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Biscuits (American style rolled biscuits, not English cookies) are incredibly easy to remember, especially if using the Michael Ruhlman Ratio recipe: 3 parts flour, 1 part fat, 2 parts milk. The only tricky part is the salt and baking powder, but that fits in, too, depending on your scaling.

For six big fluffy biscuits, you want 210g of flour, 70g of fat (cold butter or lard), and 140g of milk. With that recipe, you want 1/2tsp salt, 2tsp baking powder. If you double the… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 10:58 PM on May 8, 2024

Hartster, thanks for the suggestion, but to be clear, nearly every student is Japanese, or has at least one Japanese parent, but has had some experience living overseas (in elementary school or something similar). The school library has some Japanese manga in English translation, and some students do read them, but language is only a part of my goal for this. I’m also hoping to get the kids to engage with other viewpoints and cultures, and the different ways other cultures approach themes and… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 2:09 AM on February 27, 2024

Gibson said he liked to think of the show as a "stub" in the book, one possible branch the story could have taken, but didn't, which is a nice way to think of it. Still, the show, while it had some moments, just couldn't match the novel, which is definitely worth checking out.

Agency was honestly not as good, for a lot of reasons, one of which is that it felt, unlike most Gibson, already out of date in an awkward way. Add to it that it kind of falls into one of… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 3:58 AM on February 12, 2024 marked best answer

About a year ago, I realized that, even waking up earlier (at 5:15), I was still rushing to get out the door (6:15) to get to the train on time. It took me a little bit too long to figure it out, but it was that I was sitting down on the sofa with my phone before taking my shower. Taking that part out of things has made it so I can have a cup of coffee and a piece of toast after my shower. Switching my "I can sit down now" moment to post shower has made a massive difference in my… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 3:30 PM on January 24, 2024

I'm usually on the side of warranties offered at the store are a scam, but I was glad I'd gotten the warranty on my (sadly, Dell) laptop when it decided it couldn't maintain an internet connection for longer than fifteen to twenty minutes. A tech came and replaced the ethernet card the next day, and (mostly) no problems since. Without the warranty, I would have had to send it in and wait a couple weeks for it to come back, when I'd bought the damn thing to be able to do lessons on zoom (height… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 3:12 PM on January 24, 2024

Daikon is a nice change of pace in any veggie stick sampler. It's fantastic in quarter inch slices and simmer in hotpot.

We had nabe/hotpot last night, and Mrs. Ghidorah used daikon she'd sliced and frozen beforehand. Freezing breaks down the daikon a little, which in turn makes it easier for it to take on the flavor of the soup you're using.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 7:30 PM on January 14, 2024

The Japanese series What Did You Eat Last Night usually has a scene in each episode where one character cooks for another, with a voiceover explaining the ingredients and the process. It is readily apparent that love and care are taken in each step.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 10:56 PM on January 10, 2024

A group of actors, a troupe? This particular group? Not exactly sure.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 7:47 PM on January 9, 2024

I, too, am a grown ass man (late 40s, if that helps at all), and my Pooh bear is on the night stand next to my bed. I've had him since I was 4, and when I moved to China for a year, he came with me. When I came to Japan, he came with me. He's been with me all this time, and is still a source of comfort. I'm sure your bear fills a similar role in your life, and I think it's awesome that you've managed to keep your bear with you all this time.

Aside from all of that, it's… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 5:02 PM on November 17, 2023

For a short focused scene, heavy on dialogue, but also, specifically, economy of words, the scene in No Country for Old Men with Woody Harrelson's character meeting with the middle manager guy and talking about Chigurh ("dangerous compared to what? The Black Plague?") could be a good example of a clipped conversation where a lot is unsaid, but everything is understood by the people speaking. Could be a good example of a place where students need to try to guess the meaning.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 9:13 PM on September 13, 2023

Nthing taking the time (not the big trip) to check out Yangshuo, but with the caveat that I haven't been there in 24 years, but I spent a week there in 2000, and enjoyed the much smaller feel and slower pace. Guilin has the scenery all around it, but is still a full sized city.

