I amuse myself:

Hardly tropical. Nobody would ever describe any part of New Zealand as tropical.

no palm trees way up north?

It's hard for me to think, actually. We have this thing called a cabbage tree, which is absolutely everywhere, and it's kind of like a poor cousin to the palm tree.

Let me check some places where there might be palm trees.

maps.google.com/…

So I guess we do have palm trees; just not near me.

maps.google.com/…

Reasonably sure this one is a cabbage tree.

motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/…

Impressive account of what it is like to work at a warehouse serving online shops, like Amazon.

> A hot spark shoots between my hand and the metal shelving, striking enough to make my body learn to fear it.

> There's no time off on Election Day. "What if I want to vote?" I ask a supervisor. "I think you should!" he says. "But if I leave I'll get fired," I say. To which he makes a sad face before saying, "Yeah."

Sounds like 19th-century England or modern-day China, or some dystopian future.

@Cerberus That would be illegal in Wisconsin.

@Cerberus is a well known cheesehead. He has a simpatico relationship with Wisconsin.

I think he mentioned liking the architecture around Lake Geneva.

Wow, there were tag wiki edits to approve. Finally!

There is architecture around Lake Geneva? Really?

Billionaires.

They have to spend their money on something.

Although Stone Manor has been carved up into condos. It is no longer a castle.

All I remember about Lake Geneva is that it has what passes for skiing in the Midwest.

I never went.

Me neither. It would have been too sad.

It killed Stevie Ray Vaughan, you know.

His helicopter flew into the garbage heap that was remodelled into a ski hill.

That was Lake Geneva?

I did not know that. I thought he was killed somewhere in Texas or something. How ignoble to die on the only ski slope accessible to the Chicago area.

Please kill this.

No, here.

Here is a picture of the crash site, at Alpine Valley.

> Alpine Valley in East Troy, WI is located in Southeastern Wisconsin and is actually a ski resort. The helicopter that Stevie Ray Vaughan rode in crashed on the morning of August 27th, 1990 just after a concert there. The location is almost at the top of the ski hill off to the left. The stage is located directly behind the cameraman and the helicopter took off about where the cameraman is standing.

Alpine Valley is at B.

Seriously, most high school students have pimples that are bigger than those "ski slopes" up there. That helicopter should have been flying above 500 feet anyway. Keerist.

Yeah, I never understood it.

@Robusto This is still open.

@tchrist Why is that worth an outpouring of jubilation?

Because nobody ever fills them in. They create tags, and leave them blank.

> IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT, AND HIS FAILURE TO ATTAIN ADEQUATE ALTITUDE BEFORE FLYING OVER RISING TERRAIN AT NIGHT.

QED

They crashed at an altitude of about 100 feet. Hell, you could hit a baseball over that helicopter. I could hit a baseball over that helicopter.

Isn’t that crazy? But you would think there would be lights on the slope.

Weird how official reports are in ALL CAPS. Weather, too.

It's not the slope's fault.

@tchrist I used to fly, so I'm used to that. It hearkens back to the old teletype days. I guess they figure it's too late to change.

No one expects rising terrain in that part of the country.

It’s like they’re sending telegrams in Radix-50.

But there are billboards higher than that, ferchrissakes.

I’m sure there would have been a tox report if that applied. It’s the first thing you think of.

The pilot was clearly an idiot. And the one thing they teach you for sure when you learn to fly is how awfully easy it is to die in an aircraft. The sky does not suffer fools gladly.

Neither do garbage dumps, apparently.

We've probably had this discussion before, but I contend that more music stars have been claimed by aviation accidents than by drugs.

What is the point of a shopping centre that has a dairy, a bakery, a hairstylist and nothing else? What if I want to buy fruit and vegetables?

Or candlesticks. Where is the candlestick maker when you need him?

I'm still pissed that they don't have a manicurist in the produce section of the supermarket. I mean, come on, people!

And it's about 50m from another shopping centre that has a dairy, a hairstylist, a pet shop, a dog grooming centre and a fish-and-chip shop.

