Walking is pretty awesome. About two months ago I went essentially vegan, got a pedometer and started trying to get in the recommended 10,000 steps/day. I'm drinking a fair bit less booze, too. Otherwise, I haven't gotten into the weeds with counting calories, juggling nutrient types &c. (though I recently got a nike+ipod accelerometer thingy, which is cool for automatically gathering and logging miles/pace/calories burned stats), but I appear to have lost about 20 lbs... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 8:17 AM on July 2, 2008

Watch out for dressings that have corn syrup as a main ingredient.
Watch out for ANYTHING that has corn syrup as a main ingredient, and as everyone says, you REALLY have to avoid processed foods

I would include commercial salad dressings in the list of things to generally avoid. So many bottled dressings can take a healthy, low carb, low cal, low cholesterol bowl of vegetables and turn it into a the equivalent of a Big Mac. Shake up your... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 1:40 PM on July 5, 2008

Keen, good to know, fire&wings. In the future, I would direct you to the excellent This to That, an ancient web property that just keeps on keeping on. It is your guide to finding the right adhesive to stick A to B.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 12:42 PM on July 4, 2008

Prometheus Award winners might be a good place to start, if she's amenable to SF.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 12:12 AM on July 3, 2008

I do not currently have one with drawers, and I think I'm glad about that. When I have in the past, the drawers seem to fill up with the pocket detritus of the day, so that over time I accumulated loads and loads of coins, pens, receipts, disposable lighters, matchbooks and business cards in my bedside table. Also condoms, book light, and the odd paperback, but those didn't get there from me turning-out my pockets.

So, a cautionary tale! Treasure your three new drawers... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 9:15 AM on July 2, 2008 marked best answer

Is it at all possible that this is a friend doing the 21st century equivalent of signing you up for loads of junk mail? Actually I suppose the 21st century equivalent would still be to sign you up for loads of junk mail, but you catch my meaning. Could it be a friend with a somewhat underdeveloped sense of humor pranking you?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 10:47 AM on July 1, 2008

Is there anything I can do to try to figure out who's doing this, and should I?

You could ask the customer service rep if they can give you the IP the sign-up came from, which would most likely let you know if the perpetrator was local or not. Or if they don't want to give you the IP, they could do a lookup on it themselves... I would definitely try to determine if this is someone in your city/region -- in which case I would suspect pranking -- or... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 10:50 AM on July 1, 2008

I have a Kovocas siphon, and you're entirely correct. They do (or did) make wire-mesh wrapped siphons both in the traditional cylindrical and less-common spherical models. Mine was purchased about ten years ago, though, and they're no longer carried by the vendor I purchased it from. Which is a pity, because I've got a leaky gasket that needs replacing (and I can't figure out which gasket it is).

I can tell you that Fantes.com sells replacement parts... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 5:27 AM on June 29, 2008

mu~ha~ha~ha~har: that would be a returnable commercial seltzer bottle, meant for distribution and reuse by the seltzer man back in the day. You can't refill them yourself without some serious equipment, depicted a bit further down that page. Though in that vein...

I suppose if the luke parker fiasco is a bay-area fiasco, The Seltzer Sisters' delivery service might be the ticket to never-ending fizzy bliss. If in Brooklyn, Walter Backerman is... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 11:26 AM on June 30, 2008

Not understanding this. Your cousin has the name and doesn't care for it personally. You're planning to name your forthcoming daughter the same name, because it was the name of your beloved deceased great aunt. What does your cousin have to do with this exactly?

You don't say what the name is, and you don't say why your cousin is changing it, but I think it's a fair assumption that her reasons for changing her name are personal. I can only imagine a very few... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 9:17 AM on June 29, 2008

If you have health insurance, see a doctor with a mind toward getting a referral to a physical therapist. I had this happen to me... the PT guy gave me a sheet of exercises, some guidance on "buddy-taping" fingers together with elastic bands and whatnot... I did my exercises and without even noticing it, really, found that my problems went away in about a month. YMMV of course, but I'm just sayin'... there are professional people who know what you need to do to fix this. You need to go... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 7:18 AM on June 27, 2008

You are not a vegetarian by American standards, no. America is full of practicing vegetarians and vegans who never eat meat. You do. Doesn't mean it's wrong to say that you are, though. At least, not in that context.

