Displaying comments 1 to 50 of 454
Ask post:
Nous respondons a vos soiree? NRVS?!
ceri richard:
/pedant alert:
The correct spelling is:
Répondez s'il vous plaît.
/end pedant alert.
/super pedant alert
The "plaît" spelling was sorta deprecated by back in the 90's. More precisely, it isn't obligatory.
/end super pedant alert.
;)
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 8:25 AM on June 3, 2008
I learned it the hard way, ceri. I started subscribing to FrenchPod.com recently (a very nice site), called a native French speaker on his use of l'accent circonflexe ... and got a free attitude readjustment along with a supplemental vocabulary list I can't repeat here.
/My but they're touchy!
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 9:38 AM on June 3, 2008
(Hope the submitter for forgive one more little sidebar, but the question has been pretty well answered.)
My sister has a hysterical sense of humor that borders on cruel. She and her husband hosted a French foreign exchange student (from Paris, no less -- really uptight and reserved) and she did things like set out loaves of "Wonder Bread" because she heard that the French "... like to eat good bread with their meals." She... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 10:04 AM on June 3, 2008
Ask post:
Creative ideas on how to make BBQ without the barbecue?
I virtually ALWAYS use a crockpot for my BBQ. 8-9 hours on low, cut up the ribs and arrange strategically (maybe a bit of onion on the bottom of the pot). I certainly use Liquid Smoke, but the I've made due without it. Along with the obvious spices, I particularly love a combination of a hefty dose of apple-cider vinegar toned down and balanced out with some brown sugar, molasses, honey (or even a dab of each).
Shredded pork in a crockpot is a dream. Same procedure,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 8:31 AM on May 28, 2008
Ask post:
I Can Haz Pierogies?
Oh, man ... I'm green with envy here. I'll trade you a Rib and Jazz Fest for one day of Pierogi Fest -- but I gotta have borscht and kvas.
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 8:21 AM on May 19, 2008
Ask post:
Trying to Buy Low so I can Sell High
I've been watching BNI go steadily (not rapidly, just steadily) up from the low 80's to 103 today. This was one that Warren Buffett liked because he was smart enough to recognize that high fuel costs would drive more businesses to use the rails. He also liked the company itself; the management and the upgrades they're implementing. I personally own NO stock in BNI -- I' ve just been watching it. (My personal strategy is to hedge with a few select foreign stocks. In my case, Chinese. The... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 8:58 PM on May 12, 2008
Ask post:
When did actors start getting real?
We're all familiar with earlier shifts in acting styles for a myriad of reasons, ranging from transplanted stage actors to trendy method theories (yet can find plenty of acting examples that holds up perfectly well today), so I'll confine my observations to the 60's on.
I don't know if it's the acting so much as the cinematography (which tended to zero in on the acting, thus over emphasizing it). Things changed dramatically when people like Steven Bochco hit the scene... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 10:03 AM on April 7, 2008
If we're gonna go way back, I'd put in a pitch for "Citizen Kane". Welle's genius is often difficult to see nowadays, since his ideas were so copied that we take the original for granted. Due to his radio background, he was the first one to really play with sound in a realistic manner. You'd get proper echoes to convey the feeling of space, modulated sound as people approached and withdrew, overlapping sound, etc -- really radical stuff at the time. Particularly as it came out... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 10:19 AM on April 7, 2008
Ask post:
Make the begging stop - Seattle NPR
Well, I have NPR, Minnesota Radio, WBUR, WGBH and KCRW all bookmarked in iTunes. They run roughly the same stuff (though it's often staggered enough that if I miss CarTalk on one, I can still catch it an hour or two later). It's rare when they ALL run a pledge drive simultaneously.
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 10:08 AM on April 7, 2008
Ask post:
The Perfect Meatloaf
Man, so many great ideas. I made a special trip to the grocery store for "Progresso Italian Bread Crumbs", now I'm seeing a sizeable choir singing hymns to "Quick Oats". That has me curious, so I'm gonna head out again and grab some of those.
In short, I think I'll be making 3 medium loaves instead of 1 big one (as I had planned). I have most all the other ingredients, so I'll try three versions based on what I've read here.
Thanks all!!!
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 12:49 PM on April 1, 2008
Grither ... I think you're probably right, but the fact that I was treating it like pizza dough probably contributed too. ;)
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 1:20 PM on April 1, 2008
Ask post:
Buy Low, Sell High
Well, there is The Virtual Stock Exchange, but, to be honest -- I find Yahoo's portfolio tools much more flexible. You can assemble as many "dry runs" as you like, test whatever criteria you think are important, etc. Use Yahoo's stock screen too. It gives you several useful views and supplies key information. Obly downside is that you're playing against yourself and you have to input the data (ie: allow for virtual broker fees, etc.)... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 11:59 PM on March 31, 2008
I love CAPS too; but more as an observer. I think CAPS is more for people who already have a good handle on what they are doing (which might very describe Weebot and suit his needs), but if you're just learning -- or honing -- your skills, I would favor another site. In either case, you definitely want to bookmark it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 12:11 AM on April 1, 2008
Ask post:
Why does Chinese printing of Latin characters always use the same font?
Okay ... I'm confused here. You're really only seeing them through your computer. How many Chinese fonts do you have? Maybe one or two in addition to the standard popular unicodes?
I have some couple dozen, so I don't see the problem the same way, I guess. Although I will grant that the Latin alphabet not only tends to look odd, but the spacing is often skewed too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 10:21 PM on March 27, 2008
Ask post:
What was this movie called?
