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Could it be Hopeful Monsters by Nicholas Mosley?

Yes, of course it is!

Thank you very much, I would never have gotten there.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 3:32 AM on February 13, 2024

Is it Einstein’s Monsters? Martin Amis short story collection

No, that's not it, see above. But there is plenty of good (and bad!) to be had in that collection.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 3:33 AM on February 13, 2024

Walk out on the aqueduct, visit the Mãe d'Agua, walk through the Torel Garden to look out upon the city.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 4:01 PM on January 23, 2024 marked best answer

Thank you all, that's a great help.
It's a Nikiri I'm after now, will try to find locally.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 12:45 PM on January 18, 2024

2020 Peugeot 3008. Second car with this and I don't mind it. On mine there's an added benefit: if you actually do stall the car, it will start back up again if you put the clutch in.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 7:58 AM on November 15, 2023

So, I bought the ZAGG #2 pencil, so far so good and about half the price of the echt Apple version. I will look into Paperlike, that sounds interesting. Thanks!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 10:24 AM on October 28, 2023

I tried the changing location/VPN to no avail, don't really want a 2nd Apple account. Meantime, I seem to have found what I'm looking for: Yomu
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 1:13 AM on October 5, 2023

Yeah, Marvin is no longer available

aaargh. well thanks for confirming that. I will try to keep Marvin 3 on my old iPad as long as possible I guess, and use Yomu on the new one. I looked at Kontext too and while I will still fiddle around with it my first impression is that it is a more academic tool, with library/institutional integration which is probably really nice for those with that kind of access but likely overkill if not. But it is a very… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 12:41 AM on October 6, 2023

It's worth reading this Grauniad piece [ungated] to get a fuller perspective on Michael Lewis and his book. I just finished it and found it ... lacking, but the profile at least shows that Lewis is aware of what he did, and the knows risks inherent in "getting too close to the subject." That said, Going Infinite definitely reads like PR though, as well as amicus curiae for the defense.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 2:51 AM on October 5, 2023

“One of the highest points in the sandwich-maker’s art. We call it the Mount Everest Special. For Commanders only.”
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 6:28 AM on October 2, 2023

Maureen Howard's Natural History is a wonderful novel with lots of experimentation. This is an obit for Howard but it mentions the book: Many considered Howard’s masterwork to be her 1992 novel Natural History, a family chronicle that incorporated drawings and photographs, in which Howard took Bridgeport, Connecticut as her Dublin. In a front page review in the New York Times Book Review, John Casey wrote that “it is the combination, the jump-cuts, and layering and dovetailing of… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 10:32 AM on August 24, 2023

All & Sundry

(I know it breaks the two-name rule but even still)

sundry definition
all and sundry idiom
sundries definition
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 3:49 AM on July 20, 2023

There's an article in the most recent Jacobin about the Luddites

a-and Thomas Pynchon wrote this: Is It O.K. To Be A Luddite? in 1984.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 2:07 AM on July 11, 2023 marked best answer

I pin tabs with things I want to read later. I have to use Edge (thanks corporate!) but I can group tabs and pin the group and they don't really get in the way. I used to like del.icio.us but that's long gone. I would probably use Pinboard if I really needed to save things for awhile.

Oh, and there's always Google Keep (which I use as my online zibaldone so for fuck's sake Google you better not kill that one off)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 4:47 PM on July 7, 2023

I hadn't seen this thread, thanks for pointing it out.

I really feel your pain; though never an A's fan what Fisher is doing to the team, to the fans and to the city is just beyond the pale. It's criminal.

Meanwhile, despite your footnote I have to say it: there's a wonderful team just across the bay, already with the beautiful bayside stadium, you could root for them!

(Go Giants!)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 2:26 PM on June 29, 2023

It seems there is a Guidall version: https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Darkness-Typhoon-Joseph-Conrad/dp/1402511485 but I can't seem to find confirmation. He read other Conrad for Audible but not HoD.
There are free versions from Librevox, but not by Guidall. Here is one on YouTube, read by Bob Neufield, whose voice, while not as rich as Guidall's, is in a similar register, : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wExK37zBmX8
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 2:32 AM on March 15, 2023

This CDC site says a rapid test is enough as long as it is a "viral test"

You must be tested with a viral test to look for current infection – these include an antigen test or a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT).

