tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48816578561937334892024-02-08T15:17:22.530-05:00Answer BossAny questions?Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-6118634805484908692016-09-20T09:12:00.002-04:002016-09-20T09:12:21.791-04:00#NeverTrump ThoughtsA few #NeverTrump thoughts:<br />
<br />
1. I asked <a href="https://twitter.com/answerboss/status/776037895706710016">this question</a> of <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkDavis">Mark Davis</a> (a talk radio host filling in for both Dennis Prager and Hugh Hewitt in the past two weeks) on twitter:<br />
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If @BernieSanders was the R nominee, would you support him over @HillaryClinton? #NeverTrump #NeverHillary<br />
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If I could go back and ask the question a little differently I'd choose a recent liberal New York mayor such as Bill DeBlasio or Michael Bloomberg. The point is that Trump is just as liberal as them, yet I'm being asked to support him because he's worse than Hillary Clinton? Sorry, I can't. He is just as bad as them, and therefore just as bad as Hillary Clinton, so therefore there is no choice.<br />
<br />
2. Let me ask a question: how do Congressional elections typically go for the party that doesn't hold the White House? The answer in a word is "poorly" (see 2010 and 2014 for the most recent examples). Let's say that Donald Trump is elected. I think it's reasonable to say that the off-year elections would go very poorly for the Republicans, meaning a loss of definitely the Senate and probably the House as well. What would that mean? It would mean we would have a liberal President and a liberal Congress. Do people saying to vote for Trump think that he would veto legislation passed by a Democrat-led Congress? What about his Supreme Court picks? Do you think he'd stick to his guns or would he compromise his deeply held conservative principles in the interest of getting things done?<br />
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3. "But but but...Hillary is worse." No, they are equally bad. Which means that for the first time in my adult life I will not vote for the nominee of the Republican Party, because the Republican Party nominated a Democrat. There is no choice.<br />
<br />
I realize this is pretty defeatist sounding, so what do I suggest as a positive actions?<br />
<br />
1. Get involved in your local races. Work to elect good solid conservatives to local offices, which will continue to build up the bench and to help serve as a firewall between the federal and local governments.<br />
<br />
2. Involve yourself in the culture. Support things that promote conservative values. When the Left intrudes, fight back. Voice your disapproval, and ignore the Left's cries of "racist!" "sexist!" "homophobe!" because frankly they don't mean anything any more.<br />
<br />
It's going to be a rough 8 years, but it's already been a rough 8 years. We're used to it, and we can learn lessons on how best to fight.Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-71067644154696114192016-05-10T13:08:00.004-04:002016-05-10T13:08:42.909-04:00Poll Testing ConspiracyToday a new poll came out from <a href="https://www.qu.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/2016-presidential-swing-state-polls/release-detail?ReleaseID=2345">Qunnipiac University</a> that shows Donald Trump virtually tied with Hillary Clinton in the states of Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. I'm going to say up front that I don't believe this polling. One observation that Rush Limbaugh has made about the media is that polls no longer reflect the news, <a href="http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2016/05/05/the_experts_are_stumped_by_trump">polls drive the news</a>:<br />
<br />
"Polling data to news organizations and professional politicians, it's gospel. They live and die by it. They don't even look at polling data as a reflection of public opinion. It is, but that's not how they use it. They use it to actually make news, and they use it to try to shape public opinion, not reflect it."<br />
<br />
As I was reading about the Qunnipiac poll this morning it struck me that there might be some reason why this poll looks the way it does. I start with two basic assumptions:<br />
<br />
1. The media and Democratic party (but I repeat myself) wants Donald Trump to be the Republican nominee. There are many reasons for this including ratings, a desire to destroy the Republican party, and a desire to have Hillary Clinton be the next President.<br />
2. Much of the Republican party is not willing to get behind Trump.<br />
<br />
So here's my (admittedly conspiratorial) sequence of events that are the reason this poll exists:<br />
1. Media puts out a skewed poll out that shows that Trump could win (when in reality there's no chance).<br />
2. This causes both the Democratic base to become more energized for Hillary and also convinces more Republicans to support Trump.<br />
3. Those Republicans who are trying to either block Trump's nomination or put together a third-party nominee, who already have a major challenge, will get blocked because of the shift of support.<br />
3. After Trump officially becomes the nominee the polls will shift back towards reality (Trump losing in a landslide). This will accelerate after the Democratic convention in July.<br />
4. The 2016 Presidential race is the ratings bonanza that the media wants, and the outcome is a Hillary Clinton presidency, which the media also wants.<br />
<br />
Am I reading too much into this? Probably. Could this backfire? Definitely. Time will tell if I'm being too conspiratorial, too naive, or too wrong.Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-13657142599152952672016-03-16T12:40:00.001-04:002016-03-16T12:40:56.600-04:00Anger Mismanagement<div>
In the last week I've had two good conversations with two good friends about the 2016 Presidential election. They are both center-left, both upper-middle-class, and both wondering why the Republican electorate seems to be so <u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">ANGRY</u> this year. The theory I worked through with both of them is that the normative conservative American is angry because they're sick and tired of being told to sit down and shut up because they are conservative. I've set up four strawman conversation snippets below to help me make my point:</div>
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Conservative: "I think that we should have better controls and management on who comes into our country, and that people who aren't here legally shouldn't have the right to drive, vote, or get government benefits."</div>
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Response: "RACIST!"</div>
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Conservative: "...um, no, it's our country. Shouldn't we have a good idea of who comes in and why they're coming and...</div>
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Response: "RACIST!"</div>
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Conservative: "..."</div>
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<br /></div>
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Or try this one:</div>
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Conservative: "I think that human life begins when sperm meets egg, and that abortion (while sometimes medically necessary) shouldn't be paid for by the government since it ends a human life."</div>
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Response: "SEXIST! MISOGYNIST!"</div>
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Conservative: "...um, no, I understand that only women can get pregnant but human life is something that should be protected and..."</div>
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Response: "SEXIST! MISOGYNIST!"</div>
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Conservative (under his breath): "...fine whatever..."</div>
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<br /></div>
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What about this one:</div>
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Conservative: "Marriage has been the union of one man and one woman for the whole of human history, and I think that it should stay that way because a married mother and father is the best way to produce good children."</div>
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Response: "BIGOT! HOMOPHOBE!"</div>
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Conservative: "...um, no, I don't really care what two (or more) consenting adults do, but the societal ideal of marriage between one man and one woman is worth protecting and defending because..."</div>
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Response: "BIGOT! HOMOPHOBE!"</div>
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Conservative (a little louder): "...OK, whatever..."</div>
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<br />
And how about this:</div>
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Conservative: "There are about 1.5 billion Muslims in the world, and even if only 1% of them believe in Jihad against non-Muslims that means over a million potential enemies are out there. Maybe we should tightly screen people coming to America from Muslim-majority countries."</div>
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Response: "ISLAMOPHOBE!"</div>
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Conservative: "...um, no, not all people who practice Islam are terrorists, but that's the pool they're coming from so maybe we should..."<br />
Response: "ISLAMOPHOBE!"<br />
Conservative: "...OK, that's how you want to play it?"</div>
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<br /></div>
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See a pattern here? If you're a normal conservative American who holds those views the response over the past two decades has been, "Shut up, racist/sexist/bigot/homophobe!" After a while people get tired of being called something that they're not and they're going to fight back.<br />
<br />
In 2016 some have latched on to Donald Trump as their champion. I disagree with this decision, but I understand it. The consequences are playing out in real time and I hope that the Republican Primary voters come over to Ted Cruz as quickly as possible, because if they don't we're in for 8 years of President Hillary Clinton, and I'm not looking forward to that at all.</div>
Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-70149206313234088002016-01-05T22:45:00.002-05:002016-01-05T22:45:29.478-05:00Governor Cuomo Graces Upstate New YorkGovernor Andrew Cuomo visited my hometown of Rochester, NY today to talk about state initiatives for western and upstate New York. Local reporter Rachael Barnhart <a href="http://www.rochesterfirst.com/news/local-news/cuomo-rochester-is-on-the-upswing">wrote a short piece about the visit </a>and a couple of things struck me as interesting.<br />
<br />
First, when presented with the fact that there are 40,000 fewer jobs in Rochester than during the 90's the governor got petulant. He called her a cynic and said that we should look at the glass as half full. I found his tone interesting. It was as though he expected to be thanked and loved for bringing money to Rochester. More on that in a second.<br />
<br />
Second was a quote that she included in the piece (not in the video): "Rochester can't help Rochester. It takes the state government to help Rochester."<br />
<br />
So let me get this straight:<br />
1. The citizens of Rochester pay taxes to the state of New York.<br />
2. The state of New York distributes those taxes as it sees fit, including grants back to the city of Rochester.<br />
3. The governor expects the citizens of Rochester to be grateful for what they get from the state of New York.<br />
<br />
Seems to me that it would just be easier to, oh I don't know, NOT have the money funnel through Albany. Why not just lower taxes by the amount of the grants and call it even?<br />
<br />
Of course I know the answer. As the Instapundit likes to say, insufficient opportunities for graft. But I think it's instructive and a useful lesson to citizens. How much does the money we get from the state cost? More thoughts on this topic later.Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-83369249918280812572015-09-16T15:21:00.001-04:002015-09-16T15:21:51.230-04:00GOP Debate Advisory TweetsBefore tonight's debate I thought I'd reach out to each of the campaigns on <a href="https://twitter.com/">Twitter</a> to offer my advice and thoughts. This post captures all of the tweets in one place. Candidates are presented in reverse order of their polling as part of the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/10/politics/cnn-reagan-debate-lineup/">CNN debate selection criteria</a>.<br />
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<b>Happy Hour Debate</b><br />
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC">@LindseyGrahamSC</a>: No one in the base likes you. Drop out now. Seriously. You're not helping. Please go away. #GOPDebate<br />
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/GovernorPataki">@GovernorPataki</a>: Switch parties and run against #ReadyForHillary for the D nomination. You might win something that way. #GOPDebate<br />
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<br /></div>
.<a href="https://twitter.com/BobbyJindal">@BobbyJindal</a>: You're going to be great in 2020/2024. Please go back to LA and keep up the good work. See you in a few years. #GOPDebate<br />
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/RickSantorum">@RickSantorum</a>: You've lost every time you've been on the ballot since 2006. Take the hint and join a think tank. #GOPDebate<br />
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<br /></div>
<b>Primetime Debate</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
.<a href="https://twitter.com/CarlyFiorina">@CarlyFiorina</a>: Introduce yourself and be yourself. Keep fighting #ReadyForHillary and you'll come out ahead. #GOPDebate<br />
<br />
.<a href="https://twitter.com/GovChristie">@GovChristie</a>: Your fight with <a href="https://twitter.com/RandPaul">@RandPaul</a> was a great highlight from last debate. This time focus on how you'll fix a broken DC. #GOPDebate<br />
<br />
.<a href="https://twitter.com/JohnKasich">@JohnKasich</a>: You and <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottWalker">@ScottWalker</a> are best positioned to capture the heartland. Highlight your record as a solid governor. #GOPDebate<br />
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/RandPaul">@RandPaul</a>: Isolationism is appealing but not where base is. Don't engage <a href="https://twitter.com/GovChristie">@GovChristie</a>. Focus on freedom to survive the night. #GOPDebate<br />
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/MikeHuckabee">@MikeHuckabee</a>: GWB killed big government conservatism. Sorry. You'll make a great talk show host. Again. #GOPDebate<br />
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<br /></div>
.<a href="https://twitter.com/MarcoRubio">@MarcoRubio</a>: Foreign policy is your strength, answer <a href="https://twitter.com/hughhewitt">@hughhewitt</a>'s questions concisely and you can win the night. #GOPDebate<br />
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz">@tedcruz</a>: Get into an actual debate with someone other than <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump">@realDonaldTrump</a> tonight to show your chops. #GOPDebate<br />
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/RealBenCarson">@RealBenCarson</a>: You're not POTUS material. Sorry. Use tonight to declare that you'll be GOP Surgeon General. #GOPDebate<br />
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/ScottWalker">@ScottWalker</a>: Explain that you're a fighter and a winner. NLRB-busting plan will be a hit with the base if you can explain it. #GOPDebate<br />
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/JebBush">@JebBush</a>: The establishment loves you. That's bad. Taking on <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump">@realDonaldTrump</a> is your only hope. #GOPDebate<br />
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump">@realDonaldTrump</a>: Stick to the issues, don't engage the other candidates when they attack. Maybe switch to decaf. #GOPDebate<br />
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<b>Bonus Round: The Debate Staff</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
.<a href="https://twitter.com/jaketapper">@jaketapper</a>: GOP base hates MSM and <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN">@CNN</a> but trusts you. Build on that and you'll secure an audience through the election. #GOPDebate<br />
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/DanaBashCNN">@DanaBashCNN</a>: As the representative of the left feel free to reinforce all of our stereotypes. We won't hold it against you. #GOPDebate<br />
<br />
.<a href="https://twitter.com/hughhewitt">@hughhewitt</a>: Looking forward to your usual probing questions of the candidates. Hope that they cooperate. #hewitt #GOPDebateTimothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-30166314821020527692015-06-28T23:16:00.001-04:002015-06-28T23:16:16.548-04:00SCOTUS Scribblings<b>Q: Editor - I see from your <a href="https://twitter.com/answerboss">social media feed</a> that you're pretty upset about the two Supreme Court rulings this week. Would you care to expand your incoherent tweeting into some equally incoherent writing?</b><br />
A: One benefit of the fact that I'm my own editor is that I can ask myself leading questions. Yes, this is cheating and no, I don't care.<br />
<br />
First let's talk about King vs. Burwell. After a day of time to reflect about this ruling I've got a few thoughts:<br />
1. Chief Justice John Roberts believes that the Legislative Branch should fix Legislative Branch problems. This is why the fact that the ACA had some language in it that basically said, "only state exchanges are eligible for tax credits" doesn't matter. If the court had said, "you're right, only state exchanges can give tax credits" then peoples' health care expenditures would have increased overnight. The court didn't want to be responsible for that, so they ruled that the federal exchange should be able to be substituted for state exchanges. I take that as a message from Chief Justice Roberts to the Congress that if they want this fixed, they need to fix it.<br />
2. Obamacare is now a major chain around Hillary Clinton. Every failure, every rate increase, every premium hike, everyone who loses their doctor, they now have an enemy to point towards.<br />
3. I hope that the 2016 election will start a national conversation about entitlements and the entitlement society, and this ruling makes that conversation more likely. Unfortunately, health insurance now equals health care in most peoples' minds so replacing the ACA with something else is going to be a tough fight.<br />
<br />
Now, for the legalization of same-sex marriage. I believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. What I'm coming to grips with is that this objective truth is now an opinion. "Believe" is the operative word. The cultural majority now "believes" that marriage is one man and one man, one woman and one woman and one man and one woman. Does that change what marriage is? No. What has changed is the fact that the word "marriage" has no meaning. It's whatever the will of the cultural majority says that it is. Are we as a society OK with that?<br />
<br />
I've been married for just under two years and my wife and I recently had our first child. I've already seen how we both bring different things to our daughter's world but with this ruling I have been told that my wife and I bring exactly the same things to our child. That if you replaced me with a woman or my wife with a man, our daughter would turn out the same. I disagree. Men and women are different and bring different things to parenting. But now that belief is, like the definition of marriage, just a belief that is now overtaken by the culture. Are we as a society OK with that too?<br />
<br />
So where do we go from here? This ruling means that all 50 states must conduct marriages between any combination of two consenting adults. What will that mean? My predictions for the next few years in no particular order:<br />
- There will be a lawsuit filed this summer against either a church as an institution or a priest as a person for not performing a same-sex wedding. The outcome of that lawsuit will be to force the church to perform same-sex wedding. I cannot predict where that will lead.<br />
- Same-sex marriage advocates will target the wedding service industry, specifically businesses owned by people who believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. Any business that does not service same-sex weddings will be driven out of business, either by lawsuit or public shaming. It will make headlines but ultimately be met with a shrug from the media and popular culture.<br />
- Adoption agencies will no longer be allowed to prefer opposite-sex couples to same-sex couples. This will cause agencies run by religious institutions to shut down.<br />
- The first divorce proceeding involving a same-sex couple's fight over custody over their children is going to be fascinating reading.<br />
- The first polygamy case will be filed before the 2016 election. The Supreme Court, using the same logic, will grant the right for marriage to be expanded to more than two people. After all, it's about love, right?<br />
<br />
In short, I'm pretty worked up today, but the positive impact is that I'm stepping into the game much more than I ever have. I'm inspired and I'm motivated. More on this to come.Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-90439325279378057512015-06-27T23:43:00.003-04:002015-06-27T23:43:45.694-04:00A Personal Note About Moving On<div>
On Friday I made a series of tweets and retweets on the <a href="https://twitter.com/answerboss">official Twitter account of the Answer Boss</a> regarding the Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. I received a <a href="https://twitter.com/Ericstreets/status/614451100842897408">response tweet</a> from a friend saying that one post was in poor taste, and afterwards that friend went to the online community where this feature was born and commented on it there. Below are those posts.</div>
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<b>democko<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b><br />
<div>
<i>PostPosted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 11:26 am</i><br />
<i>tim boss on twitter (tweeted an article saying this is a "dark week")</i><br />
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<b>Zane<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b><br />
<i>PostPosted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 11:49 am</i><br />
<i>link plz.</i><br />
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<b>democko<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b><br />
<i>PostPosted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 3:51 pm</i><br />
<i>sorry my quote should say "these are dark days"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>he retweeted this one:</i><br />
<i>https://twitter.com/jhinderaker/status/ ... <a href="tel:6623517696" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1" x-apple-data-detectors-type="telephone" x-apple-data-detectors="true">6623517696</a></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>and he has been tweeting up a storm. i called him on it.</i><br />
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<b>Sarah<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b><br />
<i>PostPosted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 4:13 pm</i><br />
<i>You did :-)</i><br />
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<b>Zane<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b><br />
<i>PostPosted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 5:45 pm</i><br />
<i>i don't understand what is so divisive about coming out publicly and saying "i am a bigot who hates gay people" or "i am really stupid, and don't care to learn about any of the issues i parrot about on social media." then you can more easily join into hate groups and be shunned by actual people, employers, and society at large (although this might lead to a SCOTUS case regarding the rights of the criminally stupid...)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>this shit is just straight baffling. it's a failure in democratic process because the Supreme Court upheld a right which is supported by 63% of Americans? lol nope. we don't even have a direct democracy (American History: F-) and if we did, your opinion would have lost out to the actual majority.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>you aren't a "true American patriot" for standing up to the Liberal democrat moslem scum who passed this law in the face of overwhelming opposition. you're a backwards fuckwit who doesn't understand the law, doesn't understand government, and hasn't bothered to read the court's opinion on this matter (which has nothing to do with any of these bullshit conservative talking points).</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>i wish the worst on people like him for hiding their heads in the sand (err, Twitter) so they can circlejerk about being bigots, and be butthurt that other people now have the same rights as them (which is in fact, a thing literally written into the Bill of Rights).</i><br />
<br />
I will not comment on the content of the above other than to say that the opinion above (opposition to same-sex marriage is bigotry) is that of most members of the community. What caught my attention was that I was personally being called a bigot. That affected me a lot more than I expected it to. I was furious as I read the words, and my anger did not subside. After that post a few more were made, and what I found interesting and disheartening was that there was no commentary on the charge of bigotry. Just a casual acceptance. And that was what told me that it was time to walk away and not look back.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I'm a little sad since that community is where I started and developed the question-and-answer column that now lives here. But if I am not welcome in a community then I am not welcome, and it is time for me to leave it. I write about it here only to remind myself of why I am leaving and to document it for posterity. </div>
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<br />
Below is my final contribution to the site.</div>
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<b>mitssob<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b><br />
<i>PostPosted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 12:25 am</i><br />
<i>Thank you for your post. You have made it clear that I am not welcome on this site and so my time here has come to an end.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Being called a bigot is something that I will not tolerate. You do not know me, have never (that I can remember) met me, yet you presume to know what is in my heart and in my head. You don't, but if that is your opinion of me, and if that opinion is shared by the members of this community, then it is time for me to spend my time somewhere else.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>I will not be back to read any responses to this post. I will not be back at all. I wish you all the best with the rest of your time on this site. Goodbye.</i></div>
Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-27819573121763827302015-05-18T23:32:00.000-04:002015-05-19T08:51:15.857-04:0071 - Answers<b>Q: Phil - Where the fuck have you been?</b><br />
A: I've been to 8 countries outside the US (chronologically they are Ireland, Canada, England, France, Australia, Denmark, Mexico and Aruba) and 29 out of 50 states. I've been near the geographic center of North America, and to the southern-most point in the US. I've been to a LOT of airports around the country, including a personal best 5 in one day (AGS-ATL-HSV-BWI-ROC) on April 27, 2012. The longest day of my travel life was in October of 2008 when I flew from Rochester, NY to Canberra, Australia. I departed Rochester at about 3pm on October 3, 2008 and landed in Canberra (hopping through Chicago, San Francisco and Sydney) at about 11am on October 5, 2008. All told I spent about 38 hours traveling, which is a record I hope stands for the rest of my life.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Luke - Will the Clarkson Men's Hockey Team ever win a National Championship? </b><b>Is Casey Jones' system failing, or is the new cadre of recruits going to finally make it work? </b><b>Who is the guy behind the Richard Nixon mask? </b><b>THESE QUESTIONS AND MORE ON THE NEXT.......</b><b>ASK MITTSOB</b><br />
A: Three questions and a dramatic statement. Not exactly the normal format of a question I get but I'll tackle them one at a time.<br />
<br />
First, I think that it's likely that the Clarkson Men's Hockey team will win a National Championship (by which I assume that you mean the NCAA Men's Hockey Tournament and not, for example, the <a href="http://spellingbee.com/">National Spelling Bee</a>). Unfortunately <a href="http://www.clarksonathletics.com/sports/2003/9/27/hoctrncaa.aspx">the last time the team made the finals</a> was was 1970 when they lost to Cornell 6-4, and they haven't even made the tournament since 2008 when they lost in the quarterfinals to Michigan 2-0. Given the team's performance over the past few years (see question 2) it feels unlikely but times change and I have faith in our team!<br />
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As to your second question, I sheepishly admit that I have not watched nor listened to a minute of Clarkson Hockey this season outside of the game that I attended at RIT in October. Yes, I'm a bad fan. To help close that gap I brought up the <a href="http://www.ecachockey.com/men/2014-15/teams/clarkson">ECAC Hockey Page for Clarkson</a> to see how the season unfolded, and the more I read the more disappointed I became. We went 8-11-3 in conference, lost in the first round of the ECAC playoffs to RPI, and to make matters worse we went 1-2-1 against SLU. Those facts alone give me pause and make me question how effective our coach's system is. Looking deeper we were in the bottom half of most statistics including Goals, PIM, Power-play (goals, opportunities, etc), Saves and Save Percentage. The only area that we seemed to do well was in Penalty Kills (3rd). With all of that data I won't jump to the "OMG Casey Jones' system is failing OMG" position, but I will express my disappointment in this past season and my hope that new recruits will help. Time, as always, will tell.<br />
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Finally, as to the identity of the guy behind the Richard Nixon mask, I plead total ignorance as to what you're talking about. Is there someone in a Richard Nixon mask attending Clarkson Men's Hockey games? The only person I identify with being behind a Richard Nixon mask is Brett Gobe, but that only makes him A guy in the Richard Nixon mask, not THE guy in the Richard Nixon mask.<br />
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<b>Q: Mike Guethle - We've had the snowiest January on record followed by the coldest February on record. March shows no sign of warmup. </b><b>When will the snow melt, and is barn cat dead?</b><br />
A: Based on when the snow melted last year (a comparably cold winter) I would say that the snow will finally finish melting sometime in the first week of April. The last snowfall of the season will likely come in May of this year given the trends of the past few years, but any accumulations will be short lived.<br />
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Because it was such a brutally cold winter in the northeastern United States I'm going to guess that Barn Cat did not survive. That makes me sad despite the fact that I have not, nor never will actually MEET Barn Cat. Hopefully I am wrong about Barn Cat's fate.<br />
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<b>Q: Matt Neal - Are smurfs insects or mammals?</b><br />
A: Smurfs appear to have a skeletal structure covered by muscle, fat, skin and hair. Therefore I think this puts them into the mammal category.<br />
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<b>Q: Phil - Will the Sabres successfully complete the tank job or will they Buffalo all over it?</b><br />
A: Unfortunately my lack of hockey viewing this season extends to the NHL as well. When I moved to western New York in 2002 I decided to adopt the <a href="http://sabres.nhl.com/">Buffalo Sabres</a> as my professional hockey team but my attention has waned in the past few years. Thus I was only peripherally aware of the tank job that Buffalo was attempting this season. I say "was" because at the time of this writing (April 11, 2015) Buffalo has <a href="http://sabres.buffalonews.com/2015/04/10/mceichel-derby-breaks/">clinched last place</a> with a loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday, April 10, 2015, so it seems that they've succeeded. Their prize is a guaranteed #2 lottery pick and a 20% chance at the #1 overall lottery pick. Was it worth it? Personally I think it's dangerous to put all of one's faith into a single draft pick, but let's face it, it's hard to finish worse than last. But if any city can figure out how, it's Buffalo!<br />
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<b>Q (1 of 2): Bill - Who are the two candidates for president in 2016? </b><b>Editor: don't let him wuss out on this, I want a definitive, well-thought out answer.</b><br />
A: As a consumer of political news I welcome this challenge, but as a man with limited time on his hands I loathe this challenge. But accept this challenge I will!<br />
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Some ground rules and formatting up front. Candidates are grouped by political party and presented in alphabetical order. Next to each name will be their current/most recent political job. I'll try to include at least one recent news article about the person in the answer embedded with my thoughts and opinions on the person.<br />
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<u>Democrats</u><br />
At the time of this writing (March-April, 2015) two Democrats have announced their intention to run for President. The popular view is that Hillary Clinton will be the nominee but that is far from certain (see: Obama, Barack Hussein).<br />
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<i>Joe Biden (Vice President of the United States of America)</i><br />
"Uncle Joe" Biden has been involved in American politics since the late 60's, and was elected to the Senate in 1972. He has mounted several presidential campaigns over the years and was a prominent Democrat member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his tenure in the Senate. In 2008 after losing in the Democrat primary he was chosen by candidate Obama to be his running mate and became the 45th Vice President of the United States in 2008, a position he retained in 2012 with President Obama's reelection.<br />
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Vice President Biden is <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0908/An_awkward_moment_in_St_Louis.html">well known</a> for his <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2015/02/19/bidens-strange-claim-of-knowing-an-awful-lot-of-somali-cab-drivers-in-delaware/">gaffes</a> and <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bidens-comments-ruffle-feathers/">inappropriate</a> and <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/31/biden.obama/">borderline racist</a> comments over the years but he has not suffered any serious consequences for them. Likewise his foreign policy experience (one of the reasons that he was chosen for Vice President) has been <a href="http://www.independentsentinel.com/six-examples-of-biden-being-nearly-always-wrong-on-foreign-policy/">criticized</a> by many people including most recently former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Will any of that impact his ability to try for another run at the Presidency? No. The only thing stopping him from trying is Hillary Clinton, which is the same thing stopping anyone from running on the Democrat side. Personally I hope he tries again because he's an entertaining figure in politics and he'll provide some much-needed comic relief.<br />
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<i>Hillary Clinton (Most recently Secretary of State of the United States of America)</i><br />
The first entry in our "Back to the 90's" series is Hillary Clinton, who <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3035748/Everyday-Americans-need-champion-Wealthy-Hillary-Clinton-enters-race-president.html">announced her candidacy</a> on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uY7gLZDmn4">Sunday, April 12, 2015</a>. Former Secretary Clinton has been engaged in the American political scene for the last 40+ years. Her husband William Jefferson Clinton was the 42nd President of the US. During his presidency she was brought in to design and implement a new Health Care system for the country (known at the time as Hillarycare).<br />