Possible clue:
I am trying to locate a B movie I once saw on late night TV. It was about a plane filled with semi-celebrities which crashed on a remote island. At first they think they are in paradise but they later realize that there is something terribly wrong and each one is in a situation which encompasesss their own private hell. The whole dilemma in the movie is whether they actually survived the plane crash or whether they are in hell, heaven or purgatory.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 6:21 PM on March 27, 2008
And ... of course, I clipped off the part of the clue that gave the name as: Haunts of the Very Rich (1972) (TV).
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 6:23 PM on March 27, 2008 
marked best answer
Evidently it has a long pedigree. 1925 Stage Play ==> "Outward Bound (1930)" ==> "Between Two Worlds (1944)" ==> "HotVR (1972)"
Of course, the "Gosh, we're in Hell" theme is pretty ubiquitous, from "Twilight Zone: A Nice Place to Visit (1960)" to "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)" and many, many more, I'm sure.
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 7:25 PM on March 27, 2008
Ask post:
Asian stereotype: why the exaggerated front teeth?
This is a fascinating question. I've known several Chinese with overbites -- but not in numbers much different than anyone else. Most have beautiful smiles no different than anyone else. Maybe there is a phonological component (paging Dr. Languagehat!), as I've seen a few that looked like they had an overbite when they were merely wrestling with English pronunciation. The answer is probably much simpler. Given their status in the railroad era -- forced into servile positions -- there was... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 3:16 PM on March 27, 2008
Ask post:
Dad-day gift filter
I took a bunch of old family photos, scanned'em, cleaned'em and made a calendar for my mom once. I was startled to discovered she had kept it years after it was out of date. I suspect it was a particularly affective gift because some of those old photos were small -- so when I blew them up bit with software and made some tweaks, it was like she had seen'em for the first time.
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 2:23 AM on March 17, 2008
Ask post:
Jonesing for the taste of lime-flavored Tostitos
I love'em too, which is regrettable, because it means they will stop making them inside a couple months. Sorry. (I also killed Sesame Seed Doritos back in the 70's by developing a passion for them too.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 6:05 PM on March 13, 2008
Ask post:
Stock Discussions
How about the CAPS crowd at Motely Fool?
/Yahoo just puzzled the heck outta me. Every other message is spam from THE SAME DOMAIN. How tough is it to write a perl script to auto zap any message with that URL? They gotta know they're driving people away. Other than their discussion forum, Yahoo has some pretty nice stats, graphs, and gizmos (eg: portfolio trackers & stock screens).
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 4:07 AM on March 13, 2008
btw: jourman2 ... The portfolio manager at Yahoo is a WONDERFUL gizmo. It lets you create multiple portfolios and updates them in real time (well, 20 min. delay). You can create a bunch of "fantasy portfolios" and see how you would have done. I currently track Favorite Stocks, SinoStocks, Buffet Top 10, Buffet Bottom 10, Soros Bottom 15, Dogs of Dow, Selected Penny Stocks, Bargain Growth (from their excellent stock screen), Industrial, Parma and (of course) my actual personal... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 4:19 AM on March 13, 2008
Ask post:
Comcast Arbitration Agreement by Customer Inaction
btw: It is not unheard of for companies who slip these iffy clauses into contracts to quietly settle minor disputes, rather than going to court, having said clause challenged and slapped down for everyone involved. That can potentially open a nasty can o' worms.
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 9:52 AM on March 11, 2008 marked best answer
Ask post:
Crazy Russian Historian?
From the Wiki page: "Garry Kasparov is a supporter of Fomenko.[15] Kasparov met with Fomenko during the 1990s, and found that Fomenko's conclusions concerning certain subjects were the same as his own."
Wow. Just ... wow ...
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 3:47 PM on March 7, 2008
Ask post:
Iron Chef RavinDave
From this (and other stuff I'm still reading online) it looks like 3-4 hours is a good general rule of thumb.
Shepherd ... You mean like canned cranberries and shaved almonds?
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 12:31 PM on February 25, 2008
zsazsa ... when you say whole, you mean one-piece whole or cut-up pieces whole?
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 12:33 PM on February 25, 2008
Oh, my ... essexjan may have just given my my project for the week.
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 12:45 PM on February 25, 2008
Ask post:
Thorn, I'm going home - Sol
Sidebar: I've only seen "Soylent Green" once -- and that was in a theater during the original run! But that scene is really seared into my memory. (That and the scene where Heston brings scraps of food home -- including the spoon with a dab of jam on it.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 5:08 AM on February 10, 2008
Ask post:
Everybody was kung fu fighting
Gung Fu (most of us first heard it that way) may have seemed exotic in the 70's, thanks to "Kung Fu", but since the question was specifically: Which style would have seemed more badass to someone IN THE 70's -- I'm gonna hafta go with Hapkido, with a tip my big black round hat to Tom Laughlin, Bong Soo Han and the wildly popular "Billy Jack" movies.
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 11:19 PM on February 9, 2008
Ask post:
Musical Time Capsules
Most of the songs from "Grease" (the circa '72 stage show -- not that celluloid crapfest) evoke the late 50's quite effectively.
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 2:05 AM on January 27, 2008
Ask post:
Instrumetal Breakdown
"Amadeus" ... obviously great stand-alone music, but it's insidiously woven into the film; providing more than a few inside jokes and striking the exact right chord (as it were) for many sequences.
posted to Ask Metafilter by RavinDave
at 4:12 AM on January 15, 2008