Personally, I'm only eating very occasional fish and am avoiding all other animal meat, fat, dairy, etc. (it's a cholesterol thing) except for egg whites, which are used as binders in lots of things. I have no problem telling people that I'm vegan, however,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 7:51 PM on June 25, 2008

Khat is chewed as whole leaves, though, not snorted as a powder, as metajc describes, no? A spot of googling reveals that there's a synthetic version of khat that's snortable, which has found popularity in South African rave culture, but that seems a stretch. Also, isn't Turkmenistan a bit far north for Khat/Qat, which needs to be eaten fairly fresh?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 4:43 PM on June 25, 2008

Saving Grace. Not the British one about a pot-growing widow, but the 1985 release, in which Tom Conti plays the pope. He questions the relevancy of the Catholic power structure and goes on the lam as an anonymous good-deed doing homeless wanderer. Unfortunately it looks as if it hasn't ever been released on DVD, which is a pity. I remember it as a pleasant little sleeper, but on searching I see that the New York Times found it to be sappy, so what do I know?... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 2:43 PM on June 23, 2008

Those would be zombie hamsters from PinkertonFX.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 11:55 AM on June 21, 2008

Oh, actually your photo is of an earlier model with longer hair and less extreme brow ridges. The non-plush zombie hamster.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 5:02 AM on June 23, 2008

I take it your parents weren't divorced, eh? Or if so, one never moved far away... the only upside, as far as your daughter is concerned, is that if you live somewhere interesting and different, and she visits you, then she's somewhere interesting and different. Other than that, sorry man, but it's all negatives, and going to Disney Land really doesn't make up for it. You won't be around when she needs you, you won't be around when she doesn't think she needs you (but she... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 7:51 PM on June 22, 2008

I'm looking for traditional (melodic) music sung by singers with non-traditional singing voices.

I know it sounds like you don't want Björk, but her early Gling-Gló album may be the exception. It's quirky Björk vocal goodness applied to solidly traditional jazz standards. Give the samples a listen.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 1:08 PM on June 22, 2008

Sounds like you want to read up on binaural beats. No reason you have to pay necessarily, though... a couple of years ago I played around with going to sleep wearing headphones fed from an app that generated binaural beats under a masking layer of pink noise. Don't recall which app it was, but there appear to be several of a similar nature out there. Maybe this one?

Can't say I really noticed anything, but I didn't stick with it for long, either, since sleeping with... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 1:41 PM on June 21, 2008

Question closed.
It is requested that you add a "resolved" tag to questions which have been answered to your satisfaction
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 11:31 AM on June 21, 2008

S'truth. Curious, too, that for all of the nostalgia people express for the Big Scot, they never really paint a complete picture. The most I've found suggests that it was a mayo-based "secret" sauce. Would've thought that if it were green goddess-like, filled with parsley and green onions, someone might have mentioned it. Apparently a much-beloved sauce, though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 7:51 PM on June 20, 2008

You are likely thinking of The War Room, Ponderance.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 11:30 AM on June 20, 2008

They look not dissimilar to Ray-Ban Clubmasters, and I'm finding that "Clubmaster" is the name that other companies like to use for that frame style as well.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 5:56 PM on June 19, 2008

That's Marc Brown, of LA's ABC7 as drjimmy11 says. From his bio, he doesn't appear to be in the pokey.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 6:38 PM on June 16, 2008

Is this the only full bathroom in your house?