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After her husband left office in 2000 she was elected Senator from New York, and after a term and a third she ran for President starting in 2007. Her election to the Presidency was supposed to be a shoe-in but she ran into the political force of Barack Hussein Obama and wound up losing the Democrat Primary in 2008. Her name was floated as a potential Vice President for Obama, but ultimately she was offered and accepted the Secretary of State position after his election. What did she accomplish as Secretary of State? Not much. She flew hundreds of thousands of miles around the world meeting with diplomats and visiting foreign countries. To me that qualifies her as a travel agent or host of a show on the Travel Channel. She presented the President of Russia a misspelled reset button to symbolize a reset in Russia/US relations. She claimed to have come under sniper fire during a visit to Iraq (which was later proven false). On September 11, 2012 the US embassy in Benghazi, Libya was overrun by a coordinated attack in which the ambassador and three other American embassy personnel were killed. She blamed the attack on reaction to an obscure YouTube video (unlikely but also not disprovable), later famously proclaiming "what difference, at this point, does it make?"<br />
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The past few weeks have <a href="http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/203076/">uncovered new scandals</a> regarding her time at the State Department (another well-written summary can be found <a href="http://nypost.com/2015/04/12/hillary-clinton-faces-scandal-amid-expectant-presidential-run/">here</a>). The Clinton Foundation accepted contributions from foreign governments while she was secretary, in direct violation of administration policy. She and members of her staff used a privately owned and maintained email server at her residence in Chappaqua, NY to conduct official State Department Business. She turned over all work-related emails from that server to the State Department and then deleted all emails on the server, thus ensuring that the public will never know if she ACTUALLY turned over all of her work-related emails. Most recently a book called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Clinton-Cash-Foreign-Governments-Businesses/dp/0062369288">Clinton Cash</a> has been written <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/04/26/11-explosive-clinton-cash-facts-mainstream-media-confirm-are-accurate/">detailing</a> how Former President Clintons' speaking fees increased after she became Secretary of State and how her positions changed based on contributions to the Clinton Foundation.<br />
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But what difference at this point does it make? She's Hillary Clinton! First Woman President! And remember the 90's? They were great, right? Hillary Clinton was in the White House in the 90's! Also, vagina! #ReadyForHillary<br />
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<i>Al Gore (Most recently Vice President of the United States of America)</i><br />
Speaking of the 90's, ladies and gentlemen, Al Gore! The recent stumblings of Hillary Clinton have sent the left side of the political world looking for alternatives. The New York Times chimed in recently with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/science/the-new-optimism-of-al-gore.html?ref=science">this piece</a> practically begging the former Vice President to run.<br />
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Al Gore served as a congressman from Tennessee from starting in 1977 and was elected to the Senate from that state in 1984. In 1992 he was chosen by Bill Clinton to be his Vice President where he served until 2000. In 2000 he lost the Presidential Election to George W. Bush. Since that loss he has been involved in a wide variety of environmental causes and has amassed a multi-million dollar fortune in the process. He founded (and later sold) a liberal-left media group called CurrentTV.<br />
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The fact that his name is being floated now interests me as an observer of these things. Has it been long enough since the 2000 debacle for Al Gore to make a reappearance? Personally I think so. 16 years is enough time for a new generation of voters to come of age and for the sins of the past to be forgotten (for example, Al Gore was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/22/opinion/al-gore-and-the-temple-of-cash.html">raising campaign money from the Chinese</a> well before Frank Underwood was).<br />
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But who cares what's in that <a href="https://screen.yahoo.com/gore-bush-first-debate-000000075.html">lockbox</a>? Remember the 90's? They were great, right? Al Gore was in the White House in the 90's! Also, environment! #ReadyForAlGore<br />
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<i>Martin O'Malley (Most recently Governor of Maryland)</i><br />
Martin O'Malley served two terms as Governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015. Before that he was mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007. He's got executive experience and left-wing values, so in a normal year that would make him a viable candidate for the Democrat party's nomination. Unfortunately for him this is not a normal year. He's starting to <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/DC-Decoder/2015/0303/Martin-O-Malley-sticks-with-Plan-A-try-to-upend-Hillary-Clinton">make appearances in NH</a> and has begun to (gently) <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/03/29/omalley-speaks-out-against-possible-dynastic-rematch-for-white-house/">poke at Hillary</a>. What I expect will happen is that eventually the Clintons will swat him like a mosquito and that will be the end of his candidacy.<br />
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<i>Bernie Sanders (Senator from Vermont)</i><br />
Bernie Sanders is an Independent Senator from Vermont who is a self-labeled Democratic Socialist (in the mold of the Democratic Socialist parties in Europe) who caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate. He began his political career as Mayor of Burlington in 1981 and was elected to the House of Representatives on his second effort in 1990. He was elected to the Senate in 2006 and won reelection in 2012. He is currently the only officially-declared challenger to Hillary Clinton.<br />
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Senator Sanders has been a champion of <a href="http://donsurber.blogspot.com/2015/04/bernie-sanders-brings-wealth-of-19th.html?spref=tw">far-left causes</a> for his entire career. He is most famous for delivering an 8.5 hour speech on the Senate floor (incorrectly labeled as a filibuster) in December of 2010 against extension of the tax cuts signed into law during the George W. Bush administration. His platform seems to be a very far-left populist message of <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/03/bernie-sanders-the-us-should-be-more-like-socialist-scandinavia-video/">taking money from billionaires</a> and distributing it to the rest of the country. It's a very popular message among the left but I'm not sure how it's going to play in a general election. Regardless I'm happy that he's in the race because he'll put pressure on Secretary Clinton and provide some competition on that side of the race.<br />
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<i>Elizabeth Warren (Senator from Massachusetts)</i><br />
Senator Warren is currently a darling among the left. Part of her admiration seems to be based on her firm allegiance to the "you didn't build that" wing of the Democrat party. Her left-populist, class-envy positions are popular with the far-left and there's already a <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2015/03/21/democrats-need-elizabeth-warren-voice-presidential-race/TJkJtbu3UYaJYBmVHcrAcI/story.html">movement to draft her into the nomination</a>. Thus far she has not declared or indicated any interest, but if Hillary Clinton were to suddenly disappear she would be a first-tier candidate.<br />
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There are many similarities between Senator Warren and President Obama. Both are former college professors. Both were aided in achieving their college positions by their minority status (1/2 African-American for Obama, 1/12th Native-American for Warren, though this was later proven false and provided her the nickname "Fauxcahontas"). Both hold views that are on the <a href="http://www.redstate.com/2014/07/18/fauxcahontas-eleven-commandments/">far-left</a> of the American political spectrum. Both were first-term Senators when they seriously considered Presidential runs. So if you think that the Obama regime has been a success, by all means let's try it again!<br />
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<i>James Webb (Most recently Senator from Virginia)</i><br />
James "Jim" Webb served one term as Senator from Virginia from 2007 to 2012. He was elected as part of the Democrat wave of 2006 where the Republicans lost both the Senate and the House. In his time in the Senate he served on the prominent military and foreign committees (Foreign Relations, Veterans Affairs and Armed Services). He decided to leave after one term, and in November of 2014 formed an exploratory committee for a Presidential run, which is unique among the candidates on the Democrat side of the ledger.<br />
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Senator Webb falls into the same <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/03/15/jim_webb_tests_populist_message_for_possible_wh_run_125934.html">left-wing populist</a> category as our current President, but the fact that he served a full term in the Senate gives him more experience than Senator Warren, so he's go that that going for him, which is nice. Personally I believe that his run is for a position in a future Clinton administration (most likely Defense Secretary). This is a tactic used over the years by many candidates, and we'll have several more examples when we get to the Republicans.<br />
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<u>Republicans</u><br />
As a conservative I am supremely happy with the <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/meet-the-candidates-for-2016/article/2563632">crop of candidates</a>. I will say upfront that I have not currently chosen a candidate, but out of the ones listed below there are only a couple that I would not enthusiastically support. All <a href="http://pjmedia.com/andrewklavan/2015/03/01/the-republican-who-can-win/">face an uphill battle</a> but I believe that all are qualified to at least wage that battle.<br />
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<i>Jeb Bush (Most recently Governor of Florida)</i><br />
For our third and final entry in the "Back to the 90's" sweepstakes, I give you Jeb Bush. Governor Bush is the son and brother of former US Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush respectively. He was elected as Governor of Florida in 1998 after losing in 1994 and served two terms as Governor. During his tenure he lowered taxes and implemented conservative government reforms including cutting spending and making it easier to remove government employees. He worked to reform education, something that he has continued in his time outside of office with his support of Common Core. At this point he has only declared that he's exploring a run for President, not actually declared but the popular opinion is that he'll get in sometime this spring/summer.<br />
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Governor Bush is the leader among establishment Republicans and has the most big-money donors supporting him. That will help his chances but with the rise of the conservative grass roots since 2009 I don't know if it will be enough.<br />
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<i>Ben Carson (N/A)</i><br />
Dr. Ben Carson is a pediatric neurosurgeon who was invited to speak at the National Prayer Breakfast in February of 2013. There he gave a very <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpiryahOspY">pointed and critical speech</a> directed partly at President Obama, who was in the room with him during the speech. For this he received praise from conservatives and condemnation from the left. Since that time he has become a prominent conservative commentator, appearing often on Fox News and talk radio outlets. He officially announced his candidacy via a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbh2zSNyjLk">video released on May 3, 2015</a>.<br />
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Dr. Carson's views tend to the conservative/libertarian, which I like, but mastery of Medicine does not qualify someone to be President, nor does rhetorical flourish, so I'm not a fan of his Presidential run and I don't think he has a chance of winning. His knowledge of foreign affairs is particularly lacking as evidenced by <a href="http://www.hughhewitt.com/dr-ben-carson-on-foreign-policy-and-national-defense-issues/">an interview he gave</a> with one of my <a href="http://www.hughhewitt.com/">favorite conservative talk show hosts</a>. In my opinion he is running not for President but for a Cabinet Secretary position (Surgeon General most likely) in the eventual Republican nominee's administration.<br />
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<i>Chris Christie (Governor of New Jersey)</i><br />
Governor Chris Christie is one of my personal favorite figures in national politics today. He began his political career in 1995 as a county legislator, was appointed US Attorney for New Jersey by President George W. Bush from 2002 to 2008, and then ran for an won the Governorship in 2009. He won reelection in 2014 and is currently the chairman of the Republican Governors Association.<br />
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Governor Christie is a bombastic, fearless, articulate man. He balanced budgets in New Jersey without raising income, sales or business taxes. He is a vocal critic of the teacher's unions in New Jersey, and supports school choice. Unfortunately he has been dogged by a number of media-driven complaints and controversies for the past two years. The most famous of these involved the closure of two lanes of the Fort Lee entrance to the George Washington bridge from September 9-13, 2013. This caused numerous traffic headaches for residences and became a national scandal known as Bridgegate. The closures were ordered by one of Christie's aides who was later fired. In January of 2014 Governor Christie held an <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/transcript-chris-christies-news-conference-on-george-washington-bridge-scandal/2014/01/09/d0f4711c-7944-11e3-8963-b4b654bcc9b2_story.html">epic 108 minute long press conference</a>, answering every question that the press could come up with about the incident, which seemed to deflate a lot of attention. An investigation of the incident concluded in December of 2014 and cleared the Governor of any wrongdoing.<br />
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He's been keeping out of the spotlight lately, which I think is for the best. In my opinion he would be an entertaining candidate, but I don't think he's the best we can do.<br />
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<i>Ted Cruz (Senator from Texas)</i><br />
In general I do not like Senators as Presidents. The last six and a half years have more than borne this out. However, I really like Ted Cruz. He is smart and a great speaker, and he backs up his principles with action (filibustering overnight in the Senate, for example). He does well in large groups and in long interviews, and does not require a teleprompter to tell him what to say. He clerked in the Supreme Court and has argued nine times in front of that same court.<br />
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He was also the first Republican to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOvyfviKXmc">openly declare his/her candidacy</a>. Since the announcement he has made the rounds in Iowa, given several media interviews, and started meeting with voters. The most recent controversy he's been involved in is regarding an <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/mark-halperins-terrible-ted-cruz-interview-unites-left-and-right-in-mockery/">interview given by Mark Halparin</a> in which Cruz was challenged to prove that he was authentically Cuban. Senator Cruz bore it well and the interviewer was rightly chastised for his racism. It isn't the end of it, but the public shaming of Halparin is encouraging.<br />
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<i>Carly Fiorina (Most recently candidate for Senator from California)</i><br />
Carly Fiorina is most famous for being CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP) from 2002 to 2005. Her first political activity was an unsuccessful senate campaign in 2010, but she's been very vocal about her desire to run for President this cycle. On the one hand I like executive experience, and Carly Fiorina certainly has that. <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/against-the-grain/i-underestimated-carly-fiorina-here-s-how-20150227?utm_content=buffer5ccd5&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer">She seems very smart, accomplished, and can think fast on her feet</a>. She has been going after Hillary Clinton in speeches and is at least partly shielded from gender politics by being a woman. She officially announced her candidacy during an appearance on ABC's This Week program on May 3, 2015.<br />
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Unfortunately I think her lack of national political experience is going to hurt her as the race gets going. True, she's a good speaker and can battle back against the inevitable bias in the media, but that won't be enough to push her candidacy over the edge. I see Carly Fiorina giving this a go for two reasons. First, to raise her national profile. She could come back and run for Senate or Governor from California again. Second, she could also be running for a Cabinet Secretary position, probably Secretary of Treasury.<br />
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<i>Lindsey Graham (Senator from South Carolina)</i><br />
I am not a fan of Lindsey Graham. He has been in Washington for far too long, and as such has become a member of the establishment wing of the Republican Party (see also McCain, John, Boehner, John and McConnell, Mitch). Anyone who has spent that much time in the US Senate is not qualified to be President of the United States of America. The one interesting thing about his candidacy is that it increases the probability of the Naked Leprechaun Riding on a Unicorn Scenario, which I will come to in due time. [<i>Ed. The WHAT?!?</i> Trust me, it's good!]<br />
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<i>Mike Huckabee (Most recently governor of Arkansas)</i><br />
Governor Huckabee is a big-government conservative in the mold of George W. Bush. He is socially conservative, a darling of the evangelical right movement, and an effective communicator. He was able to turn his unsuccessful Presidential runs in 2008 and 2012 into a successful television show on the Fox News Channel. Recently he announced that he was going to take a leave from the show, and on May 5, 2015 he announced his candidacy.<br />
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Governor Huckabee's brand of "compassionate conservatism" died with the George W. Bush administration in 2008. Sadly the Governor does not yet realize that, but he will, and when he does I hope that he steps aside gracefully.<br />
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<i>John Kasich (Governor of Ohio)</i><br />
John Kasich is currently in his second term as governor of Ohio having won a decisive victory in 2014. Prior to that he served in Congress from 1983 until 2001, then went on to host a show on Fox News until 2007. His name has recently started to be <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2015/05/18/so-were-seriously-talking-about-a-john-kasich-potus-run/">spoken more loudly</a> by the political class, and given the importance of Ohio to the electoral college and his performance as governor (generally positive) I think it's likely he'll get in.<br />
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<i>Rick Perry (Most recently Governor of Texas)</i><br />
Rick Perry is considered a dark horse candidate given his struggles in the 2012 Republican Presidential campaign. His experience as governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015 certainly helps his chances, as does the fact that he's run and lost. He seems to have learned some lessons and is keeping a low profile. He has not officially declared, nor has he formed an exploratory committee, but his name remains in the mix.<br />
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<i>Rand Paul (Senator from Kentucky)</i><br />
Rand Paul announced his candidacy on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGfzoPQACPY">April 7, 2015</a>. His launch was rocky (he got into an on-air confrontation with Savannah Guthrie of the Today Show), but during it he did succeed in pushing back against the media and that shows that he's a fighter. Rand Paul is firmly in command of the libertarian wing of the Republican Party, and a formidable wing it is. His father Ron Paul has been a darling of that movement for a long time, and Senator Paul seems to have inherited that support.<br />
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He, like Ted Cruz, also suffers from being a first-term senator. Given that there are three total (see our next contestant) that's not that big of an issue, but it's still an issue. I think his bigger issue is going to be the fact that this election is going to be more and more focused on foreign policy, and Rand Paul's isolationist instincts are not going to serve him well.<br />
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<i>Marco Rubio (Senator from Florida)</i><br />
Rounding out the class of first-term Senators running for President, I bring you Marco Rubio. Elected in 2010, Senator Rubio has made a name for himself as a foreign policy expert in the Senate. I have seen and heard him give <a href="http://www.hughhewitt.com/wide-ranging-conversation-marco-rubio-lebron-2016-stops-asia-israel-border/">numerous</a> <a href="http://www.charlierose.com/watch/60560989">interviews</a> on foreign policy and he is impressive in those settings. He works without notes, has a clear vision, and articulates it well.<br />
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Senator Rubio announced his candidacy on <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/rubio-declares-candidacy-saying-yesterday-is-over/article/2562975">April 13, 2015</a> in a speech in Miami, FL. The fact that two major politicians from Florida are in the race and that makes the aforementioned Naked Leprechaun Riding A Unicorn Scenario more likely. [<i>Ed. I'm starting to think that you just made up that term. </i>I only wish I had come up with it first!]<br />
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<i>Rick Santorum (Most recently Senator from Pennsylvania)</i><br />
On the plus side Rick Santorum has been out of the US Senate for long enough that any establishment stain has long since washed away. On the minus side, well, he's just not a good candidate. He's been running for President of Iowa for the better part of a decade but hasn't gained much national momentum. He collected the second most delegates in the 2012 Republican Primary but that doesn't seem to matter this time around. Personally I hope he decides to sit this one out but I doubt he will.<br />
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<i>Scott Walker (Governor of Wisconsin)</i><br />
A very successful governor with a rising national profile, Scott Walker is my personal favorite candidate in the batch. First elected governor in 2010 he upset the left in Wisconsin by introducing drastic overhauls in the budget and limiting the power of public employee unions. In retaliation there were demonstrations, protests, and eventually a recall election in 2012 which he won handily. He campaigned again in 2014 and again won re-election.<br />
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In January of 2015 Scott Walker first <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/01/27/scott-walker-forms-committee-in-preparation-for-2016-presidential-bid/">formed an exploratory committee</a> around a Presidential run and began making speeches in Iowa and other places around the country. He would be the first President in a very long time without a college degree (he quit his Senior year to accept a job offer and never finished). Personally I find that to be to his benefit.<br />
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<u>Matchup and Victor</u><br />
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<i>Democrats: Hilary Clinton</i><br />
Who else could it be? I mean really, it doesn't matter how many scandals come about, how many rules and/or laws that she's broken, or how incompetent she has been in her government jobs. She's the nominee. Get used to it. #ReadyForHillary<br />
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<i>Republicans: Brokered Convention</i><br />
One possibility that 2016 presents on the Republican side is what's known as a Brokered Convention. This means that no one candidate has enough delegates to win outright and that the rules of the convention will pick the candidate. I like to think of it like how the Vatican chooses a new pope but without the white smoke. Because of how rare it would be, Hugh Hewitt (another of my favorite radio talk show hosts) calls this the Naked Leprechaun Riding a Unicorn Scenario.<br />
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So once the dust settles who will win? My money is on <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2015/03/15/what-would-walker-vs-clinton-be-like/">Governor Walker</a>. Admittedly this is some wishful thinking on my part, but to me Scott Walker is the best possible choice for the Republicans.<br />
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<b>Q (2 of 2): Bill - Which pair of pep band offspring are the first to hook up? You know it's going to happen eventually...</b><br />
A: There have been pairings in the pep band for as long as the pep band has existed. Some of these have succeeded (often times spectacularly) while others have failed (equally spectacularly). Pairings of pep band offspring, however, is something that is naturally going to be rarer given the smaller pool of people to draw from.<br />
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But how small is that pool? I've decided to bound the potential candidates with the following rules:<br />
1. One parent must have been a member in good standing of the Clarkson University Pep Band for one full hockey season.<br />
2. Both parents must have attended Clarkson University for at least one full year.<br />
This disqualifies a large number of people (including myself and Steve Faux) but leaves in place people like you and your wife. You're welcome. With those rules in place I racked my brain and was able to come up with the following (admittedly incomplete) list in no particular order:<br />
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Greg and Kathy Dilmore: 4<br />
Kevin and Karyn Graves: 2<br />
Tim and Marybeth Livingston: 3<br />
Charlie and Serena Blackmer: 4<br />
Jarsh Beckstein: 2<br />
Eric and Alicia Democko: 2<br />
Matt and Meg Stoffel: 2<br />
Bill and Lisa Jeffers: 2<br />
Brian and Jen Walden: 1<br />
Tim and Melissa Sweet: 2<br />
Miscellaneous other couplings I'm forgetting about: 5-10<br />
(I embarrassingly can't remember if Todd or Tony reproduced within the rules above, so if they did then their children apply too. Sorry guys!)<br />
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This brings the total number of children to between 25 and 30. Not bad! Let's assume for the sake of this question that all of these children attend Clarkson once they are old enough. The age distributions bring a large number of them to Clarkson at the same time, and common interests (pep band, general Clarkson-ness) means that the probability of romantic interaction become very high.<br />
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Assuming that none of the geographically co-located children have been matched together before college (there are large collections in Rochester, NY and Albany, NY, so it's certainly possible), the odds that two of them will get together increase once they reach college age. But which you ask (bringing the question full circle)? I really can't say, but I will say that it WILL happen.<br />
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<b>Q: AndrewSmith - What happens to Guethle on St Pattys day?</b><br />
A: The same thing that happens to Guethle on every other day of the year: he wakes up, he drinks, he has adventures, he drinks, he sleeps.<br />
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<b>Q: Jacob - DANCE!?</b><br />
A: NO THANK YOU!?<br />
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<b>Q: Jesse_Burton - How long is original recipe fourloko good for?</b><br />
A: FourLoko is a combination malt beverage and energy drink that was first introduced in 2005. Its main ingredients are alcohol (12% ABV), caffeine, taurine and guarana. FourLoko became a craze between 2008 and 2010 for its intoxicating and energizing effects. It was banned from several college campuses after incidents involving students drinking too much of the product and the hilarity that did not ensue. In response to the controversy they relaunched without the energy drink components (caffeine, taurine and guarana) and became more of a standard malt beverage.<br />
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I posed this question to the <a href="http://www.kgbanswers.com/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-malt-liquor-to-expire/4217903">competition</a> and learned that malt beverages expire after about 4 months. However if you keep it unopened and refrigerated it will technically never go "bad", it will just grow weaker and less fresh with time.<br />
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<b>Q: waits - What form of Guethle would most likely be successful I.e. profitable in the world outside the linkos?</b><br />
<b>A) reality tv documentary</b><br />
<b>B) reality dating show</b><br />
<b>C) Guethle show I.e. Truman show</b><br />
<b>D) Book deal</b><br />
<b>E) blog</b><br />
<b>F) advertising poster boy for a new dating website.</b><br />
A: Again basing this only on my limited interactions with Guethle (mostly over the last few months on this forum) I'm going to combine A and E leading to D. I can see Mike beginning a blog and hosting his own YouTube TV show, using both platforms to entertain people with his stories and adventures. After a few months/years of this he should have built up an audience and can peddle that into a book deal.<br />
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Mike, if you're interested I'd love to help out with this project. There's gold in them thar hills!<br />
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<b>Q: Sheamus - What question should I ask in Ask Mitssob - Episode 72?</b><br />
A: Because it takes me so long to answer these questions (and despite my best efforts that trend is sadly going to continue) I recommend asking a question that you WANT an answer to, but not one that you NEED an answer to.<br />
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<b>Q: Jacob - What dead language should we all learn and program into Jolinko for our own personal use?</b><br />
A: The easiest dead language to use would probably be <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English">Old English</a>. The structure and form seems to be close enough to modern English that we could stumble through with minimal effort. If you want to go really obscure there are many choices. Personally I think <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_language">Aramaic</a> would be a good one to resurrect. However I think a more productive use of resources would be to use a language that is still in use today so that the community can grow more worldly.<br />
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<b>Q: Jesse_Burton - What will my raise be this year and should I be happy about what I get?</b><br />
A: Based on nothing in particular I think that you will get a raise of between 1% and 5%, since that seems to be a standard these days.<br />
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The second part of your question touches on the topic of expectations and happiness. As I've mentioned in past episodes, one of my favorite radio talk show hosts is a man named <a href="http://www.dennisprager.com/">Dennis Prager</a>. He dedicates the second hour of his Friday show to Happiness, and has written a fantastic book on the subject called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Serious-Problem-Nature-Repair/dp/0060987359/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1428696033&sr=1-1&keywords=happiness+is+a+serious+problem">Happiness is a Serious Problem</a>. He wrote a column in 2012 entitled <a href="http://www.dennisprager.com/who-is-happy/">Who Is Happy?</a>, and one part of it is relevant to your question:<br />
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<i>People who have few expectations.</i><br />
<i>The more we expect, the less happy we will be — because the more we expect, the less grateful we are for what we receive. And ingratitude is the mother of unhappiness.</i><br />
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I think that's a good way to look at things. If you don't have expectations then you will be happier with the outcomes, and this applies to your situation. If you don't expect to get a raise then you will probably be happy with whatever raise you get. And if you don't get a raise then you won't be disappointed if one doesn't come.<br />
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<b>Q: Steve Faux - Why is deciding on a baby name so difficult?</b><br />
A: First, congratulations on the forthcoming arrival of Faux Baby! Hopefully you and the Fantastic Mrs. Faux are getting through the pregnancy with minimal difficulty and are getting excited for the arrival of your offspring.<br />
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Your question is timely since my wife and I have struggled with this problem as well. I think it's difficult because it's a major decision. It is a choice that will define your child's life, something that he or she will be stuck with forever. You'll be calling your child this name through good times and bad. It will help define their identity. Therefore it's not something to be taken lightly.<br />
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The second reason its difficult is that you have to pair the name with your surname, and that can prove difficult. "Boss" and "Faux" aren't the most common names, and they naturally eliminate some choices. In any event it's a tough decision and I wish you both the best of luck both with that, and with everything else that's coming your way.<br />
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<b>Q: Matt Barrett - What are the chances Steve Faux names his child Seven?</b><br />
A: Given that the Fantastic Mrs. Faux is involved in the decision I'd say that the chances are somewhere between zero and none.<br />
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<b>Q: Sheamus - When will my neighbors take down their Christmas lights?</b><br />
A: In my opinion it's permissible to leave Christmas lights up while there is still snow on the ground, regardless of what month it is. It's currently April as I write this and snow is still on the ground here in Rochester (albeit fading very quickly), so I would think that your neighbors would take their lights down soon.<br />
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<b>Q: Matt Neal - Why do I only have lucid dreams when I drink heavily?</b><br />