Why do I need two hairstylists (three if you count the dog place) but no fruit or vegetables, within walking distance of my home?

Another 50m, and I have a pharmacy, and a shop with a sign that says "real meat pies", but no clues as to what else they sell.

wonders what other kinds of meat one might be expected to encounter

I think I shall need my bicycle to buy vegetables. Pity.

@tchrist If you're wondering that, I suddenly doubt you ever went to college. Good God, man, have you never endured Mystery Meat?

@DavidWallace Pretty smart bicycle if it can do that.

Or those pies that claim to be meat pies, but are just pastry filled with gravy.

@Robusto Sounds like a rather personal question to me.

Mock Chicken Legs.

They used to put Mock Chicken Legs in the institutional lunches. Like, why bother mocking a chicken?

maps.google.co.nz/…

And this one doesn't look at all promising.

And the fake crab meat that turns up in California rolls at cheap sushi joints may be found at the supermarket under the name of Sea Legs.

(for those who don't know, I have recently moved to a new neighbourhood and am still exploring the surrounds)

@Robusto That isn’t crab. It’s krab.

Other letter-changes are also merited.

@DavidWallace This is what that looks like from the Northern Hemisphere.

falls

@Robusto Very helpful, thank you.

Don't mention it.

Look, the krab is the same color as you are.

Hmm . . . krab is bark spelled backwards.

I can understand why they mock crab, but mock chicken? Come on!

> Surimi (Japanese: 擂り身, literally "ground meat", Chinese: 魚漿; pinyin: yú jiāng; literally "fish puree") is a Japanese loan word referring to a fish-based food product that has been pulverized to a thick paste and has the property of a dense and rubbery food item when cooked. It is typically made from white-fleshed fish (such as pollock or hake), but the term is also commonly applied to food products made from lean meat prepared in a similar process.

It’s just coagulated fish purée.

> Surimi is a much-enjoyed food product in many Asian cultures and is available in many shapes, forms, and textures, and often used to mimic the texture and color of the meat of lobster, crab and other shellfish.

Apparently, they like it.

It is the Spam of the seafood world.

> Lean meat from fish or land animals is first separated or minced. The meat then is rinsed numerous times to eliminate undesirable odors. The result is beaten and pulverized to form a gelatinous paste.

> Depending on the desired texture and flavor of the surimi product, the gelatinous paste is mixed with differing proportions of additives such as starch, egg white, salt, vegetable oil, humectants, sorbitol, sugar, soy protein, seasonings, and enhancers such as transglutaminases and monosodium glutamate

@tchrist Well ... I hate to tell you but that is not exactly the literal translation of 擂り身, if by literal you mean going by the kanji readings.

Mmm, humectants!

You think if it had been me doing it, it would have come out puree instead of purée?

> If the surimi is to be packed and frozen, food-grade cryoprotectants are added as preservatives while the meat paste is being mixed. Typically the resulting paste, depending on the type of fish and whether it was rinsed in the production process, is tasteless and must be flavored artificially.

> Although seen less commonly in Japanese and Western markets, pork surimi (肉漿) is a common product found in a wide array of Chinese foods. The process of making pork surimi is similar to making fish surimi except that leaner cuts of meat are used and rinsing is omitted. Pork surimi is made into pork balls (Chinese: gòng wán; 貢丸) which, when cooked, have a texture similar to fish balls, but are much firmer and denser.

Ok, what do the kanji mean for the pork surimi?

How can the texture be similar, much firmer and denser, all at once?

> Pork surimi also is mixed with flour and water to make a type of dumpling wrapper called "yèn pí" (燕皮 or 肉燕皮) that has the similar firm and bouncy texture of cooked surimi.

> Beef surimi also can be shaped into a ball form to make "beef balls" (牛肉丸). Bakso is a popular beef balls dish in Indonesia. When beef surimi is mixed with chopped beef tendons and formed into balls, "beef tendon balls" (牛筋丸) are produced. Both of these products commonly are used in Chinese hot pot as well as served in Vietnamese "phở".

@tchrist "What's for dinner tonight, mom?" "Pork balls, dear." "Oh."