Yes, it is the only full bath. It's the upstairs bathroom, serving the bedrooms. There is a powder room downstairs, so I suppose if I didn't have a tub it would be a 1.25 bath home for listing purposes. How confusing. Also, the house is in Portland, Oregon, whose winter isn't even a pastiche of New England's.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 10:22 AM on June 16, 2008

Thanks for the input everyone. Further details: the house is a c. 1907 American Foursquare, violetk. There are some Craftsman-inspired elements, but it's far from being a Greene & Greene bungalow. I am interested in reintroducing as much authentic period goodness as is practical, but not at the expense of my own comfort, and I have yet to have a comfortable shower in a clawfoot tub. So, I'm completely game for hex tiles, nickel hardware, pedestal sinks, wainscoting and all, but while it may... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 12:54 PM on June 16, 2008

Yes indeedy. My gas grill is rockless. Most of the ones I saw last summer when I was shopping around did not feature rocks.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 10:04 AM on June 16, 2008

Well, I'm late to the party, stumbling in via a serendipitous search for bathtubs. I was going to suggest perfecting your cocktail making skills and becoming conversant with the standards so as to be able to effortlessly concoct elegant drinks whenever you are entertaining. One of the time-honored gentlemanly arts, like carving a turkey, but one you're likely to have the opportunity to use with much more frequency.

But March has come and gone and the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 9:00 AM on June 16, 2008

RAM. For $50 from Crucial, you can get a 256MB stick of RAM to install in it, bringing it up to 320MB.

TextEdit should open .doc files... at least, it does now. Not sure what the version in 10.2.8 version did. I would expect you could pretty easily get your hands on a copy of 10.3 from someone who's long-since upgraded, which may or may not expand your options. I forget what was new and cool in 10.3. I might have the discs lying around in the back of a closet, but I'm... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 9:21 PM on June 14, 2008

There was a Radiolab episode that dealt with something similar to this, I think. A British woman with a similar problem, though more debilitating sounding. Not to freak you out, but it was a neurologically-based disorder where the sufferer just smelled rank things that weren't there. I think Oliver "Awakenings" Sacks was somehow involved. In her case I believe she'd been having epileptic seizures and it was a side effect. Might have been this episode, though it's not mentioned in the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 11:02 PM on June 7, 2008

It appears not to have been that episode. And yes, please, consult your GP soon.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 11:17 PM on June 7, 2008

Hey, awesome news! I mean, of all the things that it could have been, you came up lucky. It's not a tumor!

Pity you're not feeling the love for nasal irrigation, because it looks so cool. Though personally the thought of it freaks me out a bit too. Seems dangerously close to self-inflicted waterboarding.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 7:25 PM on June 14, 2008

There are a lot more sociological factors that go into your question than just "aged 20 - 28." I'm sure that in certain circles it's quite common and in others not so much. When I was twenty-something, pot and booze were par for the course, but weapons and stealing were just not done. I would think the question you want to be asking of yourself is not whether these friends represent some kind of national or international norm, but whether you want those behaviors to define what's... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 6:56 PM on June 11, 2008

I had a much shorter fence built by Matt McCune (http://mccunedesign.com/), along with some deck work, about five years ago, and it's proven to be excellent. Cool guy, architect, builds wacky things for Burning Man... I give him two thumbs up.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 4:56 PM on June 11, 2008

Ugh, sorry. I hate unlinked URLs. I meant to say Matt McCune.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 4:58 PM on June 11, 2008

I would think you could still get a crop of green beans in... they're usually in the 60-70 day range. I prefer growing pole beans, myself, particularly long, thin stringless ones. But, the odd yellow wax bush is pleasant too. Grow from seed and innoculate prior to planting, as you would peas.

Zucchini and yellow squash grow better from seed than from starts -- they can be a little pissy about being transplanted -- but you probably have time for them, too. So delicious.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 1:06 PM on June 11, 2008

if you're feeling modern and blue, then shit, fuck and ass are all intensifying prefixes that obviously also stand alone.

if not, well off the top of my head: hyper, be, me, you, she, it, man ... there are loads.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 12:27 PM on June 11, 2008 marked best answer

how can I figure these questions out on my own?