A: <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201212/lucid-dreaming-and-self-realization">Lucid dreaming</a> is the state of dreaming where you are aware that you're dreaming. A quick search yielded a very interesting <a href="http://www.dreamviews.com/general-lucid-discussion/62125-effects-alcohol-lucid-dreams.html">message board thread</a> on this topic. My guess is that the alcohol is relaxing to you and puts your body into a deeper sleep than normal.Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-78169571687866369532015-02-27T12:50:00.000-05:002015-05-19T08:42:12.309-04:0070 - Answers<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: waits - Where did the song "here we sit like birds in the wilderness" originate?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: I was unfamiliar with this song (the lyrics of which can be found <a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/birds-in-the-wilderness-lyrics-children.html">here</a>), so I dove headfirst into some research. I have to say at the outset that I'm in your debt, because this was a lot of fun to track down. What follows is a first-person recounting of my journey of discovery with this song.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My initial search turned up a number of children's lyrics and Boy Scout sites, which lead me to think it was a camp song. I attended summer camp, first as a youth and later as a counselor, but our camp did not feature this song. The song appeared to be a way of passing the time while waiting for something (mealtime) or someone (another group of campers). Before I found a recording I read the lyrics aloud and fell into a natural cadence with them. Ba-da-da-da, ba-dadadadada, and so on. And I thought to myself, wow, that cadence sounds very familiar. Then I found a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMATGOO-0yk">recording</a> from a place called Flying Horse Farms:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sure enough, camp song, complete with choreographed arm motions and shouted lyrics. Mystery solved, right? Well, not quite. I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd heard that cadence and melody before. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2010/02/wikipedia-has-lyrics-and-brief-history.html">After some more digging</a> I discovered that the song originated from a folk song called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Gray_Mare">The Old Gray Mare</a>. Both links contain some brief but interesting information about the song's origins, which date back to the Civil War and maybe as far back as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge_is_Falling_Down">London Bridge Is Falling Down</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But wait a minute, Old Gray Mare you say? Why is that familiar? And then I remembered, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TylXmhf8Xk">The Simpsons</a>!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And then it hit me that I'd heard this melody and cadence while watching <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezUNyTsG4RI">college football</a>:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In short, the history of the song goes a long way back, but it's been used for a lot of things over the years. Hope this gives you a bit of entertainment as we kick things off on our 70th journey into the land of questions and answers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: My initial answer was "nothing", but I thought a little more about this and decided that it does have some quintessential "Ask Mitssob" characteristics:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. It's late. Very late. Untimely late. Late enough that at least one of the answers is OBE (Overtaken By Events, one of many military acronyms that have made their way into my lexicon).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. It has rambling answers that provide entertainment and information.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. I use biographical information in at least one answer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. My editor makes an appearance. [<i>Ed. Hello.</i> Hi.]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Bill - What do you get for the man who has everything?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: The joking answer to this question would be "nothing", because the man who has everything clearly doesn't have "nothing". But that's a cop-out and today is not a day for cop-outs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">First, even a man who has everything likely hasn't EXPERIENCED everything, so I would start by looking in that direction. You could go as simple as a pottery class or bird carving, or as immersive and intense as the movie "The Game" went (complete with cathartic birthday experience that I won't mention in case you haven't seen this movie).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Second, this same hypothetical man probably hasn't EATEN everything, so I would suggest taking him out to dinner. You could also give him some exotic foods like kangaroo, chocolate covered crickets, or haggis. Or you could combine the above suggestion with this one and do a cooking class. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In any event I think that there are plenty of options for "the man who has everything".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Luke - What are the best and worst Christmas songs and movies, respectively?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: JFK - Though I'd add in there Christmas TV specials/Christmas episodes of xyz show too.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: I love getting questions like these but I also hate it because it's a huge time-sucker. If I ever start doing this as a paid gig I'm going to have the hardest time doing this on a deadline. Anyway let's dive in. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Best Christmas Songs</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">These are the songs that make me happy it's the holiday. I tend to whistle little pieces of them as I walk around work or outside. I tend towards the classic and religious, but also the sad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7xNKP1uMkU">Angels We Have Heard On High</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Gloooo, ooooo, ooooo, ooooo, ria! Puts me right in the spirit of the season, both religious and secular.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN7LW0Y00kE">Let It Snow</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Making the most of the dreariness of winter, set to a catchy melody. This also gives me the excuse to link to a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2Nz2LPnNq8">fantastic parody video</a> made from clips from Star Trek: The Next Generation!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxxTHzERTsk">Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The original lyrics (in the link above) are slightly more depressing than the more well-known ones, but I find it a beautiful song with a great melody, one that I never get tired of hearing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=009kRJKf9rg">Baby It's Cold Outside</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Note that this doubles as easily the creepiest Christmas song out there. I love the song, don't get me wrong, but the tone and content can easily go from sweet and innocent to creepy and horror-movie. The woman in the song is clearly stating that she'd like to leave but the man is very intent on keeping her in his home. Yes, I get it, it's innocent, but in this day and age it's very easy to read it another way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bonus: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP1gNYU27Tk">I'm a Jew On Christmas</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Not technically a Christmas song, but I do love the sadness that is captured in this South Park classic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Worst Christmas Songs</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gmARGvPlI">Last Christmas (any version)</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Repetitive, overplayed, repetitive, boring, and repetitive. After the second chorus (which corresponds with the 500th time you hear the refrain about "Last Christmas I gave you my heart") I find myself yelling at whatever speaker this song is eminating from, "We get it! Last Christmas you foolishly gave your heart away and this Christmas you're going to do it again. Good luck with that, asshole!" And then I go back to whatever it was I was doing until the next time this song comes on, usually within 15-20 minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dec9Jb_Ac4">I Want A Hippopatamus For Christmas</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Have you thought through the ramifications of your Christmas desire, little girl? No? I didn't think so.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And the number one worst Christmas song...<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQrdxtWgHbE">The Italian (Fucking) Christmas Donkey</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Combining the worst elements of Italian music and annoying Christmas themes in one neat, tidy package!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Best Christmas Movie</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A Christmas Carol - I love the elements of despair, love, hopelessness, family, regret and redemption that this story has. My personal favorite version is </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104940/?ref_=nv_sr_1" style="font-family: inherit;">A Muppet Christmas Carol</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, but honorable mention goes to the underrated </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096061/?ref_=nv_sr_1" style="font-family: inherit;">Scrooged</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/?ref_=nv_sr_1">It's a Wonderful Life</a> - Frank Capra at his most Frank Capra. Jimmy Stewart at his most Jimmy Stewart. I watch this movie every Christmas and every Christmas I love it all over again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bonus: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095016/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Die Hard</a> - It's become cliche to engage in the "Is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?" debate (personally I say yes but I understand both sides of the argument), but I'll include it because it's a great movie, Christmas or otherwise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Worst Christmas Movie</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058548/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Santa Claus Conquers The Martians</a> - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut-hn7sFieE">Brilliantly torn to shreds by the MST3K team</a>, this movie is so bad that I still haven't seen it all the way through. It's possible that it resolves itself into something redeeming, but I doubt it. If you want to watch it yourself you can find the non-MST3K version <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut-hn7sFieE">here</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After you asked this questions one of the Kinja-based sites provided their own list, which I found quite entertaining. </span></div>
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<a href="http://io9.com/the-10-most-bone-chillingly-inappropriate-christmas-mov-1674947957"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://io9.com/the-10-most-bone-chillingly-inappropriate-christmas-mov-1674947957</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Mrs. Ssob Bonus Round</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">To say that Christmas is special to my in-laws would be like saying that air is special to creatures that breathe. As such my wife is an afficianado of all things Christmas, so I asked for her input on this question.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Favorite Movie: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319343/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Elf</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Best Christmas Song: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5eWYMJhZko">Baby It's Cold Outside</a> (specifically the one with Zooey Deschanel and Will Farrell from Elf)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Favorite Christmas Special: Too many to mention (basically anything that's playing on the Hallmark channel or Netflix)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Worst Christmas Song: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQrdxtWgHbE">The Italian Christmas Donkey</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: democko - Why did Canada join Twitter?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: The "DUH" answer is that <a href="https://twitter.com/canada">Canada</a> joined <a href="https://twitter.com/">Twitter</a> to become an active participant in that most peculiar recent development in society: social media. But why does Canada feel the need to participate? Reading through their feed gives me part of an answer. They are using it to promote the contributions of Canada to the world (in the recent Oscars), advertise tourism (which would bring money to the country), and to share news involving Canada. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In short, they want to be involved in all social media platforms, and I think they're doing a fine job so far. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Jesse_Burton - I just put my foot through the ripped pee-hole in my boxers...is it time to get some new pairs?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: [<i>Ed: There's a joke in there somewhere, I just can't find it.</i> Now that the pee-hole is bigger it should be easier.]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Not necessarily. If you possess sewing skills you can repair the hole and continue wearing the boxers. Alternatively you could just continue wearing the boxers even though they have an enlargened pee-hole.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But even with the above suggestion, yes, you really should invest in some new boxers. They're not that expensive, come in a variety of styles, and frankly there's something very pleasant about wearing a new pair of boxers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Jackie - What is the best stocking-stuffer available this year?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: To bound the search I've defined "stocking-stuffer" as:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. An item that can fit into a standard Christmas stocking (less than 2 pounds, no larger than a paperback book)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. An item that costs less than $20</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">With those restrictions here's an off-the-cuff list of things:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Flashlight</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Pen Knife</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Bottle Opener</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Purell</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Chapstick</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Thumb drive / SD card</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Candy</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Deck of Cards</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Tape Measure</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Hand lotion</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Gift Card</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Starbucks (or similar) coffee packets</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As you can see I'm a big fan of practical stocking stuffers. A couple of years ago I bought a couple dozen of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gerber-22-01769-Shard-Keychain-Tool/dp/B002ZK45IQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425042540&sr=8-1&keywords=gerber+shard">this multi-tool</a> and gave them to my team at work and to my in-laws. I still have mine and use it for everything from opening bottles to tuning my drums.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Todd - I need to start planning a menu. Best Christmas dinner main course?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: My wife's mother is one of 14 children. Throughout my wife's childhood their family would all gather in Long Island at her late grandmother's house and an epic feast would ensue. There would be a turkey, a ham, baked ziti, a roast beef, and a pork roast (and possibly more). Appetizers would be varied and plentiful, as would desserts, and an epic feast would ensue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We aren't quite as elaborate on my side of the family. My mother has prepared a roast for our Christmas dinner for as long as I can remember, and her side of the family would come to our house on Christmas Day and we'd have a great dinner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My breakdown of the classic (and non-classic) entrees is below:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Ham: Personally this is my least favorite main course, but it's also quite popular this time of year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Turkey/Chicken: Seems too close to Thanksgiving for my tastes, but to each their own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Pig Roast: A Hawaiian twist on the holiday! The only difficulty is in digging the pit, which is fairly easy before the ground freezes but would probably require some serious Earth-moving equipment or high explosives to do in winter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Roast Beef: Because this has been my family's meal of choice I'm biased.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Duck: Reserved for fans of the Christmas classic <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085334/?ref_=nv_sr_1">A Christmas Story</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Brett - <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094012/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Spaceballs</a>: great movie or greatest movie?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: While Spaceballs is a great movie, I cannot make the leap to call it the greatest. I don't mean that as an insult. Far from it. Mel Brooks movies are entertainment, not great art. I'll even go so far as to say that Spaceballs is not even Mel Brooks' greatest movie (in my opinion that honor falls to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071230/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Blazing Saddles</a>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On the plus side you have some truly Oscar-worthy performances (seriously, I'm not joking) from John Candy, Joan Rivers, Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman and Mel Brooks himself. The writing is above average, the jokes (for the most part) are funny. Like many Mel Brooks movies it is inherently quoteable. People at work make the "12345...that's the same combination as my luggage!" joke frequently, as well as the "When will THEN be NOW?" line. Finally, the running gag about merchandising was years ahead of its time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On the minus side, though, the move has not aged well. The references and in-movie technology are practically sheep-dipped in the 1980's. Some of the targets of ridicule (like the sheer size of the ship at the beginning of the movie) just aren't that funny. And there are some cringe-worthy moments that are trying VERY HARD to be funny, but just aren't ("Druish Princess").</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After you asked this question <a href="http://io9.com/mel-brooks-still-wants-to-make-a-spaceballs-sequel-1684535962">rumors began to arise</a> that the long-rumored sequel was indeed being thought about again. In the movie Yogurt makes reference to the next movie being called "Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money". An urban legend was that the sequel would actually be called "Spaceballs 3: The Search for Part 2", which still makes me smile. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, an enterprising YouTuber created a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf93ReSSfjg">brilliant trailer</a> based on the ones done for Interstellar. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have to say it does a fantastic job of making the movie look FAR more serious than it actually is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Barn - What should the schedule of planning my wedding look like?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: First, congratulations to you and the future Mrs. Barn! I was excited to hear your announcement and wish you both years of happiness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The short, "kinda joking but not really" answer to your question is "whatever your future bride tells you that it is." But I assume that by asking the question that you're not totally cut out of the process, nor should you be. I really enjoyed planning our wedding and was involved in more than I expected to be going in. Many of the decisions were made by my wife, but we saw eye-to-eye on the big things (type of venue, church, etc), with disagreements only happening on the smaller stuff.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Couple random tips before I break out a schedule. First, spreadsheets are your friend. I made several during the planning process and they were invaluable in keeping us both organized. Second, figure out a way to share a calendar with your bride-to-be. Right around the time I moved in with my wife we did this and it was a very valuable tool during the wedding planning process. If one of you makes an appointment you can put it on the calendar and the other will immediately see it, making coordination a lot easier.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Below is my informal breakdown of planning the wedding. I'm basing this on the wedding I know best (mine), which was a church ceremony with a separate venue for cocktail hour and reception (which also doubled as the hotel). You may not have the same wedding vision as we did but hopefully this helps!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stage 1: 12-24 months until THE BIG DAY</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. Define a budget that you're comfortable with. I recommend building in at least a 10% buffer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. Come up with a rough wedding guest list (within 20 people) and wedding party.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. Find a venue. For me this was the big driver of the rest of the wedding planning process. The venues that we looked at all had relationships with vendors to provide other services that you'll need. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. If you're going to do a church service, find a church. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Let me break the list at this point to say, welcome to the Wedding Industrial Complex! I recommend picking up a copy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Insane-City-Dave-Barry/dp/0425264726/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1425044963&sr=1-1&keywords=insane+city">Insane City</a> by one of my favorite authors <a href="http://www.davebarry.com/">Dave Barry</a> to help you see some of the humor in this process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stage 2: 6-12 months until THE BIG DAY</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">5. Pay deposits. Our wedding venue required a series of deposits before the final payment the week of the wedding. Vendors have their own schedules, just roll with it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">6. If you're going to do save-the-date cards then those can go out whenever you want.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stage 3: 3-6 months until THE BIG DAY</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">7. Invites should follow around 8-10 weeks before the wedding itself. This can get frustrating and political as you and your future bride navigate both of your families trying to find out who to invite and not to invite. I don't have any specific advice, just know that it could get tense at times.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">8. If you're planning to register for gifts, now's the time!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stage 4: 1-3 months until THE BIG DAY</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">9. Your RSVP date should be roughly a month prior to the wedding, that way you can plan how many guests you'll have, arrange tables, etc. We had several late changes, which was frustrating but in hindsight we should have planned for them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">10. Wedding Shower and Bachelor / Bachelorette parties happen around this time. Enjoy this time bonding with friends and family, it's a blast!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stage 5: 0-1 months until THE BIG DAY</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">10. If you're working with a hotel it's a good idea to create some kind of check-in bag for your guests. We included water, snacks, pamphlets for local attractions, and a note about the hotel itself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">11. For us we had to bring everything (table place cards, signs, etc) to the venue a week before THE BIG DAY.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">12. Get married!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Again, congratulations and best of luck!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Luke - How would you rank all questions in this thread against each other? What criteria would you use, and what would the final rankings be?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Jacob - Should we do a question draft where, after you close questions, everyone drafts questions and then you determine who has the best team?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: I don't explicitly rank the questions that are asked here, but there definitely ones that I enjoy answering more than others. On the <a href="http://answerboss.blogspot.com/">blogspot</a> account I started tagging posts with general content like "silly", "sports", "politics". A long-term project (read: one that I'll never get around to but would be fun if I did) would be to go back and re-rate the questions along the lines you outlined. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What's more likely is that I'll do a second spin of questions. I've toyed with the idea of writing a real book based on the questions asked here, going back and reworking/editing the answers into something of a more complete work. If and when I do that then categorizing the answers will be a good way to organize the project.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: democko - What is the most underrated thread on jolinko?</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: I have always been partial to the "...will not be down for breakfast" thread. It's a good source for recent deaths, often getting updated within minutes of an announcement. It is also an opportunity to inject some humor into what is normally a very sad occasion. Finally it gives people a chance to weigh in on what that person meant to them.</span>Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-34931910720500161212014-10-31T13:30:00.000-04:002015-05-18T23:47:58.655-04:0069 - Answers<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">[<i>Editor's Note: Tim has informed me that he's going to take the month of November off so that he can focus all of his time on NaNoWriMo. This year he's going to be writing a romantic comedy based on a couple that he and his wife met while on their honeymoon. I'd be lying if I said I was excited to edit it, but I am excited to see what he comes up with. He'll be back in the beginning of December ready to tackle whatever questions you can throw at him.</i>]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Barn Cat has now migrated to my parents' property, spending most of its time in the swamp. However, Barn Cat has now begun coming to my grandma's dooryard for food. Reluctantly, she feeds Barn Cat. However, the two house cats dislike of Barn Cat. Like, freaking out in the fucking window at Barn Cat.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Will Barn Cat make it through the winter, and if so, how will he do so?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: Two things before I get going. First, your cousin/neighbor sounds like just the kind of person who belongs on the show from last episode's question, so I'll append that answer with "send them a description of this situation." Second, have you considered a career as a pitchman for TV shows? Because I think you'd be pretty good at it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'll tackle the second part of your question first. From other questions and answers here I've deduced that you live somewhere in Maine, but regardless of where you live Barn Cat's survival depends on meeting the basic requirements for life:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. Sustinance (food/water): Fresh water can be found in winter (eating snow, etc), but food is going to be a problem. I see that your grandmother is feeding the cat, but assuming that stops then Barn Cat is going to have to find another food source. If Barn Cat returns to the barn it could hunt critters that live there, or you could take the cat in yourself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. Shelter: To survive the harshness of Maine winters I would think that Barn Cat would return to the barn to live. Alternatively your grandmother may let the cat inside to survive, though I think that it would quickly get into a fight-to-the-death with the two inside cats.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. Survival: This means fending off predators. Maine has <a href="http://www.maine.gov/portal/facts_history/wildlife_plant.html">a wide variety</a> of plant and animal life. Reading the link I think that the biggest threat to Barn Cat would be lynx and coyotes. Black Bears, though common in Maine, are probably not going to go out of their way to take on a house cat, but a lynx or coyote would find Barn Cat a delicious meal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. Entertainment: Sounds like this is covered by Barn Cat's taunting of the two house cats through the window.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So with all of that said I will guess that Barn Cat will not make it through the winter without help from you or your family. Exposure and starvation seem to be the biggest threats, so if you and your family can solve those then you'll succeed in saving Barn Cat. Of course whether or not you want to see Barn Cat make it through the winter is really up to you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: BillJ - In honor of episode 69, can you refresh us on the maximum/record number of orgasms a human can have in a day?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: After a bit of research I finally found the answer courtesy of <a href="http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-unsexiest-world-records-based-around-sex.php">TopTenz.net</a>: 500 by an English woman (sadly the article doesn't give the number for men). The numbers I <a href="http://www.lelo.com/theblog/10-weirdest-sex-world-records-part-2/">came across</a> more often were for most number of orgasms in an hour, which are 134 for a woman and 16 for a man. There are many other interesting records at that link, including for furthest ejaculation (6 meters in case you were wondering) and most bras removed in one minute (20).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Jesse_Burton - Will I get charged for the first pizza I ordered but didn't answer the door for?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: I don't think that you can be, even if you pay ahead by credit card. What you will do, however, is reduce the chances of the pizza delivery place making deliveries to your home in the future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Matt Neal - Who would win in a fight: Lizzy Borden or Anne Frank?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: Having lived through high school I am familiar with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank">Anne Frank</a>. For those of you who aren't, she was a young girl who took refuge in Nazi-controlled Netherlands. She kept a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diary_of_a_Young_Girl">diary</a> of her experiences. After her family was discovered her diary was found by one of the people who was sheltering them and returned to her father after the war. It was eventually published and became a widely read historical account of the time. As such her diary is required reading in many junior high and high schools in the world, and has also been turned into many movies and plays.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finding <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzie_Borden_(disambiguation)">Lizzy Borden</a> proved a little more difficult, presumably because of my oft-documented lack of cultural knowledge. The link above gave me the following possibilities:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzie_Borden_(director)">Director</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzy_Borden_(band)">Band (named for lead singer)</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzy_Borden_(pornographic_actress)">Pornographic actress and former wrestler</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. Opera</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I also found a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzie_Borden">Lizzie Borden</a>, who was an axe murderer in the late 1800's.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'll proceed by assuming that you mean the actress/wrestler since she seems to be the most culturally relevant of the bunch, so if I got that wrong then I'm sorry and I can revisit this another time. If the fight were held today then the clear loser would be Anne Frank for the simple fact that she's been dead for almost 70 years. But for the sake of argument let's assume that they've both alive and in peak physical form for their lives. Unfortunately for Anne Frank she's at a disadvantage since she wasn't very physically imposing ever, plus she died at age 15, which is before she reached her peak physical form, so I'm going to have to go with Lizzy Borden with this one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: AndrewSmith - What is the best pumpkin beer available this year?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: To research this question I bought the following beers from the craft beer section of my local <a href="http://www.wegmans.com/">Wegmans</a>:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. CB - Good beer flavor but a little too sweet for me. The pumpkinyness overwhelmed the other flavors in the beer in same way that many fruit beers do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. Harpoon Pumpkin Cider - Light and sweet, much like every other cider I've ever had. The most refreshing of the bunch but not the best flavor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. Sam Adams Pumpkin Ale - Very Sam Adams, also very pumpkiny. Not the best combination.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. Saranac Pumpkin Ale - Medium pumpkin flavor, good beer flavor, all around most balanced.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My personal favorite was the Saranac Pumpkin Ale since it provided the best blend between beer and pumpkin. However, my personal favorite may not be your personal favorite, so I consulted my old friend the Internet and came up with the following lists:</span></div>
