The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Ben Engelsberg:

Teresa,

What's the textural quality of the almond bits in this recipe? Do they make crunchy bits, or do they mostly sublimate into extra thickening for the stew? Do they behave in some other way?

Thanks!

Nicole @ 21: Let me strongly and with enthusiasm recommend the audiobook version of Graveyard Book, which is read wonderfully by the author.

Audible:
http://www.audible.com/adbl/site/products/ProductDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&productID=BK_HARP_001709

I dont know if it should be unusual that one of the days best story writers should also be one of the days best story readers, or if the skills are complimentary.

Jim,

Should someone who is only first-aid trained try to splint that injury, or should the first responder RICE (Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate) the injury and wait for professional assistance?

That's some pretty nasty deformity... how do you make the call between RICE and wait, and Splint?

Well, amazon.com just vomited forth a web page claiming that my access to their site is punitively blocked because I'm a robot and not a human being. We'll see how long it takes for them to fix it, and if it happens again as soon as my ISP changes my dynamic IP address.

So, to sum up, you are not a number, you are a free man?

Xopher @ 340

Yep, that's the whole thing. I'm going to add a pronounceability column and start sorting them when I have free moments. I also gave you access in case you want to play with the spreadsheet (and because I want to see how well Google docs handles sharing).

Xopher @ 319:

I don't know about fun, per se, but a challenging mental exercise, and pretty fannish, to boot.

I ran the 850 words of the Basic English core vocabulary (URL below) through ROT13 translation, and found some fun words.

I posted the translation table here

Personal favorite (though I now recall this being commented on before): green -> terra

Basic English vocabulary list:

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Basic_English_word_list

re: Abi @ 93 & other Firefly posts...

A new Serenity comic book started it's 3-issue run this week, with Joss Whedon writing. Like the series that preceded the Serenity movie, it takes place between the Firefly shows and the Serenity movie, and is therefore not likely to reveal much about the casts history (though you never know)... HOWEVER: In the letters section, Joss Whedon mentions that he is also planning a series of Shepherd Book comics, with Ron Glass. This may pull in a substantial amount of the backstory of the Firefly setting.

Reading the article Patrick linked at #2, it occurs to me that the phrase "... autoerotic undertaking" probably has a more disturbing meaning for the folks who had to manage the trussed-up corpse than the author may have intended.

With the recent spike in apparent GOP kinkiness, I'm reminded of the story that was going 'round about a US Air Force weapons project to build a hormone "bomb" which would, allegedly, turn enemy soldiers gay. Makes me contemplate a mishap at some clandestine Republican party sponsored weapons demonstration. The image makes me grin.

I ran across this on Gizmodo, and thought it might interest folks here. Captcha, the software which challenges people to identify obscured words in order to filter out spam posting software, has started using scanned text from actual manuscripts which Optical Character Recognition software has not been able to decode. Now, when people have to pass through a confirmation screen, they're helping digitally preserve old/ancient/important documents.

They explain it much better than I just tried to do... Check it out!

Todd @ 144: But, the Senator himself explains that he had adopted his "wide stance" in order to make use of the facility.

I can see this now. If the demonstrable use of the toilet actually becomes material in the case, Sen. Craig's argument may, in fact, go down in history as the "Full of Sh*t" defense.

I've just re-read the linked article. It occurs to me that Sen. Craig deserves far worse than he's been getting!

For soliciting sex in a mens room? No. The fine he paid seems adequate to that. For attempting to use his position in the Senate to intimidate/coerce/influence a police officer? No, heinous as that is, the public humiliation he's receiving seems commesurate. No, folks, Sen. Craig FAILED TO FLUSH A PUBLIC TOILET, and for that, he should be summarily shot.

Josh @ 129: Do women solicit men for unpaid public sex anywhere? If they do, does it generate police complaints?

If not, why would a female cop ever do so?

(Re: My comment at 123... so much MEDIA attention now.)

First, a moment of paranoia:

It seems unlikely that this type of behavior (being busted in gossip-worthy sexual situations) is new. Why is it getting so much attention now? The fact that it is of so little genuine consequence but is so engaging makes me think of misdirection. Are Craig & Allen being thrown to the dogs to provide distraction?

