Random Thoughts

selfmademug · Post by **selfmademug** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 4:58 pm

Last time I was at Trader Joe's I remembered to pick up a jar of their kosher half-sour pickles, highly recommended by Our Bobster. Heaven in a jar... I think I'm about to increase my sodium intake about ten-fold. Oh dear. Also they make a delicious (and very multi-cultural!) companion to the slightly sweet 'Dubliner' cheese.

selfmademug · Post by **selfmademug** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 5:32 pm

Another random thought: how come all my random thoughts are about food?

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 7:15 pm

Because food is the music of love.

Sake is a great drink, but add a little Japanese chilli sauce (with seseme overtones) to it and you have a drink to die for! that's what I've been on, plus the beer and whisky.

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 8:54 pm

The other day I sent this email to my aunt:

o, yesterday, I was walking down the street in my neighborhood, when
I saw that one corner was roped off, with a guard/monitor guy standing
there. In the roped-off area, a guy was standing on a ladder, hitting
an old building (one of those Parisian-looking, falling-apart kind of
buildings) with a hammer. With every blow, little chunks of building
fell off the facade onto the ground, which was already littered with
debris. The following conversation took place in Spanish.

Me: Was there an accident?
Guard: No. Every once in a while we hit the buildings with a hammer
to see what falls off. It's to prevent accidents.
Me: But doesn't that destroy the building?
Guard: It doesn't destroy the building. If a piece falls off now,
that means it won't fall off later. We have to maintain these
buildings, or they'll fall down.

Dear aunt, let me reiterate that the man was hitting the building
with a hammer. And based on the prior state of the building, and the
state of all the other lovely old building in San Telmo, this is the
beginning and end of maintenance. I guess the rationale of "hitting
the building with a hammer will make the loose pieces fall off all at
once, when there are no potential victims around" does adhere to a
certain bizarre logic...

And I got this email back:

Ya gotta love the Latin Americans. An obliquely-related story: When I was living in Brazil, I complained about the washing machine to the landlord. "You can't run several loads in a row," he warned. "Machines are not like people; they get tired."

crash8_durham · Post by **crash8_durham** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 11:18 pm

thanks again for the well wishes everyone. they really made my night

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 1:48 am

Great news, Crash8! Very happy to hear it.

selfmademug wrote:Last time I was at Trader Joe's I remembered to pick up a jar of their kosher half-sour pickles, highly recommended by Our Bobster. Heaven in a jar... I think I'm about to increase my sodium intake about ten-fold. Oh dear. Also they make a delicious (and very multi-cultural!) companion to the slightly sweet 'Dubliner' cheese.

See what happens when you take my advice folks! As for the sodium, well they are HALF-SOUR, which I guess means they have less of something than full-sour and at least cucumbers are one of those negative calorie foods! So, any salt-induced weight gain will be purely temporary. And blood pressure? Well, er...c'mon, a little pickled gherkin never killed anyone!

anjabro · Post by **anjabro** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 2:38 am

Random thought after watching 'Lord of War'...

Why, in America, is it 'Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms '

That sounds to me like 'Bureau of Shoplifters, Jaywalkers and Serial Killers '

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 8:53 am

Damn. Schools closed today because it's hobo-killing cold outside. Bunch of wimps. In my day, when the temperature dropped you'd bundle up and trudge to school anyway. Of course I grew up in sunny Southern California...

RedShoes · Post by **RedShoes** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:14 am

Who Shot Sam? wrote: it's hobo-killing cold outside

I'm ashamed to admit it, but that made me laugh out loud.

pophead2k · Post by **pophead2k** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:16 am

selfmademug wrote:Last time I was at Trader Joe's I remembered to pick up a jar of their kosher half-sour pickles, highly recommended by Our Bobster. Heaven in a jar... I think I'm about to increase my sodium intake about ten-fold. Oh dear. Also they make a delicious (and very multi-cultural!) companion to the slightly sweet 'Dubliner' cheese.

