MovieChat Forums > BeExcellent > Replies
BeExcellent's Replies
When I was sixteen my best friend insisted I try a little piece of fried peanut butter and banana sandwich. That mouthful of sweet fried sin was the most delicious thing I ate that whole year. This recipe looks similar:
http://www.tartqueenskitchen.com/2015/01/08/elvis-presleys-peanut-butter-banana-sandwich/
Which reminds me: a coworker keeps telling me I need to watch Bubba Ho-Tep. Maybe I'll just cook up one of these ridiculous heart attack sandwiches and finally get that film crossed of my To Watch list this week.
The poem? It's about imagining alternate realities where you didn't lose a cherished loved one.
If you were asking about the Murakami book, it's about (as near as I can tell) a reality slightly shifted from our own. And honestly, I think I'm failing this book as a reader. I just can't seem to sink into it. I give myself a D- for effort because others seem to love it. I'm determined to finish it, but uuuurgh. I have literally been reading it for months with little joy.
The Fireman is a post-apocalyptic book not entirely dissimilar in premise to Joe's dad's The Stand. I typically enjoy Joe's writing, so I'm not sure how I failed so utterly to enjoy this novel.
Okay, I sound like a bad reader. Maybe I am. The last book I loved unconditionally was Carey's The Girl With All The Gifts. (And the movie was horrid. Oh, how I wish I'd never set eyes upon it.) I'm looking forward to reading Danielewski's House Of Leaves next, but I can't quite give myself permission to abandon 1Q84. You know, there's really no way around it. I really am a bad reader right now.
Ohhh, thank you for sharing this. I'm glad so many of the cast think fondly enough of the series that they're happy to be at cons.
I hope Tom Braidwood's illness was only temporary. Frohike was my favorite of TLG, though I do adore them all. Glad to hear "Langley" is still working.
You're making me want to indulge in an XF marathon. Maybe I will.
No. The current state of things isn't fair and acceptable. There are dozens of unjust rules typical workers put up with in order to stay employed. And it's not just--or even mostly--sexual politics. I've seen changes regarding breaks, sick leave, yearly evaluations, and limiting free speech during non-work hours at my workplace in the last half decade that are asinine and counter to basic decency. The changes inconvenience supervisors and workers alike and make the organization less agile, but state law commands it.
Back to sexual politics. It's a mess. We've created an atmosphere in which even people of abiding goodwill feel defensive and hostile about the state of things. I think most sane people of both sexes would realistically agree on 95% of issues if they could actually discuss them. But the people who have championed many of the regulations we're operating under are *not* part of the calm group of souls with mutual goodwill, so we have a system that almost assumes antagonism and creates defensiveness by default.
Man, I have no solution. Of course I don't want anyone to lose their job over unwanted flirting at work. (Thankfully, I've never seen that happen.) If *I* were in charge, I'd trust consenting, sane adults to work that particular issue out on their own and only come to HR if they couldn't find a solution.
I'm curious what you would do in this situation: a developmentally quirky guy works closely with a woman with a sensitive personality. He flirts with her though she's told him to stop repeatedly. It drives her nuts. He flirts with other women workers and it doesn't bother them because they understand he's slow/different. What would you do? For the record, I don't have a good answer, but I sure wouldn't let him go.
Roy Batty in Blade Runner
Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs (but not in Hannibal)
Jareth in Labyrinth
Valentine in Kingsmen: The Secret Service
Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye
Jerry in Fargo
And if you consider Eli a bad guy in Let The Right One In, her too.
Okay, you just gave me the best laugh. And I needed one. Thanks again, db.
Hmmm... if you're suggesting that the original poster is not actually a Russian gentleman, but is just adopting a persona temporarily and mocking the current state of American sexual politics.... yup. You're probably 100% right.
Hehe. My bad. I need to be a little less credulous. Thanks db. There are a lot of Russian immigrants in my area and they struggle with our norms. I was feeling really sorry for him because I honestly think America's fairly miserable for the majority of Russian immigrants. I was tempted to tell him "You'll probably hate this place and you probably shouldn't come here," but I feared that would just sound hateful and rude.
I feel bad for everyone, male and female alike, who has to deal with current American sexual politics.