December to February in northern China is (was? Is usually) cold. Beijing, Xian, and other points north might be something to save for a slightly warmer time (but not summer.… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 6:26 PM on September 13, 2023 marked best answer

This long, and no one has mentioned wombats? What other animal poops cubes?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 4:02 AM on August 24, 2023

At my worst, I had to set up goals, things to stick around for. I made myself stay alive until I could see the Force Awakens (man, does it suck when your reason for sticking around is underwhelming). The thing about that, about the anchor to some point in the future is that it gives you time to let things process, and the possibility, however slight it might be, that by the time you reach that goal, you won’t need it quite so much as you did when you set it. There’s… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 2:46 AM on August 22, 2023

Just to clarify, this is actually the second opinion. My regular doctor at the spine clinic suggested laminectomy, but had me meet with a doctor from the nearby university hospital. That doctor said that a laminectomy wouldn't work, and that fusion was the only reasonable treatment. The second opinion is the one that, before today's MRI and CT scans, had said a laminectomy would be feasible, and now says, long term, fusion is more likely to alleviate symptoms, even if it just means I'll end up… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 9:17 AM on July 21, 2023

Cotton dress sock, you’re right, I conflated the two. I had assumed it was the same person. I’ll take a look at it, and ask my therapist.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 5:34 PM on July 21, 2023

Thanks for all the responses, honestly, they helped me make the decision to go ahead with the laminectomy, and I'm going into the hospital next Monday, with surgery on Tuesday. This being Japan, I'll be there for a week to ten days, and hopefully all goes well, and I'll have a week at home to recuperate before the fall term starts. I know it might not be the long term answer to things, but I'm hoping it gives me at least a little bit of relief for as long as it can.… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 6:19 PM on August 7, 2023

Jorge Luis Borges poem Limits had a couple different versions, wondering about what things he had done for the last time without realizing it. It haunts me, the shortest version most of all:

Limits
There is a line in Verlaine I shall not recall again,
There is a nearby street forbidden to my step,
There is a mirror that has seen me for the last time,
There is a door I have shut until the end of the world.
Among… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 3:22 PM on July 16, 2023

There’s a poem I’ve always sort of half remembered, and I could swear it was Charles Simic, but maybe not? Short, perfect, and something along the lines of:

Do not die
In the next world
They might put you
Further away from me
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 3:48 PM on July 10, 2023

I find that sometimes you can hone in on what something wants to be called by thinking about what it wouldn't want to be called:

Droppy McFallsOfftheTableaLot
Spill Magnet
Smokey
Exhibit A
Mr. Bendy
Insert Load Letter
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 11:08 PM on July 4, 2023

Nthing what Defector has been writing, they are definitely focusing on the fan side of things, and relentless about pointing out the bullshit reasons for the move.

I moved away from my team(s). I was born in Michigan, and grew up torn between Detroit and Chicago sports. At 17, I moved to Illinois, and distance and televised games chipped away at my loyalty to the Pistons and vague well-wishing for the Lions. At 23, I moved overseas, and have had to come to terms with the… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 8:21 PM on June 25, 2023 marked best answer

As far as any worries about having difficulty finding activities/lodgings as a single traveler, aside from business travel, solo travel for pleasure is not at all uncommon in Japan. For most travel accommodations beyond business hotels (pensions, minshuku, ryokan) rooms are usually charged per occupant, not by a flat room rate, if that helps.

Weather-wise, while people claim Japan has four seasons (sorry, living in Japan joke), autumn is more of a cruel hoax. At least… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 6:53 AM on June 9, 2023

Can I ask how your Japanese is? If it’s not up to the task, do you have someone who can help? That’s kind of big step number one.

Did the emergency room give you information on a renal specialist to follow up with? In my experience, emergency rooms here are for the actively dying, and they tend to want to get anyone who isn’t gone as quickly as possible. Add to that, there’s not really much in the way of general practitioners here, instead, you’ve got specialist… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 4:04 AM on April 23, 2023

I have no useful data to answer your question, but I know I've been profoundly changed, in a largely negative way, by the pandemic. It was an incredible shock to me to see just how many people were either ignorant or just didn't care about basic precautions, and that's coming as someone living in Japan, where the government just ended the official suggestion that people wear masks indoors and on public transportation (legally, mandates aren't an option here). I wasn't prepared by just how many… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 7:54 PM on April 3, 2023

I have to agree with AugustusCrunch, in that, unless you're dealing with a sudden loss or change in housing and need a place to store important things for a short time period, storage units are not great. If you have something that you use so little you would put it in storage, chances are you don't really need it. If you love something, but not enough to keep it on hand, chances are it's not as necessary to you as you think it is. This isn't to say you should be divorcing yourself of all… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 12:57 AM on March 23, 2023

Seconding Clear and Present Danger. From first gunshot to ending, it's quite short, but the build up of the tension is fantastic, the aftermath bewildering, and it's remarkable in it's utter lack of superheroism. Everyone in the convoy is competent and well-trained, but no one is shrugging off any bullet wounds.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 9:14 PM on February 12, 2023