You'll feel my pain then Muggy..... Upon my first trip to my new local Whole Foods (or, Whole Paycheck as I like to call it) I found that although they had an excellent cheese selection, they did not carry Dubliner cheese like my old Whole Foods did! Damn their eyes!

selfmademug · Post by **selfmademug** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:32 am

That does it-- come on over to Mug's house, guys. Pickles and cheese for everyone!

Goody2Shoes · Post by **Goody2Shoes** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 4:33 pm

If there's anything funnier than a man wearing a dress, I don't know what it is.

Mike Boom · Post by **Mike Boom** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 1:33 pm

Where are all the Snow Women?

selfmademug · Post by **selfmademug** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 1:54 pm

I will never, ever understand Pokemon. There seem to be a million factors for each card and I can't figure out how the game works no matter how many questions I ask my son.

selfmademug · Post by **selfmademug** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 1:54 pm

I will never, ever understand Pokemon. There seem to be a million factors for each card and I can't figure out how the game works no matter how many questions I ask my son. Thank God for chess.

Post by **BlueChair** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 2:03 pm

selfmademug wrote:I will never, ever understand Pokemon. There seem to be a million factors for each card and I can't figure out how the game works no matter how many questions I ask my son. Thank God for chess.

I will always credit Pokemon as a sign that I have grown up. Of all the crazy kid things that have come out since my childhood, that was the first one that I have absolutely no comprehension of, much to the delight of my small cousins.

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 4:30 pm

My boys know that stuff inside and out. They can quote stuff that makes my head spin.

But it keeps them out of trouble.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 8:07 pm

Is it still current/visible over there? It's ancient history here - I don't think kids are aware of it unless they's inherited card collections. I spent large chunks of time in the late 90s being exposed to all the names and details, and falling asleep in what has to be the poorest film I have been exposed to ever in the cinema.

tallulah · Post by **tallulah** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 10:43 am

selfmademug wrote:I will never, ever understand Pokemon. There seem to be a million factors for each card and I can't figure out how the game works no matter how many questions I ask my son. Thank God for chess.

If you actually understood it, I think I would be afraid.

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:15 am

anjabro wrote:Random thought after watching 'Lord of War'...

Why, in America, is it 'Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms '

That sounds to me like 'Bureau of Shoplifters, Jaywalkers and Serial Killers '

The ATF is under the Dept. of the Treasury. Those three items are linked because there are vice taxes attached to each of them. You pay a little extra to the government on top of all the other taxes wehn you buy alcohol, smokes, and guns. The ATF is technically there to make sure those taxes get collected, but they also enforce abused in the sale, distribution, and manufacture of the three items. It's gets to be a giant muddle, of course. Because none of the above explains why the ATF should have been involved with the Waco standoff. But they were.

selfmademug · Post by **selfmademug** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:22 am

That reminds me of something that always bugs me-- Smokey the Bear represents not some environmental arm of our fine government but rather the Department of Agriculture. So don't you believe it when he gets all weepy about the birds and fuzzy creatures. The real reason he doesn't want you playing with matches and burning down them trees is because he wants to be able to CUT THEM DOWN AND SELL THEM. (Well, get paid waaaaaay below market for corporate rights to do same.)

Post by **BlueChair** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 10:02 pm

Christopher Walken was standing behind me in line at the grocery store today.

We tend to do our grocery shopping at a big grocery store with the car, but occasionally pick up last-minute things from a small 24 hour grocery store around the corner from our apartment. I went to pick up a can of tomato soup on my way home from work, and noticed Christopher Walken approaching the register before realizing there was a line. And yes, I'm sure it was Christopher Walken - I did a double, even triple take. He didn't say a word the entire time, and I don't think anybody else noticed it was him. He was wearing a winter hat which helped disguise him too, sort of.

Turns out he's in town along with Robin Williams and Laura Linney filming the Barry Levinson film "Man Of The Year" and I guess his hotel must be nearby. Still, I thought it was pretty cool!

invisible Pole · Post by **invisible Pole** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 2:33 am

That's so cool, Blue !!

Did you notice what he bought ?

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:40 am

invisible Pole wrote:That's so cool, Blue !!

Did you notice what he bought ?

Condoms?

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 8:06 pm

Flirting is one of the great small pleasures of life. It's up there with crossword puzzles and a well-made burrito.