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- <a href="http://www.beeradvocate.com/lists/style/72/">Beeradvocate</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- <a href="http://draftmag.com/features/12-perfect-pumpkin-beers/">Draft Magazine</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-pumpkin-beers-this-fall-2014-9">Business Insider</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As for which pumpkin beer is the "best" that's ultimately up to you. What are your criteria for the "best"? Is it amount of pumpkin flavor? Smell? How good it tastes when you throw it back up because you drank too much? I don't know how you judge those things, but hopefully my research leads you to your perfect pumpkin ale.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: waits - Are band aids inside those paper wrappers really sterile?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: As one of millions of people who makes use of <a href="http://www.band-aid.com/brand-heritage/info">band-aids</a> on a regular basis, lord I hope so! Luckily for all of us they are. They are manufactured and sealed in a sterile environment, and therefore remain sterile until you remove them from the paper packaging.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As a public service, here's an <a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Band-Aid">article</a> I found while researching the question. Normally I'd say "hopefully you never have to use this" but let's be serious, life is risky and we all get cuts and scratches and scrapes, so hopefully this helps them to heal faster.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Jacob - What can I do with an ass load of pears?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: In part one of today's episode of "Mitssob Answers a Question With Biographical Information" we set the wayback machine to the summer of 2008. I had just purchased a house with, among other appealing features, a pretty-looking tree in the backyard. As I was mowing my lawn for the first time I noticed that the tree was producing small green/brown fruit. By the end of fall I had harvested about a dozen Wegmans bags of pears, which I think can reasonably be called an ass load.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">All that is a long way of saying that I've been there and I can share some first-hand help.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As Bill pointed out in a side comment on this thread, you can adapt many apple recipes for pears and do pretty well. My two go-to recipes were pear crisp (made with <a href="http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&productId=707668">apple crisp mix</a>) and pear-sauce. The crisp was pretty good but the pear sauce needed some improvement (more on that in a minute).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Around the time I was harvesting the pears I found a life-changing recipe for <a href="http://elicooks.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/bacon-really-does-make-everything-better/">bacon-apple pie</a>. The recipe at the link is the original recipe I found and I love it because it replaces the sugar with maple syrup, giving the pie a delicious breafasty taste. I ended up making two of these with my pears and bringing them in to work to share them with my co-workers. I learned that fresh is best with these pies, meaning you should eat them as soon as they come out of the oven rather than re-heating them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As an epilogue to my sauce experiment let me pass on some tips I've learned. After I met and moved in with my now-wife we started making applesauce together. She has a simple recipe for preparing the apples (basically cut them up, add water and sugar, and let them cook for a few hours on low heat), and I would use a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000I0MGKE/ref=asc_df_B000I0MGKE3371790">food mill</a> to grind them up into the sauce. The food mill is great because it takes care of the seeds and skin for you and you end up with very tasty sauce that was much better than my earlier experiments. I highly recommend getting one if you plan on making sauce.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, this wouldn't be much of an Ask Mitssob question without some off-the-cuff silly/goofy/downright stupid suggestions:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Teach yourself how to juggle</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Load them into a pitching machine and work on your swing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Keep them in your car and throw them at drivers who annoy you</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Give them out at Halloween</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Start your own bakery business using the above recipes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: M-L - I also am in the same predicament...Although I think I probably have a half ass load.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: In that case I suggest that you half-ass the above suggestions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">[<i>Ed: You don't pay me enough for this.</i> Joke's on you, I don't pay you at all!]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Sam Parker - Why is it so Goddamn hard to find someone who plays the fucking bagpipes?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: First (and not to sound too condescending here), you should try being more polite. You sound very angry and worked-up about your inability to find a bagpiper and if that attitude is leaking into your search then I'm sure it's not helping. I know that if you were using the same method to find a "fucking drummer" I would probably back away slowly rather than offer my assistance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Second, I did some searching but was unable to find any instrument called "fucking bagpipes". Apparently they are a lesser-known variant of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagpipes">bagpipes</a>, so for now I'll just go with "bagpipes". </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bagpipes are not a very common instrument so I'm not surprised you're having trouble finding a bagpiper. I suggest checking with your local town hall and asking whomever is in charge of organizing parades since that's where I've seen the greatest concentration of bagpipers, both in person and on TV. Of course you could always buy yourself a set of fucking bagpipes and learn how to play them yourself, then it wouldn't be so Goddamn hard to find someone who plays the fucking bagpipes because you'd be that someone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Jesse_Burton - What do you mean you people?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: I mean you people. You know, you people? Over there? Doing that thing in that place? Right? Make sense?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Jackie - Winter in Chicago is coming fast, what should I knock off of the list before the second polar vortex hits?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: The definitive answer to this question comes from the classic movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091042/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Ferris Bueler's Day Off</a>. In it they engage in several activities in and around Chicago including:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Attending a Chicago Cubs game</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Visiting the Art Institute of Chicago and the Sears Tower</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Joining in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Steuben_Day">Von Steuben Day</a> parade</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I think that if you watch that movie and re-create those iconic adventures you'll have a great time and be able to head into the coming winter with lots of stories and memories.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Bridget - We'll be house hunting in the winter season. How will this impact our house search, and are there different things that we should look for?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: In part two of "Mitssob Answers a Question With Biographical Information" we go all the way back to February of 2014 and join my wife and I as we begin our search for a new home. We concentrated our search on Fairport, Penfield, Pittsford and Webster. The quantity of houses available is typically less in winter and we definitely had trouble finding houses to look at that met our criteria (4 bedroom, 2+ bathroom, 2 car garage, neighborhood, pool). We spent a couple months going to open houses and doing in-home visits with our outstanding and very patient real estate agent Michelle but didn't find anything that was "right". I put "right" in quotes because, as those of you who have house-hunted before can attest, sometimes you just know that a house is the right house for you. And we didn't get that feeling for quite a while until, as I described in our last episode, we finally found our current house in June. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So again, I've been there and I can help.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The peak time to be looking for a house is when it's warm outside (spring through fall). Sellers can increase a house's curb appeal much easier by investing in landscaping, and buyers are more likely to leave their houses to look rather than hunkering down for the winter. Because of this, the first thing to note is that the real estate market on the whole is slower in winter. That means both fewer houses available and also fewer buyers out there looking. You can use that to your advantage if you find a house that you really love because there's probably less competition. The downside is that it's much less likely that "the house" will be on the market.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">An advantage to looking in the winter is that you can see some practical things about the house. You can judge how energy efficient the windows are by checking for drafts. If the house you're looking for has a driveway then you can see for yourself how hard it would be to shovel/snowblow/plow it. You can see how friendly your new neighbors are by playfully throwing snowballs at them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Basically it's going to be a long project. If you know that going in and are patient then you can be successful, even in the slow period of winter. Best of luck in your house hunting!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: AndrewSmith - How much am I allowed to drink alone in my apt on a weeknight?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: My first answer to your question was "as much as you damned well please", but as I was writing those words I noticed something about the question itself. You seem to be deferring to an external authority figure by asking this question the way that you did. I'm not sure if you meant to do that but I wanted to take a minute and talk it through from that perspective. Why is it any of my business how much you are "allowed" to drink As I see it, if you drink too much and die (either from drowning, alcohol poisoning, or other causes) then that's your fault. Also, if you drink too much and miss work and get fired, that's also your fault.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">However, by asking how much you're "allowed" to drink, you're passing off the responsibilities for your decisions to someone else. And that can feel very liberating, but it also means that you're not actually in control of your life. You can't have rights without responsibilities, and so by passing off the responsibility that comes with the decision to drink to a third party, your right to drink can be taken away by that same third party.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Am I over-thinking this question? Of course, but it's something to consider as you work your way through life. Don't look outside yourself for responsibility. It's your life, dammit, drink as much as you like!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Vanessa - I'm going to cut my hair next week after growing it out for about 5 years. What are some organizations that I can choose from for donating my hair, and what differentiates each of the organizations from the others?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: [<i>Ed: It took Tim three weeks to answer this round of questions so I'm sure you've already cut your hair and donated it by now, but I'll pass along his answer anyway. Sorry about that, I should have prodded him harder than usual.</i>]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The most famous of these organizations ("famous" defined as "the first one that popped into my head when I read this question") is <a href="http://www.locksoflove.org/">Locks of Love</a>. They look like the most general of the organizations and have a good reputation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">For more specific donations there are other specialized organizations. If you want to donate to a children-focused organization try <a href="http://www.childrenwithhairloss.us/donate-your-hair/">Children With Hair Loss</a>. If your concern is cancer patients the American Cancer Society <a href="http://www.cancer.org/aboutus/howwehelpyou/onlinehelp/donation-faq">recommends</a> two organizations:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.wigsforkids.org/">Wigs for Kids</a> and <a href="http://www.pantene.com/">Pantene Beautiful Lengths</a>. I don't think you can go wrong with any of those organizations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you really want to go out on a limb you could always just find a random bald person on the street and offer them your hair. I don't recommend it, especially with so many other worthy alternatives for your donation, but it's an option.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Jesse_Burton - When ke$ha brushes her teeth with a bottle of jack, does she put jack Daniels on the toothbrush or toothpaste on an actual bottle of jack Daniels?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: Anyone who spells their name with a symbol instead of a letter probably isn't the brightest knife in the shed, so I'm going to go with putting toothpaste on the bottle of jack.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Jacob - What makes a Domestic beer domestic compared to a beer brewed in the US.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: A domestic beer (for the purposes of this answer the actual country doesn't matter) is a matter of impression as much as it is of legality. The over-simple answer is that domestic beer is domestic to the country from which it originates. However that's not as simple as it used to be. For example some imported beers (Becks for example) are actually brewed outside their country of origin, but they are still considered "imports" because their company of origin is not where it's brewed. Also, ingredients for the beer may come from various countries. Finally, the major corporations that actually own the big brewing companies often have headquarters outside their native countries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Taking all of that into consideration I think that Domestic Beer can be considered beer that is served in the same country where people think that it comes from. Beer brewed in the US is just that: brewed in the US, regardless of the "country of origin". </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Bridget - Is IKEA really as awesome as people make it out to be?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: I have never stepped foot in an <a href="http://www.ikea.com/">IKEA</a> and so I am thoroughly unqualified to answer this question. While that usually doesn't stop me, I'm going to let it this time because, well, it's taken me a long enough time to answer these questions and I don't want to keep my readers waiting any longer. My only connection to IKEA is through one of my favorite sites on the internet <a href="http://www.lifehacker.com/">LifeHacker</a>. They often feature things done by <a href="http://www.ikeahackers.net/">IKEAHackers</a>. I find the designs really interesting and if there were an IKEA nearby I'd be tempted to try out some of the designs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Jesse_Burton - When will this episode of ask mittsob be answered?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: Wait for it...wait for it...NOW!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: waits - Where did the song "here we sit like birds in the wilderness" originate?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: This one came in WAY after I started answering so I'm going to save it for next time. Sorry!</span></div>
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Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-22249061379924714292014-10-10T10:41:00.000-04:002015-05-14T15:38:24.939-04:0068 - Answers<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Jacob - I see you watched The Room. How many times and have you read The Disaster Artist? Also how can I achieve monies like Tommy Wiseau?</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: I have only seen <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368226/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Room</a> once and let me assure those of you who haven't seen it that once is two times too many. It's not that it's just a bad movie, because it certainly is that. It's that it tries SOOOOOOO HAAAARRRD to be a real movie that you feel bad for it, but then you stop feeling bad for it because it's SOOOOOOO BAAAAAAAD. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In 2013 <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0802995/">Greg Sestero</a> (who played Mark in the movie) and Tom Bissell released a book called <a href="http://www.thedisasterartistbook.com/">The Disaster Artists: My Life Inside The Room</a> describing Mark's experience making the movie and his friendship with Tommy Wiseau. The book has been <a href="http://deadline.com/2014/02/james-franco-disaster-artist-movie-the-room-679560/">optioned by James Franco's production company</a> and is going to be made into a movie starring Franco as Tommy Wiseau. I have not read the book yet but just added it to my library's wish list. Once it comes in I'll be sure to read it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The question about "monies" is one of the many mysteries surrounding Tommy Wiseau. "The Room" cost about $6,000,000 to make and people are not sure where he got the money for it. There are rumors of illegal activities, shady business partners, and even shadier foreign sources. So how can you get your very own secret, untapped vein of unlimited money to use for your own pet projects? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Legally: Earn the money, invest it wisely, and spend wisely until you have a pile big enough for your uses.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Illegally: Start one or more of your own criminal enterprises (smuggle cigarettes, cook meth, run an offshore gambling site, etc.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- More Illegally: Steal it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Really Illegally: Print your own counterfeit money.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Best of luck in your new career generating monies!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Barn - I've been feeling rather uninspired with writing lately. Should I take a break (it's already been like 6-7 weeks), or push through? Is it better to phone in writing for writings sake, or wait to feel inspired?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: In my opinion you should push through. I've found that hurdles like that are best met with a full frontal assault. Just write. Lots. I've been told that if you want to be a writer then the first step is to write. The more you do it the better you're going to get at it. Like sex. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Allow me to recommend my personal favorite writing experience as a way to break you out of your funk. <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/">National Novel Writing Month</a>, as longtime readers of Ask Mitssob know, is a yearly writing competition that I've been participating in since 2004. The goal is to write 50,000 words of a novel (defined as original fiction) in the 30 days of November. The reason I think it will help you is that one of the driving principles of NaNoWriMo is quantity over quality. To meet the writing goals you are discouraged from editing, overthinking, etc. Just write until you hit your word count.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hope you decide to join me in this, and if you do I hope it helps!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Vanessa - A fun one to break up the questions: what is your favorite internet meme and why?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: I've delayed answering this question to the end and ultimately haven't come to any good answer. There's just way too many to choose from, ranging from the good to the really good to the utterly stupid. But to choose a favorite would be like having to choose my favorite blade of grass. Or something. Sorry for the disappointing lack-of-answer here, if I have energy I'll take another look next week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Bill - Is ello good enough to eclipse the usership.of Facebook? Or will it just be Emohipsterbook and the rest of us will stay where we are?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>(Insert non-answer here)</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: [<i>Ed: Bill's got a point, you haven't been giving his questions very good answers lately.</i> Well it's not my fault that he asks questions I don't feel like answering well!]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://ello.co/">ello</a> is an invitation-only social network that launched this summer and has been the subject of recent press hype. It was built with the promise that users' information will not be sold to or shared with third parties for use in advertising. Their mission statement can be found <a href="https://ello.co/wtf/post/manifesto">here</a> and is printed below:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Your social network is owned by advertisers.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Every post you share, every friend you make, and every link you follow is tracked, recorded, and converted into data. Advertisers buy your data so they can show you more ads. You are the product that’s bought and sold.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>We believe there is a better way. We believe in audacity. We believe in beauty, simplicity, and transparency. We believe that the people who make things and the people who use them should be in partnership.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>We believe a social network can be a tool for empowerment. Not a tool to deceive, coerce, and manipulate — but a place to connect, create, and celebrate life.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>You are not a product.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">With that strong statement it seems that ello was born in response to growing user backlash against Facebook and Facebook's policies. Like many recent backlashes and controversies (coughWashingtonRedskinscough) I think that the voices of the few are being amplified beyond their actual influence and the caring of the public at large. Is Facebook selling/sharing users' information to make money? Of course! Do people care? The answer seems to be no, at least so far.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are <a href="http://google.com/plus">lots</a> and <a href="http://www.myspace.com/">lots</a> and lots of social networks out there, not to mention <a href="http://twitter.com/">other</a> <a href="http://instagram.com/">ways</a> of oversharing yourself on the Internet. To answer the last part of your question, I think that people will gravitate to and stick with what works for them, which today means Facebook. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As a postscript to this answer, in the time since you asked this question ello's 15 minutes of fame seem to have run out. Will they recover and gather a critical mass of users to do, well, whatever it is they're trying to do? I doubt it, but anything's possible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Gobe - What is the superior flavor, vanilla or french vanilla?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: I have to go with French Vanilla for no other reason than the fact that creme brulee is one of my wife's favorite desserts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Jacob - Why are less processed, natural foods so much more expensive... TELL ME THIS!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: Wow, ok, well, then let me TELL YOU THIS post-haste! In short it's because crop yields are lower for "natural foods" than for more traditional methods of farming. The crops do not grow as well and more of the crop is lost due to disease, and a similar thing is true for farm animals being raised for food. The trade-off is that the food is better for you because of lower amounts of insecticides and other chemicals. I won't get into which one is better or whether that trade-off is worth it, but it is a subject I find interesting to think about.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Mike Guethle - I just drank two bottles of kitty wine and am about to take an evening jaunt to pound town with a girl that is going to England/Italy for a month. We've come to an agreement that hey, we've been doing whatever for 4ish weeks and we're going to be apart 4ish weeks, let's do our own thing for that time and then maybe get back together after.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What are my chances of catching ebola from her vagina when she returns?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: You've just given me a great plot (and possibly title) for this year's novel. Thanks!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Also yuck.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">One thing before I get going: for the first time in Ask Mitssob history I'm going to hide some details of an answer behind a spoiler tag. If you're sensitive about gross things I suggest that you skip it. Trust me. You've been warned.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">You've been "doing whatever" with this girl for 4ish weeks, so I'll assume that this involves more than just holding hands. As I started to answer your question I stuck with the "more than holding hands" angle for her contracting Ebola, but it occurs to me that you're not asking HOW she contracts Ebola but rather what the odds are that she'll transmit it to you via her vagina upon her return.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So let's talk about Ebola. Ebola is transmitted by prolonged exposure to the bodily fluids of someone with the disease. The most contagious are blood and digestive fluids (vomit, diarrhea), though the virus can be found in semen and urine. One interesting thing about Ebola that makes it different from the cold or flu is that you are not contagious until you become symptomatic. To my mind this reduces the chances of sex, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The other point to note is that the incubation period for the disease is between 6 and 21 days. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">With that introduction let's start with the odds of her contracting the disease in the first place. As of today (October 7, 2014) Ebola has only spread to two first-world countries: ours and Spain. Given air travel and lax screening, odds are good that someone with the disease will end up landing in England or Italy by the time of her trip. In fact, I'll go so far as to say it's 100% probable. With that assumption, what are the odds that she's going to encounter one (or more) people who have Ebola and are contagious at the time of the encounter? I'll give that a very low probability, but it's also not zero.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">[SPOILER]</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">OK, time for the really gross stuff. I interpret your question to mean "what are the chances that I will contract Ebola sexually from this girl?" So assuming that she contracts the disease and is infectious by the time she encounters you, we need to add another layer to the probability equation: transmission. Below are some, well, rather disgusting methods of sexual transmission of Ebola that I've dreamed up:</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Vaginal Intercourse (10%): I assume unprotected and that there are bleeding wounds on both ends of the transaction, which would make transmission much more likely.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Rear Entry Intercourse (25%): To me this is the riskiest proposition since it puts your manhood in close proximity to the most dangerous of the bodily fluids associated with the transmission of Ebola. Ditto unprotected and bleeding wounds.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Oral (25%): Again, open bleeding wounds would make this pretty likely regardless of direction. If you're on the receiving end and she vomits that's the worst-case scenario.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Golden Shower (5%): While not technically "her vagina" I think it's close enough to count. Again, this would require some disease-allowing point of entry on your body.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">German Scheizer Video (15%): Same as above but with the added bonus of involving the most dangerous bodily fluid.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">So to minimize your chances of getting Ebola from her vagina, I would not engage in any of the above activities given the above disclaimers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">[/SPOILER]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The final thing to note is the duration of her trip. If she contracts the disease on the last day of her visit then you have 21 days until she'd be symptomatic (and therefore contagious). So to reduce to zero your chances of "catching Ebola from her vagina" I would avoid any intimate physical contact for 21 days.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">OK, that was horrible. I need to take a shower before moving on here. Blech!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Oh wise Mitssob, what should I get Kallie for our first anniversary?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: The first wedding anniversary (and congratulations again, by the way, not only for making it through a year of marriage but for finding someone kind and patient enough to agree to marry you in the first place) is the paper anniversary. While shopping for my own first anniversary I found some very interesting paper-themed gifts while looking at <a href="https://www.etsy.com/">Etsy</a> and <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/">Pinterest</a>. Unfortunately nothing I found matched my wife's sense of style but maybe you'll have better luck than I did.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My original plan for a gift was for us to spend our first anniversary in a nice location with sandy beaches near the equator. Unfortunately due to a schedule mixup with my father's office the only time my parents were able to visit us over the summer was that weekend, so we're going to delay that trip until later this winter. We did take the whole week off and did the "staycation" thing, breaking it up with a romantic day/night in beautiful Niagara on the Lake. It's a charming little town with nice shops, a reputation for good theaters (we didn't take in a show but I've heard good things), and I recommend it if you're looking for a nice vacation spot close to home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So to sum up, tradition says paper, Mitssob says vacation. Congratulations again and hope you and Kallie enjoy many more anniversaries together!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: What is the furthest North I can drive to in the eastern half of Canada?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: I fired up Google Earth and spent a few minutes tracing roads in northern Quebec and Newfoundland provinces. As far as my tracings go the northernmost town you can get to by road in the eastern half of Canada is <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cartwright,+NL,+Canada/@53.7070086,-57.0233174,7z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x4c7f58c7c7c422fd:0x729af226f64b301e?sa=X&ei=6uk3VJjWDcPIggTQ2ILYAw&sqi=2&ved=0CHsQ8gEwDQ">Cartwright, Newfoundland</a>. I'm sure that there are unmarked roads and trails that you can drive on further north than that but I wouldn't venture much farther north without a good vehicle, a guide, and proper equipment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Jacob - Where can I find inexpensive barrels to ferment food in?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: Depending on what you're trying to ferment I would suggest getting in touch with local wineries. They have many barrels used during the wine making process and might be willing to give you some old ones. They have the benefit of being watertight so they would probably work for your fermenting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The word "barrels" implies that you're looking to find something large. If you need something big but not THAT big then you might want to try large plastic buckets with lids. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Sheamus - What's a pederast, Mitssob?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: Shut the fuck up, Sheamus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sorry, again with the rudeness. However, in this case I think the jury will agree that you asked for it given the pop culture reference that you were making. Your honor? [<i>Ed: Guilty as charged.</i> Thank you, your honor.]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">To answer your question, the dictionary definition of <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pederast">pederast</a> is a man who desires or engages in sexual activity with boys.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Jacob - Why does the term gastropub exist and why should we use it over other terms for a restaurant?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: I blame hipsters. And racism. And global warming. Climate change. Whatever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyway, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastropub">gastropub</a> is a bar that serves better food than you would normally find in a bar. These places are often featured on one of my favorite shows, <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/diners-drive-ins-and-dives.html">Diners, Drive-ins and Dives</a>. The name itself came about during the 1990s in places like California, New York, and Pennsylvania. The article doesn't go into why the term exists, but my guess is that it's marketing. If you want to distinguish your restaurant you need a clever, simple term to describe it. "A non-sketchy hipster bar that hired a good chef" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but "gastropub" does. It gets the point across and is catchy and memorable, which is perfect for marketing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Jesse_Burton - Why do I like the smell of my own farts?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: I guess I asked for this, didn't I? [<i>Ed: I tried to warn you but did you listen? No, no one ever listens to me.</i> Lesson learned, buddy.] Totally random guess based on nothing in particular is that the smell of your own farts reminds you (in some way) of the food you most recently ate, and if you liked that food then you like the smell of your own farts. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">That might be the biggest reach in the history of Ask Mitssob but I'll stick with it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: AndrewSmith - How much money do I need to open my own brewery?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: What you need is an amount of money big enough to:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. Buy the equipment/location/materials necessary to open said brewery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. Hire employees (if needed)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. Pay taxes, fees, etc. related to starting this business.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. Fund operations until you achieve profit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The exact dollar figure depends on decisions that you'll have to make for yourself. Are you going to try to compete with <a href="http://www.geneseebeer.com/">Genesee Beer</a> or are you going for a smaller market? Do you plan to live off of this or is it just a hobby? I can't answer those questions but hopefully my above list helps you get at an answer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Jacob - Related question, How do you get approval to sell food stuffs at craft fairs and the like?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: I'll use the <a href="http://www.brightonfarmersmarket.org/becoming-a-vendor/">Brighton Farmer's Market</a> as my example here. The link is to their vendor applications, which is how you get approval to sell goods and/or services at their location. The application is simple enough but it's the rules that provide a more complete answer to your question. In short they place an emphasis on locally produced foods and goods (local defined as within 100 miles of Brighton), and want to make sure that you're not selling crap (literal or figurative).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Mike Guethe - How much money do I need to never work again?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: The literal answer to your question is $0 because you could stop working at any time and choose to live without needing money. That is a difficult proposition but it can be done. If you choose to go down that road I wish you the best of luck!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Let me also answer the question in the spirit in which it was asked. I don't know how old you are so I'll put your age down as 25. Assuming that you live until 80 you'll need 55 years worth of living expenses, so take your current monthly living expenses, multiply it by 12 and then again by 55. Of course, that's just to live. If you want more to life than just the necessities then there will be additional costs such as vacations, medical expenses, taxes, enjoyment costs, and bail money.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's a parting thought for you: if you choose to devote your life to something akin to the priesthood then the answer is $0. I know that this involves "work" but it's different enough from the "work" you're talking about that I thought I'd throw it in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Q: Vanessa - When will Guethle first appear on an episode of <a href="http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/north-woods-law">North Woods Law</a> on Animal Planet?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: My knowledge of pop culture has more than doubled since I got married, however it was so low to begin with that the increase isn't that much. Hence I had not heard of this show prior to your question. After visiting the website and watching the "Coming this season" promotional video I can say that I won't be watching it, but I can understand the appeal. It features the Maine Warden Service operating in rural Maine and the hilarity than ensues.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I would say that Guethle will first appear on an episode once one or more of the following occur:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Guethle befriends one of the Maine Warden Service officers on the show.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Guethle engages in behavior that attracts the attention of the Maine Warden Service. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Guethle sleeps with one (or more) of the producers in exchange for camera time.</span></div>
Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-68568371427571482662014-09-29T10:10:00.000-04:002015-03-04T10:14:16.683-05:0067 - Answers<b>Q: BillJ - Is Tupac still alive?</b><br />
A: Sadly no.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupac_Shakur">Tupac Shakur</a> was shot on September 7, 1996 and died in the hospital six days later on September 13, 1996 of internal bleeding. I don't have time to go into it now but here's the wikipedia article of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Coast%E2%80%93West_Coast_hip_hop_rivalry">East Coast vs. West Coast Rap Rivalry of the 90's</a>. Enjoy!<br />
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<b>Q: Mike Guethle - Why do white people like Wayne Brady so much?</b><br />
A: As a certified white person (but not a member of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTT1qUswYL0">American Socialist White People's Party</a>) I am qualified to comment on this. I enjoyed watching Wayne Brady during his time on <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163507/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Whose Line Is It Anyway?</a>. He is a funny, talented performer with a good singing voice. Most recently he has acted as host on the TV show "Let's Make a Deal", which I haven't seen but he's been doing it for 5 years so he can't be too bad at it. He is not controversial, doesn't get his name all over TMZ, and (publicly at least) seams to have his act together. Therefore I would think that lots of kinds of people would like him.<br />
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Of course the definitive answer comes from the Chapelle Show's own <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezP77L5jhCI">Negrodamus</a>: White people love Wayne Brady because he makes Bryant Gumball look like Malcolm X.<br />
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<b>Q: democko - he lives! why can't Tom Brady get a high five?</b><br />
A: Yes he does. Good to see you again, Mr. Democko. I had heard about this "story" but wasn't aware that it was such a big thing on the Internet. Lots of <a href="http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/12/tom-brady-high-five-2">articles</a> and <a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4768750/brady-rectifies-krafts-high-five-fail">blog posts</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-LMiVWv-L4">videos</a> about this rather humorous thing. The cocky homer Patriots fan in me says that he can't do high-fives because his brain is so full of football awesomeness that there isn't room for such silly things. But having watched him play three games thus far I know that can't possibly be right.<br />
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So absent that I'd say that Tom Brady can't get a high-five because the people around him are just too damned busy or distracted to give him one. And that's sad. It makes me weep for Tom Brady. Well, maybe not weep exactly, or even feel sorry for him, but it makes me think about him. And that's probably the point.<br />
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<b>Q: MattB - zomg Mit Ssob!</b><br />
A: I assume that "zomg" is some kind of greeting that evolved since the last time I did this feature, so zomg right back at you!<br />
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<b>Q: Barn - I still want to know why farts smell worse in the shower. I reject the previous response of "because you're showering with Banjo."</b><br />
A: I did provide a pretty comprehensive answer to this question in <a href="http://answerboss.blogspot.com/2010/06/63-answers.html">Episode 63</a>, which is provided below:<br />
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<i>Q: Bridget Murray - Why do shower farts smell more than regular farts?</i><br />
A: I think there are two reasons for this (and I base this on absolutely no medical knowledge or research):<br />
1. Your body has had the chance to digest and process the food from the day before and thus generate a lot more gas. Concurrently that gas has had a chance to build up and become more, um, potent I guess is the polite way of putting it.<br />
2. The confined space of a shower combined with the steam (presuming that you're not taking a cold shower, if you know what I mean) would have an amplifying effect on said fart.<br />
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I was going to leave the answer at that and then our own Matt Barrett chimed in with this gem: "Because you shower with Banjo." Never before in Ask Mitssob history has a user-provided answer been both concise and horrifying. I'd like to thank you for planting that mental image and thus denying me hours and hours of sleep. Well played, sir.<br />
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I stand by my original answer, though now that I think about it including the "because you shower with Banjo" portion was a mistake since I have no way of knowing whether showering with Banjo makes your shower farts smell worse. And no, before anyone asks, I'm not going to do the research necessary to find out.<br />
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As became tradition with Ask Mitssob, here are some user-provided insta-answers:<br />
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<i>BillJ - It seems to me all smells are worse when wet. Maybe the water vapors get into your nose easier? I'll be interested to hear what he comes up with.</i><br />
Banjo - I thought this was already answered in a satisfactory manner (aside from the very true statement "because you're showering with Banjo"). The steam and water vapor acts to mix constituents in the air much faster and more thoroughly than normal. While normal farts rely on standard brownian motion (lol in regard to farts) and diffusion to disperse, a fart in a hot shower with lots of steam will move much faster as it is borne by the bulk motion of the steam and air. Thus, a shower fart is generally more intense, but shorter lived, than a standard toot.<br />
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At this point I'm content to let this subject rest, but if the world keeps asking fart question then I'll keep answering fart questions.<br />
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<b>Q: Jacob - Why should I ask you questions over Mike Guethle?</b><br />
A: Excellent question. Before I answer, who is this so-called "Mike Guethle" anyway? I'm sure he's a nice guy and all, but really, what are his qualifications? Has he ever watched <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368226/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Room</a>, one of the worst movies ever made, and <a href="http://answerboss.blogspot.com/2010/07/64-answers.html">provided analysis</a>? Has he ever done an <a href="http://answerboss.blogspot.com/2008/03/30-answers.html">epic breakdown of Crimson Tide vs. The Hunt for Red October</a>? Has he publicly <a href="http://answerboss.blogspot.com/2006/09/8-answers.html">pondered</a> <a href="http://answerboss.blogspot.com/2011/03/66-answers.html">physics</a>? I think not!<br />
<br />
In short, you should ask me questions because I am superbly qualified to answer any and all of the questions you and your feeble mind could possibly imagine. I am, frankly, much smarter and better educated and more worldly and better looking and...<br />
<br />
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!<br />
<br />
Sorry, I couldn't keep going with that. Seriously, you should ask me questions because hopefully I can provide you with some answers, analysis, research, and entertainment. Thanks for playing.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Jackie - Drive on parkway. Park on driveway... Discuss.</b><br />
A: Normally I'd say something like, "That's not a question, try harder," but since I've been gone my editor has been striving to make me more, shall we say, friendly, so I'll skip that part.<br />
<br />
This is another example of a question that I've tackled <a href="http://answerboss.blogspot.com/2008/04/33-answers.html">in the past</a>, but it was a while ago so I'll happily cut-and-paste what I came up with last time.<br />
<br />
<i>Q: Bill Jeffers - Why DO we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?</i><br />
A: I can actually answer this classic question. No, really, I can. Just give me a minute and I think you'll be satisfied.<br />
<br />
The answer to the first part of the question can be found by tracing back the meaning of the word "parkway". A parkway was originally a road that lead to and passed through a park or other scenic area. Thus the "park" part of the word "parkway" is literal, which I find interesting. As automobiles became popular new parkways were built. These were usually wide roads with landscaped medians, and while they still often lead to parks they also began to include longer scenic drives. Today a parkway generally means that it serves passenger vehicles only, and there are usually lower speed limits on them than on other highways.<br />
<br />
And that's why you drive on a parkway.<br />
<br />
The second part of the question is harder. A "driveway" is defined as a private road leading up to one or more buildings. Technically this includes the short little strips of asphalt that are in front of most houses, though I would really classify those as parking spots rather than a real driveway. In fact, that's my answer to the question. You don't really park in your driveway. You drive on your driveway until you reach the parking spots in front of your house.<br />
<br />
Satisfied? No? Well I like the answer, and more to the point it's all you're going to get out of me on this one.<br />
<br />
Oh, and one more thing: that's not a question, try harder. Thanks!<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Mattb - Ok, here's a question for you that I don't think was ever covered in a previous week (but correct me if I'm wrong). The issue of climate change has become a divisive topic, particularly along party lines. Democrats seem a lot more jazzed up about the issue while Republicans are generally more skeptical of the research that's out there. It would seem to me that an issue rooted in science shouldn't fall so cleanly on either side of the aisle but that's probably just my small, idealistic mind spewing out crazy ideas. Why has climate change become such a polarizing political issue?</b><br />
<br />
A: Wow, not going to let me ease back into this, are you guys? Just going to make me hit the ground running on all cylinders. Before I start let me just state upfront that it's these political questions that usually take the longest for me to reason through and answer, which is why my answers are usually late. I'm going to try to be better but no promises.<br />
<br />
I've talked about the issue of climate change a few times over the years. I had a back-and-forth with Jarsh about it back in 2008 and 2009 that I thought was interesting. In the interest of brevity I'll keep my answer narrowly tailored to your exact question. I'm sure that this topic will come up again so I won't try to answer all aspects of it this time.<br />
<br />
To properly answer the question let me define "climate change" as "human-induced changes to the climate resulting in catastrophe for Earth". Even if you don't agree with this definition it will at least give you an understanding on where I'm coming from.<br />
<br />
Your statement about this being "an issue rooted in science" is where the I think the disconnect is. Climate change has become a polarizing political issue because climate change is not about science. To people who believe in climate change it is about good vs. evil. If you "deny" climate change then you must be evil, and therefore you must be destroyed and silenced because evil cannot triumph over good. Republicans (of whom I count myself a member) are skeptical because of the track record of those on the left when it comes to predicting crisis during the past fifty years. A good article on this topic can be found here: <a href="http://www.creators.com/opinion/dennis-prager/when-it-comes-to-doomsdays-the-left-shouldn-t-laugh-at-the-religious.html"></a><br />
<br />
My view is that the climate is changing now, has changed in the past, and will change in the future. Why do we think that we are so special that we can change that change? That we can somehow move the Earth to an ideal temperature and climate? Seems pretty arrogant to me. And we think that we can predict what's coming? Or that computer models are accurate? Try this for a recent example where people are still figuring things out about the climate: <a href="http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-pacific-warming-20140923-story.html"></a><br />
<br />
So in short it's political because the supporters and "believers" have made it that way. Whether that's a good or bad thing I won't comment on right now, but my door is always open!<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Brett - With the return of Ask Mit Ssob, can the return of the Brett Gobe Quiz of the Week be far behind?</b><br />
A: I was unaware that the longest-running feature in Jolinko history had gone the way of Ask Mitssob. I hope that you decide to resurrect it. I think it will do you and us some good.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: karyn - WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU JULY 10-13????</b><br />
A: I was navigating a bus full of drunk and disorderly college students (many of whom played musical instruments and all of whom were fans of a certain sport played on ice by people wearing metal blades on their feet) to a small college in Hamilton, NY. Unfortunately my navigation skills proved unequal to the task and I ended up directing the bus up a hill to a dead end and the bus became stuck in snow.<br />
<br />
[<i>Ed: Why was there snow in July in Hamilton, NY?</i> I don't know, climate change maybe?]<br />
<br />
<b>Q: democko - is New Coke returning too?</b><br />
A: I sincerely doubt it, though in the nostalgia cycle (where everything that was new and became old old is now new again) anything's possible.<br />
<br />
In doing my research for this question (and this is part of Ask Mitssob that I missed a lot so thanks for the weird question) I learned quite a bit about the Coke/New Coke debacle of 1985. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke">New Coke</a> was first dreamed up in the early 1980's by marketing and sales executives at <a href="http://www.coca-cola.com/">Coca Cola</a>. Their goal was to stop the market share losses by <a href="http://www.pepsico.com/">Pepsi</a> by coming up with a new taste for their classic beverage.<br />
<br />
It was introduced on April 23, 1985 and was nearly instantaneously panned and rejected by the public. Oddly it was this very public that the marketing and sales executives had subjected to taste tests and who had told those marketing and sales executives that they liked the taste. Apparently they were wrong, which is an interesting subject all in itself (see Malcolm Gladwell's book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blink-Power-Thinking-Without/dp/0316010669/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411994873&sr=1-1&keywords=blink">Blink</a> for a detailed study of that aspect of the story).<br />
<br />
Three months after the epic fail Coca Cola reversed course and re-launched its original recipe as "Coca Cola Classic". New Coke was rebranded as Coke II in 1992 and lasted through the nineties until it was finally discontinued in 2002. So in light of all that I'd say that the odds of it making a return are slim, but again, anything's possible.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: M-L - WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU JULY 10-13????</b><br />
A: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFvujknrBuE">I ran out of gas. I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locus. It wasn't my fault. I swear to god!</a><br />
<br />
<b>Q: BillJ - WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU JULY 10-13????</b><br />
A: Okay, okay, fine, here's the truth: I was in my new house with my wife. We had just finished a month-long whirlwind where we:<br />
1. Sold my old house in Chili, NY (sorry sports fans, Fort Mitssob is no more)<br />
2. Finally found THE house (after looking at and rejecting houses since February). It was listed on a Wednesday, we looked at it on a Thursday afternoon, put an offer in Thursday evening and it was accepted at 11pm that night.<br />
3. Put my wife's house in Irondequoit on the market. This involved me moving about 2/3 of our stuff into my storage unit (where I'd been keeping some of my stuff since moving in with her two years earlier), coordinating major repairs to plumbing, replacing carpet, cleaning, and making the house look presentable.<br />
4. Sold my wife's house a week after it was listed (cash offer, no inspection, near asking price).<br />
5. Closed on the new house and began moving some stuff over.<br />
6. Had movers move our stuff from both the old house and the storage unit to the new house.<br />
7. Begin the long and (still incomplete) task of turning our house into a home.<br />
<br />
So unfortunately, even though reunion had been on my calendar for years, circumstances prevented me from going. And for that I am truly sorry and beg everyone's forgiveness.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: waits - When I talk to jolinko what am I actually talking to?</b><br />
A: If by "talk to jolinko" you mean actually talking out loud to the website, then you're talking to whatever Internet browsing device you are using. So you're really talking to the Internet. It's basically a series of tubes.<br />
<br />
[<i>Ed: Making that joke multiple times does not make it funnier.</i> Just making sure that you're paying attention.]<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Jacob - Why hasn't Mitssob answered our questions yet?</b><br />
A: I'll take this as a hint that I need to be speedier and more responsive in my answers. [<i>Ed: And would it kill you to up the quality while you're upping the speed?</i> Unless you want me to actually develop a drug habit, this is all you're gonna get."><br />
<br />
<b>Q: Sheamus - Where are my co-workers hiding the coffee?</b><br />
A: If it was up your ass you'd know where it was. Sorry, that was impolite. But also true.<br />
<br />
Anyway, the answer depends on your relationship with your co-workers and your company's relationship with coffee. Is coffee provided by your company? Do you have a kitchen area? In that case I would check there first. Next I'd check where office supplies are kept (that's where our extra coffee is hidden). Do you get along with your co-workers? If you do then you should ask them since I'm sure they have a better idea than me. If not then there are <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285331/?ref_=nv_sr_1">all</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0936501/?ref_=nv_sr_2">kinds</a> of ways to get the information out of them. Good luck in finding your coffee.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: waits - What prompted the mitssob to make his return?</b><br />
A: A few things. I've been considering a re-launch since December (and even posted a couple things on the <a href="http://answerboss.blogspot.com/">blogspot account</a> formerly known as Ask Mittsob). I haven't sunk enough time into it yet so I figured an injection of questions from the place that started it all was called for. Also it's getting close to NaNoWriMo time again and I need to get back into the writing mentality, and what better way than answering your questions?<br />
<br />
<b>Q: democko - was it really Apple's fault that those nude photos were stolen from those poor celebrities?</b><br />
A: Short answer: no.<br />
<br />
Longer answer: As I understanding it the "hacking of iCloud's servers" that was so breathlessly reported on in August was actually hackers figuring out celebrities' passwords and using them to get to the photos on iCloud. Put another way, "hacking iCloud" would be like someone breaking into your car and hot-wiring it, while this incident was like someone stealing your keys and using them to steal your car.<br />
<br />
A couple of thoughts on that incident. One interesting comment I read as it was all unfolding was that blaming the celebrities for having nude photos in the first place was blaming the victim. I understand this argument. Celebrities absolutely should have the freedom to take nude pictures of themselves for their own private use. However by its wording this argument is trying to establish equivalence with the "blaming the victim" argument that rapists use, and that makes me uncomfortable. If you're a celebrity then by definition your life is public. Therefore you should assume that if it's on your camera or your phone, assume that it's public. Period. Is that a good or a bad thing? I won't comment on that, it's just reality.<br />
<br />
Another angle was that the problem was us (the public) and our desire for more and more information and details about celebrities. I actually agree with this argument, but to me it dodges the larger point, which is, again, IF YOU DON'T WANT NUDE PICTURES OF YOURSELF ON THE INTERNET DON'T TAKE NUDE PICTURES OF YOURSELF IN THE FIRST PLACE.<br />
<br />
Returning to my car analogy, there is no legal difference between stealing a car outright and stealing the keys and using them to take the car. I submit that there's no difference here either. The people who did the "hacking" should be subject to the same laws and regulations as if they'd broken into the servers directly. I know it's not that simple. Once the pictures are out there there's no getting them back. So, say it with me:<br />
<br />
IF YOU DON'T WANT NUDE PICTURES OF YOURSELF ON THE INTERNET DON'T TAKE NUDE PICTURES OF YOURSELF IN THE FIRST PLACE.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: democko - follow up question: Is Tim Cook taking Apple down the shitter? also, will you buy an AppleWatch?</b><br />
A: I'm not sure I would go that far or state it so dramatically, but I agree that Tim Cook is taking Apple in a different direction than Steve Jobs did. The <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?uhb=uh3_finance_vert&fr=&type=2button&s=AAPL">stock price of Apple</a> has gone from $55/share to $100/share (with a few splits thrown in) since the passing of Steve Jobs, so financially he must be doing something right. Does that extend to design and products? I think the jury is still out but I'd say they're still innovating. Maybe not fast enough or as fast as the old days but I'm not ready to give up just yet.<br />
<br />
And no, I'm not going to buy an <a href="http://www.apple.com/watch/">Apple Watch</a>, mostly due to the price point but also because it's not something I can justify right now.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Sheamus - Did you bring me my Cheez Whiz, boy?</b><br />
A: No, I did not. I don't know where you live. In fact, I don't even know who you are. Allow me to introduce myself. Tim Boss, former pep band president. Damned glad to meet you.<br />
<br />
Now that we have that out of the way, the only true answer to your question is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICHEkYRZg3w">this</a>.Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-49226208755010422492013-12-24T08:55:00.000-05:002013-12-24T08:55:32.821-05:00Duck Duck Duck...DYNASTY!<i>Q (Editor): What are your thoughts on the Duck Dynasty controversy that blew up last week? Was A&E right to suspend Phil from the show?</i><br />
A: I've been doing a lot of thinking about this topic. To catch people up, Phil Robertson gave an interview to <a href="http://www.gq.com/">GQ </a>magazine (the full text of which can be seen <a href="http://www.gq.com/entertainment/television/201401/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson">here</a>) several months ago in which he said a number of, well, colorful things. Early in the article the author pulls this bit of opinion out of Phil:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a
man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s
got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying?
But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.” </blockquote>
<div style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
I've been reading that this quote is homophobic. I can see how
someone would interpret it that way, but to me that's an uncharitable
reading. Phil is saying that he prefers heterosexual sex to homosexual sex. Does
that make him a homophobe? No, it doesn't. He's stating a preference. But the reaction to it tells me that we've reached a point in the public discussion on homosexuality where it's no longer acceptable to tolerate. Now you must celebrate and champion, and anything less is considered to be denigration and hatred. Like it or not, that's where we are, and I'm not happy with this development.<br />
<br />
Later Phil was asked this question by the author:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>What, in your mind, is sinful?</i><br />
“Start with homosexual
behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around
with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he says.
Then he paraphrases Corinthians: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the
adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual
offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they
won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not
right.” </blockquote>
<div style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
Like the first quote I can see how people would overreact to this if they chose to. But here's the thing: Phil was talking about sin, and in Christianity there's a lot of sin out there. Bestiality, homosexual behavior, stealing, being drunk, all sins. You can like that or not like it, but that's what the church teaches. <br />
<br />
The specific issue people have is that they think Phil was equating homosexuality with bestiality. I'm interested in what leads people to come to that conclusion. Let's try this thought experiment: In a lecture to a group of students a professor says that arson, burglary, and manslaughter are all felonies. Does that mean that the professor is equating arson with manslaughter? Yes, in the sense that both are felonies, but not in the sense of the morality of the acts. Phil is quoting what Christianity says about morality in general. I think that the bigger morality point he was making was about promiscuity in general, be it with men, women, animal, whatever. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
The other controversial thing that has emerged from the article was Phil's comments about his observations on race relations in America while he was growing up:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not
once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers.
I hoed cotton with them. I’m with the blacks, because we’re white
trash. We’re going across the field.... They’re singing and happy. I
never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These
doggone white people’—not a word!... Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you
say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was
singing the blues.”</blockquote>
First, notice the qualifier at the start of the quote: "I never, with my eyes..." Now, is this a cop-out? Maybe. But let's assume for a second that he's being truthful about his recollections. Does this mean that he cast a blind eye towards the racism that was going on around him? I don't know, because he didn't say so. As I read it he was talking about the moral state of the community, not about the legal state. I think it's self-evident that blacks are better off without slavery and Jim Crow laws, but the critics of Phil seem to be saying that he doesn't think so. I think that this is an interesting debating tactic. Nothing in the quote says anything about slavery or Jim Crow. I wonder what the reaction would have been if he'd said that slavery and Jim Crow were bad things before opining on the morality question. I think that the critics would have ignored the preamble and raked him over the coals anyway, because he's from the south and probably a racist and, well, you know, right?<br />
<br />
As an aside, the topic of morality is an interesting conversation about race
relations in America that would be good to have. Were blacks in America
better off "pre-entitlement, pre-welfare" like Phil says? But if a person who even brings up the topic is immediately shouted down with cries of "Racist! RACIST!", how can a conversation take place? It can't, and that's the point of the critics.<br />
<br />
The common theme I'm seeing here is one of judgement. I need to think a little more about this but watch that space. <br />
<br />
<br />
So was A&E right to suspend Phil from the show? That's a question that only the executives at A&E can answer. I can tell you that I would not have suspended him. In fact, I would have risen to his defense against the bullies in mainstream society. But I am not in charge of a cable channel. I can tell you that Duck Dynasty will likely be canceled and find a new home in cable, grow more popular, then fade out just as quickly because that's how things go in television. The next new thing will come along and Duck Dynasty will be a footnote in television history.</div>
Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-39066798083648074642013-12-12T06:55:00.001-05:002013-12-12T08:12:59.597-05:00The Relaunch<div style="margin: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">[Editor's Note: It's
been two and a half years since I last heard from Tim. Two and a half glorious,
editing-free years. I kept tabs on him, of course, which is easy to do in
these days of oversharing on social media sites. Thanks
to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.foursquare.com/">Foursquare </a>and <a href="http://www.instagram.com/">Instagram </a>I knew that he'd met a lovely young woman named
Katie and that they are recently married. He looked happier than I'd ever seen
him and from what I can tell the old cliché, "she's the best thing that
ever happened to him" applies.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">So when I got an
email from Tim a few weeks ago I was a little surprised. I figured that he was
happily settled into married life and that his other pursuits were keeping him
busy. And they are, but what he told me was that he wanted to dust off the old site
and use it to re-enter the public discussion.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">In short, my days of
editing Tim's rambling, incoherent writings are back. And to be honest, I'm
excited. He seems motivated and enthusiastic about his writing again and that
means that this might just be a fun job. Or it could flame out spectacularly. At
this point I'll take either one.]</span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For those of you
just joining us, let me recap. Actually, I won't re-cap. I'll let my editor
help me out with this.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: Hi, Tim. Welcome
back.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: Thanks.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: So what is this exactly?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: This is the
Internet. It's basically a series of tubes.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: <a href="http://answerboss.blogspot.com/2010/06/63-answers.html">You already made that joke.</a> Try harder.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: Sorry. This is an online question-and-answer site that I began back in 2006 under the name "Ask Mitssob."</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: Who or what is
"mitssob"?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: Mitssob is a
nickname I was given in college. It's my name spelled backwards.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: Why did you
decide to come back now?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: DON'T CALL IT A
COMEBACK!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: (pauses) Um,
what?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: Marky Mark and
the Funky Bunch? Right?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: Actually it was <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vimZj8HW0Kg">LL Cool J</a>, but I get your point.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: The reason
I'm coming back now is that the itch to resume has gotten too big for me to
scratch. Or something.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: Huh?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: How about this: I
missed writing "Ask Mitssob". I've spent some time reading back over
the questions and answers from years gone by and I remembered how much fun it
was. So I decided to re-launch.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: Now that we've
gotten that out of the way, what do you want to do here?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: First and
foremost I want to keep true to the original mission of "Ask
Mitssob": taking random questions and giving random answers. It was a lot
of fun and gave me a chance to learn and explore, so I want to keep doing that. I
also want to start answering questions that I see in daily life and use those
questions to tackle the news of the day and give my opinions on them.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: Will this be more
political than the old "Ask Mitssob"?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: Yes. In the old
days I answered questions about some political topics, including elections,
neoconservatism, and climate change hysteria. I enjoyed the chance to think
through topics and develop my own personal ideology and beliefs. Lately I've
had the urge to chime in on the public political discourse, but I also didn't
want to clutter up my other personal social media. This brand and platform solves that
problem. I've got both this blog and a <a href="https://twitter.com/answerboss">twitter account</a>, and will expand further as I develop the brand more.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: Why the name
change? "Ask Mitssob" had a certain simple ring to it.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: I know, but I
also felt like it was time for a change. Like I said, I wanted to create a
brand across multiple platforms, one that lets me separate my opinions from my
other social media. I already use "mitssob" for my personal social
media so I wanted to create a split. After thinking and trying various combinations on a piece of paper I
finally came up with "Answer Boss". Simple, descriptive, and it works
my name into it. Everybody wins.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: Except for people
who loved the old name. You've kind of screwed them.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: Well as the saying goes, you can't
make an omelet without pissing people off.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: I see that your
gift for rhetorical flourish needs as much work as it ever did.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: And that you
haven't lost your sense of humor.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: What other things
are you going to use this site for?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: The first side
project I'm going to tackle is writing a review of a new book by <a href="http://www.hughhewitt.com/">Hugh Hewitt</a>
called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1595555781?tag=hhewitt-20">"The Happiest Life"</a>. I've been a fan of Hugh and his eponymous
radio show for many years. In fact, part of why I'm creating this platform is so
that I can take a more active part in the <a href="http://hughniverse.com/">Hughniverse</a>. When Hugh announced that
he was writing a new book and that he was looking for a "Street Team"
I eagerly jumped on. Members get an advance e-copy of the book, and in exchange
they have to write a review and promote the book on their social media network.
It's a good first use of this new platform and I'm excited to try it out. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: Last question:
can we expect to see an increase the quality of your writing?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: Yes, but it will
take time so please bear with me. I'm a bit rusty at this.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: Well good luck to
both of us.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: Likewise? Thanks?
