Campus Chatter – November 18, 2011
Today in history, greetings, and social banter here. (More)
The Old St. Peter’s Basilica was consecrated today (326). Also, William Tell shot an apple off his son’s head (1307), Christopher Columbus sighted Puerto Rico (1493), the current St. Peter’s Basilica was consecrated (1626), Mark Twain’s “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” was published in the New York Saturday Press (1865), U.S. and Canadian railroads instituted five standard time zones (1883), George Bernard Shaw refused the money for his Nobel Prize (1926), and the first push-button telephone went into service (1963). And the United Kingdom’s Local Government Act 2003, repealing the anti-LGBT Section 28, took effect (2003).
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The Janitor Professor of Astrology denies that his project to redecorate his storage closet had any effect on this weekend’s Bippiescopes….
Scorpio: Don’t jump to conclusions this weekend. Use primer first.
Sagittarius: Your battery may run down this weeke…. Recharging now.
Capricorn: Relax and have fun this weekend. After you finish the laundry.
Aquarius: Consider both sides this weekend. But only paint one at a time.
Pisces: You will feel ready to go this weekend. So does the garage.
Aries: Don’t let fear hold you back this weekend. Sweep those cobwebs down.
Taurus: You may feel you’re going the wrong way this weekend. Rightie-tightie….
Gemini: Measure twice and cut once this weekend. Or buy extra wood.
Cancer: This is a good weekend to go with the flow. Or replace that faucet.
Leo: You may feel pulled in two directions this weekend. Eggshell or off-white….
Virgo: Don’t paint yourself into a corner this weekend. Lay tile instead.
Libra: Friends will be putty in your hands this weekend. Caulk that shower.
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Good morning! ::hugggggs::
Yesterday on Campus
Morning Feature – On BS Part I: Not (Quite) Lying
Midday Matinee – winterbanyan with What You Don’t Tell Your Boss
Campus Question - Will Police Actions Change the Public Perception of Occupy?
Our Earth – Earth Rapidly Losing Biodiversity
Today on Campus
Morning Feature – On BS, Part II: Toilet Water
Furthermore – MKSinSA with When the Politically-Challenged Come a’Challengin’
Noontime News at noon
Campus Question at 6pm ET
Evening Focus at 7pm ET – Asimo727 with Labor News Roundup
Our Earth at 8pm ET – The Secret of Antarctica’s Gamburtsev Mountains
Good morning! It’s 27 degrees here, and there’s a dusting of snow on the ground. It’s supposed to clear today and warm over the weekend, but still be cold at night.
I learned a new safety tip last night. When making kung pao chicken, do not add the chiles to the hot oil, no matter what the recipe says. Particularly if you’re living in a small apartment with the windows closed. Wait until after you’ve added the sauce to do so. Otherwise, you end up with the equivalent of pepper spray in your apartment, causing you to open windows and stuff while coughing a lot. But the kung pao was good.
Wow, that’s a useful bit of advice, Norbrook. Never would have occurred to me that frying chilis would have that result. Glad you enjoyed your dinner anyway, but wow.
It didn’t occur to me either.
I was just going along, following the recipe, and it said “add chiles and peanuts to the chicken, and stir for 2 minutes.” About a minute in, the oil vapor with chiles acts as an equivalent of pepper spray. 
So, either keep the windows open, or do it on a stove with a big ventilation fan. Or add the chiles later. 
That cracked me up. Not sure if I was laughing at you or at being able to envision me pulling something like that.
As resident vegetarian, you can have the chicken … I’ll take the kung pao. Love me some heat
The heat is a bit much when it fills the house and drives you out.
I’d have made the same mistake. The recipe is the recipe, after all. Sounds like this one should have come with the warning: “Chemical warfare about to commence.”
I like a dusting of snow. That’s a nice amount, if you have to have any at all…….
Eek! I wouldn’t have considered that, I guess because I have a big kitchen. Did you strip out the pepper seeds first?
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
Good morning, everyone. It’s a little chillier than usual here in FL. I guess that thunderstorm yesterday was a front, not that I was paying attention. Working too hard trying to get ahead of myself before company arrives for Thanksgiving. Gee, I’m getting an enforced vacation.
It’s going to warm up, though. We certainly aren’t have the kind of temperatures that would make a northern Blogistani shiver.
Hugggs!
