Converse, you don’t turn “appropriate” thousand-year-old symbols of love and hope by making them symbols of hate for a few years. The issue is in your head, not ours. Your argument is silly, in the least. (Disclaimer: Buddhist westerner)

It just looks like an Audi-knockoff now, like many other sporty, but more inexpensive, cars look much like the beamer’s signature look.

Hiragana and Katakana can be learned in about a couple of hours each, on such sites as Memrise, etc. The two syllabaries are the equivalent of learning the English alphabet. That gets you tickets into Japanese elementary school. There are also many android/ios apps that do the same thing, maybe not so much fun as your…

Agreed, and I am one of those old f*rts. I do wish that ships would spend a night at each of the ports so better food and entertainment could be had on shore. Then again, since few (if any) ships do spend the night as they want to get to the next port for the next day, perhaps there isn’t much nightlife or good food…

While your excursion idea might save you money, it might also get you left behind. I agree that most excursions are too expensive, but if you go on a Cruise-Line-sponsored excursion and something goes awry so that your group can’t get back to the ship before its scheduled departure time, the ship will wait for your…

Is running your car in cold weather to warm it up still illegal in Germany? (Or was it ever and perhaps someone was “pulling my leg” back in 2008?)

So, imagine Hugh Laurie thinking about “Will this enable me to lead troops into battle? Me being a commander and whatnot? Forward, boys, forward into the breeches, bitches! Whose britches? Those bitches.”

Funny how many of the replies are from 1/09/17. And one purported to be from 1969? At any rate, to commiserate with the lack of Wee Heavies available in the US (or at least the East Coast near DC), my favorite ever Scotch Ale was the McEwans’ Scotch Ale. Discontinued, I believe, when the brewery was bought by some…

Well, then, in the spirit of inquiry, what was McEwans’ Scotch Ale? That was my all-time favorite. I don’t think it’s made any more. Sam Adams made a Wee Heavy. Dogfish Head seems to be phasing out its Palo San Marron, sadly. (Hopefully, I am wrong.) I do wish there were more Wee Heavies available in the USA (or at…

dWhat I really would like to see in movies is great, great, books brought to the screen as closely aligned to the books as possible and as well done as possible. If the scriptwriter didn’t have the creative idea (or muse or whatever) to think up a new great idea (it does happen), and decides to use someone else’s…

I am a big, big fan of Magicians, both Series and Books. I will ask how old your son is as the Magicians very soon gets NSFW and young kids. In the US, it’s TV-14 and, for the uncensored version, TV-MA. (I never noticed the “TV” prefix before as I don’t watch much TV nor do I pay attention to cert. ratings now that my…

I am not sure you even need a green card. For example, there are (or, at least, were, when I was in) a lot of Phillipino nationals in the US military, notably the US Navy. I am not sure (though could be wrong) that all of them had green cards. The Phillipines had (or has) some special status for the military (as a…

If you stay at a hotel outside Zone 1 (or even close to outside Zone 1, like Earl’s Court), you can save a bunch of money. The Underground is quite good so getting to and from the hotel will be quite easy and quick. (see Oyster card site >>> for Zone Map.) Also get a Visitor Oyster card for the Metro. There is so much…

George Brett’s mouth is consistently the worst. He was my favorite player as I grew up, but he just lives in his own little weird world.

Dogfish Head also makes the Indian Head Brown Ale. That tastes so much better from a key than the bottle, and the bottled stuff is pretty good. Or you could go with the excellent suggestion above of the Dogfish Head Palo San Marron, an awesome beer but many find that one too strong. It is my current favorite, since…

Really, the underlying issue here is that the “office” is a “team” in any sense of the word. And that is rubbish. That is just another way to introduce tribal identity, us vs. them, etc. People who need that sort of thing really need to be a bit more introspective to see how much this attitude hurts them, their…

I am just beginning to appreciate how the transition to the aluminum can or bottle from draft beer rarely works well. (Although I don’t think any of these beers would be much better from a keg.) My favorite beers taste so much better on draft. I usually have to go to restaurants that carry them to get the best taste.

For standing-room only tickets to the outdoor White House Presidential receptions of foreign dignitaries (on the South Lawn), check with your state’s Congressional representatives’ offices. You’ll probably need to check some months ahead to get the tickets mailed to you. You will also have to arrive like 2-3 hours…

Yup. Got to agree. I was in from 1971 - 1984, then worked for the US Army from 2005 - 2015. Then again, I have always felt that the military reflects the general population over all.* There are notable particular places like the USAF Academy where white religionists (is that a word?) are notorious. Interestingly, the…

I think that every place I have ever worked in the last 15 years, to include SAIC, CACI, Verizon, and the Federal Goverment, have ALL sent me nice form letters that my “information” was lost or stolen on someone’s laptop. At this point, I am not sure there is any real protection anywhere from this stuff. Then again,…