Not sure how I'm supposed to respond to that.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: Just sign off
already. I've got other things to do.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A: OK. Thanks for
coming back.</span></div>
Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0Irondequoit Irondequoit43.2175 -77.553573tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-88733023839979372572011-03-01T20:26:00.000-05:002011-03-01T20:26:21.419-05:0066 - Answers[<i>Editor's Note: As this is the final Ask Mitssob it stands to reason that Tim would be very late with it. And look at that, he is! I've been pinging him weekly for the past four months. He blames the snow, <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org">NaNoWriMo</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/changeproductions">his video editing business</a>, work travel, every tired old excuse he's ever had. The answers finally showed up on my doorstep yesterday along with a bouquet of flowers. I don't know if the two are related. If they are I'm touched, otherwise I'm mildly creeped out.<br />
<br />
One more thing: after editing these answers I have to say that they are, without a doubt, the most average set that Tim's ever delivered. The overall quality of answers throughout the past four years and 65 episodes was not increased or decreased by these answers. It's really remarkable.</i>]<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Dan - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VL1NF0hiYY">if there's nothing missing in my life then why do these tears come at night?</a></b><br />
A: The song poses the question "if there's nothing missing in my life," so I answer, "There is." Now, why the fact that there is something missing from your life causes tears to come is another question. I supposed the most likely explanation is that you are a very sensitive man who finds no shame in showing emotion through crying. <br />
<br />
Oh, and another thing: I could have gone my whole life without hearing this song and died a happy man. But no, Dan, you had to ask this question and make me find the song and listen to it. For that, may you roast in hell for all eternity.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: MattB - What does Jarsh's dance to the aforementioned song look like? Good/bad/hilarious/other?</b><br />
A: Jarsh's dance to that song, like all of Jarsh's dancing, would be epic. Simply epic.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Luke - How many times will Serena try something?</b><br />
A: Out of respect for Serena, who is one of my oldest and best friends, I will not even discuss the circumstances of this question, much less answer it.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Phil - why did luke come back to jolinko or life?</b><br />
A: Luke came back to <a href="http://www.jolinko.org">Jolinko</a> because Jolinko is, as the kids say, "da bomb". Actually, I'm not sure if kids say "da bomb" anymore. In fact, I haven't got the foggiest idea what kids say. Popular culture and I agreed to see other people sometime in the mid-2000's and frankly it's been for the best. <br />
<br />
But that's irrelevant. The point is, who wouldn't want to come back to Jolinko?<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Luke - Why did Phil feel the need to write "or life" in tiny font?</b><br />
A: Apparently you and Phil have some personal issues that you both need to work through. Do I detect some subtle tension between you two? Maybe some unresolved feelings? Do we need a group hug? Maybe a drum circle?<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Vanessa - I want the latest info on the Arrested Development movie. I know thats not a question...but run with it.</b><br />
A: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0901469/">Here.</a> [<i>Ed: You were just trying for shortest answer with that one, weren't you?</i> Yup.]<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Bill J - Gimme some tips on routers. What's the difference between the 30 dollar one and the 100 dollar one? First person to say $70 gets a virtual punch in the face.</b><br />
A: The difference in price likely reflects a difference in features found in the routers. Below is a quick list:<br />
<br />
- Ethernet Ports: 4 is common and usually sufficient. You'll pay a bit more for an 8-port router. Unless you're networking together a lot of stuff in one office you don't need 8 ports. 4 will be plenty.<br />
- Wireless: The most common standards are 802.11b, g and n. Higher letters are faster (802.11b is 11 megabits per second (Mbps), g is 54 Mbps, and n is over 160 Mbps). Those speeds, though, are the raw over-the-air bit rates. When you talk real-world data they're about 2/3 as fast on average. Anyway, higher letters will cost more, but will also perform better. Additionally, newer hardware (such as newer laptops, smart phones, TVs, etc) will drop older standards. Unless you've got something that requires 802.11b I'd just go as high as you can.<br />
- Security: Most routers come with some kind of firewall software built into them. Basically speaking firewalls allow the router to filter out IP ports that outside users can use to get into your system. You might pay a little more for the super-smart filters but frankly you'll be fine with any firewall.<br />
<br />
Incidentally, I know very little about the other kind of router. I'm not much of a woodworker and have never even used one. I know that they're used to cut grooves into wood (for decoration, creating joints, etc.) but as far as providing tips I'm the wrong guy.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: democko - What do you plan on doing with your life after Ask Mitssob is over? 2 chicks at the same time? Also, who are we going to ask our random questions to? Jolinko at large?</b><br />
A: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A939QRRSNV4">Two chicks at the same time?</a> I've had enough trouble maintaining zero chicks at the same time, much less two. Come to think of it, I haven't discussed my adventures in single-hood here. I guess that's because there's nothing that interesting to tell. [<i>Ed: Also, no one asked. Because frankly, who cares? You're single and lonely. We get it.</i> True, but this is my column and I'll cry if I want to.] I joined a couple of popular online dating sites in an effort to find true love and have had some interesting experiences. Nothing against any of the women I've met through them, but let's just say that I haven't yet found what I'm looking for. I did gain a lot of experience in first dates, and I did drink a lot of coffee, but as for "the one", she's still out there.<br />
<br />
Getting back to your question, I have several projects that will keep me busy once this is over. First and foremost is my video editing side-business, "Changing Seasons Productions". I recently wrapped up a DVD project for local band "The Beaumonts". On November 19 I and several of my friends filmed a double-header show at Waterstreet, after which I will have two new DVDs to produce. I also filmed the Tuba Christmas 2010 production in Rochester, during which a nice woman asked if she could buy a copy so I made that DVD, and also provided copies to some friends who had both played in the show and attended. After that I'm not sure what's next but now that I'm getting my name out there as a video producer I'm starting to get some attention. Hopefully it turns into more business.<br />
<br />
I also want to dedicate more time to writing. NaNoWriMo has come and gone, and as usual caused a big delay in these answers. I have to admit that I had a lot of trouble this year. I didn't like my characters, didn't like where my story went, and basically felt like writing was a huge chore. But I slogged through and wound up with my 7th NaNoWriMo victory. Hooray, I guess. I'm going to spend a little time editing the story, then get back to my much-worked-on novel from the past few NaNoWriMo sessions. Another draft is coming in the summer and then maybe I'll start shopping it around.<br />
<br />
Finally I'll be working on my house. I've recently finished up work on my second guest bedroom and will next turn my attentions to the room off my garage. It's currently my office but I've always hated having my office there. The room, being right off the garage, practically begs to be turned into a mud room, so that's what I'm going to do. While I'm at it I'll be moving my laundry up from the basement and installing it there. It's the most major home project I've ever done and I'm looking forward to driving it through to completion. <br />
<br />
So in short, I've got a lot on my plate in the place of Ask Mitssob. I'll miss it, I know, and I might come back to it in the next few years, but there are only so many hours in the day and I just can't dedicate any time to this project any more.<br />
<br />
As to your second question I am currently working through how to set up and moderate a weekly "Ask Jolinko" feature, similar to Brett Gobe's wildly successful "Quiz of the Week" feature. Consider it my legacy in retirement. I think harnessing the collective intelligence of Jolinko could be a fun project. I think the big problem is going to be keeping track of the questions and answers such that people can search through and get good information. I've also secured <a href="http://twitter.com/askmitssob">@askmitssob</a> on Twitter, but this is mostly a placeholder. If you follow it you'll be sorely disappointed, at least for the time being.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: MattB - Last night I had a dream I got a 4 on the QOTW and I was really excited. What does that say about my life?</b><br />
A: Nothing good, let me assure you. You have fixated upon Brett Gobe's famous Quiz of the Week (and by extension Brett Gobe Himself) as the source of your happiness. We'll get more into this in a little bit.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: democko - lets really lay it on Tim since this is the last one. think about all kinds of questions you might have. past, present, future, alternate reality...</b><br />
A: That's the spirit! Bring it on!<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Phil - when will the bills next win more than 8 games in a season?</b><br />
<b>Q: Sarah - When will the Bills be decent again?</b><br />
A: 2013. Of course since this will occur after the forthcoming end of the world in 2012 Bills fans have nothing to look forward to. But they should be used to that by now.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Vanessa - I need a rollerderby name. What should it be?</b><br />
A: Some thoughts off the top of my head:<br />
<br />
- Xena: Warrior Princess<br />
- Unholy Roller<br />
- The Rolling Pin<br />
- I'm Gonna Take Off My Skate And Try To Stab You With It<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Banjo - Why wouldn't Matt Barrett dream of a perfect 5 on the QOTW? Is his low expectations going to hurt him in later in life when he sees the relative achievement of everyone else around him? Or will he be the only one happy and content with the life he is living, and therefore lead a better and more fulfilling life than those of us striving to meet unobtainable goals?</b><br />
A: I think Matt's issues with Brett Gobe are the reason that he didn't dream of a perfect 5. He knows (or more accurately, his subconscious knows) that he doesn't know Brett well enough to score a perfect 5, and his dream reflected that.<br />
<br />
The second part of your question (other than being a grammatical trainwreck) touches on an interesting subject. Expectations management is definitely a key to one's happiness. Personally I try to have desires but not expectations. Expectations can be let down. Desires can be acted upon.<br />
<br />
Digging a little deeper, I think that it's a false comparison to say that people striving to meet unobtainable goals won't be as happy as people who are content with their situation in life. I understand what you mean but I don't think that it's true. Whether one is striving for unobtainable goals or sitting on one's ass eating Cheetos all day doesn't have anything to do with one's happiness. People can be happy in any circumstance in life. Any old saying tells us that money cannot buy happiness. I believe that this is true. Happiness, I've learned, is a choice. If you're happy chasing the unobtainable, good for you. If you're happy sitting on your ass eating Cheetos, good for you too. Ultimately it's up to each person to decide what a fulfilling life is and strive for that.<br />
<br />
Finally, let me close with some suggested reading. My favorite radio talk show host right now is a man named <a href="http://www.dennisprager.com/">Dennis Prager</a>. Through his show I've learned a great deal about human nature, philosophy, and happiness. He's so serious about happiness that he dedicates an hour per week of his show to the subject. If you're looking for information about happiness you should read his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Serious-Problem-Nature-Repair/dp/0060987359/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298927676&sr=8-1">Happiness is a Serious Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Phil - why does banjo care so much about matt's dream? is it because he has a secret love interest with matt? or is it just his true caring nature to care? further why do i care that banjo cares?</b><br />
A: When I started this feature in 2006 I never expected to be using my skills as a writer to address the issues inherent in an all-male threesome. Yet here we are.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Mr Rob Allen - what is the most disappointing experience I will have in my life</b><br />
A: Your final words. They're going to suck. But just about everyone's final words suck, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Brett - Who is the most viable GOP 2012 presidential candidate?</b><br />
A: The field as I see it today can be divided into the following categories:<br />
<br />
<i>Thanks For Playing (Again)</i><br />
Ron Paul, Texas Congressman and perrenial Republican and Libertarian candidate for President - He falls into the protectionist wing of libertarianism, which is not a wing that I occupy. He'll never win, but he'll keep running until he pulls in his final breath, so we're stuck with him.<br />
<br />
<i>Maybe Next Time</i><br />
Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana - I really like Bobby Jindal and think he'd make a fantastic Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate. His management of the Gulf Oil Spill stood in stark contrast with the bumbling response of the federal government, which couldn't seem to get out of it's own way. He's young, articulate, and learning fast how to be a major political player. But he's not ready yet, and fortunately for him he seems to know it. I think we'll look him up in either 2016 or 2020.<br />
<br />
Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey - Chris Christie is one of my favorite political figures, bar none. He doesn't take lip from anyone, stands up to political "sacred cows", and has a quick response for things that would cause most politicians to run for cover. But he has said that he's not running in 2012 and I believe him. Hopefully he reconsiders for 2016 or 2020.<br />
<br />
Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska - Despite being on the national stage for the better part of the past 2 years, Sarah Palin is not ready to be a Presidential candidate. I do not believe that she is as stupid as her detractors claim, nor as smart as her supporters believe. Unfortunately she's been so vilified by her detractors that she can't possibly be an effective candidate this time around. Call me again in 2016 or 2020 and we'll talk. Until then, best of luck to her in whatever venture(s) she chooses to pursue.<br />
<br />
<i>You're Still Around?</i><br />
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House - Newt's been around a long time. He's a thinker and a man of action in the Republican party, but for some reason I just don't like him. These days I feel like the only thing he has to offer is himself, and frankly that's not enough for me.<br />
<br />
Rick Santorum, former Senator from Pennsylvania - Defeated narrowly in 2006, Rick Santorum is the most socially conservative of the candidates that I can see. And for that reason people (and by "people" I mean "non-conservative Republicans") don't think he has a chance. Personally I think he would be good, but I also really hate the idea of Senators as Presidents. Senators deliberate and compromise and talk and deliberate some more. Executives (like governors) lead and do. It's why they, as a rule, make better Presidents. <br />
<br />
<i>Should Have Been You Instead of McCain</i><br />
Tim Pawlenty, former governor of Minnesota - I like him. Republican governor of a relatively liberal state. He wasn't perfect, but he was effective.<br />
Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska - Already talked about her, but let me just add that if she had been the candidate instead of McCain it would have been a much closer race. She still would have lost, mind you, but it would have been a lot more interesting.<br />
<br />
Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts - I like him too. Another Republican governor of a very liberal state. He's run successful companies, managed the Olympics in Utah, was an effective governor, and was a fairly good Presidential candidate. His biggest black mark is RomneyCare, a precursor to ObamaCare. Personally I think he can sell the Republican party on the differences between the two but it's going to be a very hard fight. <br />
<br />
Mitch Daniels, governor of Indiana - He has recently been in the news as part of the trend of governors taking on public employee unions. I think he's done a good job so far and am interested in seeing how he does as a candidate.<br />
<br />
So what's my final answer? I'm going to go with Mitt Romney. I've been a fan of his for several years and think that he will be a fantastic presidential candidate in 2012 and an even better president come 2013.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Banjo - How do you feel about Quantum Suicide theory? Does reality really split into multiple diverging universes with each and every choice that is made, or is there simply an abundance of universes for every possible outcome of ever possible event with a fixed starting point?<br />
<br />
How do you feel about Schrödinger's cat? Furthermore should Schrödinger be brought up on charges of animal cruelty?<br />
<br />
If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it really even matter if it makes a noise? Furthermore, if we have all these forests full of trees, and there's no one around to hear anything, have we succeeded in protecting our natural resources?</b><br />
<br />
A: I like your enthusiasm. Let's dive in! <br />
<br />
1. Before I answer, allow me to state that how I feel about Quantum Suicide Theory is irrelevant to whether or not it's true. It's kind of like asking how I feel about gravity. Sure I hate gravity, but so what? My hatred of gravity does not lessen its hold on me.<br />
<br />
To more directly answer your question, I subscribe to the "many worlds" theory of quantum mechanics. The 4th dimensional reality that we live in is collapsed down from all the possible outcomes of all the possible decisions for this instant in time. For example, there is a universe in which I finished this answer a month ago and one in which I'm never going to finish.<br />
<br />
Strangely this isn't the first theoretical physics question to come across my desk. I tackled it in the first few months of this column back in <a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2006/09/8-answers.html">2006</a>. I highly recommend watching the Flash animation that kicked off the debate three and a half years ago. It's educational, funny, and very well made.<br />
<br />
2. I think that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrödinger%27s_cat">Schrödinger's cat</a> is a very silly thought experiment. Basically it goes like this: seal a cat in a box with some (non-deadly) radioactive material, a glass vial of poison and a hammer connected to a Geiger counter. The radioactive material will begin to decay and at some point the Geiger counter will be triggered, which causes the hammer to fall and break the vial of poison and kill the cat. But (and here's the point) when is the cat dead? According to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics nothing is known about a system until it is observed. Therefore in the above thought experiment, the cat is both alive AND dead until you open the box to find out, at which time it becomes alive OR dead.<br />
<br />
I do not think that Schrödinger should be brought up on animal cruelty charges since there's no evidence that he actually did what the thought experiment. Anyone who actually does this experiment should be brought up on charges, though.<br />
<br />
3. No, it doesn't matter, but this rhetorical question is one that will never die. <br />
<br />
The second part of this question is a non-sequitor. A well-phrased and humorous non-sequitor, but a non-sequitor nonetheless. [<i>Ed. Seriously?</i> Seriously.] Whether there's anyone around to hear trees falling in the forrest has no relation to whether we've done a good job protecting our natural resources. <br />
<br />
<b>Q: karyn - If CUPBAA promised bumper stickers and watches for each donation, would more people donate to support the band? Also, are you donating anything to Clarkson (and/or the band) this year?</b><br />
A: It might. It's a nice gesture and a nice incentive to provide potential donors. And yes, I'm planning to make a donation to the recently-introduced CUPBAA Scholarship Fund, and also a donation to Clarkson University as a whole. <br />
<br />
Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't thank you personally, Karyn, for all the great questions over the years. Looking back I have learned more answering your questions than anyone else's, so thank you!<br />
<br />
<b>Q: SteveFaux - Other than the two games against NE, how many Bills games will I get to see on TV in the greater boston area?</b><br />
[<i>Editor's Note: Tim answered this question halfway through the NFL season. Normally I'd delete this answer outright but since this is the last episode I'll leave it in.</i>]<br />
A: Not as many as you would like but more than the good citizens of New England would like. So in the end you'll both be unhappy. And that's a good thing.<br />
<br />
Seriously, a quick check of the schedule reveals that Buffalo is playing all of its remaining games at 1pm on Sundays, sometimes on CBS and sometimes on FOX. New England's remaining games are spread all over the place, and more often than not they are not playing at the same time and on the same network as Buffalo. In fact, the only two weeks where there is a definite conflict are 14 and 17. <br />
<br />
Unfortunately it's not as simple as that, though. Since Buffalo is not a good team (which is like saying "Potsdam is not a warm place" or "Bill is not a quiet man") the draw in any matchup will be their opponent. There are some complelling matchups in your future, though. I count more than a few weeks where it's possible that you'd get to see them (Week 9 vs. Chicago, Week 12 vs. Pittsburgh, Week 15 at Miami, etc). <br />
<br />
My verdict: You'll get to see the Bills get beaten three more times this season, not counting the second beating at the hands of the Patriots.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Luke - How many tears were shed by Steve Faux when cloves became illegal due to being dubbed a flavored cigarette?</b><br />
A: As has become the new tradition in Ask Mitssob, I'll let someone else answer this question. In this case, Steve himself:<br />
<i>SteveFaux: There were a few tears of anger, then i quit smoking.</i><br />
<br />
And there you have it, folks. The final Ask Mitssob. It's been a pleasure. Thanks for reading, thanks for the questions, and thanks for the laughs. Goodbye.Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-73877462560249945062010-10-10T21:25:00.000-04:002010-10-10T21:25:26.009-04:00Favorite MomentsWhat follows is the equivalent of a clips show of Ask Mitssob. I came up with a few categories of my favorite questions/answers, and then did a "Top 11" list to wrap it up. So without further adieu...<br />
<br />
<b>Busiest Year:</b> 2009. 35 sets of answers takes the prize. I was newly single and Ask Mitssob helped distract me from what turned out to be a pretty lousy year. <br />
<br />
<b>Longest Answer:</b> <a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2008/03/30-answers.html">The Hunt for Red October vs. Crimson Tide.</a> I loved every part of answering this question, from coming up with the categories to watching the movies and making notes to laughing out loud at some of the conclusions. My personal favorite revelation from the movies was the total lack of any female involvement. <br />
<br />
<b>Shortest Answer:</b> On <a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2008/06/34-answers.html">June 25, 2008</a> Gobe asked, "Can you cite your sources?" I didn't feel like getting into a long discussion so I just answered with "Yes." Which is true, I can (and often do) cite my sources.<br />
<br />
<b>Best Non-Question Question:</b> <a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2006/10/12-answers.html">Eric Carney's rambling incoherence about boxed wine</a>. I still laugh when I read it. It has nothing to do with anything. Much like Carney himself.<br />
<br />
<b>Best Non-Answer Answer:</b> Over the years I enjoyed not answering questions as much as I enjoyed answering them. My personal favorite came earlier this year on <a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2010/03/61-answers.html">March 24, 2010</a> and is printed below in its entirety:<br />
<i>Q: Rani - On the topic of fire ... How does a person spontaneously combust?<br />
A: By being not on fire one moment and being on fire the next. </i><br />
Technically correct and completely unhelpful.<br />
<br />
<b>"Um Tim, you missed the reference there":</b> On at least two occasions people asked me questions that flew right over my head. A couple examples are printed below.<br />
- <a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2008/01/28-answers.html">January 28, 2008: Eric Democko - What kind of bear is best?</a> - This is from the hit NBC show "The Office" and because I don't watch it I didn't get the reference. I enjoyed answering the question in my ignorance, though.<br />
- <a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2009/09/54-answers.html">September 7, 2009: Jesse - what's the difference between peanut butter and jam?</a> - This is from a joke that I won't bother repeating here, but needless to say I hadn't heard it before I answered the question.<br />
<br />
<b>Favorite Questioner:</b> A tie between Bill Jeffers and Karyn Graves. Between the two of them I was always guaranteed a question to educate, amuse, and enlighten. Early on Bill asked a question about theoretical physics one week, then a question about breasts the next. Karyn always asked a question that made me think, do research, or both. Thanks to her I learned a few things about owning a home before I went out and bought one. <br />
<br />
<b>Best All Around Episode:</b> <a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2008/06/34-answers.html">June 25, 2008</a>. Not to toot my own horn here but I hit the ground running on all cylinders with this episode.<br />
<br />
<b>Top 11 Questions/Answers:</b> These were the answers I felt captured the spirit of what I was trying to do here. They were funny, maybe a little informative, but mostly they just made me laugh. They are printed below in chronological order. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2008/12/4-answers.html">August 29, 2006: Brett Gobe - Why does the cheese stand alone?</a> - It wasn't the first rhetorical/silly question but it was the first that I really dove into.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2007/01/18-answers.html">10. January 12, 2007: Lisa Jeffers - Is Santa Real?</a> - I enjoyed tackling this traditional question from multiple angles.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2007/04/23-answers.html">April 17, 2007: Jennifer Walden - In a mascot brawl - Who would win, the UMASS Minuteman, or the UMaine Bear?</a> - Classic Ask Mitssob fare. Silly, funny, and a little informative. But only a little.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2008/01/28-answers.html">January 28, 2008: Bill Jeffers - Do YOU think it's Cayuga's waters?</a> - I still think it's Cayuga's waters. No question. Move on.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2008/10/37-answers.html">October 2, 2008: Bill Jeffers - ANSWER MY QUESTION ALREADY! Why do we call chicken meat chicken, turkey meat turkey, but we call cow meat beef, pig meat pork, etc. Is it because there are so many different types of cow and pig cut? Or do birds get special treatment in the meat world?</a> - A very informative question and an equally interesting answer.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2008/11/39-answers.html">November 2, 2008: Karyn Graves - Say a person doesn't particularly care for government run social programs, but really hates to see greedy execs getting away with handing out bad mortgages and then being 'laid off' with millions in severance. Which way should that person vote? Maybe you want to know which is more important? Let's say that having/keeping jobs that provide an income that is not exceeded by necessary expenses for the family is priority #1.</a> - I know that most of my friends and readers don't share my political views so I appreciated the chance to do some writing on the subject just before the 2008 election. I don't know if I impacted anyone's decisions but I enjoyed writing the answer.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2009/05/48-answers.html">May 11, 2009: Bill Jeffers - Is there anything bacon can't do? I mean I'm sure it could even cure this silly swine flu in the proper dosage.</a> - A surprisingly fun answer for the simple fact that when I googled "bacon" the first thing that came up was the bacon bra. With a start like that you know it's going to be an entertaining answer.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2009/06/51-answers.html">June 21, 2009: Nate - Where do babies come from?</a> - A chance to laugh at an inappropriate story with a hilarious punchline.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2009/08/53-answers.html">August 16, 2009: Jesse - are puppies immune to bullets?</a> - Possibly the single most disturbing question in Ask Mitssob history.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2009/12/58-answers.html">December 31, 2009: Matt - Since I'm both lazy and fed up with the pop-culture-obsessed society we are members of, I haven't really been following the Tiger Woods story. All I know is that he crashed his car after possibly being beaten up by his wife because he cheated on her with some skank, but it seems like there might be more details of the story that I haven't paid attention to. Could you give me/us a synopsis of what's been happening with golf's golden boy?</a> - I'd like to think that if you knew nothing about the Tiger Woods Fiasco of 2009/2010 when you started reading my answer, then you knew a little less than nothing at the end.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2010/07/64-answers.html">July 23, 2010 - Jacob - Is The Room really a black comedy or did Tommy wiseau just fail miserably at making a romance drama?</a> - I will never forget sitting through that movie. Having to do that made this the single most painful answer in Ask Mitssob history. By a long shot.<br />
<br />
That concludes this little retrospective. Thanks for joining me. Next up, the answers to the (probably) final round of "Ask Mitssob".Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-26542199067622092032010-09-10T17:44:00.001-04:002010-09-10T17:44:01.975-04:0066 - QuestionsFor the last time (probably), any questions?Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-51865610022282386732010-09-08T21:53:00.001-04:002010-09-08T21:59:21.783-04:0065 - Answers[<i>Editor's Note: Last Sunday afternoon I was woken up from a nap by the sound of a large bundle of papers hitting my front door. I stumbled out in time to see Tim's car pulling away and to hear him call, "So long, sucker!" Intrigued I picked up the bundle of papers. It contained the usual collection of poorly-written and rambling answers, but this time there was a letter on top adressed to me. Well, letter is a bit of a stretch. Here's what it said:<br />
<br />
I quit.<br />
Sorry,<br />
Tim<br />
<br />
I called him up that night and he told me that his decision was final. So it's official: the long-running and much beloved "Ask Mitssob" is going away. Some of you may remember Tim going on hiatus last year. This time I get the feeling that it's going to be a bit before he even thinks about picking this up again. He's got some issues he needs to work through and needs to take some time to get his life in order. I've tried counseling him but frankly that man needs more help than I can give. <br />
<br />
Before we hung up I told him the only way I'd let him out of his contract is if he did one more, and he's agreed to do so. So this is it, folks. The penultimate "Ask Mitssob." Will he come out of retirement sometime in the future like that football player everyone talks about every offseason? Honestly? I couldn't say one way or the other. But I know he's had a great time doing this over the past 4 years and he might get bitten by the bug again one day. And when that day comes I'll be ready to edit once again.</i>]<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Sarah - How the heck are the Australians??</b><br />
A: They're fantastic, thanks for asking. They even say hi. Well not really, but I'm sure if I had asked they would have said a hearty "g'day" to you, Sarah.<br />
<br />
I recently returned from a two week trip to the Land Down Under. I spent a day in Sydney, a week in Canberra for work and then took a week of vacation, splitting my time between Melbourne and Sydney. It was a fantastic trip, one that I will remember for the rest of my life. Unlike my last trip there I took lots of notes and will be compiling them into a more complete journal of the experience. In the meantime I give you these random notes from my time in country.<br />
<br />
- Unlike my first trip I had to actually drive for a while, and since they drive on the left down there it was a little unsettling. Fortunately after a couple of kilometers I felt a lot better. You just have to think everything through. Left is good, look right, left is good, look right, left is good...<br />
- It took me a bit to get used to Australia slang. For example, equipment is "hired", not "rented." "G'day", "How ya goin'?", and "No worries" quickly became part of my lexicon while down there. We really are two people separated by a common language.<br />
- It took me about a day to get adjusted to the time difference on the way out (+14 hours for those of you keeping track at home). I left Rochester at 3:30pm on Thursday, July 29 and arrived in Sydney at 6:30am on Saturday, July 31. I slept great on the 15 hour leg from LA to Sydney and managed to get through the whole day Saturday including an AFL game that night (more on that in a minute). By the second day I was pretty much adjusted. Hooray!<br />
- The return trip was another matter. I left Sydney at 9:30am on Saturday, August 14 and landed in LA at 6:30am on Saturday, August 14. I got about an hour of sleep on the Sydney to LA leg which doomed me for the rest of the trip. I eventually got back to Rochester at 6pm that day, beaten down and exhausted but wide awake. My body finally gave out at around 11pm and I slept fine for about 8 hours but when I woke up I definitely felt odd. The next night I didn't sleep at all. Not even a few minutes. I survived by drinking huge amounts of coffee and sugar-free energy drinks, and then took a dose of sleeping pills and a shot of vodka that night to induce sleep. It took about a week for me to feel close to normal again, which made it the worst jet lag I've ever experienced.<br />
