neat if you could cut people (or light them on fire) with an iPhone.
62: Used to carry my Spyderco to work. I think it was sort of a worst-kept-secret/in-joke in the office. Once my supervisor was doing something with his file cabinet and said "Minneapolitan, don't take this the wrong way, but you wouldn't happen to have a pocket-knife on you, would you?" And someone thought it was a pager too. But now I just have a teensy-tiny multitool with a 1.25 inch blade and tiny scissors and bottle opener and screwdriver blades. More useful overall, esp. the bottle-opener.
And someone thought it was a pager too.
This made me laugh.
What a heartwarming Father's Day thread this is.
75: Watch your tone, ari, or we'll cut you.
You'd best be nice, ari, or we'll cut you.
Ha ha, I am totally living in the past here.
I pwned someone once. It was okay.
73: I keep buying multitools of various sizes and capabilites, and tossing them into the bag I carry back and forth to work. Eventually it gets heavy enough to be annoying and I sort them out.
Near as I can tell, the most useful tools in an office environment are the scissors and file. I very, very rarely need to saw anything or disgorge a fishhook, and the detonator crimper is virginal.
They felt an intense burning humiliation that haunts them to this day. I don't think that it was good for them, but hey, you never know. Human nature is complicated.
Needlenose pliers are pretty useful in my milieu.
A milieu where people with needlenoses get stuff stuck up there?
Knives and tools are fun to talk about, but, as per OFE upthread, I just want to say:
I had a really great dad and I miss him a lot.
Leatherman makes ridiculously good multi tools. S30V blade steel? Titanium handles? So awesome.
http://www.knifeworks.com/leathermanchargettititaniumhandleleathersheath.aspx
87: As a drummer, who is often in need of random torque (laydeez...yadda yadda), I find the linked tool appealing.
86: Knives and tools and Dadhood are all inextricably intertwined in my family for at least three generations.
I miss mine. I'd like to discuss what I've learned about us both since he died. I'd like to thank him for doing his best in a bad situation. I'd like him to see how his grandchildren are as adults. And so on.
Reading last night about the utility of certain kinds of knives for turning a tearful making-up into an assassination.
I'm not a big fan of Father's Day (although getting happy wishes from strangers is kind of pleasant), but I did successfully use it to guilt AB out of eating brie and baguette on the porch before I was done mowing the lawn. So we partook together, a bit later.
91: It probably would have been more Fathers' Day-y if she hadn't been pointing and laughing while eating all the brie.
91: Could I get some cheese advise? I once had some brie I really liked, but I can't remember what kind it was (except that I'm pretty sure it was from Canada, not France). I've tried to find that flavor again, but mostly I've gotten cheese that smells like my socks at the end of an August hike. Asking the cheese guy hasn't been spectacularly useful and I'm sure that is my fault for not knowing the right question to ask. Is real brie supposed to smell that strongly? If so, is there a name for what I want (a soft, rich cheese that doesn't smell too strongly). I can't help but wondering if the brie I liked wasn't really something besides brie or maybe I just had a bad cold that day.
Happy Belated Fathers day to all the dads out there. Remember to make time for your kids and enjoy them while you can. They grow up fast and are off on their own in the blink of an eye.
That's some quality spam. Why 'acne'? Is this advertising dermatological-only health care?
If so, is there a name for what I want (a soft, rich cheese that doesn't smell too strongly).
Kraft Deluxe Singles?
93: The smell you don't like is kind of an ammonia smell, right? I think that means the brie is too old -- you want something fresher. Talk to the cheese guy about that, maybe?
You might try Camembert instead. It has a slightly heavier (? I don't know how to do cheese-talk) flavor. You might also try removing the rind which has more of that mildewy smell to it than the cheese inside does.
"Fresher" is probably the word I need to use with the cheese guy. Thanks.
I wouldn't, personally, go with Camembert since I find it even stinkier than Brie (I'm pretty averse to cheese stink but I am getting over it). The suggestion to remove the rind is a good one. You might also try a triple cream cheese, which I find also to not be as smelly. I can't remember the name of the one I generally get from the co-op beyond that it starts with a St.
