Posts by dyan campbell

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  • "The Terrorism Files",

    DOC rightly points out that he could have set Rangitoto on fire. The fact that he didn't is, I presume, more luck than good management.

    The fact that he didn't cause harm, beyond wasting emergency services time, isn't a reason to do something. The difference between 'nothing happening', and 'harm happening to Rangitoto by fire' is probably a combination of wind and chance.

    You know, my brother Rick is a helicopter pilot - a commercial pilot now flying enormous industrial machines, but back in the day he flew search and rescue for the Canadian west coast and to this day he has a real hatred of those kind of pranks.

    Everyone I've ever known who has worked in any kind of emergency response capacity - whether as a clinician, firefighter,
    mountain search and rescue - or Rick flying SAR, they despise time-wasters and believe that sort of offense should be prosecuted not only because it is expensive, but most crucially it puts other people at risk.

    It's not a good idea to tie up the time an attention of someone employed to rescue or give medical attention to people who actually need it, and anyone irresponsible to do such a thing whether as a civil threat, a prank or to gain some kind of commercial advantage should have the book thrown at them. The intention is not very relevant and should not influence the penalty that much. Perhaps a little, but not that much.

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report

  • Speaker: Singing g against the E chord,

    So what was he proposing instead - a knife fight or a skipping contest?

    Did you guys' school playgrounds have those heavy yellow nylon ropes for skipping here? God, they were quite an incentive to become very fast and agile... if it was double-dutch pepper the guy was proposing then the kniife fight might be the safer option.

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report

  • Hard News: Spammer until proven innocent,

    "Please state your current location."

    "Broadway."

    "Please state your desired destination."

    "Um, Broadway."

    "I'm sorry, your current location and destination appear to match. Would you like to revise your travel plan?"

    "Well, actually, I'm going from 3756 Broadway to 6736 Broadway. It makes sense - can I just talk to a human?

    Ah, you needed to ask a fellow passenger. "Broadway" just is the name of a main street, not a destination - and it runs for a looooong way through several parts of Vancouver. The answer they were looking for would have been:

    West Point Grey
    Kitsilano
    Fairview
    Mount Pleasant
    Grandview-Woodland (north) and Kensington-Cedar Cottage (south)
    Hastings-Sunrise (north) and Renfrew-Collingwood (south)

    but I must admit having lived in NZ for 18 years and going back to Vancouver I did feel like I was trapped in a Jacques Tati movie there... everything is very futuristic compared to NZ and we felt like a couple of hicks, we had so much trouble operating stoves, dishwashers, taps, telephones, thermostats...

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report

  • Hard News: Meanwhile in Iraq ...,

    Russell, I'm not sure pulling out surveys helps in the 'truth' process. There have been other figures eg from the Iraqi Hospital records which put deaths at a much less figure.

    Hospitals would only record the deaths of those who actually died in the hospital, while under medical observation. That would not describe the circumstances of most deaths to date.

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report

  • Hard News: High Times,

    I just hope James Griffin's reading. There's the germ of an Outrageous Fortune storyline in that, for sure.

    My god, I have a have a lot of Westie stories. Amd one liners:

    "Have you seen Glen's mole?"
    "What, has he got a new girlfriend?"

    A real conversation.

    And I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure I, a foreigner from Canada, invented the concept of stupid dangerous Westie games. Feet and Dead Animals are both my own inventions.

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report

  • Hard News: High Times,

    Did they come up faster?


    The theory goes that that the bowl will absorb more of the MDMA and absorb it faster, leading to a more intense experience. Apparently, you pop the pill up your bum until you "hit the little shelf" which is where one deposits it. Those who the lack the shame and mkae it a regular practice apparently swear by it.

    It's not so much that it hits a shelf, but that the rectuml itself is very permeable (it's designed to absorb water, and why they administer drugs like anti-emetics PR) and has a high, efficient blood supply, so it can cross into your bloodstream without being delayed by digestive processes, which follow a process for good evolutionary reasons.

    It also make it waaay more dangerous! Who knows what the effects of this drug are on that very specific kind of tissue? I am always amazed at what some people are willing to do to their bodies. I've worked with junkies, rent boy, society's flotsam. The problem is not that they don't know what happens, it's that they don't really care.

    Mind you, I once ate a roast chicken at a Westie barbeque, and that chicken had attended a previous party that day, so who am I to talk? I forgot the Westie rule of food hygeine, never eat a chicken that has been to more parties than you that day.

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report

  • Hard News: High Times,

    Paul what's the prob being married to a Kennedy

    _

    I think what the original poster meant "what's wrong with that picture" so to speak, is that Arnold is not a Democrat - he's a Republican and the Kennedy family are famously Democrats.

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report

  • Stories: Memorable Meals,

    Aha, the 'Like Water For Chocolate" principle. Sounds like a fascinating field of study indeed. No problems finding guinea pigs I'm sure!

    Well... more like the Nicholas Perricone/Sir Cliff Tasman-Jones/Linus Pauling/David Barker/Ranjan Rajnik field of study, really. Looking at optimising nutritional content, recognising which foods cause inflammation, and which foods are less prone to causing inflammation.

    I'm also very interested in the direct link between gingival health and overall health - even very low level gum disease can badly affect aspects of your health from arterial plaque to all forms of arthritis, and dozens of other conditions as well.Basically everything that goes wrong in your body comes down to inflammation, in a way.