Would you prefer the beef tendon balls, sweetums?

Wah.

> Surimi is also used to make kosher imitation shrimp and crabmeat, using only kosher fish such as pollock.

> The curing of the fish paste is caused by the polymerization of myosin when heated.

> Before the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, mad cow disease), it was an industrial practice to add bovine blood plasma into the fish paste to help its curing or gel-forming. Today some manufacturers may use a transglutaminase to improve the texture of surimi. Although illegal, the practice of adding borax to fish balls and surimi to heighten the bouncy texture of the fish balls and whiten the product is quite widespread in Asia.

Corned beef was the kosher substitute for ham, so why not imitation treif?

Kosher krab and chrimp.

Borax?

Borat is an imitation of sorts.

This all reminds me too much of hot dogs.

Probably imitation wasabi, too.

Compare the pronoun (or possessive adjective or whatever you want to call it) in that comment to the photo of the person to which it refers. Like, concentrate, seriously!

What, is there only one subclass? :)

That person might have pickies disabled.

I know I do on SO.

Doesn’t it though? I am sure it was meant to be representative of little Japanese architectural pieces, but yes, you want to keep stacking.

I wonder why it says Image not found.

@tchrist And rightly so. What a disgrace!

There, that's better!

I am pretty sure it is illegal to fire someone for exercising a legal right.

@tchrist Um did I? Are you sure that wasn't Swiss Geneva?

Yeah, but what are you going to do?

But it may not be illegal to fire someone for being late to work.

@Cerberus I was teasing.

Good.

However, I think if you were familiar with it, you might change your mind. Look at those pretty mansions!

Ok, not Stone Manor. That one looks like a state penitentiary.

Haha.

Pretty.

See, I never knew there was a Lake Geneva in Wisconsin until today. You surprised me, Tom, when you said you were born near Lake Geneva, because I was sure that you had said on an earlier occasion that you were born in America. So I had to go and do some research.

A tad Kitschy, but nice.

That’s the famous Yerkes Observatory on Lake Geneva.

Is that a church or an observatory?

Ah.

You Americans can never decide what your buildings are!

It is the world’s largest refractor telescope.

@Cerberus Maybe it's a kitchen.

Forty inches.

Kitchens-cum-courtrooms and cathedrals-cum-observatories!

@DavidWallace Jinx!

You have to admit it resembles a church.

Because?

Because of the lay-out, except that the apsis is on the wrong side.

Must be Christmas.

And HDR.

Now I have a craving for mayonnaise.

BRB

A craving for mayonnaise?

What kind of tree is that in the foreground?

Sorry, something horrible happened to Safari.

@DavidWallace In the foreground? I can’t say, as it is not my own shot.

It could be any that you see in the background.

Basically, mixed hardwoods.

Why do you ask?

It looks a little like a kowhai, and I wondered briefly if this was New Zealand, until I looked at the flags on the boat.

I’m sure it is some unremarkable eastern hardwood that changes to a pretty color in fall,like those across the bay.

I was trying to remember whether there were any kowhai near here.

Okay, this mayonnaise is ridiculously easy to make:

The blending takes about 20 seconds.

With a hand blender.

No fussy droplets of oil involved.

When did you start making cooking videos?

I couldn't resist showing off that apron.

So this works great.

The only thing is that olive oil sucks.

I used 1/3 olive oil, 2/3 sunflower.

But it is still far too bitter, owing to the olive oil.

Um, it is missing stuff.

I mean, the mayonnaise is nice, but could be better with just sunflower oil.

I would think so.

I also added more lemon juice and a pinch of sugar.

But you need to splash some lemon juice in there.

And a bit of sugar.

Yes, exactly.

I don't have white vinegar.

I would use that.

Now I have two egg whites left over.

So I need to make meringue.

Do you have cider vinegar?

That might be too strong, depending.

Only balsamico.

Right. That doesn’t work.

I'll swear she called that thing a "ham blender" at 0:16.

Regressive assimilation.

And "two hundred millimetres of oil". Really?

L

About 7 fluid ounces.

