OK, the thing is that usually in men orgasm and ejaculation are simultaneous, but that association can be disrupted. My bet is that he's actually trying hard not to come early, straining and tense, and so the ejaculation happens with the extra stimulation as you manoeuvre into a new position, but things aren't "right" for him to get a good orgasm. Sometimes just continuing doing whatever you were doing will enable the orgasm part a few seconds or a minute later.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:57 PM on November 17, 2008

Could be disturbances in your sleep cycle. My understanding is that erections typically are associated with particular phases of sleep; so, if you're depressed/medicated/hungover/stoned and sleeping badly, maybe you are actually still getting them but you're waking after they're gone/before they've arrived.
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:17 PM on November 17, 2008

These meetings are boring because at any given moment, nothing is happening of any relevance to most of the participants.

Frankly, the project review part of this meeting is a big fat waste of everyone's time. The co-ordinator ought to be getting status reports individually, and distributing the reports, no meeting required. The only thing a group gathering can contribute is if people not on a project suddenly realise they know something useful, which won't happen if... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 12:55 PM on November 14, 2008

Look, what you're not making clear is why any of this has to happen in person.

Meetings are for decision-making. The notion of meetings as an efficent way to impart information to many people at once is wrong. So far, it still doesn't sound as though anything is happening that requires a formal meeting of your whole team.

"we do need to report activity to the 2 bosses that appear"

Make one person responsible for... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 12:55 PM on November 17, 2008

Perhaps I'm too old at 38, but in my experience being "hair free" is something that women do occasionally, perhaps as a treat for a favoured partner, except in porn, which I can tell you has very little to teach you about normal sexuality, bodies, etc. I can see the discomfort of depilation being something you tolerate as a favour for someone you cherish, but seems weird as something you do speculatively for some slob whose only criterion for sexiness is hairlessness.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:16 PM on November 15, 2008

You know, I'm trying to imagine this chap. Having been favoured by Ms Anonymous, he surveys her furry charms and recoils. "Eww! I can't put my penis in there", he cries, before yanking his pants back on and running out of the room.

Who wants that guy?
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:25 PM on November 15, 2008

drpynchon and others: did you read the bit that said "Doctors warned Hannah that a transplant was her only hope of long-term survival but that the immuno-suppressant drugs that she would have to take to prevent her body rejecting the donor organ could lead to a recurrence of the leukaemia."

My guess is this is an important factor in her decision. The prospect of a happy outcome post-transplant is not nearly as clear cut as it might for someone who, say, needed... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 8:56 PM on November 13, 2008

emhutchinson, I don't judge the parents in your anecdote.

Neither do I judge parents who have done that again, and again, and again, with an increasing conviction that things will not be all right.

13? That's about when your power to deal with "Daddy, I'm scared" starts to fade. A 13 year old is no longer a little girl. I should know, I have one.
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:59 PM on November 13, 2008

When I read comments in this thread, I mentally ignore everthing that follows "as a parent" or "I cannot imagine."

You are not specially qualified because you are parents, and you need bigger imaginations.
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:05 PM on November 13, 2008

drpynchon: I yield to your expertise.

I am making the (unwarranted? I hope not) assumption that her parents have received a best guess from their advisors, and didn't like it.
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:11 PM on November 13, 2008

I find smoked paprika is an excellent replacement for smoked cured pig in this kind of dish. I can buy it here in New Zealand, so I'd be amazed if you couldn't get it in Australia. Where people are recommending chipotle, it should provide a similar flavour.
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:14 PM on November 13, 2008 marked best answer

Heh, I like their blog's formulation better:

The Royal Society of Chemistry Yorkshire Pudding

Ingredients

85 g polysaccharide powder, kitchen grade (flour)
1 g sodium chloride, NaCl, table grade (salt)
1 egg
Solution of 230 cm3 reduced-lipid bovine lactate (milk), 20 cm3 H2O (water)
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 4:28 PM on November 13, 2008

Two words.

Duck. Fat.
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:31 PM on November 13, 2008

I bough the cheapest possible mains-powered generic clippers from the local discount store. They cost 12 New Zealand dollars (less than 8 US) and work fine. I can give myself an acceptable number 1 all over, but it's easier to get my partner to tidy up the back of my head. I gather the hair with a dustpan and compost it with the vegetable scraps.

I calculate that in just a couple of years, this has saved many times its purchase price in haircuts.
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 2:34 PM on November 13, 2008

humorless headlines like, "A particularly peaceful baboon troop may have lessons to teach us."

That sounds like a good deadpan satire of the just-so animal evo-psych bullshit science stories papers usually do print. Humans are naturally warlike/peaceful/greedy/co-operative/egalitarian/sexist as you can see from baboons/chimps/snakes/fish....
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 10:50 AM on November 12, 2008

I eat very little lard, and when I am in North American it is a noticeable taste in commercial Mexican food. Subbing that in for oil is likely to give an earthier, piggier, tastier taste.
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:31 PM on November 11, 2008

menstrual seclusion

I have read feminist interpretations of seclusion customs, which point out that if you're cramping and irritable, retreating to a quiet place and being exempt from physical labour and being in a state where men can't bother you is a good thing.
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 10:26 AM on November 9, 2008

"mankind has lived with these things in their head for thousands of years before modern dentistry"

Yes, because the typical adult would have lost several teeth through adulthood, freeing up room in the jaw. Paradoxically, it is modern dentistry saving all your teeth that makes your wisdom teeth a problem.
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 10:27 PM on November 4, 2008 marked best answer

"Is there a right wing in New Zealand?"