Phrases indicating a test is an antigen test could include, but not are not limited to:

Rapid antigen test
Viral antigen test
Also, could be noted as Antigen Chromatographic… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 1:40 AM on May 24, 2022

1. Most people are cool about this, even if they totally remember your name they don't really mind if you say, "I know you, remind me of your first name," in fact they prefer it. (Riskier version, you say "it's Paul, right?" and they say "No, I'm Dave." "Oh yeah, Dave, right, sorry...")
2. As someone who suffers from the same problem, the only trick I try is to say the person's name a lot when you first meet them, in that annoying "How to… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 4:23 AM on May 18, 2022

Some genius has also placed on Spotify the entirety of Rhino Records' multi-disc "Just Can't Get Enough" New Wave CD series

*swoon*

to answer the question, maybe some other works by the ABBA guys? Like, The Day Before You Came
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 3:26 PM on April 7, 2022

If what baby likes is the brutish break in ONIB from the orchestral intro to Murray Head barging in, maybe baby would like Bjork's It's Oh So Quiet
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 3:21 AM on April 8, 2022

nthing LIsbon. It's cosmopolitan in general & there is a large Indian community (the Prime MInister is of partly Goan descent... there they call him "Babush"). The public transport system could be better, but it's there. And the greater location is excellent: 2-3 hour flights to all the rest of Europe, 5-6 hours to NYC.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 3:36 PM on April 7, 2022 marked best answer

I read for 1-2 hours at night after dinner almost always on my iPad. I used to read one book at a time, now I have switched to reading 3-4 in parallel. I think this makes it slower. In bed before sleeping I try to read a physical book, as this is cheaper when I fall asleep and the book falls on the floor. I get through about 50 books in a year, so one a week.

Meanwhile: Americans Reading Fewer Books Than in Past
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 7:10 AM on January 12, 2022

I just started reading Harvey Cox's The Market as God and am finding it resonates in thundering measure. I am also almost through Carlos Lozada's What Were We Thinking in which he reads ALL the books about Trump and offers trenchant analysis & useful synopsis. (He read them so we don't have to!)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 11:42 AM on October 4, 2021

This is kind of dorky but there are ways to turn your handwriting into a font. Calligraphr is one, it used to be free but looks like it costs something now. I did this at the time and it worked fine. Not really fooling anyone that you wrote it by hand, but sometimes it's the thought that counts. I would also say that writing personal notes in the post is unusual enough these days that people will enjoy it no matter how you present the words.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 4:05 AM on September 1, 2021

"Around the Dial" by the Kinks starts with radio chatter. Interestingly, they seem to have scraped off the last line "...become a hero in the Moslem world" which used to be what was there right before the song started. (And no, I'm not imagining this...)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 4:25 AM on July 28, 2021

ZenMasterThis: "Bombardiers by Po Bronson is a horrifying riot."

A novel, that one is. (Not saying it's fiction...)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 6:47 AM on July 8, 2021

this happens sometimes with mine too, it's a Miele. I discovered it that in my case has to do with the way the machine is set into its compartment. The door is actually catching on the runner, a board that blocks the space between the bottom of the sideboard and the floor. I solve it by pulling the dishwasher ever so slightly forward, not enough so that it sticks out but enough so that the door doesn't spang on the runner. Every so often the machine will get nudged backward into its compartment… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 9:01 AM on July 2, 2021

I have fond memories of reading Redmond O'Hanlon's In Trouble Again in college. I read it in a class on travel writing that spent most of its time on unreliable narrators / cultural appropriation / exaggeration of adventures &c.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 2:49 PM on June 15, 2021

Phoebe Bridgers?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 5:50 AM on March 27, 2021

I like the three speeds of Billy Joel's "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant"
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 1:40 PM on March 10, 2021

That OPV one is, of course, a PSA for why vaccination needs to be broad-based; only unvaccinated people got polio via the excreta.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 8:32 AM on December 19, 2020

Bustwith

(from this: Shake Your Rump)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 3:35 PM on December 14, 2020

mccxxiii: "ask if I was the only person who got a warning of "This post may contain erotic or adult imagery. By continuing, you acknowledge that you are 18+ years of age"

I got that too and laughed; I'm definitely 18+ in dog years.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 12:46 AM on December 15, 2020

Scissors!