- <a href="http://www.afl.com.au">Australian Rules Football</a> is an experience not to be missed by any visitor to the land down under. "Footy" as it is referred to by the locals is a unique combination of soccer, American football, and rugby. There's always something going on so it's very entertaining to watch, but Mike (my coworker) and I were dumbstruck for about the first five minutes of the game trying to figure out the rules. We eventually figured out some of the scoring rules (6 points for a ball between the middle stakes, one point for a ball between the outer stakes) but largely it was a mystery. For more information click <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football">here</a> for the Wikipedia page.<br />
- One thing I did love about the AFL game was the involvement of the refs. At the start of the quarters and after scoring there's a jump ball, which the ref initiates by throwing the ball as hard as he can into the ground and letting it bounce straight up. When the ball goes out of bounds the ref will collect it, stand with his back to the field of play, and toss it over his head like a bride tossing a bouquet. I am highly amused by this and think more sports should use it.<br />
- Melbourne is basically a cross between London and San Francisco. My first day there had great weather and the next two were grey and rainy. The architecture was older and there was a very European cafe culture feel to the place. I really liked it, especially walking around Federation Square and taking the trolleys.<br />
- Sydney is a fairly modern city with newly renovated sections, big buildings, and of course the famous Opera House and Harbor Bridge. The climate was good there (mid to high 60's and clear skies) and I loved walking around various points of the harbor. I walked across the harbor bridge, took tons of pictures, and ate some fantastic food.<br />
<br />
So that was my Australia trip. I'd love to go back sometime and since we're doing quite a bit of business there I may get a chance in the future.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Banjo - Do the recently graduated (i.e. from college) qualify to draw unemployment while searching for a job in their field of study?</b><br />
A: I was all set to give a detailed and well-researched answer to this question when I was pre-empted by a member of the Jolinko community. At first I was angry but then, well, I read the answer and it was quite good. Here it is:<br />
<br />
<i>Zane <br />
From the NYS Department of Labor:<br />
<br />
A: To qualify for benefits:<br />
<br />
You must have worked and been paid wages for employment in at least two calendar quarters in your base period,<br />
AND<br />
You must have been paid at least $1600 in wages in one of the calendar quarters in your base period,<br />
AND<br />
The total wages paid to you in your base period must be one and one-half times your high quarter wages. The amount of high quarter earnings used to determine if you meet this requirement will not be greater than $8,910. Earnings in the other base period quarters must total at least one-half of $8,910, or $4,455.<br />
<br />
A: The unemployment insurance program provides benefits to individuals who have sufficient employment to establish a claim, have lost employment through no fault of their own, are ready, willing and able to work and are actively seeking work. If you have worked in New York State within the last eighteen months, you have the right to file a claim for benefits.<br />
<br />
to explain this more briefly...<br />
<br />
- you have to have been working for at least 6 consecutive months (2 quarters.)<br />
- you have to have made at least $1600 in wages during one quarter (you surely meet this requirement.)<br />
- if you made less than $8,910 during a 3-month period, then you need to have made at least half that during the other 3-month period (to prevent people from working full time for three months, then slacking off and filing for unemployment benefits.) this shouldnt apply to you.<br />
- you must have lost employment due to no fault of your own. you cant be fired or quit, but you can be laid off.<br />
<br />
you likely meet all of the criteria, but (as far as i know) havent been employed for 6 consecutive months so you might be out of luck.<br />
<br />
EDIT: whoops, there we go again answering questions meant for mitssob to answer.</i><br />
<br />
Believe me, I appreciate it. Thanks, Zane.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Bridget - Are there no workhouses? No prisons? Perhaps if they wish to die, they should do so, and decrease the surplus population.<br />
<br />
^^^^^Name the movie ^^^^^^</b><br />
A: I'm sorry, your question must be in the form of, um, a question. But I'll give you a pass this time. The movie is "A Christmas Carol", based on the book by Charles Dickens of the same title. My personal favorite rendition is <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104940/">A Muppet Christmas Carol</a>. <br />
<br />
<b>Q: Barn - Where is it then?</b><br />
A: Where is what? For the love of God man, where is what?<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Phil - What teams will win each of baseballs 6 divisions?</b><br />
A: Once again it's my favorite time of the baseball season. That time when someone asks me who's going to win the divisions and I make my guesses and then get laughed at for being a complete idiot. This year promises to be the same, trust me.<br />
<br />
AL East: NY Yankees - They'll hold off the Rays and the Sox (who won't make the playoffs).<br />
AL Central: Minnesota Twins - They're up 4.5 on the White Sox at the time of this writing and this year they won't piss that away.<br />
AL West: The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - My only real long-shot. I don't trust the Texas Rangers at this point and think the Angels will stage a great comeback. Maybe.<br />
<br />
NL East: Philadelphia Phillies - The Braves will choke and Philly will slide in.<br />
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals - Ditto for the Reds.<br />
NL West: San Diego Padres - Tim Lincecum cannot save the Giants, so it's the Padres.<br />
<br />
As I say every time I'm asked to predict anything, any money lost by using my picks is not my responsibility.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Michaele-Lynne - Are there any PsyD programs for counseling or industrial/organizational psychology in the Philadelphia/Tri-state area? How about a masters degree in Counseling? I feel like I've exhausted the search engines...I fully do not expect you to actually do this research for me, however, I encourage you to learn up on I/O Psych!</b><br />
A: Well since I'm going to likely use the same search engines as you I probably won't find anything you didn't, but I'll try.<br />
<br />
The site I came across first is <a href="http://degreedirectory.org/index.html">degreedirectory.org</a> and found <a href="http://degreedirectory.org/articles/Psychology_(PsyD)%3A_Doctoral_Degree.html">this</a> site as a result of a search for organizational psychology. There was also a separate page for General Organizational Psycholog found <a href="http://degreedirectory.org/directory/category/Psychology/Psychological_Behavior_Studies/General_Organizational_Psychology.html">here</a>. I didn't see any schools in the tri-state area but I may have missed one so you may want to dig around there a bit. Another site to check out is <a href="http://www.gradschools.com/">gradschools.com</a>, which has a section for clinical-psychology found <a href="http://www.gradschools.com/search-programs/clinical-psychology">here</a>. <br />
<br />
Thanks for the encouragement to study psychology, by the way. The subject of psychology is one I've never been all that interested in. As I continue to develop as a writer, however, I think there's a need for at least a basic education. <br />
<br />
<b>Q: Bridget - How would you suggest one go about preparing now (as a recent college grad) for everything monetary in my future, i.e. financing for a home, paying off loans, bills, and a wedding that's in about a year?</b><br />
A: Below are some of my off-the-cuff thoughts about the subject. Bear in mind that I'm a pretty financially responsible guy but I don't have all the answers, nor do I pretend to. I know nothing about weddings, for example, so I'll defer to the Jolinko community responses (posted at the end of the answer).<br />
<br />
- Pay off your debts as soon as possible. They're a financial drain and the sooner you pay them off the better. I'd divert as much as you can to paying them off early, even at the expense of setting money aside for things like a house. The sooner the loans are paid off, the sooner you can divert more of your income to the things you want to buy.<br />
<br />
- If your or your future husband's work provides a 401k then contribute as much as possible. My company matches up to 6% and I go above that to 12%. You will not miss the extra few bucks every paycheck and over time it adds up. A lot.<br />
<br />
- Get a Roth IRA. It's basically a savings vehicle that you can contribute up to $5000 per year to. You can use it for stocks, bonds, cash, or whatever and it's not taxed when you withdraw when you retire. If you need to get to the money in an emergency (say when you decide to divorce Banjo) you can do so and pay a fee. In fact, I think you can actually make a one-time withdrawal for a down-payment for a house and it's not taxed, but I have to check on that. My company uses <a href="http://www.fidelity.com">Fidelity</a> for its 401k so I set up a mutual fund and a Roth IRA separately from that using them. <br />
<br />
- Honestly a lot of this comes down to organization. I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't balanced my checkbook in years but that doesn't mean I'm totally disorganized. To help keep myself organized I've settled on a web application called <a href="http://www.mint.com">Mint.com</a>. It is basically my financial clearing house, a place where I keep all my accounts up to date. You can track spending, savings, and get an up-to-the-minute look at your personal financial situation. <br />
<br />
- To encourage savings I use automatic withdrawals from my checking account to other accounts. If the money's not in my checking account then it's harder for me to spend it. At least that's the theory.<br />
<br />
- For those of you with a mortgage <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5489508/twice+monthly-half-mortgage-payments-might-save-you-money">here's a novel idea</a> from the good people at <a href="http://www.lifehacker.com">Lifehacker.com</a>. If your mortgage provider permits it then you should pay half the amount of your mortgage with every paycheck (assuming a 2-week schedule). You end up making one extra payment each year, which saves lots of money in interest over time. Unfortunately my mortgage provider (ESL Federal Credit Union) doesn't make it easy to automatically set that up but I was still able to modify this method for my own situation. When I bought my home I did what is known as an 80-10-10 mortgage. I put down 10%, and borrowed 10% using a home equity line of credit for 15 years. Initially I paid double that every month but now what I do is pay the full amount every month plus half every two weeks. It's automatic and it'll help me pay it off a lot faster.<br />
<br />
- Since my mortgage provider is not my normal bank I am able to use this for yet another purpose. With every paycheck I transfer half the value of my mortgage to a savings account with the credit union. Instead of making extra payments, though, I simply save the money. I use it as another savings vessel. <br />
<br />
- The most important thing other than organization is to live within your means. It sounds like common sense but it's amazing how easily people can get in financial trouble. <br />
<br />
And now, the Jolinko community sounds off.<br />
<br />
BillF: I would suggest putting off buying a home for a few years. Homes are much more expensive than just a mortgage payment. You are in charge of fixing leaky faucets and broken windows. You need to buy things like yard equipment, and you have to worry about things like appliances breaking down. You also have to worry about the economy and whether or not you will find yourself laid off because you have no seniority in a struggling company. Or whether you or Banjo get a great job offer somewhere else. You don't want to tie yourself down to a house so early. I think it's a very very wise decision to wait and see where your life is headed, how much disposable income you need to live comfortably (meaning your quality of life is good, nobody wants to be house poor and feel like they can't do anything they would like to do or purchase that awesome new TV because their mortgage payment is too much)<br />
<br />
Zane: Oh i'm definitely waiting for a home for a while. As much as I'd just love to go house hunting because I'm a girl and girls like that stuff, I'm gonna hold off for a while on that one. I'm mostly concerned about affording my wedding. I've got $9,000 aside now, but that's saved for the actual ceremony and not the honeymoon yet.<br />
<br />
BillF: I can't give you much advice on that front because<br />
1) I'm not married<br />
2) Weddings are an expenditure I don't think is worth it (but I am a man)<br />
You look like you're off to a good start with the money you've set aside though. But as for paying off loans and bills. The first step is to consolidate your loans, that will help a bunch. Also, your lending company should be able to provide you with a payment schedule so you know exactly what to expect. Here's what kind of bills you can expect to budget for:<br />
<br />
Rent<br />
Utilities (Electricity, heat, hot water)<br />
Car<br />
Insurance (Auto, Renter's)<br />
Gas<br />
Food<br />
<br />
The biggest thing is to figure out your net income and not your gross income and base all your decisions off of that. I know way too many people who think that because their salary is X that's how much they actually make. Just take how much you take home a month, multiply it by 12 and figure out your necessity spending. Then you know how much extra you have a month to spend on extra curriculars or how long it will take you to save for your next big purchase. There really is no trick or secret. But make sure you can use your money in ways that make you happy. I work with a few guys who pinch every penny and then just leave it sitting in their savings account. And they will never, ever touch it. I'll never understand hording money. It's of no value if it won't ever be used.<br />
<br />
Banjo: I'm a big believer in retirement savings. Using the "rule of 7s" as is common in financial circles (in an average market, your investment doubles every 7 years), if you put aside a pool of money as you begin working, and continue to work for 35 years (5 iterations of 7, however some work for 40-45 years), theoretically your initial pool will be 32 times the value when you withdraw that it was when you deposited it. I intend to retire handsomely, with a fast car... and a shit ton of banjos.<br />
<br />
Jarsh: 9k?! Our wedding was around 7k and a lot of the ppl on here could say it was pretty great<br />
<br />
BillJ: I would agree that it was a good time. It sounds like Bridget's family if more along the lines of ourses', and our reception alone was more than 9k....but we (they) were in a position to fund that. We also did not turn away dates (not a dig, just a fact). I know you were limited by the size of the location, but that's just it: Families who dream of their "only daughter's only wedding" (quote from my father-in-law when speaking to the baker about the blackish flowers on the cake) are willing, able, and sometimes even insist on paying for things to be perfect. That doesn't even touch on the stories I heard working in the wedding business for over a year. Lisa still gets them with calligraphy business. Some people are just crazy about their wedding day. Anyway, weddings are definitely what you make of them. And if you're more on the "traditional" side like she's talking about, you're spending $15-20,000 easy.<br />
<br />
BillJ: This ain't your daddy's average market. That said, things always have a way of stabilizing. Houses are a great investment if you planning on staying in one place for a lot of years...ideally longer than your mortgage. It's also better if you are buying in a market that has steady, gradual property value growth. If you're in a market that is booming, it will bust soon enough. You're looking in the greater Albany area, so until we get a strongly-conservative governor (not just republican, see Pataki) and they shrink government a whole bunch, I don't see Albany's bubble bursting any time soon. If you heading further south, like anywhere near Pughkeepsie, be careful. The closer you get to NYC, the screwier things get. As for other investing, that's all about the long haul as well. Start with your 401k. Invest at the maximum level that your company will match all or part of (I don't know of anyone matching 100%, but whatever) because this is free money. Aside from that, pay your freaking bills. Get rid of all credit card debt, installment loans, and get to work on any student loans that you have. Sure, they are low interest, so do them last, but they still have interest and it will get you more buying power (and probably lower interest rates) in the future. If you have paid ALL of your bills and still have money to play with, call me, I have some things I can sell you. But seriously, if you're bill-less, build up a cushion of $5-10,000 for oops expenses. Beyond that, live a little, you're going to die next week in a firey car crash. PS-my opinion based on my experiences in life and working in the financial services industry. Many will disagree, especially about the house being a good investment. Like BillF said, there are things you'll need to fix. That might be your tipping point-if you like fixing things, owning is awesome. If you don't, you'll want to sell the first time the toilet won't shut up.<br />
<br />
BillJ: An IRA acts similarly to a 401k. The Roth variety is the best (most tax benefits). A minimum or 3 to 4 percent of your income is a good starting point, 5-10 is good if you can. Sorry Tim, I'm hogging.<br />
<br />
Zane: you can likely invest through the bank you already do business with. its usually free, or affordable, in terms of fees and most all banks offer a variety of investments from stock and bonds, to mutual funds and other more sophisticated investments. they'll also sit down and help you figure out what you should invest in to meet your financial goals (making quick money, steady income for retirement, etc.)<br />
<br />
BillF: I stay out of the market as much as I can. It's too fickle in my opinion. Though now is a pretty good time to invest. I have a 401k that I put 6% in but I've chosen to invest in Real Estate rather than Stock or Debt (Bonds).<br />
<br />
Heyotter: Pick 4-6 things to invest your 401k into (and not just the same 4-6 kinds of mutual funds). Any more than that and you've got too much to keep track of. Any less and you aren't diversified enough. Almost doesn't matter what you invest in, they all give shitty returns these days. Anyone trying to tell you their investment is better than everyone else's is just full of shit and trying to get commission. Keep investing your whole life. I don't want to bail your ass out.<br />
<br />
Banjo: If I continue to work for the state, I'll have a hefty pension on top of my other savings. Furthermore, I only have to put into the retirement system for 10 years to draw full benefits once I retire (this is not common, I got in the system before they added a new "tier" which requires you put in for your entire time at the state).<br />
<br />
Todd86: Anyway, weddings are definitely what you make of them. And if you're more on the "traditional" side like she's talking about, you're spending $15-20,000 easy. Carla and I got married in 1999 in Potsdam and it cost us about $12k, and it wasn't what I would call particularly lavish. A lot depends on location. If we got married in NYC it would have easily cost us 3x that. Edit - come to think of it, we did have an open bar the entire reception, and Carla's sorority was there in full force.<br />
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<b>Q: BillJ - Every time I load the animated gif thread my router poops. Short of buying a new router, anything I can do to stop that?</b><br />
A: More fiber.<br />
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Seriously? Check to see that your router is in a place that gets proper ventilation and is not overheating. Next you can open up the administrator settings and check on the security settings to see if any ports are blocked or if anything looks out of whack. <br />
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If all else fails buy a new router. They're fairly cheap and honestly it's not worth the time or money to try and debug one that's really flaky. Better to just move on.<br />
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<b>Q: karyn - Are the numbers on a baseball field fence the distance from home to the bottom of the fence or top? How do they determine how long a homerun was if it lands in the seats? Is it distance to the seat or to ground level where it would have landed if the seats weren't there?</b><br />
A: First, the numbers on a baseball field fence are the distances from the tip of home plate to the bottom of the fence (thanks to <a href="http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_baseball_fence_distances_measured_from_the_ground_or_top_of_fence">Answers.com</a>). Second the folks at <a href="http://www.howstuffworks.com/question704.htm">HowStuffWorks.com</a> answer your home run distance question far better than I could. In short the distance is to ground level there ball would have hit if the seats weren't there. It's a bit of guesswork based on where the ball lands and what kind of home run it is (line drive, normal, or towering).Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-56710971109193270052010-08-02T03:18:00.001-04:002010-08-02T03:18:49.123-04:0065 - QuestionsAny questions?Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-59501304616182181312010-07-23T21:24:00.000-04:002010-07-23T21:24:29.003-04:0064 - Answers<b>Q: Jacob - How long will it be before Steve Jobs initiates kill mode on every apple product, turning each one into a pocket sized nuke and obliterating the human race to make way for a society of steve jobs (both male and female) clones?</b><br />
A: Since I'm writing this answer with an iPhone 4 in my pocket (and yes, I'm also happy to see you) I hope that your theory is wrong. The sheer number of Apple products in the marketplace right now means that if Apple did have some sort of "kill switch" in their iPods, iPads, iMacs and iPhones they could cause considerable damage. The size of the explosive device would obviously play into how much damage. I do not believe that "pocket sized nukes" exist, so I'm not too worried. If you packed an iMac full of C4, though, I'm sure it would make a hell of a bang.<br />
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On a random note, when I was in middle school a friend of mine had a similar theory about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Iacocca">Lee Iaococca</a> and the wildly successful Chrysler family of minivans. It was his theory that Lee Iacococa had planted a small explosive device into every minivan sold (and remember that at the time, Chrystler was pretty much the only game in town when it came to minivans) and would one day detonate them to destroy the country. I find it funny that someone else has come up with that same theory over 15 years later.<br />
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<b>Q: Jacob - Also, shouldn't you know the answer to your own question of "any questions"</b><br />
A: I should, but there's always the risk that no one will ask any questions in a particular episode. On a couple of occasions I've only gotten one question which made for a very short week. <br />
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<b>Q: Banjo - If you were writing a guidebook to being the Business Manager for the Clarkson Pep Band, what sort of advice might you give for future managers?</b><br />
A: Great question. I served as business manager for the Pep Band for the 1999/2000 season and I'd like to think I didn't screw it up too badly. The following are my random thoughts about what I would tell young whippersnappers who yearn to be business managers for the Clarkson Pep Band.<br />
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1. Get one or two credit cards, preferably ones that provide some form of reward, and use those to book the travel expenses. You get reimbursed by the university and build up your credit rating and earn rewards at the same time.<br />
2. Keep an eye out during the year for your successor. Get them to sit at the table with you as you peddle merchandise before games and as you take tickets at the Barben rooms. If you decide that they're not right then move on to the next candidate.<br />
3. Don't use Suggestion #2 only to hook up with your fellow bandies. (Notice I said "only". If they're cute and competent then have at it!)<br />
4. Don't bail the President out if s/he is arrested for public indecency.<br />
5. Worry too much about your first bus trip. Print directions for the bus driver, double-check all hotel reservations, and watch traffic reports on where you're going.<br />
6. Don't worry so much about the next trip. <br />
7. Always be the least drunk person on the eBoard. In fact, it's best if you are sober during games and during the majority of time spent on road trips. Seriously. I'm not kidding.<br />
8. Never ever EVER lose track of the envelope of cash. I mean not now, not ever, never.<br />
9. See #8.<br />
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I would encourage other past business managers to chime in here with their thoughts and suggestions. It's a very rewarding experience and one that I highly recommend.<br />
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<b>Q: Jon Otter - What ever happened to Caswell?</b><br />
A: He and his lovely wife Heather live up in Massena, NY. I have seen the two of them at a couple of Clarkson Pep Band Reunion weekends over the years. They seem very happy and I hope that they're doing well.<br />
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<b>Q: Vanessa - Will Lindsey Lohan ever realize shes a huge fuckup?</b><br />
A: Try as I might I haven't been able to dig up any information about Lindsey Lohan. To my mind that means she can't be that much of a fuckup. Every time I search I keep getting redirected to some Hollywood starlet-gone-wrong named Lindsay Lohan. I presume that this person must be interesting because there are literally thousands of news stories about her. <br />
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I jest, of course. I know that you're asking about the aforementioned starlet-gone-wrong. So let's dig in. This is a complex social and societal question, one that I'm not even remotely qualified to answer for a number of reasons, not the least of which is my total and utter lack of interest. Let me be perfectly clear in the way that Ask Mitssob so rarely is:<br />
<br />
I.<br />
Just.<br />
Don't.<br />
Give.<br />
A.<br />
Crap.<br />
<br />
But this feature is all about me looking into things for the benefit of my readers so let me boil this down to the basics in one horrible run-on sentence: She's a girl who used to model and now she acts and sings and when she's not doing that she drinks and takes drugs and she had a bunch of topless pictures taken of her and then she got some DUIs and spent 84 minutes in jail and then she got a bunch more DUIs and didn't show up for her hearings and now she's going to jail for 90 days and then into rehab for 90 days and then she's going to be naked in a movie called, "Inferno". The end? Of course not! I'm sure there will be much more from this girl in the future and that gossip websites will get millions of hits and gossip magazines will sell thousands of copies. But to reiterate:<br />
<br />
I.<br />
Just.<br />
Don't.<br />
Give.<br />
A.<br />
Crap.<br />
<br />
And far be it from me to tell you all what to do with your lives, but I don't think you should give a crap either. Yes, she's a fuckup. I think that we can agree on that. But the question is whether she will ever realize it. My answer is no, she won't. She is a hip young starlet, immortal in the way that only hip young starlets can be. She's her own woman, out to show the world that there's nothing she can't do. The rules don't apply to her, goddammit! She's Lindsay Fucking Lohan! And so it's not worth our time. Let's just move on.<br />
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So in short, she won't ever realize that she's a fuckup. Am I sad? Nope. Do I care any more now than I did at the beginning of my answer? Nope. Did I at least have fun answering this question? Yeah, a little, I guess.<br />
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<b>Q: Jacob - Is The Room really a black comedy or did Tommy wiseau just fail miserably at making a romance drama?</b><br />
A: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368226/">The Room</a> is not a black comedy, nor do I think that Tommy Wiseau failed miserably at making a romance drama. I think Tommy Wiseau failed miserably, period. I don't know what he was trying to do, but whatever it was he failed. Epically, tragically, unquestioningly, failed.<br />
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Until now the worst movie I'd ever seen was a Sci-Fi Channel Original Movie called <a href="http://www.syfy.com/movies/originals/index.php?pageid=102">SS Doomtrooper</a>. I found out about it about two years ago when some of my coworkers and I started looking through the cast of the new <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0796366/">Star Trek</a> movie. We saw that the guy playing <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002027/">Sarek</a> had been in a movie called <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0795457/">SS Doomtrooper</a>. The reviews on IMDB made it sound like something not to be missed so I set my DVR and watched it a few days later. It was an incomprehensible mess, just as hilariously stupid as the reviews led me to believe. I burned copies of the movie and passed them around to my coworkers and their assessment was the same. <br />
<br />
Well step aside, SS Doomtrooper. The Room is now officially the worst movie I've ever seen.<br />
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It took me the better part of two days to watch this movie because I couldn't watch for more than five minutes at a time without fear of losing my mind. Seriously. From the first horrible line to the final stupid shot I alternated between laughing, screaming at the screen, and holding my head in agony. Never before have I seen such a combination of bad acting, bad writing, incoherent story, and unlikable characters. If it wasn't for Ask Mitssob I wouldn't have bothered finishing it, but just for you all I suffered through to the bitter end.<br />
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Here's my distillation of the plot (or at least as much of it as I can figure out): Johnny (played poorly by Tommy Wiseau himself) is a guy. His fiancé Lisa lives with him. They have awkward sex a couple of times featuring eyeball-searing shots of Tommy Wiseau's ass. There's a kid named Denny whose only function in the movie is to show up from time to time, be annoying, and then leave. Lisa's obnoxious mother comes over and Lisa announces that she doesn't love Johnny anymore. Then she (Lisa) has awkward sex with some random dude. That dude turns out to be Mark, Johnny's best friend. After that a couple show up and have sex in Johnny's apartment but it's OK because the woman is Lisa's friend Michelle. Then Denny gets beat up by a drug dealer on the roof but Johnny and Mark save the day and the drug dealer is never seen again. Later a guy named Peter shows up and plays the role of best actor in the movie (which is like being the world's tallest midget). The guys all play football in tuxedos on what I presume was Johnny and Lisa's wedding day, but there's no wedding. Lisa and Mark have awkward sex again. Lisa gets more annoying and has another awkward conversation with her mother about not loving Johnny and loving Mark. Lisa throws Johnny a surprise birthday party complete with a horrible rendition of "Happy Birthday" sung in four different keys by the cast. Lisa sends everyone outside and then tries to have sex with Mark but some random guy walks in and spoils it. Later Johnny announces to the party that "they're expecting", but Lisa reveals to random guy and Michelle that she lied. Random guy has the best line of the whole movie: "I feel like I'm sitting on an atomic bomb waiting for it to go off." Indeed.<br />
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Anyway, Johnny and Mark fight and then they make up and then they fight again and Johnny storms off and locks himself in the bathroom. Lisa leaves to be with Mark and Johnny wanders around his apartment doing a bad impersonation of Peter Banner turning into the Hulk. Then he finds a gun and shoots himself. Mark and Lisa find him and cry. Lisa asks if they (she and Mark) can be together and Mark yells at her and says that she killed Johnny. Donny shows up and cries. Final shot is of Johnny lying in a pool of blood. The end.<br />