Socially, the dominant party right of our centre is about as right wing as the US Democrats. Economically they are fervent free trade advocates and monetarists.

On another note, for the last few years I've been hearing quite a bit of anti-American sentiment here, based on the Bush re-election. Whenever I have encountered it, I have thought about the Mefites and their aggregate thoughtfulness, and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:55 PM on November 4, 2008

Maori James Carroll was Acting Prime Minister in New Zealand in 1909. You can't really compare Westminster-style PM's with the US presidency, but arguably he counts too - PM's are selected by their party's caucus in the parliament, which has got to be as democratic as being selected by an electoral college, yes?
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 6:54 PM on November 4, 2008

Do Scottish PMs count?

Ah! Well, in that case, Lloyd George's native language was Welsh.
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:03 PM on November 4, 2008

I'm so happy for you. And for the rest of us. YES YOU DID.
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 8:16 PM on November 4, 2008

Damn, my New Zealand property speculation is worthless now.
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 10:00 PM on November 4, 2008

Occasionally i wonder if he's purposely throwing the election.

Stop that. Stop that right now. The idea that your opposition would throw the election is a symptom of internalised defeatism.

If it made sense to throw a presidential campaign, it could only mean that the presidency is powerless.

Why, just yesterday, I heard Obama tell John Stewart that times like now are precisely when people who want to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:48 PM on November 3, 2008

You should be able to get gluten flour - that is, powdered wheat gluten - in the baking section of any large supermarket. If I can find it in New Zealand, you can do it in the retail paradise of North America.

As noted by others, gluten is what gives strength to the dough.

Possible alternatives are high-protein flours (but not always - eg durum flour is high protein, but not the right kind) or so-called "improvers". Eg, a speck of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:38 PM on November 3, 2008

Apropos the three-legged dog sympathisers: look, I don't want to mock a three legged dog either. But this three-legged dog is potentially next in line to be President, and volunteered to be there. If a) shaming them out of it or b) shaming their supporters out of it requires chanting "ha ha three legs" then I will yell myself hoarse.
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 12:45 AM on November 2, 2008

I have an artisan bread baking book which I am reading right now, and it says that a) alcohol is a normal constituent of yeast-fermented dough and b) almost all of it evaporates during baking.

Hope your bread turned out nice.
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:07 PM on November 1, 2008

Apropos Miko's comment:

I have a homebuilt coffee roaster. It is what you might call industrial bricolage - I have salvaged a breadmaker (heatproof bowl + rotating vane), and I heat the beans with a paint-stripping heat gun (portable 500C air) mounted on a drill stand, monitored with a cheap multimeter and a temperature probe. It produces very superior coffee beans.

This is not my idea. There are plenty of these things out there described on the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 2:47 PM on October 30, 2008

fff: love it.

They should find young Pablo and get him to record an adorable robocall.
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:04 PM on October 29, 2008

I try and avoid going into shops because I know I will spend money I can ill afford.

Good. Excellent. That is not some kind of crazy behaviour. It is how sensible people live all the time. We don't go into shops unless we have a clearly identified need for something. Going into shops merely to look around is for people with more money than sense. Retailers put enormous effort into strategies to make you buy on impulse - so don't... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 2:17 PM on October 29, 2008

On re-reading, this goes way beyond "clutter". If you have filled up your living space with things such that you can't move freely, you have reached a point where professional help (ie from a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist) is going to be much easier than doing it on your own.

"I've never saw it as a problem for years as I've thought 'I'm not one of those people who keep empty milk-cartons'"

Lots of people deny being... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:35 PM on October 29, 2008

Possibly helpful.

"What is compulsive hoarding?

Compulsive hoarding has been defined as the acquisition of and failure to discard items that appear to be useless or of little value. It is manifested in excessive possessions in the home interfering with the normal use of living space and furniture, and is accompanied by significant interference or distress."
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:41 PM on October 29, 2008

A right-wing politician uses the dog whistle? This is not news, or even interesting. I'm gagging for the next big US political thread as much as anyone, but this peg is not strong enough to hang on one.

There have been some great pieces on Palin's use of language at Language Log however.
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 2:06 PM on October 29, 2008

Don't put yourself in situations where you have to make those choices.

I had a bit of an issue with buying my lunch. Greasy is tasty, healthy is boring.

So I stopped buying my lunch and started bringing a packed lunch from home. Then a) I didn't have to make the choice and b) to the extent I had urges to go get something better, my innate urge not to waste stuff helped me.