Okay, got my sister's responses to your questions:
"Most Americans are very nice. Most women would be impressed and humbled to be given your seat. Calling a woman beautiful can be perfectly acceptable if you are in a social setting. In the workplace it could be considered inappropriate."
(I prompted her to explain a bit more because, in my experience, it's [b]not[/b] culturally okay in America for a man to approach a woman with a compliment on her beauty unless it's in a context where people are specifically looking for a dating partner or where long-standing tradition dictates the occasion makes it acceptable to approach someone you're romantically interested in. And she agreed....)
So she added: "It is common in social settings of dating age people. It's a way for a man to show he has interest in a woman. Not in random public places. Only ok in socializing situations like you said."
Man, I don't want you accidentally tripping on American customs if you come here, so I feel like I have to explain more than my sister did: in general, you can't compliment a romantically-attached woman on her beauty *at all* unless you are either under the age of 10 or so elderly that there's no chance it could be mistaken for flirtation. And unless you are disarmingly charming, you can't compliment a woman you don't know unless it's at a bar, party, or wedding. Then again, my uncle met his (gorgeous) wife by approaching her at a food court at a mall. If you're wealthy, fit, and a great socializer like he is, you can break the rules and have no problem.
You can get fired from a job for complimenting a woman (or a man, for that matter) if it's unwelcome, but this is different from it being an offense where you could get arrested and put in jail. And I think most companies have a policy where a compliment can happen *once* without it being a problem, but if the complimentee tells you it's unwelcome and you do it again, that's when you can lose your job.
About the fast food: yes, Americans love fast food way too much.
And yes, capitalism is a dogmatic belief for most Americans. At heart, both Republicans and Democrats seem to believe the free market will save us all. Greed is rebranded as ambition and is perceived as a positive trait. There are a few subcultures that reject it.
I don't think any mentally-well woman would take offense at being offered a seat on public transportation. It's perfectly legal to offer someone else your seat.
I've shared your questions with my sister and will post her reply when I get it. Unfortunately, complimenting women's beauty *is* a risk zone in American culture and I suspect her answer would be more helpful to you than mine.
I'd actually consider watching the resumed X-Files if TLG were there. They imbued classic XF with such a spirit of fun, geeky goodwill, I can't imagine enjoying the XF universe without them.
I'm sorry you've lost so many beloved pets in such a short span of years. That is so difficult and heartbreaking. I wish I had some words of comfort and wisdom, but all I can really say is I know this pain. I hope it eases for you. And I thank you for your work on behalf of animals.
I'm presently reading Murakami's 1Q84, but the last book I finished was Joe Hill's The Fireman. Hill has impressed me in the past and I have no doubt he will again, but The Fireman didn't manage to keep me invested in its characters.
The last thing I read that gave me chills of awe wasn't a book, but this poem by Franny Choi: http://www.theadroitjournal.org/issue-twenty-franny-choi-the-adroit-journal/
I keep going back to read it. The experience is freshly devastating every time.
Zotter's Peru 100% gives me more joy than I deserve. I also love Domori's Il 100.
If you want a sweet chocolate that will melt in your mouth, try an Alter Eco black truffle. As a shameless chocolate pusher, I tend to give them as gifts in the hope of hooking others on the dark stuff.
Yes, I do have two chocolate fridges in my house to keep my precious stash at the right temperature. And yes, I believe the world would be a far better place if it were socially acceptable to pelt unreasonable people with wrapped chocolates until they retreated, had some chocolate, and hopefully returned a little less grouchy. I've noticed both online and in person that arguing rarely accomplishes anything. Really, chocolate is a far better answer.
I'm going to echo LordBishop above and say it depends on your personality. With regard to mental health and life happiness: If you're a strong introvert--especially if you have autism spectrum tendencies--you may be better off minimizing time with people. Friends tend to demand face-to-face time and this could undermine your happiness. If, however you're an extrovert or simply enjoy the validation of someone else's warm regard, then you'll be happier having friends and family. On average, people do better having friends and family, but you can't devise a good plan for your own happiness simply by replicating what works for the "average" person. Do you enjoy people's company?
As for having a job, well, you don't have to have employment *specifically* to be happy if you're financially independent, but personal happiness is correlated with having meaningful activities in your daily life. Engaging in tasks that require some concentration and effort and which result in something you value will typically produce happiness. No one but you can know whether your activity should be cultivating bonsai, writing epic poems, volunteering at a soup kitchen, or devising a corporate take-over. What makes you feel valuable and productive?