I remember that first push-button phone. My mother was so thrilled for two reasons: for the first time she had an extension (not that she used it much) and she loved that Princess phone. Me, I hated it. It took them a little time to realize that having the push buttons in the base of such a light phone was troublesome, with the phone moving around all the time.
Now the buttons are in the handset of almost every phone. And now, of course, we have to punch those numbers while on a call in order to get through the automated answering system. Headsets, anyone?
Just to make me feel old, I remember when you had a “dual switch” on most push button phones, enabling it to act as a “tone” (button) or “pulse” (dial) phone.
Then again, just to show you how technology isn’t even in its implementation, when I bought my house in the early ’90′s, in rural upstate, and was getting my phone put in, the phone company asked me to choose between a 2-party or 4-party line.
I’d thought party lines were long gone by that point. 
When I visited my cousin’s farm in Nebraska I was fascinated by the party line and had a great time listening in until I was discovered.
All we had when I was little was a party line. To this day I remember my mother’s disgust that there was someone who listened in to every call.
Could that have been you?
Me or some other city kid with boundless curiosity.
I remembered them from when I was a kid, but no one had them in my home area – also rural upstate – after the early 70′s. I’d spent 12 years living down in DC and suburbs, and then working elsewhere, so by that time, it had been almost 20 years since I’d seen or heard of anyone having party lines. So you can imagine what it was like to get asked that.
Remember when being “on the phone” meant being on the phone? As in … sitting almost on top of it? Even if you had one of those extra-long cords, it always got so tangled that it was really only 18″ long anyway….
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
One of the neighbors has framed and posted, an original ring list from the crank telephone days. As in:
Anderson….. –.-
Brown……… -.–
Crowley……. —-
etc…..
Good morning. One more nice day today and then snow tomorrow. We are almost 6″ low on precipitation so we need the moisture. It is maybe finally the last call for those who haven’t raked their leaves.
Those who haven’t raked are probably hoping the snow will hide them.
And it will for a while. Enjoy your nice weather today.
Here’s a bit of weird news from Switzerland. Nude hiking will no longer be allowed in the country.
Maybe they don’t have any mosquitoes in Switzerland.
Okay, I’ve been on plenty of hikes, and nude is the last way I’d go. Maybe their trails are clearer? Never mind the mosquitoes. Most places I hiked were brambly and apt to slice at my legs. Never went in shorts, either, for that very reason.
Or poison ivy…….
I am one of the very fortunate who is not susceptible to poison ivy. Or mosquito bites for that matter. Which is not to say I go hunting for either just to prove a point.
Hmmm, naked hiking. It never crossed my mind but now I’ve got this picture of Swiss military on naked road marches. It’s not a pretty picture but it is now indelibly stuck in my head. Thanks a lot, addisnana.
This may be worse than an ear worm, MKS. In the meantime, “don’t think about an elephant”
Why did I suspect something like this might be involved….
For the record, nudity is more widely accepted in most of Europe, and not only at designated resorts. German Beloved likes to tell the story of some ladies who got caught in a downpour while shopping. It was an unexpected rainstorm, so they hadn’t brought umbrellas and they were soaked to the skin. So when they stopped for lunch, they took off their clothes – down to their underwear – and hung them on the coat stand to dry while they ate. No one looked askance or said a word. They weren’t being “indecent.” They were being “practical.”
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
Good morning!
Clear and 30 degrees. Deer season….. People are sitting in trees right now…….
Mustering at church 0930 to load donated shelving and haul to one of our affiliated ministries Kindercottage in East St. Louis. I am thinking there may be a White Castle stop involved around noon.:):)
Hope all is well with all of you this fine day. You can at least be thankful you’re not sitting in a tree…….
Although one neighbor has a stove in his, under a roof, and cooks his breakfast out there. NOW we’re talking…….!
Best, Gardener
Luxurious hunting. My, some people come prepared….
Hee, yes…. I didn’t think to tell him that he ought to be older to rate such accomodations! He is going with his 16 year old daughter, and not taking a gun. She will do the shooting….
Thank you for helping this wonderful program, Gardener:
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
I am only a bit player so-to-speak. Our church is one of many helping out. Isn’t that what we’re called to do after all?
Bless you, Gardener.
BTW, I always liked best that part at the end of the William Tell story where the king asks, “What’s the second arrow for?” And WT says, “That’s one was for you, if I mssed with the first!”
Hah! That’s funny, Gardener.