Born in 76, never considered myself anything else. My litmus test is the first big memory of a news story, of something beyond one's own family or daily experiences. Late Gen X (mid to late 70s) in America, that's almost always the Challenger explosion. For people born later, going along these lines, you'd looking at the Berlin Wall, Tienanmen Square, or the first Gulf War.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 10:27 PM on February 8, 2023

One thing to think, in a more international sense, is that different cultures have completely different generational markers and names. Japan, for example, has the Bubble Generation and the Lost Generation, both formed by the massive real estate bubble in the 80s-90s and the economic dead zone that followed. I would imagine China has a very different take on generations given its history in the 20th century.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 4:58 PM on February 10, 2023

Same, I use TimeTree but it isn't synced to any other calendar program, and there is a free version (though they are trying to push a paid version, the free version works just fine). It can provide notifications, but you can use it without those if you want.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 7:43 PM on January 15, 2023

I just visited in the summer, and while I didn't bike, in general, I'd recommend renting a proper bike from a rental shop. Most of the "public" bike rental services (they aren't really public, they are for profit) have really started to show their age and how little upkeep the bikes receive. I walk by several bike depots a day, and many of them are visibly worn down. I wouldn't recommend trying to do the kaido with them.

For things to do, if you've got the time… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 4:49 PM on January 15, 2023

The fun thing about Mt. Fuji is that the “town with one visible” thing applies to an absolute ton of cities and towns throughout the Kanto area.

Past that, the whole Ibaraki skyline is dominated by Mt. Tsukuba, which we can see (on a clear day) from the prefecture to the south. Pretty much any city in Ibaraki, especially Tsukuba City, fits that bill.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 2:39 AM on December 19, 2022

I can't help but recommend All Star Superman for being just the purest, best distillation of just about everything that can make Superman a top rate compelling character. There is a lot to love, but it's just about the most pure golden age archetype of the character.

It does not have Batman, and it is very much not fresh off the farm Superman. There isn't a kid, at least, but Superman is pretty solidly established. It is absolutely gorgeous. It was made into a DCEU movie… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 2:47 AM on December 9, 2022

Depending on how much you're willing to invest in the equipment, homemade bacon is stunningly good. There are recipes all over the internet, but EQ curing is the style I go with, rather than liquid brine (giant tub of liquid sloshing isn't fun) or salt box curing (too imprecise, takes a ton of salt). It's all about the weight of the cut of meat, and the percentages you want to use. My base is 2% salt, 1.5% brown sugar, .25% curing salts, and then I build from there, from Southwestern spices… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 3:26 PM on November 29, 2022

Keith David has done an absolute ton of voice over work, doing the voices for a whole mess of cartoon characters (from Goliath in Gargoyles to the president in Rick and Morty) as well as Ken Burns' documentaries, including the series on Muhammad Ali, and even the intros to Wrestlemania and other WWE events. His is a native speaking, North American accent, so it might not fit the criteria, but the man has a voice of gruff gold, and elevates anything he lends it to.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 3:45 PM on November 27, 2022

It was very much “modern” country, the kind of thing that might have been made with an eye towards a wider audience, even if it never got there, and very definitely not an older song. Modern sound, modern production, very little twang, if that makes any sense.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 6:58 AM on November 4, 2022

In the NBA, Allen Iverson was known by his nickname: The Answer.

Paul Pierce tried to glom on a bit, but The Question was dumb, and quickly forgotten.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 2:47 AM on November 3, 2022

I've aged out of kitchen work (body can't do it anymore, finances can't handle the low income) but there was absolutely nothing better than the weekend shifts where I came in early, getting the prep ready for a solid two to three hours alone. A massive list of tasks, with no real time for getting sidetracked: start the sauce, make the dough, cook the sausage, get the ovens going, get the dough in the pans, getting the pizza station stocked and ready.

Then, opening, and… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 5:15 PM on October 30, 2022

Generously? After nigh on three years of this, and they don't know they're supposed to cover their nose? Idiots.

More likely, it's the performative aspect, doing just enough to avoid getting yelled at, or being able to claim they're doing what they're supposed to. It's the "I'm not touching you" brand of finding what the absolute least amount of compliance they have to do to get away with it. "You can't yell at me, I'm wearing my mask.… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 8:43 PM on October 28, 2022

Bad Religion not only named themselves in No Direction upthread, they had a song called Bad Religion, where they sing the words Bad Religion repeatedly as the first track on their first EP, titled, wait for it: Bad Religion.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 7:33 AM on July 8, 2022 marked best answer

One of the big reasons for the ferry system is that they carry necessities and other goods to the islands, very few of which are self-sufficient in any real way. The Tokyo seven islands are a pretty solid example. While several (if not all) of the islands have air strips, the cost of supplying the islands with goods would be prohibitive. People on islands need electronic goods, cars, pretty much anything, just like people on the main islands, and the only real choice is to send it by boat.… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 4:17 AM on June 27, 2022 marked best answer

I really, really enjoy having people over. I enjoy cooking for other people, and I'm known pretty well for it in a couple circles. It's something I'm kind of good at, and the last two years have been intensely frustrating, obviously, for larger reasons, but it's hit me pretty hard that I haven't been able to do many get togethers.

