Posts by Amy Gale
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Muse: TV Review: Good Gods Almighty!, in reply to B Jones,
Outside of American Gods, I can't think of another pop culture appearance of the Norse pantheon off the top of my head.
The top of my head throws out a couple:
- Six Days of Luke (Diana Wynne Jones)
- Thor Meets Captain America (David Brin, and available online)
- Sandman (Neil Gaiman) has appearances from Loki -
Have I mentioned that I love you guys? Cos I do.
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Hard News: Because it's about time we…, in reply to Danielle,
[There’s definitely instant in the supermarket.]
Yes. It’s just that I never saw anyone use it.
Yeah, me neither. Except for aforementioned biscuits.
I think it must be the same people that are buying the aerosol frosting, uncrustables, cookie crisp cereal and other products that everyone I actually know swears they have never even tried.
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Hard News: Because it's about time we…, in reply to BenWilson,
No instant? Ouch.
There's definitely instant in the supermarket. I don't think it can be solely for the benefit of New Zealanders who buy a tiny jar and keep it around for years so they can make that one Alison Holst biscuit recipe. Though who knows.
(I can't find the recipe online, oddly. I might have to dig it out and post it.)
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Hard News: Because it's about time we…, in reply to Sacha,
Ah, you see, that depends on whether or not they know a foreigner. If they do, they use an electric kettle and are very pleased about it. If they don't, they use either a stovetop kettle or the microwave.
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Hard News: Because it's about time we…, in reply to Danielle,
I just like saying "I have nothing but bitching to do about American $noun"
To be fair, electric kettles can be obtained. They just don't seem to be common anywhere that doesn't have a critical mass of foreigners.
To be extra fair, my workplace is perfectly supportive of the afternoon "coffee walk", with shop talk taking place on the journey to and from the coffee shop rather than while drinking.
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Hard News: Because it's about time we…, in reply to Paul Campbell,
finding good coffee in the US - look for the artsy fartsy hippy bookstore part of town, check out the cafes (alternately find a "Little Italy" though there's only a couple of big cities where that's possible)
The existence of good coffee is one thing, its availability in daily life is another thing entirely. For example, the following cover the majority of coffee experiences I've had in the last decade.
a) Get up->make something yourself, probably filter.
b) Go to work/school->drink filter coffee from shared coffee urn.
c) Go to catered meeting/seminar/etc->get fed filter coffee probably provided by whatever outfit the muffins/donuts/bagels came from.
d) Go for afternoon break->buy coffee from nearby purveyor. Some chance that this is espresso, depending on location, but low probability of awesomeness.
e) Make special pilgrimage to place with good coffee->have good coffee. Maybe look at puppies.
Scenarios b),c) and d) are definitely what I'm thinking of when I recommend learning to drink bad coffee. e) is all very well but depends on living in a town with an artsy fartsy hippy bookstore part (or with parts at all, for that matter) or a Little Italy, and quite often is impractical except at weekends. Clearly I have only myself to blame for a).
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Hard News: Because it's about time we…, in reply to Peter Calder,
To really appreciate this, you need to have tried to get a good cup of coffee in New York, which is a major challenge.
Gimme, or Joe. More so Gimme, but Joe gets extra points for having a nearby puppy shop.
But I will repeat the advice I have given before, which is that ultimately it is a lot less frustrating to learn to drink bad coffee in the USA than to try to find good coffee.
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Muse: The High Aesthetic Line, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
YEah, but the weird thing is that Naboo has an elected monarchy -- with term-limits, no less.
Darths and Droids provides a plausible explanation for this, and much else besides.
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Then I felt guilty for being disloyal and mentally sang a rousing round of ‘What’s The Time Mr Wolf?’ This cultural nationalism lark is very fraught on occasion.
Free advice: don't even try to show someone Footrot Flats: A Dog's Tale when you find it on HBO Movies On Demand for Kids (?!?!?!). It devolves very rapidly from "well, uh, that's the stereotype of what NZ farmers wear" through "maybe you have to have grown up with it" to "nooooo, come back, you have to see him dance around the pie cart". The soundtrack still owns, though.