Seriously, scissors. Doesn't really matter what brand. Once you start using them in the kitchen you'll wonder how you got on without them.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 4:31 PM on October 25, 2020

I don't know of a comparison site, but I have tried these and they are tasty:

Starbucks makes them. So you can get a double-whammy of corporate coffee.

Portuguese coffee-makers do them, for sale in supermarkets and online: Nicola and Chave D'Ouro
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 12:22 PM on September 26, 2020

1. Elvis Costello, King of America
2. Beach Boys, Pet Sounds
3. Gram Parsons, Return of the Grievous Angel
4. Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska
5. Yo La Tengo, Fakebook
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 1:07 AM on September 23, 2020

Having said that, there is no Zappa on the Rolling Stone list. There should be some Zappa.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 1:26 AM on September 23, 2020

Malcolm Tucker's Epic Rant (one of many) [NSFW language]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 6:16 AM on September 18, 2020 marked best answer

1. Peel the potatoes.
2. Grate the potatoes, medium-fine.
3. Shape the gratings into pancakes, flatten them a bit.
4. Fry with olive oil on low heat for a long time (20 mins at least; they need to be cooked through).
5. Add whatever spices you like during step three if you want. Or don't.
6. Eat.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 4:00 AM on July 26, 2020

This is a pretty good guide to the risks: Physical distancing, face masks, and eye protection to prevent person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis from The Lancet

basically, masks + very short duration of contact = low risk of transmission.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 12:56 PM on June 28, 2020 marked best answer

Blonde raccoon eating cherries in a tie bib
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 4:14 PM on June 23, 2020

Wobbuffet, yes! I'm pretty sure that's it. It sounds right in every way, so now I have to find a copy. Thank you very much!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 8:04 AM on June 14, 2020

Last year in Italy a total of 647,000 people died. [Source: istat]. That's just under 1,773 per day. Italy's Covid-19 deaths as of today: 15,887 [Source: Johns Hopkins]. That's just over 346 a day over the past 45 days (more or less when the pandemic swept in to Italy).

What is not clear yet and won't be clear for a while yet is how many more deaths per day are down to Covid-19. But Italy's biggest demographic cohort is 65 and up, which is a major… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 2:09 PM on April 5, 2020

Today
By Thomas Carlyle

So here hath been dawning
Another blue Day:
Think wilt thou let it
Slip useless away.

Out of Eternity
This new Day is born;
Into Eternity,
At night, will return.

Behold it aforetime
No eye ever did:
So soon it forever
From all eyes is hid.

Here hath been dawning
Another blue Day:
Think wilt thou let it
Slip useless away.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 2:26 AM on April 4, 2020

The CDC Should Stop Prioritizing VIPs for Virus Tests [Bloomberg]
Why are the rich and famous getting coronavirus tests while we aren't? [Grauniad]
Need a Coronavirus Test? Being Rich and Famous May Help [NY Times]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 4:47 AM on March 26, 2020

this copy (via Politico) seems less blurry. does anyone know what the font/fonts used in this document is/are?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 2:19 AM on March 26, 2020 marked best answer

Just be careful with this: Thousands of COVID-19 scam and malware sites are being created on a daily basis [ZDNet]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 5:40 AM on March 22, 2020

I use the latest version of iOS & also Android. The Jot doesn't require charging and as far as I can tell the tip is fine. It's just ... weird.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 9:53 AM on March 17, 2020

It's not long but it is certainly engrossing: The Dog of the South by Charles Portis (who is in the news, having just died). I used to read this on airplane trips, over and over; I find it very calming.

(there was a side effect: I could hardly ever remember the details of the story and each time I read it was like the first time.)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 2:39 AM on March 3, 2020

Found it. SPrintF, thanks for your help because it opened the path to me finding it, which is that it ISN'T a Christmas story or in a special edition.

It's a "Tales of Gotham City", "Encounter," in Detective Comics 490.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chavenet at 3:42 AM on January 17, 2020