Now, having gotten that off my chest...

While I am sure that there are greater than average (whatever that may be) levels of homophobia in America's police departments, I don't know that this plainclothes detail is representative of it. The detail was created in response to complaints and previous arrests. Apparently, the bathrooms were known to be a trouble-spot. I can think of plenty of situations where such details have been set up because of complaints which have no homo/heterosexual bias. One such would be the unmarked police car which is routinely parked at a local "lovers leap", and which is responsible for routinely busting college kids and others for fogging up the windows on their '89 Chrysler LeBarons.

Mmmm... fond memories of raclette, sitting in a little restaurant in Basel, just off the market square, scraping up melted cheese with slices of fresh pear, just lightly dressed with a bit of kirschwasser.

As for the deep-fried phenomena, we have a bar here in Tucson called the Surly Wench, which boasts that they'll deep fry pretty much anything. Including office supplies on at least one occasion. I have yet to convince myself that trying the deep-fried Mars bar is worth giving up the year of my life it will probably cost me, though.

Wooops... now I'm all flustered... my strawman at 225! Not 255!

Nicole @ 256(.2)...

Awww... nuts. You're absolutely right. I can't believe I let myself use that kind of strawman statement. I suppose this discussion wouldn't be so compelling to me if I wasn't prone to the type of rhetorical mis-steps I've been talking about, myself. While I feel that bulk apologies are insufficient, I am sorry if my strawman at 255 offended anyone, and I apologize. If anyone would like a more sincere individual apology, just let me know.

Marilee @ 229...
I'd be walking, myself, if I didn't feel that there's important discussion happening under all the heat being thrown off. I tend to agree. Jokes which insult groups are almost invariably less funny than they could/should be, because defaulting to stereotyping, especially in humor, is lazy shortcutting, and results in poor quality discourse (or jokes, as appropriate).

Jokes which insult with intent to harm, denigrate, or belittle, are worse, be they aimed at individuals or groups. You have my sympathy on your inability to enjoy chocolate. Can I have yours? ;)

Heresiarch @ 230...

That is what is happening here, largely, and increasingly, as time goes on. It did not seem to be, when I first posted, however. See my previous post for details.

Fragano,

I believe we are now re-enacting Shakespeare...

B (in the role of Abraham): Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?
F (in the role of Sampson): I do bite my thumb, sir.

I think we should let that drop before Benvolio shows up... As I recall, that scene doesn't end well.

Lee @ 228

In regards to what I read as chastisement, social shunning, and character attacks, below are some examples. Do note, however, that I refer to those actions not as the specific domain of this group or forum, but rather as part of the general social reaction unfortunately inherent in most individuals and groups:

Earl was put into the role of a “dehumanizer†by a perfunct statement without discussion of his intention, context, or opinion. Not to mention “really grossâ€, which, while obviously subjective, and therefore opinion, is so highly negatively spun that I believe it qualifies as implicit chastisement.

Lee, you yourself say that Earls joke is a good example of the “attitude that women are viewed as legitimate preyâ€, imputing by attribution that attitude to Earl, when he has done nothing to express it. This certainly qualifies as a character attack, and attempts to place Earl into such a reprehensible social category that it seems to implicitly request shunning. You do the exact same thing again, with an even greater reach on Earls implied intentions and attitudes by trying to attribute to him, via his joke, that he believes that soldiers are entitled to comfort women.

Again, later, when Earl calls into question your attacks on his character, you discount his complaint that attitudes and opinions are being attributed to him that are unfair, by saying “That's the free space on every bingo card.†And “I call bullshit. Nobody said any such thing about you except you -- by implication or otherwise†when you, by implication, did precisely that, whether it was your intent to do so or not.

You also call him a bully and an attempted martyr… which is chastisement in my book.

Folks also try to impute pretty damning meaning to Earls joke, such as implying that what he really meant was “I find this woman annoying. Ha ha! She should be enslaved and raped! Except she's not even pretty enough that I'd want to rape her!" Which is pretty damn unfair to Earl, and seems to try to make his character out to be something both awful and unlikely.

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