Likewise, with portions: don't cook or make so... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:10 PM on October 28, 2008

Another thing is that most people have a finite amount of will power. So it's probably easier to tackle this incrementally. So spend a couple of weeks just substituting apples for candy bars. Then maybe set a budget that constrains your takeout purchases, and stick to that. And so on. Every two or three weeks, extend the range of your discipline a little more. Doing everything at once is likely to lead to demoralising failure; continual small successes might be more helpful.
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:23 PM on October 28, 2008

There doesn't seem to be a lot fibre in that menu. So my guess is it's not just water.
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:46 PM on October 27, 2008

"unbeschreiblich; unsagbar; unaussprechlich"

Respectively indescribable; unable to be said; inexpressible. None of those words denote incomprehensibility: those are all things you can't put into words, not things you can't understand. (These would all be good words when translating H P Lovecraft, by the way).

I'm with the "inconceivable" people. Which in German is "unvorstellbar" or "undenkbar".
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 8:34 PM on October 26, 2008

"Thaler and Sunstein suggest that the default be switched so that employees would automatically be enrolled in a savings plan, and would have to take action to opt out."

My country, New Zealand, introduced a workpace retirement savings scheme run along exactly this principle about a year ago. It has been so successful (as measured by the number of people who do not opt out) that it is overloading the tax department, who administer it.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 5:31 PM on October 25, 2008

A friend of mine is a martial artist and a scholar of dance, and working on his PhD right now.

His theory, boiled down, is that martial arts are codifed as traditions precisely as the skills they employ are becoming obsolete. Then the aesthetic aspect begins to override the utilitarian one. Finally, in a homophobic and macho culture, martial arts provide a socially sanctioned way for men to practise aesthetic movement without accused of being a poof.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 4:59 PM on October 24, 2008

Just down the road from my house in New Zealand someone regularly parks a car with a bumper sticker reading "Proud to be an American - Ashamed of my government."

Assuming all goes well in a couple of weeks, I've been contemplating slipping a congratulatory note under the windscreen wiper.
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:13 PM on October 21, 2008

When did Chris Matthews get the balls?

When it became obvious who was going to win, of course.

Not to get all Paglia on you, but he's not a worshipper of the flight-suit codpiece because he likes cock, but because he likes masculine power, which the McCain campaign is sorely lacking in. Also, I don't want to compare Hilary Clinton, who is a genuine heavy hitter, with Palin, who couldn't think her way out of a paper bag, but in... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:14 PM on October 23, 2008

I remember that ad too! And no, I can't remember what it was for. Just Juice, maybe?
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:47 PM on October 22, 2008

Apropos bailing to NZ: in the last couple of years, we've been mostly accepting refugees from Burma and Afghanistan. In the event that you reach that level of fuckupitude, we'll consider you too. In the meanwhile, you'll have to get in line with everyone else.
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 4:51 PM on October 22, 2008

As an American living overseas, I occasionally get attitude about just being American pretty consistently, if I'm consistently meeting new people.

That does suck, but this happens everywhere to every expatriate. You are the temporary ambassador for your homeland, and you get to be harangued, patronised or complimented irrespective of your personal responsibility for the local misconceptions about your country. It's just part of the magic of travel.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:30 PM on October 22, 2008

I'm just bemused that you can buy frozen broccoli florets, actually. It would never have occured to me that people would not either buy fresh broccoli or go without. This is the same sensation I got when discovering that in North America there are different grades of juice depending on how much pulp you like.

I'm not criticising, I just find the phenomenon of frozen broccoli more puzzling than faces on packaging.
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 4:19 PM on October 22, 2008

yhbc: the climate is sufficiently mild here, and the country sufficiently small, that the range of frozen vegetables is quite small: green beans, sweet corn and spinach are the main kinds available. Brassicas like broccoli grow all year round.

I'm not saying frozen broccoli is wrong. I can see that if you live at extreme latitudes, it's that or scurvy. But it's just weird!
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:26 PM on October 22, 2008

I believe you can get ADSL in Raglan, which has some of the best surf anywhere, rugged coast, laidback populace, and is 40 minutes drive from Hamilton or about 2 hours from Auckland. I have a friend who works from home for IBM there.

Try not to confine your search to apartments unless you really hate the idea of a house - in smaller towns people don't generally build apartments, but there will be cheap houses to let.

Can you define... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 2:38 PM on October 22, 2008

It's not just that - outfreakage is beautifully Teutonic, structurally exactly what the nominal form of freak out would be in German. I'm imagining a seperable verb ausfreaken, noun der Ausfreak or die Ausfreakung.
posted to MetaFilter by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:40 PM on October 21, 2008

Sorry Brandon. I think it's sad too.

On the other hand, AskMe is often characterised as reductive and pointless, and I think it's worthwhile to reflect that obvious and numerous answers can in fact be the right ones.

Thinking like salvia, I wanted to highlight that comment from the poster so it would be remembered the next time this comes around.
posted to MetaTalk by i_am_joe's_spleen at 12:57 PM on October 19, 2008

Yeah, I'm sorry, I put this exactly the wrong way, and I'm going to ask it be deleted.
posted to MetaTalk by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:35 PM on October 19, 2008