I find it even stinkier than Brie
Yeah, that's true, though it is a different kind of stink.
St. Andre.
Not only was I going to suggest that to Moby, but that was also the brie that AB & I devoured yesterday evening. Very rich mouthfeel, pretty mild flavor (but I'm OK with stink, so I may not be the best judge...). It's not cheap, but you can get a small wedge at Whole Foods for $3.50.
I find it even stinkier than Brie
Yeah, I find this weird. I grew up on camembert, and remember hearing about brie, which was reputed to be far runnier and stinkier than camembert. Once I started eating brie, I didn't have another opportunity to eat camembert for years. But when I did, it struck me as being stinkier. WTF, camembert?
St. Andre is also what I brought to AB for her first post-partum soft cheese when both of our children were born. After 9 months without, she was in ecstasy.
104: Huh. Turns out that's the same stuff that we devoured over the weekend. Seriously good. Even the kid loved it, and he's not a fan of strong cheeses.
O.K. I'll try it. Unfortunately, I just did Whole Foods on Sunday, so I probably will only have cheddar until next week.
Unfortunately, I just did Whole Foods on Sunday, so I probably will only have cheddar until nex.t week.
Oh, Lord, what have we become?
Now now, NPH, there's no need for cheesy theatrics.
93 -- Try the rouge et noir. California, not Canada.
Brie isn't that stinky, is it? Or is that only certain kinds of Brie stink? It's never struck me as a pungent cheese.
Fresh goat cheese with dill is dangerously good, and I was going to recommend it as non-stinky and delicious, but now I don't trust my nose.
108: For a guy from a town with only one stop-light, I think I should be congratulated on how well I can perform yuppiness.
Yeah, I don't think of Brie as stinky either. Strange. I don't think stinky until I get into the bleu cheeses.
112: For a guy from a town with no stop lights at all, I think I should be congratulated on how well I perform Advanced Self-Despising Yuppiness.
Époisses is the best -- and stinkiest. Brie is quite mild.
I was going to suggest Humbolt fog for a moment, but if brie classifies as 'stinky'...
There's a great cheese shop in Brooklyn that has descriptions for all the cheeses that combine details about the kind of sex the cheese will inspire with the particular dirty stanky body part its funk resembles. Gross, yes, but kinda hot.
Dirty stanky body parts vary considerably as to stench across persons. Also, there are probably fewer of them than there are characteristic cheese smells. I call pretentious shenanigans on this store and abominate it.
Christ, I'm hungry. Brie and baguette sounds fantastic.
Kinds of sex that various cheeses will inspire is a little silly -- some people just can't abide a blue cheese, period, and that's it. Of course, some people eschew feta cheese as well. Some people scorn olives. I don't know what's up with these people, but there they are.
118: Stinky? I mean the cheese shop.
124: Bedford, natch. Yes, pretentious, but also kinda cute. Haven't been there in several years.
There used to be a wine and cheese store on North near Damen called "Stinky Cheese, Juicy Wine" (or perhaps "Juicy Wine, Stinky Cheese") but it appeared, when I last was around there, to have vanished.
That reminds me, I have two (2) bottles of very lovely wine sitting here wanting me to have a little. Red or white, mes amis?
I don't know what's up with these people,
It's simple. They are wrong.
Purple drank! Seriously, it's like amethysts. And oh crap, tasty, too!
For some reason, for me almost all cheese smells really bad to the point of not wanting to eat it. I've managed to control this to a degree in order to partake in the deliciousness of most of the soft creamy cheese family, and I'm trying to train myself to enjoy blue cheeses, but it's just an instinctual aversion. I also go through phases with goat cheese where I cannot abide the goatiness, but at other times relish it. And yet, I say I love cheese, cause I do. We just have a complicated relationship.
Oh good, I was going to vote for the red wine.
Seriously, it's like amethysts
Not in one salient respect, I suspect.
I'm trying to train myself to enjoy blue cheeses
How do you do this? Moldy cheese give me the shivers. Something about the texture of the mold veins--and hang on a second while I heave a little--totally puts me off. And yet I know they're supposed to be good!