I've never put on a single one of these get togethers without being hit by an overwhelming sense of dread, of a literal inability to push… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 2:20 AM on June 15, 2022

I’ve used Flipgrid before, and liked it, but it’s not exactly what I’m looking for. A good chunk of the class is expressing themselves through writing, and while more time speaking is a definite positive, it’s not their priority (again, pretty high level, near native, just lacking certain background elements).

I’ll take another look, but I’d much rather have a text based site/app.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 8:25 AM on May 12, 2022

This is kind of low hanging fruit (gah, that's unintentional), but The Giving Tree stands out as a book I adored as a child becoming a book that's vaguely horrifying to me as an adult.

While I haven't gone back and re-read it, and am not likely to, a lot of the online discussion of the Harry Potter franchise has helped me see the less pleasant aspects (that the society in the books as presented is pretty awful, with slavery, racism, and an essentially a caste system, and… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 7:59 PM on April 17, 2022 marked best answer

ygmiaa, I'm sorry for what you're having to go through. I'm largely in a similar boat, in that I fell down some steps in my first year of college, and have had lingering complications from the back surgeries (plural) that resulted. This past year has seen a progression in those issues. Since my initial injury, I haven't really ever been able to do much in the way of exercise, and most sports have been off limits to me. Now, I'm finding out that the one form of exercise, walking, that I was able… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 6:31 PM on January 16, 2022 marked best answer

Going with neckro23: the sucker.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 7:17 AM on December 23, 2021

It maybe started off as a joke in my part, but now, anytime I’m watching tv and there’s a news break and the announcer starts off with any greeting, I’ll respond, but only if the news is in Japanese. If they say good morning (ohayo gozaimasu), I’ll repeat it back. If I’ve set the audio to play an available English track, I don’t respond when they say good morning. It’s not a full on thing, I just sort of mutter it under my breath. Weird, though. Very reflexive.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 7:16 AM on December 23, 2021

Bluetooth temperature probes are life-changing if you do any kind of smoking/closed lid grilling of meats. I've tried out a bunch, and the one that's kept going the longest is my Inkbird with six probes. One probe is a dedicated ambient temperature probe, the others go in the meat, and voila. No more rushing outside every twenty minutes to check on the fire, no guessing if the meat is done. It lets me get other things done during the sometimes lengthy smoking process, too. Life changing.… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 5:04 AM on December 8, 2021

My standard is to dismember the bird on the morning of the day before. I'll smoke the boneless breasts and bone-in thigh/legs (rub of salt, pepper, garlic, paprika, onion powder, and thyme) with apple wood on the day of. Back to the day before, the carcass goes in the largest stock pot I have, so the next day, the stuffing and the gravy are made with proper turkey stock.

You don't end up with a glorious bird, but it's a lot easier to carve. I slice the breasts, arranged… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 7:33 PM on November 17, 2021

Thanks for the suggestions. As far as chili safety, I once spent about twenty minutes chopping Thai peppers without gloves. I tried soaking my hands in vodka, in yogurt, in milk, and nothing worked other than dunking them in ice water as long as I could stand it. I couldn't really sleep that night because my hands were just sending off waves of throbbing heat. Lesson learned.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 4:01 PM on September 27, 2021

I would urge you to go, if only for my own bit of anecdata: I'm not good at taking care of my teeth, and because of Corona, I stayed away from the dentist for too long (maybe my last visit was fall 2019?), and developed a cavity in a molar that weakened the tooth to the point where it broke, almost badly enough to require a root canal. I was lucky in that the dentist was able to do enough that all I needed was a filling instead. If I had been regularly going to the dentist,… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 5:00 AM on August 29, 2021

Immersion learning can be pretty great, and I think you could have a fantastic experience, but it's incredibly important that you look into the school you'd be attending.

It is incredibly difficult for most people to get a working visa for Japan (though this has changed a bit with the introduction of new policies to increase the number of manual laborers), but people with student visas are legally allowed to work 28 hours a week. What started out as a way to help… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ghidorah at 3:41 PM on June 6, 2021