Random Thoughts

This is for all non-EC or peripheral-EC topics. We all know how much we love talking about 'The Man' but sometimes we have other interests.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

PlaythingOrPet wrote:I am officially addicted to Come Dine With Me. :? :?
I enjoy it well enough, but I am so glad Masterchef is back on. I was thinking only two weeks ago 'surely it's about time for another series'. Last year's was so good. I don't care how predictable it is, or how worn out the 'today Greg gets his way so John will tomorrow' format is, I love it. Apparently pork tenderloin with mussels isn't so outlandish, they eat it in Portugal, I was told today. ha - check this out:

http://www.recipezaar.com/Fillet-of-Por ... oas-225260
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bambooneedle
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by bambooneedle »

I hear the portuguese like to eat pork n' cheese...

Recently went to a portuguese restaurant and ate marinated quail... mmmmmm.
And carne estacada (big chunky pieces of beef on a massive squewer, like a giant shish kebab), nice and crusty on the outside to medium rare inside. It sits on a big stand and you slide it down onto a plate with a fork. And portuguese Sagres cerveza that reminded me of first tasting beer. I know fuck all about beer but it was very good, strong but no bitter aftertaste like most of the local ones. Ta bon.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

I used to love my trips to Portugal when I lived in Spain, and particularly how you'd stop at a roadside place for a 'bife', which would be a steak with a fried egg on top, salad, fries and rice! Two meals at once!
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ice nine
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by ice nine »

Apes cannot master the iPod because they don't have opposable thumbs.
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think that you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt
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verbal gymnastics
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by verbal gymnastics »

I cannot master the iPod either but not for the same reason.
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

I love the iPod shuffle mode. I've got over 9,000 songs on there, but it amazes me how well it seems to select them. It often seems it will pick out my favourite song from an LP, and the sequencing is often great. It's perfect for dog walking. My only gripe is that at times I's love to hear the next song on the LP, so it's a shame you can't click something (on my Classic anyway that would take you out of shuffle mode and into the next song on the LP.
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
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bambooneedle
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by bambooneedle »

Otis, do/did you find it easy to talk with portuguese people? I do here as my spanish is limited so I keep it kind of basic and if I get stuck I can resort to english.

The best way to use shuffle is not give it any bad or average songs to chose from - eg. the cdrs for my car stereo that I put up to 150 songs on.
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mood swung
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by mood swung »

this one's for oily.


This morning, I shot six holes in my freezer...
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

bambooneedle wrote:Otis, do/did you find it easy to talk with portuguese people? I do here as my spanish is limited so I keep it kind of basic and if I get stuck I can resort to english.

The best way to use shuffle is not give it any bad or average songs to chose from - eg. the cdrs for my car stereo that I put up to 150 songs on.
The level of English in Portugal was always a lot better in Spain and given that they mostly hate the Spanish, it would have felt offensive using it with them, so I got by with English generally, and learnt the basics for restaurants etc. where it didn't work. I remember a Catalan colleague speaking to them in his native tongue which they welcomed, and which was easy for them to understand. In Brazil I've generally been with local folk or again, used English, but on occasion I have used an absurd hybrid where I remember 'çao' for ción' and stuff, most memorably during a 20 min taxi ride where we managed to put across our respective opinions on the then emerging Beckham, etc.

I've definitely got some average stuff on my iPod, just because it has 80gb and I wanted my entire collection on there. The ratio of excellent to average is very high. The way it keeps me in touch with parts of the collection I might otherwise overlook is wonderful. It has a curious habit of selecting Costello bonus CD numbers over original CD ones!
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
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Who Shot Sam?
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by Who Shot Sam? »

I hate when I lose my temper with my kids. I tell myself not to let it happen and then every so often you just snap.
Mother, Moose-Hunter, Maverick
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pophead2k
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by pophead2k »

I'm not a dad, but as a teacher I can relate.
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bambooneedle
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by bambooneedle »

Otis Westinghouse wrote: The level of English in Portugal was always a lot better in Spain and given that they mostly hate the Spanish, it would have felt offensive using it with them, so I got by with English generally, and learnt the basics for restaurants etc. where it didn't work.
Haven't really felt any hate from Portuguese - here, we're like brothers or cousins or something. Now, South Americans... much more common (maybe that's just the circles I travel in :lol: Once I took pictures of some Peru dancing girls in a street parade. I'd mentioned where I was from etc. When I got the pictures back I couldn't believe the hate in the guy dancers' eyes. I might post it). But Brazilians and Portuguese seem to get along way better from what I've seen.
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mood swung
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by mood swung »

one of y'all shows up at my door looking like this -

Image

I'm going to let the dogs out.
Like me, the "g" is silent.
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spooky girlfriend
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by spooky girlfriend »

Who matched up that outfit, Mr. Magoo? :lol:
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Curiously similar to my daily attire.
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
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miss buenos aires
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by miss buenos aires »

Two random thoughts:

1- I just finished the Saturday NY Times puzzle in 11 minutes, 10 seconds. I am immensely smug about this.

2- I just saw two squirrels out my window, one of whom was trying to stick his face in the other's butt. It was pretty adorable.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Is the crossword cryptic or straight?
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
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miss buenos aires
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by miss buenos aires »

Straight, but Saturdays are the hardest. If you want to give it a go, I can lend you my password. As if we need more things to compete over!
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

That last sentence is clearly a red rag! And of course you want me to succumb as you know you will thrash me as per the reading tally. Go on then, send it to me, and I promise I'll give an honest timing.
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

That would be '2 hours with help from google', probably. Now that I've got the software and log-in, I am hugely disappointed to find I just can't do these as c. 25% of it is just too US-specific, and I'd probably need quite a bit of time to get used to some of the styles of clues, and the not knowing how many words might be in an answer is so weird and alien, and you can't increase the size of the clues on screen, so it's doing my ageing eyes in. All in all, a thoroughly humiliating experience, but thanks for trying to get me to be a contender!
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
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miss buenos aires
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by miss buenos aires »

Sad! Well, now that you have the login, you can practice? Everything I know about sports, I learned from crosswords. Especially everything I know about Moises Alou and Mel Ott. I have no idea who they are, but they sure crop up in crosswords a lot.
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by ice nine »

Of course it's bedlam in some sections of Pgh tonight. In Oakland, where the Univ. Of Pgh. is located there are hoards of drunken people,a few sofa fires burning, and an overturned car. All good football games come down to the last few minutes of the game.
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think that you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt
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oily slick
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by oily slick »

I accept Michael Phelps' apology.
I'm not concerned about the very poor.
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Who Shot Sam?
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by Who Shot Sam? »

oily slick wrote:I accept Michael Phelps' apology.
Me too, but only if he'll let me have a hit off his bong.
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mood swung
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Re: Random Thoughts

Post by mood swung »

I never thought I'd be saying this, but, daaaammmmmnnn, I'm glad it's February.
Like me, the "g" is silent.
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