Six and three quarters, but who’s counting?

Yes, I know what she MEANT! The issue is that she did not SAY millilitres.

It doesn’t matter. It’s metric. It is supposed to be easy. You can just switch off like that.

Now try that in English. Nobody would get away with saying inches when they needed ounces. Well, unless they were doing alliterative poetry, I suppose.

Since all words beginning with vowels count as a rhyme of one another.

American fluid ounces must be larger than British ones. I make it a whisker more than seven. Anyway, I'm off to buy vegetables then visit my son. See you later.

macbook# units '200 ml' 'floz'
	* 6.7628045
	/ 0.14786765
macbook# units '200 ml' 'brfloz'
	* 7.0390016
	/ 0.1420656

Isn’t that charming?

Of course, “about 7” covers a multitude of sins.

Pity about the Martian spacecraft, though.

@DavidWallace Yeah I noticed that too, that was silly.

I read it was millilitres, but I weighed the oil.

So I was supposed to take a bit more than 200 g, like 230.

But I used 185 g.

And the meringue is in the oven.

American kitchens never have scales. Couldn’t weigh things. We can only measure volume.

Only drug dealers have scales here.

This is a very good question:

Because there are a lot of people who get taught that this sort of thing is always wrong. And it isn’t.

@tchrist Huh, really?

But scales are so much more convenient!

Yes, really.

Why would they be more convenient?

You never need to make any containers dirty, and you can quickly and easily read the scale's electronic display.

Ours work without power.

And I don’t understand this not getting things dirty. You’re cooking.

If something calls for a cup of milk, I need to measure that in something, after all.

And you can measure by subtraction: I can put my jar of mayonnaise on the scale, tare it, then put some mayonnaise in the pan I have sitting on the fire, and immediately I can see how much I have added.

It would be really unpleasant to have to put it in some container and mess with electronics, when I can just fill up a cup exactly.

You just put the cup on the scale.

And nothing should call for a cup of milk: it should call for grams of milk.

Sorry, doesn’t work that way.

I'm with tchrist.

Trust me, I have worked with volumetric measurements, and weighing is utterly superior.

When it calls for a cup of milk, it is calling for 8 ounces.

Then convert it.

Huh?

That would be dumb.

And use metric units.

Don't you have measuring cups?

I have many cup measurements, a 2-cup measurer, a ½ cup, a ¼ cup, and ⅓ cup.

@cornbreadninja I do, several; but how many cups do I need to make dirty if I want to measure 5 ingredients that cannot touch one another? Or that will stick?

Apparently he doesn’t have measuring cups.

But I never use any cups: I just use one scale.

@Cerberus a couple. Or just wash it out.

So when something calls for ⅔ of a cup of something, I trivially fill the ⅓ cup container twice.

My dinner was so tasty that I wrote practice copy about it.

@cornbreadninja Or...you could save heaps of time and convenience by just using a single scale that stays perfectly clean and dry.

Or go up to the ⅔ cup mark in the cup or 2-cup measuring cup.

@cornbreadninja Good!

@Cerberus Not really.

@tchrist My mother told me that measuring cups (1/4, 1/2, &c) are for dry things, and a pyrex is for liquids.

@tchrist That is slow, and less accurate. I have worked with those recipes.

Yes, that’s right.

okay.

It is no less “accurate”.

Sure it is.

No it is not.

You just want to believe

that does not make it true

Suppose you need exactly 5 grams of yeast.

How will you do it?

That is like saying it is more accurate if it is metric.

You never do.

I do.

That is not how it works.

I'm making bread.

I need 5 grams.

Exactly.

7 is too much.

No you do not.

4 is too little.

Well, maybe 4 will do, but 3 will not.

@Cerberus hope that each one of those Lik-M-Aid Fleischmann's packages is 5 grams.

@cornbreadninja Packages are 7 grams here, and I want a smaller loaf, because I'm alone.

You measure it by teaspoons of course.

I have no idea.

Not by grams. That would be a royal pain in the ass.

That's eyeballing.

No, it is not.

And a teaspoon is, what, 10 grams?