For Prague then can recommend highly checking out Vysherad castle (the less touristy one but still very central). Regarding walking then get the train to Karlstein- 20 minutes on train and great castle and walking country.

RE good coffee- this is the most difficult thing to find in Prague. Would recommend Kava Kava Kava if you need a fix of the black stuff. The stuff sold in cafe's in Prague is generally very bad.

Be aware that the Czech crown... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gratishades at 8:46 AM on August 19, 2008

Variation upon a theme but Ginger Ale (available from a lot of off licences) is very pleasant and I prefer it to ginger beer.

Schweppes Bitter Lemon is very nice (though may contain sugar).

If you go to a large supermarket the mixers are kept near the spirits aisle will stock a variety of different drinks, a small percentage of which will not be sweet.

Marks and Spencers used to have (and I believe still do) old fashioned... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gratishades at 3:58 AM on August 16, 2008

Erm, at the risk of proclaiming my non-geekiness, any chance of someone explaining this in non-tech (it's all geek to me).
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 6:15 AM on August 7, 2008

So, any hints for those less tech savvy as to how check to see if links they are thinking of putting on are safe? I'm assuming this was an honest mistake by whoever posted (and I don't know who did post, due to not clicking the links just in case).
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 8:42 AM on August 7, 2008

Water? Really? I guess that must be number 50 or there abouts.
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 3:14 AM on August 6, 2008

It's a specifically anti-Edinburgh stereotype I believe rather than anti-Scottish. RustyBrooks has the sense of it right- the greeting of a visitor with the closed question "You'll have had your tea?" to obviate the need of offering refreshment.

I thinks it is a Scottish west coast put down of the east (not sure that anywhere outside of Scotland is Edinburgh taken to be less friendly than most places).

Doubt I'll make it back to Scotlia... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 2:08 AM on July 28, 2008

CAn't remember the last time I read the Sun website linked. Have a look at their European Anthem competition. The prize? The old joke staple...

"The winner gets 1000 euros plus an all-inclusive night in the EU capital of Brussels. The runner-up gets two nights. "
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 1:58 AM on July 27, 2008

w0mbat's Radio 4 link is good. You can find more on the BBC iPlayer (which opens when you click any of the links on the Radio 4 page) and filtering by comedy (this gives you a view of all the comedy on BBC radio that week that you can listen to to).

Armando Iannuci has been involved in a number of ground breaking radio shows (ie worked as producer on On The Hour mentioned above and Alan Partridge). Anything that involves him is worth a listen.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gratishades at 3:31 AM on July 13, 2008

I have to concur with the sentiments that it is the best phone ever- had one for five years and volleyed it across parking lots, dropped from 5 floors up, and threw at walls in petulant rage more than once and still worked a dream. A friend made the observation that the designers would have gotten a lot of stick from Nokia as their indestructible nature and battery life means that you never have the need to upgrade. I had to give the phone back as it was a comapny one and I left that job; every... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 3:05 AM on June 13, 2008

Indeed it was ClanvidHorse who had remarked previously about the designer's getting whupped for longevity. It was also ClanvidHorse who commented on the Ford Mondeo non coolness of the machine that everytime he saw it he imagined Foreigner playing in the background.

RE Pepsi Blue allegations- as the company doesn't make it any more I doubt that's the case- unless daveyt has a couple of hundred that he's looking to sell. (If so daveyt then MeMail me).
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 3:15 AM on June 13, 2008

neblina_matinal's answer was the one that sprung to my mind when I read your question.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gratishades at 10:44 AM on May 24, 2008

A similar device can also be used when one person is speaking- I walked into a bar... needed six stitches. If anyone can provide the terms for both types of verbal misunderstanding for humour's sake then much obliged!
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gratishades at 5:29 PM on April 19, 2008

Lady Gratishades and I are going to be in Tokyo the last weekend of the month (tourists, no concrete plans). If last Saturday night of the month suits fellow Mefites I'd love to meet up (Lady G ain't a MeFite but given the fact that she hears so much about the place I reckon she's an honourary one at least). I'll keep an eye on the posts and if possible be great to meet up.
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 3:09 PM on March 18, 2008

Argh! Disregard above message as OP is talking about the week after and don't want to hi-jack thread. May be about the following two weeks so will follow thread with interest.
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 3:12 PM on March 18, 2008

Agreed whatzit. I'll MeMail mai for clarification.
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 7:50 AM on March 19, 2008

For me plus 1...
3/23 - out
3/29 - 1
3/30 - out
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 12:03 PM on March 21, 2008

Above should have read 3/29 - 2 of

mai- as OP could you clarify if gen's suggestion of 29th is good with you (apologies if I'm misinterpreting comments but 29th seems to work for most who can make this window)?

If so I can post to the front page of Metatalk as Meetup.
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 2:54 PM on March 22, 2008

Woo hoo! 29th it is!

gen- would you be so kind as to arrange change of date to the 29th. I'll MeMail partcipants in the thread so far to alert them that we have firmed up date and time.