    I worked on two med/sci conferences on obesity - the first at the SOPH, looking at paediatric obesity, the second at AUT looking at obesity as in relation to sociocutural and ethnogenetic heritage. Plenty of interesting facts I never would have believed were presented... too much to get into here. How's this: abdominal fat acts like a sinister pancreas, secreting harmful hormones that make you sick and depressed. This is known as the HPA axis (hypothalamous, pituitary, adrenals axis) and is... bizarre.

    Stress (elevated cortisol levels) willl make you store fat on your abdomen - you take identical twins and feed them exactly the same things, and stress one and not the other, they will store fat differently and that stored fat will behave differently. Who would have thought such a thing was possible?

    You can eat your way to liver damage - again, I would have thought you needed booze to do that (and indeed, some patients were believed to be lying about their drinking habits, but no, they'd simply had bad diets over a long period). The production of the hormones that help us sleep or feel joy - these can be hugely influenced by diet. This is fascinating to me. Not to mention very handy.

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report

  • Stories: Memorable Meals,

    Does loving to cook for men make me a bad feminist?

    Nope, the way to our hearts is through our stomachs :-). And with menus like that, the sisterhood might not be totally on board with the means, but they'll have to accept that the ends - men grovelling at your feet - must justify them.

    Nah, it's not really. Cooking for their eating pleasure just impresses them, amuses them. They do like it, but it doesn't make any feeling
    run deep.

    If you really want to find the way to a man's heart, so you can collect his very soul like a dead, chloroformed butterfly pinned to corkboard... um, getting carried away... you cook in ways that can alleviate illness; I think that's what that old adage really means, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I mean it doesn't say "through his tastebuds". They count, but are really secondary to the real powers of food.

    I haven't got a whole degree in anything (though a couple partial ones) but I have long been fascinated at that point where food and medicine intersect. I have long been collecting recipes as medicine, from historical cook books, medical guides, pumping elderly people for information... it's kind of a lost art, but people have known a lot for a long time.

    You can devise menus that chase away depression, increase energy, fix chronic indigestion, improve complexion. You name it.

    If you can make anyone feel better they are tame for life.

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report

  • Stories: Memorable Meals,

    I cooked my vegetarian girlfriend a tofu meal once. I 'mashed' it (an unappetising square of Tofu) with a potato masher to make it look like mince, then I fried it with soy sauce till it was brown (to make it look like mince), and served it up with spaghetti and pasta sauce. And some green pepper on top for good measure.

    She appreciated the gesture, despite my obvious attempts to make it look 'meaty'. (The only way I could blardy eat it!)

    Ah, tofu, my cultural heritage. It's used in plenty of dishes with meat, I have a delicious traditional Japanese dish using paper thin slices of beef, ginger, miso, tofu and sping onions in and almost sublime combination.

    In my circles, they say the only two things besides desserts children can be relied on to like are tofu and noodles, and usually tofu is served in combination with these.

    Here are a couple for vegetarians.

    In my circles, they say the only two things besides desserts children can be relied on to like are tofu and noodles, often they are served in combination.

    Soft tofu:

    Almost Instant Miso Soup:
    (serves 2)

    Mix:

    * 4 packets instant miso soup (best flavour and nutriiton is the kind with kombu (type of seaweed) already in it... easy to find in foodtown now)
    * 3 - 6 Tbsp ginger juice (peel & grate ginger, wring out and discard the pulp)
    * 1.5C water

    Prepare and ready to add:

    * 2 - 3 spring onions, sliced into razor thin rounds
    * 1 very small carrot (or only 1/2 large) - peeled, sliced into thin rounds, then into matchsticks, (aim for exactly the same thickness as your soba noodles)
    * 3/4 C. washed brocolli, carefully trimmed, tough bits peeled off, separated into nice trees, stems julienned like the carrot
    * 1/2 block silken curd (Japanese style) tofu (very soft, so cubed very carefully)
    * 1 small handful buckwheat soba noodles - boil in unsalted water for 5 minutes, drain & rinse in cold water.

    To serve:

    Bring miso soupmix/ginger juice/water mixture to a boil, add the soba noodles first, the vegetables immediately after. Divide tofu cubes between bowls, serve soup over tofu (too fragile to mix in soup, you want to retain a few cube shapes as you eat it). The vegetables should not be in for any more than 15 - 30 seconds before serving, the aim is that the vegetables be very, very close to raw, just hot when it's served. They soften slightly in the hot soup. Serve with chopsticks and a china soupspoon.

    Not soft tofu: (Very Chewy)

    Press tofu between several layers of paper towells & weights - cutting board and frying pan work well - for about 15 minutes. Cube and plunge into marinade of ginger juice, soy sauce and a dash of mirrin. Or sherry. Set aside at least 30 minutes.

    Drain really well, and fry in a red hot pan with peanut oil, trying not to be scarred or blinded by spitting oil. Drain with relief (the frying process should only take 3 or 4 minutes) and use these deliciious, chewy morsels in either in fried noodle, rice or vegetable dishes. Or smothered with this sauce, with rice or noodles (the permutations are endless) and a (prefferably red hot chili) vegetable stir fry:

    Coconut Curry Sauce:

    2 cloves crushed garlic
    1/2 onion chopped fine

    1/4 tsp tumeric
    1 Tbsp rice flour or arrowroot
    300 mls light coconut milk
    1 cinnamon stick
    1 star anise
    salt to taste

    Fry onion & garlic in 2 tsp peanut on med heat 3 minutes, add tumeric, coconut milk and thickener (already mixed to a smooth paste with a small amount of coconut milk), cinnamon stick and star anise. Keep moving in frying pan or sauce pan over fairly high heat until thickened (about 3 - 5 minutes). Serve immediately over fried tofu.

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report

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