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This movie is the first ever to reach the final level of my movie rating scale (which I forgot to mention when <a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com/2009/07/52-answers.html">I brought it up last year</a>): Destroy All Copies. I will be deleting my copy shortly and I encourage anyone who has it to do the same for the benefit of all humanity.Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-14606646549230409102010-07-07T17:09:00.000-04:002010-07-07T17:10:00.855-04:0064 - QuestionsAny questions?Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-19807690365068017902010-07-06T21:36:00.001-04:002010-07-07T17:09:45.679-04:0063 - Answers<span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Jacob - so what is this exactly for those not in the know?</span><br />A: This is the Internet. It's basically a series of tubes.<br /><br />Oh, sorry, you mean what is <a href="http://askmitssob.blogspot.com">"Ask Mitssob"</a>. I get confused sometimes. Since this is yet another new venue for the glory that is "Ask Mitssob" I guess a brief overview of what's going on here is fitting for those of you new to the party.<br /><br />The story of "Ask Mitssob" begins with my membership in the old Jolinko sometime in 2006. Part of the membership was a blog. I've been doing the blogging thing off and on for a decade and I decided that I would do something different with this blog. In June of 2006 I began to solicit questions from my friends on Jolinko and provide them with answers. Now, before you think that I'm some kind of arrogant know-it-all I'll repeat what I said then: I am not doing this to prove that I'm smarter than everyone else. Far from it. By taking questions on subjects I know nothing about I'm forced to research, learn, and come to new understandings. Plus I get to practice my writing skills, get into interesting debates, and make copious amounts of fun of myself. All told I've had a blast doing this for the past four years and will continue doing it for as long as I have an audience willing to ask me strange questions and put up with my rambling, incoherent answers. <br /><br />So ask away, good people of New Jolinko (and Blogspot and Facebook and wherever else I decide to post this). Thanks for your questions and I'll see you in the answers!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Bill Jeffers - It seems like you get more condensation on a glass than a plastic cup. What is it about glass that makes it more condensation friendly? Or am I mistaken?</span><br />A: Condensation is the conversion of a substance from a gaseous state to a liquid state. What you're describing happens when water vapor in the air comes in contact with the cold surface of your cup. I suspect that glass gather more condensation because glass transfers heat and cold faster than plastic. That means that the outside of your glass gets colder faster than the outside of your plastic cup, and thus gathers more condensation from the air. I'm sure if I'm mistaken then the mechanical engineers amongst us will correct me.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Sam Parker - What is the typical penalty for drunk driving a car with no registration, insurance, or up to date inspection sticker in the state of new york?</span><br />A: All of these penalties are assuming that you are convicted.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/broch/c39.htm">Driving while intoxicated</a> - There's a myriad of options depending on age, whether this was your first offense, and the exact amount of intoxication. Minimum is for driving with a .02 to .07 while under 21, which is $125 plus a 6-month license suspension and a $100 re-registration fee. Maximum is your third offense of aggravated DWI (.18 or higher) in a 10-year span, which results in a maximum $10,000 fine, up to 7 years in prison and a minimum 18 month license revocation. Click on the link to find your exact case.<br />Driving without registration - NY Vehicle and Traffic Code section 401. You're fined between $75 and $300 and/or imprisoned for up to 15 days.<br />Driving while uninsured - NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law 319 - Suspension of your license for one year, which will result in a civil penalty of $750 when you go to re-register. You're fined between $150 and $1500 and may be imprisoned up to 15 days.<br />Driving without inspection - If the inspection sticker on your vehicle has expired in the past 60 days, you can receive a fine of $25 to $50. If the inspection sticker is expired more than 60 days, the fine is between $50 and $100. If there is no inspection sticker, the fine is between $50 and $100. Mandatory state surcharges of $55, plus additional fees, are added to the fine.<br /><br />So all told the minimum you'll pay is $1,180 and the maximum is $12,705. Of course, if this situation applies to you then you really should be asking a lawyer and not me.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Jarsh - Why is it that every morning when I need to log into 5 different websites at work, most use the same password, or at least a variation, that hotmail nearly 9/10 times makes me do it again due to bad log-in?</span><br />A: Below are a few possible explanations I was able to come up with.<br /><br />1. Someone has installed a password-sniffing utility on your work computer that has redirected your Hotmail account to a bogus page that tells you that you've logged in incorrectly so as to collect your password. This is, needless to say, unlikely, but if you've made any new enemies in the past few months you might want to check it out.<br /><br />2. You are missing the variation in your password scheme consistently on Hotmail because it's ingrained in your head to do it that way. To break out of that cycle try logging into your websites in a different order and see if it still happens.<br /><br />3. Microsoft is automatically rejecting your first login to mess with you. Bill Gates probably has better things to do with his time but I wouldn't put it past one of his employees to torture you for no good reason.<br /><br />3. You are hung over. Stop drinking before work.<br /><br />4. You are drunk. Stop drinking at work.<br /><br />Hope this helps. Let me know if this problem persists and I'll see if I can come up with more helpful suggestions.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Phil - why the hell can't people drive?</span><br />A: Allow me to offer an answer that may seem a bit counterintuitive: people cannot drive because roads are too safe. This answer is based on an article I read in <a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.12/traffic.html">Wired</a> magazine that was first published back in 2004. The article is about a traffic engineer who is redesigning roads with fewer warning signs and traffic indicators. This traffic engineer found that by taking away those warning signs drivers became more cautious and thus safer. Intersections with fewer signs forced drivers to pay attention because they couldn't predict the actions of other drivers based on signs. Drivers and pedestrians and bikers all had to cooperate and share the road, and it worked. His ideas were first implemented in Denmark but have since gone as far as West Palm Beach, FL.<br /><br />An extension of his argument is the idea that signs and signals give a false sense of security, that people read signs of danger and assume that because of the warnings things are actually safer. Counterintuitively, making roads more dangerous (with fewer traffic signals, warning signs, and with things like traffic circles) makes them safer because we have to pay more attention. I think that this false sense of security we have contributes to the sense that people can't drive.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Bridget Murray - Why do shower farts smell more than regular farts?</span><br />A: I think there are two reasons for this (and I base this on absolutely no medical knowledge or research):<br />1. Your body has had the chance to digest and process the food from the day before and thus generate a lot more gas. Concurrently that gas has had a chance to build up and become more, um, potent I guess is the polite way of putting it.<br />2. The confined space of a shower combined with the steam (presuming that you're not taking a cold shower, if you know what I mean) would have an amplifying effect on said fart.<br /><br />I was going to leave the answer at that and then our own Matt Barrett chimed in with this gem: "Because you shower with Banjo." Never before in Ask Mitssob history has a user-provided answer been both concise and horrifying. I'd like to thank you for planting that mental image and thus denying me hours and hours of sleep. Well played, sir.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Rani - Of the 4 elementals (or 5, I saw you missed heart). Which would you rather be killed by?</span><br />A: Let's take these one by one:<br />- Air: Blown to death? Where do I sign up?<br />- Water: Drowning is not exactly my idea of a good time but it has the benefit of being relatively fast compared with, say, a heart attack.<br />- Fire: As much as I love fire I'm not keen on the idea of burning to death. I suppose if the fire was hot enough to completely incinerate me I'd be OK with it, but if it's a mild fire and you survive then you're probably going to be killed by the resulting infection. And that, my friends, would suck royally.<br />- Earth: Buried alive? Welcome to one of my nightmares. Killed by falling rocks? Now that's more like it.<br />- Heart: Loved to death? Kinky...<br /><br />I think I'd prefer fire on the condition that it's total. Otherwise I'll go with drowning.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: ML - When did I say Cornetto?</span><br />A: It was in the days of the Old Jolinko during what became the final round of Ask Mitssob questions on the old Random Thread. For some reason you posted "Cornetto" and I decided that it was worth calling out. What you meant or why you posted it are questions that only you can answer, ML. So why did you post it and what did you mean?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Lisa - What is the difference (to me) between a 32-bit and 64-bit PC with Windows? The background to my question is that I'm hoping to get a new laptop within the next year or so (the one I have now is 5 years old, def 32-bit). I just found out that the Nike+ Armband that I got for my birthday apparently doesn't run at all on a 64-bit system. It made me realize that I know nothing about the new technologies or what I'll really need/want in a new computer!</span><br />A: The difference between 64-bit Windows and 32-bit Windows is 32 bits.<br /><br />Ha, get it? Difference? 64-32=32? Sorry, Lisa, I couldn't resist. <br /><br />To REALLY answer your question, there is little practical difference to the every-day computer user. 64-bit references the architecture of the computer in question. I won't bore you with details; if you're looking for more information I would check out <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64-bit#32-_vs_64-bit">this Wikipedia entry</a> which outlines some differences between 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.<br /><br />In your background information you mentioned that you were interested in a particular application, specifically the Nike+ Armband. I would assume that Nike will be updating their software to support Windows 7 64-bit, but in the interim I found a blog post <a href="http://benshead.bhharris.com/2010/03/nike-plus-64-bit-window/">here</a> that explains how to run the program in Windows XP Compatibility mode on Windows 7. In short, I wouldn't let particular software issues dissuade you. The world is Windows, and since Windows is moving to 64-bit then it's in the interest of software companies to keep their products current.<br /><br />Good luck in your computer purchase and if I can be of any help I'm only a question away! Or a phone call, which will likely be faster.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Karyn Graves - The Graves family will finally be upgrading to one of those fancy phones that use those app thingys before December. It appears our verizon bill will go up by at least $30/month (per line?) just to add the data and then we also need the actual phone(s). Should we wait until closer to the deadline to get one or start looking now?</span><br />A: To answer your first question, the $30/month data plan applies to each phone, so if you and Kevin both get smart phones then you will have to pay an additional $60/month.<br /><br />If you want an iPhone 4 then you'll have to switch to AT&T, otherwise your choices are Android, Palm, Windows Mobile or Blackberry. What I would recommend is that you start looking at the operating systems for the phones now. You may decide that you really love/hate one of them and can thus help narrow your decision down. If I wasn't a full-fledged Apple Junkie I would be going with the Android platform. There's lots of apps, they have the most powerful phones, and some of the phones let you use the phone as a mobile wifi hotspot. For hardware comparisons the good folks at Engadget have produced a nifty table comparing offerings from various manufacturers, which can be found <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/iphone-4-vs-the-smartphone-elite-evo-4g-n8-pre-plus-and-hd2/">here</a>.<br /><br />Phone turnover is so fast these days that waiting until September or even October before choosing a phone might be a good idea. You can keep track of new and upcoming phones on technology websites like <a href="http://www.engadget.com">Engadget</a> and <a href="http://www.gizmodo.com">Gizmodo</a> (assuming you're not already doing that) and when one comes along that strikes your fancy you can buy it. The other advantage of that is that when the new and fancy phones come out that often drives down the price of the previous generation, which may be all that you need. I wouldn't wait any longer than October because that gives you a solid month of time before your trip to test drive the phones and get used to them. If they turn out to be faulty or they just plain suck then you have time to exchange them for something different before your trip.<br /><br />A final note on the whole smartphone thing. I've had a smartphone (in my case an iPhone 3G and iPhone 4) since June of 2008 and I can say without question that it changed my life. Having instant access to information, entertainment, as well as full contact with the world is something I now could not live without. I'm not proud of this, it's just a fact and something to consider. It really is an addiction of sorts, which may color your decision to purchase one.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Bill Jeffers - Any medical research done on vibrating cell phones in your pocket causing muscle spasms in your leg? I swear I feel my pocket vibrating 15 times a day, sometimes even when my phone isn't in it.</span><br />A: To start, our own Eric Democko decided to be his usual helpful self (no sarcasm, he really is helpful) and contribute the following:<br /><br />because I like to help mitssob out every once in a while: <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-06-12-cellphones_N.htm?csp=#uslPageReturn">http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/200 ... PageReturn</a><br />Quote:<br />"Some call it "phantom vibration syndrome." Others prefer "vibranxiety" — the feeling when you answer your vibrating cellphone, only to find it never vibrated at all."<br /><br />I found a similar article at a site called <a href="http://americaswatchtower.com/2007/11/13/beware-of-phantom-vibration-syndrome-it-could-kill-you/">America's Watchtower</a> from 2007 that had more interesting information. A psychologist was quoted and I'll repost that quote in its entirety below because it does a good job of explaining the science of what's going on:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Peter Tse, professor of psychological and brain sciences at Dartmouth College, said phantom vibration rings may happen because cell phone users develop a "template" in their heads.<br /><br />"I have a template for my baby’s cry in my head, for example, and sometimes just by chance a random set of sounds will match it," he said. "I will go to check, but the baby wasn’t crying."<br /><br />He said the brain is constantly filtering out background information. Tse said sometimes when a person is monitoring or searching for something important to them — such as a cell phone call or the sound of their own name — some of this background information is picked up and matched to a mental template.<br /><br />It’s called the cocktail party effect.<br /><br />"When everyone’s talking at a cocktail party, if your name or anything close to your name comes up in the room, you easily pick up on that," Tse said.<br /><br />But false vibrations are less easily understood. Some neurologists compare it to the nerve sensations felt by amputees in the place of the missing limb.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Bill Jeffers - I'm generally not one to ask engineers a grammar question, but this has been annoying me. Brett reminded me of this annoyance when he posted "Italy are out". In my logic, it should be "Italy IS out", but all the commentators say it the dumb way. Is it a European thing? I mean we're talking about a singular team/country, so is would be the appropriate version for me. Though I suppose it would depend on what your definition of is is, right Bubba?</span><br />A: Your write, axing engineers grammar and speling stuff are dangerous. <br /><br />The difference in phrasing comes down to differences between how British English and American English treat collective nouns like names of countries, organizations, etc. In British English they usually take on a plural form when it comes to verbs. For example, "Italy are out." In American English those same collective nouns take on a singular form. For example, "Italy is out." <br /><br />So the real answer is that both statements are correct depending on who you are, where you're speaking, and the kind of English you prefer to speak.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Kait and Jeff - Hey Mitsy, if becoming a nun means "marrying God" does one "divorce God" or get an annulment to leave religious life?</span><br />A: The technical term for giving up being a nun is "dispensation", which according to a <a href="http://www.sistersunitednews.org/glossary.cfm">glossary</a> I found at the Sisters United News website means, " release from vows granted by the Catholic Church allowing a sister to leave a congregation." I suppose this means that one is "divorcing God", but really dispensation sounds more like the dissolution of a contract than something that requires an annulment.Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-30983099937712150082010-06-06T23:10:00.001-04:002010-06-06T23:10:58.510-04:0063 - QuestionsAny questions?Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-91479729939311286522010-04-06T16:32:00.037-04:002010-06-05T23:11:29.130-04:0062 - Answers<span style="font-style:italic;">Editor's Note: Tim has been very busy during this little unannounced two-month vacation from his Ask Mitssob duties. He has been filming and editing for his <a href="http://www.changingseasonsproductions.com">video production company</a>, he's written a music video for his old band, and he's working hard on a new first draft of his novel. In short, Tim's got a lot on his plate, but that didn't stop me from sending a stern reminder that his legions of fans are eagerly awaiting their answers. He didn't believe me, but he put out these answers anyway.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Bill - What's your favorite elemental?</span><br />A: The four elementals are earth, fire, water, and wind. Of the four I think that water is my favorite. I've always enjoyed spending time on the beach either swimming in the ocean or just sitting and enjoying the sights and sounds. Plus I love seafood, and seafood is impossible without water.<br /><br />Of course, as a guy there's a special place in my heart for fire. But that's true of all guys.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Bridget - Where and how can I get cheap plane tickets or save money on flying somewhere?</span><br />A: When I have to book travel for myself outside of work I've used <a href="http://www.orbitz.com">Orbitz</a> and have been pretty happy with them. I'm also a fan of the aggregator site <a href="http://www.kayak.com">Kayak</a>. Finally, there's the William Shatner supported <a href="http://www.priceline.com">Priceline</a>, which should earn your business for no other reason than it keeps William Shatner <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU2ftCitvyQ">off the mountain</a>. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q (Part 1): Matt - This is going to be similar to the question I asked about the Tiger Woods saga. I haven't been paying much attention to the whole healthcare debate. Can you give me/us a brief rundown of what is being proposed, who the proposed changes will affect, and why it seems like everyone and their brother is against the legislation? Also, if you have any ideas of your own regarding what should be done, I'd be interested to hear those too.<br />Q (Part 2): Adam - I would also like to hear your thoughts on the health care legislation, but I would like to hear a bi-partisan version of the "overview" first. I'm not saying you'd be biased, but in the interest of education, I'd like to hear the big picture.</span><br />A: This question is the reason it's been so long between answers. Normally my editor would be providing excuses and/or insults but this time I wanted to do it myself. Every time I've sat down to answer this question I find myself going off on tangents about the nature of the American system of government, constitutional conservatism, and other lofty topics. It's taken me a long time but now I think I'm ready to provide some thoughts on this topic. It's not as complete as I'd like but it'll do for now.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Unbiased Overview</span><br /><br />The Wall Street Journal had a good year-by-year breakdown of the healthcare bill as it currently stands, which can be found <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704117304575137370275522704.html">here</a>. Another interactive guide was put together by USA Today and can be found <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-03-22-health-you_N.htm">here</a>. Finally, the Washington Post has put together a nice "look ahead" <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2010/05/13/GR2010051305661.html">here</a>. Together these guides provide a better unbiased review than I could so I'll defer to them for this part of the answer.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Biased Thoughts</span><br /><br />First, I can't speak for "everyone and their brother" on the issue of opposition to the bill. I think that the primary source of opposition to the bill is the feeling that an intrusive federal government meddling in the lives of citizens, but that's really a topic for another question and another time. Speaking for myself, the real problem that I have with Obamacare can be stated in two words: unintended consequences. The minute that the government tries to fix something that it perceives as broken there are a whole new set of problems created. I gave this example a few answers ago but I'll use it again: President George H.W. Bush increased taxes on luxury yachts as a way to tax the rich, but instead caused thousands of workers to be laid off. There are hundreds of examples like this. When the government tries to solve something it invariably creates more problems than it solves.<br /><br />So what are the unintended consequences of a bill as complex and cumbersome as Obamacare? For an interesting read on just a few check out <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/05/news/companies/dropping_benefits.fortune/">this</a> article in Fortune Magazine. It outlines how big companies are considering dropping health coverage for employees since it'll be much cheaper to just pay the penalties. Now was this the intention of the bill? Of course not, but companies are going to act in their best interests despite the best intentions of the government. And any bill as massive as this one is going to have reams and reams o unintended consequences. I'm sure we're only just scratching the surface.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Dr. Mitssob's Solutions</span><br /><br />Now that I've rambled a bit what would I like to see done? Below are three quick ideas I'd like to see implemented.<br /><br />1. Restore the original definition of "insurance" - The basic concept of any insurance is that you pay a small amount on a periodic basis which covers you against a loss. Does that sound like health insurance to you? No, it doesn't, because "health insurance" now means "health care." An example I like to use is this: do you have insurance for the spark plugs in your car? How about for oil changes? No, of course not. Those things are to be paid for out of pocket as part of the care of your car. You have insurance for when you are involved in an accident. The term for this is catastrophic insurance. If you are in an accident the the costs of that accident are covered by your insurance. A side effect of this is that your premiums will go up because you are deemed a bigger risk. That's life. Getting back to the health side of things, if I get hit by a rental car bus on my next business trip then my insurance will pay for the costs of my hospital stay. As a result of this my insurance premiums will go up. You know what? That's also life. If you have demonstrated risk in your life then you're going to get charged more to insure your health. That's just the way that it is. <br /><br />This is why the talk of "pre-existing conditions" during the debate about Obamacare made me shake my head in frustration. The rules that the government wants to put in place would let you buy insurance after you're sick, and then not have your premiums increase. That does not make sense from a business perspective. You can't buy retroactive car insurance that covers you after you've had a crash, and you can't buy homeowner's insurance while your house is on fire, so why should you be able to buy insurance after you break your leg? If you force insurance companies to do things that make no business sense then the insurance companies are going to fold. Period.<br /><br />In short, pillar one of Dr. Mitssob's Healthcare Plan is to return to a normal insurance model. You want a doctor's appointment? Good for you, you get to pay money for it out of pocket. The result is that doctors will compete for your service, similar to how Jiffy Lube and Midas compete for your service when it comes to oil changes. Costs of routine visits will go down and the quality of the care will increase.<br /><br />2. Leave drug companies alone - There's another side to the health care debate and that is the business side. It's very fashionable and chic to demonize and blame both insurance companies and drug companies for health care woes. Just take those "huge profits" away and life will be better for everyone, right? As I covered in a previous answer, drug companies make drugs by investing money in research and development. So where does that money come from? From selling drugs that people want. That means that erectile disfunction medication pays for research into new cures for cancer. Yes, it's a weird world, but the profit motive of the drug companies does far more good than politicians and activists do. Name me one drug that a politician created. Go ahead, I'll wait. Done? When I hear about the government wanting to cut into drug company profits or forcing drug companies to sell drugs for less I get worried. If there's no money to develop cures for cancer or new arthritis medication or whatever else we need then those drugs aren't going to get made. Think of that the next time drug company profits are mentioned.<br /><br />3. Decouple insurance from employment - Want a historical example of unintended consequences? After World War II General Motors started offering health insurance as part of an employee's compensation so as to get around wage caps that the government put on companies. Eventually those wage caps went away but companies continued to offer health insurance as a perk to attract employees. What I'd like to see is a move towards an individual system. Let people purchase health insurance (or not) without input from their employers. That way when you change jobs the insurance moves with you, and employers have the burden of providing insurance to their employees removed. It's a win-win in my opinion.<br /><br />So what's my final answer? Is there hope? Are we doomed? I honestly don't know. I'm lucky in my life to be healthy and have a job that provides me with good health insurance. If tomorrow I find out that I've got cancer or some other terrible disease then my insurance is going to cover me. And I'm happy about that. But that doesn't mean I'm satisfied with the health care system. I think improvements must be made but that market-based improvements are going to do a hell of a lot better than the government.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Eric - I would like to hear mitssob as Glenn Beck on healthcare. Then again as Michael Moore</span><br />A: I would too. Unfortunately I don't pay enough attention to either of those personalities to properly "walk in their shoes" so to speak, nor do I have the time or desire to learn.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: vanessa - How many mistresses do you think will end up coming out about sleeping with Jesse James?</span><br />A: The count as of this writing is 5. They are:<br />- Michele "Bombshell" McGee<br />- Melissa Smith<br />- Brigitte Daguerre<br />- Unnamed Woman #1<br />- Unnamed Woman #2<br /><br />The last of these was exposed (as it were) at the beginning of April. I'm tempted to say that since no others have come forward in the past two weeks that we're done with this sad, sorry story. However, these things are never over until they're over so I'll say that one more woman will be found.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Sam - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JdWlSF195Y">Why does the sun shine?</a></span><br />A: The sun shines because of a variety of nuclear reactions taking place in its core. These reactions are outlined quite well <a href="http://science.howstuffworks.com/sun2.htm">here</a> and mostly involve hydrogen and helium. <br /><br />In my first of two random asides, while researching this question I did what I normally do: type the question verbatim into Google and see what comes back. A few links down I found perhaps the <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/sun/why_shine/sun_paths_0.html">least helpful answer</a> I've encountered in my years of doing this exercise. [<span style="font-style:italic;">Ed: You mean other than the answers you come up with?</span> One of these days I'm going to turn this column over to you and we'll see just how good you are at this.]:<br /><br />"The Sun shines because it sends out energy in all directions as radiation. This radiation takes the form of light and heat. Almost the same amount of radiation leaves the Sun in all directions. It takes about eight minutes for the light from the Sun to travel to the Earth."<br /><br />Thanks for playing, windows2universe.org. <br /><br />Bill: The sun is a ball of something something gas.<br /><br />The song is called "Why Does The Sun Shine?" and it begins "The sun is a mass of incandescent gas, a gigantic nuclear furnace." A full version performed by They Might Be Giants can be found by clicking on the question itself.<br /><br />This answer gives me the chance to share one of the more surreal episodes in my life. The summer between Junior and Senior years of high school in New Hampshire students can apply to be part of the <a href="http://asp.sps.edu/">Advanced Studies Program</a> at <a href="http://www.sps.edu">Saint Paul's School</a> in Concord, NH. You take one "college-level" course plus a writing course. The course I chose to take was in Astronomy; at the time I was more of a science nerd than I am now and had dreams of becoming an astronomer. Anyway, one afternoon our class had to stand in front of the gathered masses in the lunch hall and sing that very song. It was, in a word, weird. <br /><br />Brett:<br />The sun is a miasma<br />Of incandescent plasma<br />The sun's not simply made out of gas<br />No, no, no<br /><br />The sun is a quagmire<br />It's not made of fire<br />Forget what you've been told in the past<br /><br />(Plasma!)<br />Electrons are free<br />(Plasma!)<br />A fourth state of matter<br />Not gas, not liquid, not solid<br /><br />The sun is no red dwarf<br />I hope it never morphs<br />Into some supernova'd collapsed orb<br />Orb, orb, orb<br /><br />The sun is a miasma<br />Of incandescent plasma<br />I forget what I was told by myself<br />Elf, elf, elf<br /><br />(Plasma!)<br />Electrons are free<br />(Plasma!)<br />A fourth state of matter<br />Not gas, not liquid, not solid<br /><br />(Plasma!)<br />Forget that song<br />(Plasma!)<br />They got it wrong<br />That thesis has been rendered invalid<br /><br />Thanks, Gobe. As always a nice contribution.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: vanessa - Whats the difference between a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornet">wasp</a>and a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornet">hornett</a>? Please provide pictures/links. Thank you.</span><br />A: Basically a <a href="http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/wasps/hornet/">hornet</a> is a kind of <a href="http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/wasps/">wasp</a>, similar to how a golden retriever is a kind of dog or a square is a kind of rectangle. More precisely a hornet is a social, nesting wasp. The main distinguishing characteristic is that a hornet constructs its nest out of wood pulp. Below are pictures of wasp and hornet respectively:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/wasps/thread-waisted_wasp.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 216px; height: 192px;" src="http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/wasps/thread-waisted_wasp.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/wasps/hornet/hornet.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 216px; height: 192px;" src="http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/wasps/hornet/hornet.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />More information can be found <a href="http://www.ehow.com/facts_5974689_difference-between-wasps-hornets_.html">here</a>, <a href="http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/345985">here</a>, and <a href="http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_a_wasp_and_a_hornet">here</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Michaele-Lynne - Cornetto</span><br />A: What is a frozen ice-cream cone brand? [<span style="font-style:italic;">Ed: When did this become Jeopardy?</span> I'm not sure. Maybe ML mistook me for Alex Trebek. It's easy to do.]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Karyn - Is there any way to get some of those (good) virtual console/wii ware games for free? Are there any that are actually worth what they charge?</span><br />A: To do the things you describe you have to hack your Wii, which is something that sounds scary but is actually pretty simple and painless. I'd been thinking about doing it for a while and I used your question as an excuse to do it this afternoon. The goal is to get the "Homebrew Channel" onto your Wii. I started with <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5342733/hack-your-wii-for-homebrew-without-twilight-princess">these</a> instructions I found on my new favorite website <a href="http://www.lifehacker.com">Lifehacker</a>. Unfortunately they didn't work for me. I have 4.2U software which for some reason didn't work with the files provided with the instructions. I ended up finding a custom version of the <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?ejimdytlmzi">files</a> through <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbMuWMawe7M">these</a> YouTube instructions. <br /><br />Once the Homebrew Channel is on your Wii there there's one more step. The Homebrew Channel runs off of an SD card. To work on the Wii the card must be formatted as FAT and have a directory called "apps". The first app you need is the <a href="http://www.codemii.com/download/">Homebrew Browser</a> put out by the good folks at <a href="http://www.codemii.com">CodeMii</a>. Put it into the apps directory and run it from the Homebrew Channel to get access to all sorts of cool stuff. When you download apps they are placed on that card and you can also go get custom apps off the Internet. Once you have everything installed I recommend reading <a href=" http://lifehacker.com/5041110/soup-up-your-homebrew+hacked-wii">this</a> article for some tips and tricks about what to do with your newly-hacked Wii. For example, to run emulated games (which is all the Wii's Virtual Console is) you just download an emulator and put the ROM for the game onto that SD card.<br /><br />As for the last part of your question I can't say whether any of the old games are worth the cost since I haven't bought any yet. Partly this is because I'm a cheapskate but it's also because I have a backlog of actual Wii and GameCube games I'm working through. In the Wii-Ware realm I have played a trivia game and a beer-pong game over at Bill's place and they're pretty entertaining and probably worth the few bucks they cost.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Phil - Will it snow again in Potsdam before graduation this year?</span><br />A: Yes. There is typically a spring snowstorm in Potsdam and this year will not be an exception.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Todd Nielson - What do you use to get something you post to, say, Twitter, and have it show up on Facebook, too?</span><br />A: I haven't done this in a while, but if I remember correctly it involves linking your Twitter account in Facebook. Check <a href="http://www.facebook.com/twitter/">this link</a> for instructions on how to do that. I had the two sites linked for a while but ended up disconnecting them since they serve two different purposes in my life.Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881657856193733489.post-74236127075871748102010-03-30T00:08:00.001-04:002010-03-30T00:10:55.786-04:0062 - QuestionsAny questions?Timothy Bosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11532819068017310406noreply@blogger.com1