Please indicate confirmed attendees in thread to get an idea of numbers...

Confirmed- Gratishades, 2 of.
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 4:37 AM on March 23, 2008

Well fellow mefites this looks as though it is dying a death- just arrived in Tokyo after fairly nightmarish journey (lost luggage and delayed.

As we seem to have nothing organised may I suggest that you are free to join me for a soccer game at Paddy Foleys　9.30 pm Saturday evening if in the slightest interested or no better things to do. It is a big game (well for Scottish folk like me) and one of Japan's favourite sporting exports, Shunsuke Nakamura, will be playing so... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 3:06 AM on March 28, 2008

2nding jtron's recommendation- Norman Davies Europe. Very thick and covers everything. Despite it's length and scope it is extremely readable and has inserts on different issues that break up the narrative every few pages to give inspiration for your further reading.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gratishades at 4:04 AM on March 8, 2008

Not enough Welshness so far (audio nsfw).
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 5:18 AM on March 6, 2008

No-one has to know how many colours it's possible to have. I think OmieWise above has it -working up from 1 person in the group being blue and killing himself straight off, then thinking what the two people would do etc.
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 8:51 AM on February 15, 2008

And I'd suggest that none of the brownies would kill themselves the day after as each of them, for all they know, might be a special snowflake with different colour of eyes than everyone in their group.
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 8:55 AM on February 15, 2008

2nding callista's guess of the Earthsea Wizard by Le Guen- immediately sprang to my mind when I read your description.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gratishades at 9:02 AM on February 14, 2008

JimmyJames, regarding the "snark" flag; I really don't think this would help. As officially the most level headed and objective guy in the world (according to me and my mum, OK not even my mum) even I do find myself filing people under B for bad if I disagree with their political viewpoint.

dios raises a good point. I can't remember reading a (previous) comment by dios that I agreed with. Used to think that he was either insane or just out for a troll but a lot... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 3:47 PM on February 12, 2008

Sorry revmitcz, but I'd say definitely a conflict of interest (points 2 and 3 don't matter).
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 2:36 AM on February 11, 2008

As a European if I saw a link for "skeet" I'd not click on it. Don't know the word, too similar to scat, and I'd steer clear in case too gross for words. Others might click on it because of the very novelty/uncertainty/hoping for something bizarre, but if it's fairly mainstream site you'd probably disappoint those looking for something bizarre and scare off those with mainstream tastes.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gratishades at 3:41 AM on February 7, 2008

Bug Report (I think) ; I searched for words- 'look around you', filtered by Metafilter and got 90 odd Posts. Cool. Read through the first page of results then clicked for page 2 and it reverted to 'All Sites' as opposed to just 'Metafilter'- giving me page 2 of hundreds of results rather than subset of Metafilter I was looking for. Am I doing something wrong or is it a bug?
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 4:56 AM on February 1, 2008

sambosambo- are you talking of changing your name or the world? It's fairly old fashioned (I was going to say quaint, but am sure that some would take issue with that) and probably better known in the UK (as derogatory to 'natives' from the time of Empire) I guess if it was something you were unaware of it's connotations.
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 6:40 AM on February 1, 2008

Both Glasgow and Edinburgh would reward more than one day but if intent on seeing gorgeous scenery then game warden to the events rhino is bang on the nose with the Skye suggestion (and quickly leaving Inverness). A B n B in Skye will suit very limited budget also.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gratishades at 1:40 PM on January 28, 2008

Having lived in the Czech Republic during the past year I must confess that this has not been on the radar in a major way. Admittedly my Czech is poor and I get most of my news from English speaking media but I'd have expected this to register. Don't know whether it says more about the phlegmatic attitudes of the Czechs or the tiny ratings of the broadcast that this is not a bigger deal in terms of coverage.
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 2:46 AM on January 25, 2008

Good golly, that is a lot of work and good show(s) (though it pre-empts a good few more in depth FPPs and will be the source of a few cries of 'Double' in the future I suspect).
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 2:38 AM on January 24, 2008

If Dmitri could ensure that it burned with a wan light then I'd approve of that.

Seriously though, if I had to trust any author's take on destroying their work it'd be Nabokov's. While I'd be interested in seeing it from curiousity it'd be with a slight sense of shame that I'd view this last not-even-first draft of an author who was so careful in the creation and release of his masterpieces. I don't want to feel like Humbert Humbert.
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 7:32 AM on January 18, 2008

I think the wording means that if you are ill while on holiday then you have used up your leave days (irrespective of how much you enjoyed it)- rather than subsequent to the holiday, subsequent to booking?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gratishades at 1:14 PM on January 7, 2008

MeTa thread seems to have disappeared from the Google ranking for searching 'give well'. I saw it a top five yesterday- how easy would it be for a corporation to ask a search engine to nix one particular thread?
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 6:40 AM on January 3, 2008

Pepicka a Jenda- Pepicka is a girls name- Josephina- female name and, Jenda is a diminutive of Jan, a boys name

"Pan (or "Pom" or "Pam") a Pani Jaroslav a Damuska Osecki" Probably Danuscka (Dana) so it'd be Mr and Mrs Jaroslav and Dana Osecki

The third card reads: "Pepicka Kalusova"- Pepicka as above, demographically likely to be an older woman. Given the card to the boy and girl and the third one having... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gratishades at 4:02 AM on December 28, 2007

jeffamaphone- that's two hours we've been hanging waiting for you to tell us a story, I hope your crafting it off line.
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 1:08 PM on December 6, 2007

Prague already has a million classical buildings and, to take issue with taz, how does a city become "architecturally eclectic" without putting up some new stuff?