Identifont and WhatTheFont are the resources referred to in the FAQ.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 10:39 AM on June 11, 2008

Custom-height countertops, to provide chopping and food prep surfaces that are ideal for you and your partner. Probably best done in conjunction with a butcher block surface. This could be difficult to execute, depending on the layout of your kitchen — obviously it's preferable not to have a stairstep in the middle of your counter surface — but if the difference between your heights is significant, one of you will probably be straining a bit to lean over, or cutting a bit higher than he or she... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 10:08 AM on June 11, 2008

Yes, Microserfs... it got me excited for Coupland, and then his other stuff failed to please as much. I wish I could read it again for the very first time.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 9:34 AM on June 11, 2008

By punchy/hilarious taglines, do you mean the kind of punny stuff that is curiously common to salon names? Like "Rows By Any Other Name," "Plait and Simple," "The Mehndi City," etc? Or are you wanting to hang out a sign that reads:

GADHA
[Freakin' Awesome Beaded Braids]
[Really Intricately Cool Henna Work]

where the bracketed copy is replaced by brilliant MeFite suggestions?
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 7:01 AM on June 11, 2008

But why do I have to wait overnight for a rechargeable battery to "fill up" at a trickle, instead of just letting it "drink from the fire hose" - plugging it in and counting to ten?

The Energizer 15 minute charger is awesome if you don't want to wait a long time for your batteries to charge. It has fans, but they're quiet. Dashed handy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 2:34 PM on June 10, 2008

This seems dangerously close to chatfilter, and unlikely to yield an accurate answer. This is the kind of thing that is best dealt with via hindsight... hell, if the Fed chairman could accurately tell you why all that shit was happening, he'd be well on the way to making sure it didn't continue happening, but I can't say that I have particular faith in The Prophet Ben. A lot of stuff is linked to fuel prices, though -- transportation costs feed into all goods to some degree -- and of course,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 12:16 PM on June 10, 2008

I'm pretty sure that there's no way to accomplish this that will ultimately make Google happy with you. You might find a method that'll work for a time, but the bot is ever-evolving, and when Google finds that you're trying to hide things from Googlebot, I gather they go a bit nuclear on your pagerank under the assumption that you have ulterior motives. You don't want that to happen, obviously. Better if you continue the white hat methods you're currently using.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 8:48 PM on June 9, 2008 marked best answer

I'm commenting using my primary machine: a 12" 867MHz G4 Powerbook with 1.12 GB of RAM, running 10.5.3. It's fine. Flash is, as has been mentioned above, not the best, but otherwise it's been a champ. I've dropped it several times and, while somewhat dented, it just keeps on keeping on, and is used hours and hours a day. If you really just want to surf a bit, play some tunes, etc. then it's completely solid for that, even at 867 Mhz. I'm sure the faster ones would be more pleasing to you.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 5:30 PM on June 9, 2008

Oh, mine (the 867MHz) only has USB1 ports by the way. Not sure when Apple introduced USB2 to the 12" line, but you might want to pay attention to that if you're likely to want to use any peripherals that need the speed.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 7:57 PM on June 9, 2008

Google tells me that Fort Wayne, IN has the nearest Asian markets (q.v. Mon's Asian Grocery, the Oriental Grocery & Mart, Little Burma, Hoa Hung...). Man, though, that's not just around the corner.

I nth Penzeys for your spice needs. I shop at Uwajimaya for my more hard-to-find Japanese/Asian groceries... there's a brick-and-mortar near me, but they have an Amazon presence. In-store they're great, but they don't seem to have much available via Amazon at the moment.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 5:07 PM on June 9, 2008

Go to a game tonight. It's visceral for me... white jerseys, green fields, warm summer nights. Television does nothing for baseball.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 9:41 AM on June 9, 2008

Oh, and I've found a lot of enjoyment watching historical baseball, played with late 19th century rules, uniforms, equipment, etc.. A quick googling didn't turn up any in your area, but a more concerted effort might.
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 10:09 AM on June 9, 2008

Bikes are measured based on the frame. Specifically the down tube that connects the seat to the pedals.

You will also see "standover height" as a measure of a bike's size, when speaking of men's bikes, with a horizontal top-bar. So, if you're considering getting a small men's frame (the geometry provides more frame strength than the women's frames, which were designed to allow for skirts. Could be useful on those roads), then the standover... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mumkin at 8:58 PM on June 8, 2008