Your parents may be concerned about what could happen to you as you age and your health deteriorates. It's true that living alone makes you more vulnerable to going without help in the event of a fall or a delirium-inducing illness, but depending on where you live there could be plentiful resources to support you as you age. I would definitely not suggest trying to live alone as an elderly person in a country setting. If you're okay with the notion of living in a city in your elder years and having strangers come in and check on your well-being regularly, you should be okay without friends and family.
You probably instinctively know your needs better than your parents do. Does the happiest life you can imagine include friends and family?
I made a promise to myself to stop being a bitter fleck of bile on this film's discussion board. I see evidence that the people involved in this project approached it with sincerity and respect. For me to go on criticizing the end result of their efforts to make a thoughtful big-budget movie is not only unproductively rude--because this board is filled overwhelmingly by people who enjoyed the movie--but thoroughly wrong-headed. In an era when most studios would roll their eyes at investing in a project like this, Villeneuve and Alcon tried to make the type of film that appeals to audience members like me. Common decency dictates I should thank them for their efforts and end it there.
I can't keep my promise to stop being a vomit-drop here if I tangent into criticisms about a different movie Villeneuve directed. I think the best thing I can do is offer my sincere praise for Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life" and encourage other people to read it. It's one of the finest short pieces of fiction I've read in the last two years.
Aristide, if you sincerely welcome a discussion about Chiang's sublime story and the ways it differed from Arrival, I'd be happy to do that either on Arrival's board or via PM. Please forgive the horrid pun: that story gives me life.
If you have a toilet against an exterior wall, the line feeding it can freeze in extreme cold even if you keep the faucet trickling. To prevent that, you can either keep the heat at no less than 70F constantly or you can keep a trickle of water running into the toilet. (See: http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2006-01-21/news/26942198_1_burst-water-pipe-heat-tape-faucets)
I use a trickle charger on my car battery whenever the temperature falls below 20F.
I can't find anything. Could you please share what you read?
I'm so glad the bird recovered! That is great news.
I would not use H2O2 on the bird's wound at this point. And I don't know that I would have even if it had been directly after the fight. This would be my guideline: Only if there were puncture wounds or a wet/damp wound was visibly soiled with something infectious (like cat saliva or fecal matter) would I think it would be worth stressing the bird over to try to clean the wound.
Hopefully if any bacteria did sneak in, the bird's immune system will fight them off. When considering care of a wild bird, you really do have to factor in whether your intervention will stress the bird and cause more harm than good. As my sister likes to remind me: a bird can actually have a heart attack and die from stress alone.
You're doing a good thing. You're doing as much as you reasonably can. And this bird is showing good signs of recovery. I hope the bird flies off into sunshine-bright skies for you tomorrow.
The concern with the skin is whether the wound includes entry points for bacteria. If the topmost layer was pulled away, it may look angry red but still not leave the bird vulnerable to infection. Would you describe the wound as dry? Or is it damp/wet? If it's damp/wet, I'd be concerned about bacteria being able to make their way in. If that's the case, the bird might develop an infection that would require antibiotics. You'd have to talk to the bird rehab folks about dosing for a pale vented thrush.
I don't think, however, that you should have to go as far as seeking antibiotics. I asked the nurse in our ER for advice about the bird before I left work. He said the bird could probably recover from the injuries you describe if it doesn't have internal injuries from the fight. The feathers should grow back. He also said it's hard, maybe impossible, to treat birds if they do have significant injuries. What you're doing really is about all you can do.
Cherries are great. And yes, I do think it's a good sign the bird was feeling well enough to perch on the box side. Birds can get quite lethargic when they're stunned/shocked. I think this bird has a reasonable chance.
You're welcome. I passed your reply to my sister and this is how she responded: "if the skin is broken, i would gently clean with hydrogen peroxide. if it is not bleeding then it is superficial and just needs time to heal. low stress and safe. food, water, shelter"
So if the skin is intact--as it sounds like it is--then keep the bird safe and calm by keeping your interactions with it minimal. Your bird like fruit and insects, but my sister's suggestion of warm water with a bit of sugar will still work if you don't have fruit available. I think keeping it in the closet with a towel is fine. If it can fly when you release it tomorrow, I would call that good.