Also regarding kenlayne and piratebowling's comments- agreed. If Klaus was against a proposal for having me stoned to death I'd probably be in favour of it and demanding the cobblestones be used asap.
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 3:14 AM on December 5, 2007

Fair enough taz.

The proposed site of the building is a fair way out the historical centre near the Sparta Prague stadium (which is as ugly a football stadium as I've ever seen). It's not going to be in the Old Town Square.

I like the artists impression of how it will look from the castle, seems quite cheeky and interesting in equal measure.
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 3:55 AM on December 5, 2007

Whether I'll get a chance to get used to it is still in question. The knee-jerk reaction of the conservatives has kicked in with the ODS mayor doing a volte face from initial approval, and chief clown Klaus taking a break from climate change denying to state his horror at it.

Whether it'll go ahead, get kiboshed or moved elsewhere seems to still be up for debate. This article seems to imply that the location is being reconsidered.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 6:07 AM on December 5, 2007

The latest update on whether it'll go ahead here. Including Klaus calling it "disrespectful, self-indulgent and arrogant"- which would make it an admirable monument to his presidency.
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 6:14 AM on December 5, 2007

Yeah- I was quite happy using 7 as best but then the 1-4 ranking question threw me.
posted to MetaTalk by Gratishades at 6:00 PM on November 26, 2007

I'm reading an excellent book just now 'A History of the Arab Peoples' by Albert Hourani- I've just gotten to the chapter on the Ottoman Empire and it gives a good perspective on why Turks (who were the main power in the Ottoman Empire) could feel they have claims to areas outside their present borders. The Ottomans also acted as protectors of Muslim interests outside their direct sphere of rule and this may well give some explanation of what carmina states regarding making claims on areas with... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gratishades at 2:31 AM on November 23, 2007

Thanks all so far. To clarify question previously- yes female so good point regarding hormonal changes.

RE Bells Palsy- thanks for the links. She was asked if any exposure to ticks over the summer so guess from the Wiki article relating Bells to Lyme disease that ticks carry that may have been the way the docs and neuro guys were thinking.

We're in Czech and, while the health care system is in many ways excellent, the doctor's aren't the most... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gratishades at 3:57 PM on November 22, 2007

Thanks all once again.

tamitang- the headache part of your symptoms weren't replicated. Hope the docs can clearly diagnose you. Sounds as though Bells is benign enough and eventually clears up.

limeonaire- thanks for suggestions- did occur to us that the lump could be having the impact but they seem to have ruled that out post tests.

monopas- sorry to hear that your syptoms recur, hope it dies down over time and the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gratishades at 2:15 AM on November 23, 2007

Teen Wolf and Red Stripe
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gratishades at 10:56 AM on November 16, 2007

To quote the linked Telegraph article making a half-hearted stab at a talking point;

"Sure, everyone and their mother is on the Internet these days, and our lives are immeasurably enriched for it. But should everything — even one of the world’s most famous paintings — be as freely available as news and instructions on the latest hip-pop dance moves?"

FOAD. Are these guys paid by comment?
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 12:12 PM on October 29, 2007

Jody T- apologies, saw the "T" in the tab and the piss poor journalism so assumed Telegraph. I can assure you it is not me being more anti-Brit than usual, though as I've chosen to leave the UK my anti-Brit credentials are questionable. Apologies to the Tele.. no I can't do that. Comment applies to NYT though, cheers for correction.
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 1:22 PM on October 29, 2007

I wish people would get over their hero worship of Stephen Fry, starting with me. I was talking the other day about the olden days where you had Enlightenment men that were experts in three branches of sciences, had a wide circle of friends and correspondence, eat three whales for lunch and threw off treatsies on philosophy on carriages back from their club; I consoled myself from the envy with the thought that they don't make people like that any more, then I remembered Fry. Damn him!... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Gratishades at 9:35 AM on October 29, 2007

Moving to Prague this weekend. Have a Czech wife and we know the place quite well. Never spent Christmas there, we always travel to see family but any specific questions I can help with feel free to MeFiMail or see profile.

It will be cold and dark fairly early but a romantic city to walk about in the evening and if it snows quite magical. Other plus points as mentioned is very international so English speaking no problem. Christmas markets and carol singing in old... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gratishades at 3:34 AM on October 26, 2007