I'm going through a cheese smell aversion phase, too. I used to love Pecorino, but now it just smells like sheepy turpentine. Blech.
emdash! Where have you been all my life?
No, it does not taste like amethysts. It tastes like cherries and almonds and is smooth as silk. I picked it up at the store without having tried it, which I like never do, but the store's rec was pretty enthusiastic. Corte Rugolin. Nice stuff.
It probably doesn't prevent drunkenness either.
137: Peer pressure helps. Also, trying it with other things that you know you love (dates stuffed with blue cheese wrapped in bacon - hard to go completely wrong, there). Small quantities, or where it is not the dominant flavor, also helps. Also, I've noticed that since I learned to enjoy blue cheese dressing (I know, I know) with hot wings, it has all become a little more palatable. Good luck.
I can't imagine why you'd try to force yourself to like blue cheeses if you don't like them. Okay, maybe you have trouble at a house party where people are enthusiastically wolfing the stuff down, but otherwise, if you don't like it, we are not judging you.
We're judging Wolfson with respect to the feta, mind, but that's different.
I have very much enjoyed super-stinky cheeses with a drizzle of excellent honey. But I like super-stinky cheeses anyway, so maybe it's dumb advice.
I can't imagine why you'd try to force yourself to like blue cheeses if you don't like them.
I don't want to force myself to like them. No one's, you know, cheeseboarding me to force me to eat blue cheese against my will. But as I've gotten older, I like more foods that I didn't like at one time or another—mushrooms, olives, bi-valves—and I'd like to expand my palate to include dishes made with stinky cheese.
Where have you been all my life?
Perhaps I've been here all along...
But as I've gotten older, I like more foods that I didn't like at one time or another--mushrooms, olives, bi-valves--and I'd like to expand my palate to include dishes made with stinky cheese.
This is me as well. Also, to see one's friends rhapsodically falling under the spell or one food or another that you don't like is often an enticement as well.
Ah, so you have. What brings this on?
First or should be of, of course.
What brings this on?
Eh, a potential job opportunity that might make it worthwhile to be a little more circumspect with my online identity. As a bonus, this new pseud is, unlike my old one, LB-compliant.
Those of us without access to IP addresses might could get a clue as to emdash's previous pseud somewhere along the line, though the fate of the world can't possibly hang on it. Just curious, really.
emdash is the proud father of twins.
Yeah, I thought that was part of LB-compliance.
Gotcha. Thanks, that's nice of you and him.
151 to 149; maybe to 150 also, but then it would be a lot more difficult to achieve compliance.
150: Thanks. I was curious too.
emdash is pronounced "frankincense".
I used to live a mere few blocks from the Bedford Cheese Shop, and it was indeed a great place. Tiny, but with a large, varied, and very well cared for selection, plus a really knowledgeable and non-snooty, indeed friendly staff consisting primarily of heavily tattooed twenty-something punk rockers.
I much preferred it to places like Murray's and Steve Jenkin's Fairway Cheese Cave in that nothing was prepackaged and the staff actually had time to talk to you and were eager to share their cheese enthusiasm rather than look down on you for not being as knowledgeable as they.
And the cheese descriptions were indeed pretty funny: "One taste and you'll feel like you're running naked through a field of lactating goats", "a creamy texture paired with a smell like a proctologist's finger at the end of a long double shift", "like tallegio, but this would totally kick tallegio's ass in a knife fight" etc.
My favorite cheese shop is this establishment, which I used to live only about fifteen seconds walk from. It was completely awesome and totally made up for the near non-stop sound of bagpiping buskers.
The Mellis cheesemongers in Stockbridge does not have bagpiping buskers anywhere nearby. (There is, however, a quite fantastic Italian patisserie, which is much quieter and so much more delicious.)
I like this place and its sister wine shop, which is this place.
Eh, a potential job opportunity that might make it worthwhile to be a little more circumspect with my online identity.
Does this mean grad school is wrapping up, or being put on hold?
There's a pretty decent cheese shop on the Great Western Road in Glasgow. I always wondered if the flats above stank, because you could smell the shop from quite a distance away.
Ah, googling, it's another outpost of the Mellis empire.
