The Off Topic Topic

[Syt]

An awesomely 1960s Pan Am ad:

[Josquius]

'tis mothers day. And I remembered 2 weeks in advance this year

[Martinus]

What really annoys me about that sort of thing is these aren't usually special fish that can only be found in Portugal. There's probably pretty similar fish being flown in the other direction too.
I recall reading some figures a few years back about how many potatoes countries are shipping to each other. Just madness.

In case you havent noticed, Poland is not adjacent to an ocean or a warm sea.

[Martinus]

The part that really bothers me is the "fish flown in from Portugal."

Why is that? Do you prefer they fly the fish in from somewhere other than Portugal? Or is it that fish should be transported on trucks and trains, rather than airplanes? Or is it that you believe only people actually living near centres for fisheries should eat fresh fish (i.e. you're a hardcore localvore)?

Or are efficient distribution networks something that bothers you on a more fundamental level?

"Express flights from Portugal to Warsaw that deliver fish" and "efficient" probably don't belong in the same sentence.  Are there no fish in the Baltic?  Aside from the extravagance, it's actively destroying the planet primarily so people can conspicuously consume their dinner.  Disgusting.  Also, they shouldn't be eating fish at all, though I only mildly judge them for that.

It's not like there is a special plane for those fish. Someone buys them at a Lisbon fish wholesale market and puts them on a morning plane to Warsaw once a week. Why is this more wasteful than, say, air mail.

[Martinus]

So yeah, carbon footprint, for sure; but I don't think if that store shut down the carbon output of transportation between Lisbon and Warsaw would drop one iota, since the same flights would happen in any case.

Presumably the flight wouldn't need as much fuel?

It's just a few crates, not tonnes of fish being flown.

[Martinus]

I had issues with one of my knees, 'gritty bits' moving around in it, stiffness and odd creaks; turns out a few 10,000s miles of cycling sorted all of that out. 


edit:

For balance I should say, I just have loud clicks when I move up and down or stretch my knees, I think it's just the tendon snapping around the joints.

Every time I try to ride a bike for any sort of distance, that knee gets all shitty (swelling, stiffness, sore, etc).  Something about the motion I guess.  Seems like running would be worse, with the impact and all, but that just makes it hurt and nothing else. vOv

Go to a doctor. I had the same problem and it turned out I am flat footed which makes my knees align at weird angles, causing the problems. Having special insoles fixed it.

[garbon]

If enough people wrinkle their noses, the market for damaging activities will dry up and even those who will still wish to participate in that market will become ashamed.

Admiral Yi and garbon wringing hands over carbon footprints, and now you are advocating private action in the free market over state intervention.

So many of my assumptions are getting demolished in this thread.

I think I only chimed in about wasting fuel.

[garbon]

So yeah, carbon footprint, for sure; but I don't think if that store shut down the carbon output of transportation between Lisbon and Warsaw would drop one iota, since the same flights would happen in any case.

Presumably the flight wouldn't need as much fuel?

It's just a few crates, not tonnes of fish being flown.

Ah just a one time shipment that magically has no weight?

[Zanza]

An innovation in the northern German city of Hamburg has taken the world by storm: wee-proof walls.

Local groups recently began introducing "hydrophobic" paint on areas of the city's busy night-club district, aimed at deterring late-night revellers from urinating in public. Signs errected near the walls warn: "Don't pee here. We pee back".

The paint makes the urine bounce back on the unsuspecting urinator. The move has generated international attention, and led the Gold Coast City Council to publicly discuss whether to import the concept.

Originally developed by Nissan to keep cars clean from dirt, the water-repellent paint acts as a reflector. Public urinators in Hamburg have to be careful now, since only some of the painted walls have warning signs. A fun night may now end with wet pants, according to state broadcaster NDR.

It costs about $US700 to cover six square meters with urine-repelling paint.

The St. Pauli red-light district in Hamburg, where the ideas was first implemented, is known for its rampant parties and alcohol excesses. The alcohol consumption has certainly fueled spending in the popular district, but it has also led to party-goers urinating in public against the walls of houses and shops.

"On the streets here, it's like being in a sewer," Julia Staron, a spokesman for the local initiative behind the pee-proof walls, told German newsmagazine Der Spiegel.

Public urination is quite common in Germany, which is why police authorities rarely take action against such behaviour. Usually, authorities can punish public urinators with a fine of about $US35, but local laws vary.

[Josquius]

Funny. But a better solution would be more outdoor urinals.

[Eddie Teach]

Or more arrests.

[Ed Anger]

RIP, Julius Caesar. I liked you in Cleopatra.

[mongers]

I had issues with one of my knees, 'gritty bits' moving around in it, stiffness and odd creaks; turns out a few 10,000s miles of cycling sorted all of that out. 


edit:

For balance I should say, I just have loud clicks when I move up and down or stretch my knees, I think it's just the tendon snapping around the joints.

Every time I try to ride a bike for any sort of distance, that knee gets all shitty (swelling, stiffness, sore, etc).  Something about the motion I guess.  Seems like running would be worse, with the impact and all, but that just makes it hurt and nothing else. vOv

I don't know what to suggest, make sure the bike is set up correctly for your size.

But as Marty said further on down the thread, go see a good doctor, might be quite a simple problem, as his was.

[garbon]

Or more arrests.

[CountDeMoney]

For some reason, I've been receiving a subscription of Architectural Digest since the beginning of the year.  Which I find not only mystifying as I have no reason why I'm receiving it, but I also find it incredibly insulting.

It's addressed to you by name?

They sent you a bill?

No bill--at least, after three months, not yet--but in my name and my PO Box.

For fuck's sake, I don't need to emulate all things Costanza.