Surprised me with this, you did. Truly, it felt like the reality. Soiled, I now feel.

It's because she's now a Belieber.

I loved the theme to Max Payne. I don't care if I worked or not, but it wasn't distracting.

It's actually a vegetable knife.

Lard also makes a flakier pie crust than butter.

Okay, yes, the bullet - the copper-jacketed lead shaped like a flattened sphere with the base cut flat - was real. 'Squib' refers to either that or some other projectile being lodged in the barrel further up than the position of a loaded standard round.

It wasn't a real bullet. It was a squib left in the barrel from an improperly fabricated dummy round. There would have been no way of knowing just by looking at the blank rounds as they were inserted. Yes, it was indirectly the result of the production crew's parsimony in not buying real dummy rounds, but there was…

Monks shave their heads. A good film example is Seven Samurai opening scene when Kambei shaves his head to mimic a monk in order to rescue the young boy. However, for women it sometimes is a self-shaming atonement.

Sad state of affairs.

I'm willing to buy something new and try again. They'd be great for my mother. I just don't like whatever I'm doing wrong.

They also make a box grater - not a lot of stores have it in stock, but it's excellent for people with grip issues [arthritis, for instance].

Also a boon to my aging mother [creeping up on 80] - she still cooks and likes to make soups, [Leek and Potato is a fave for her] and she used to use a bucket blender [we still have that for frozen drinks and smoothies] but hauling heavy pots full of hot liquid was getting dangerous. Now she just leaves it on the…

Never had a ceramic keep it edge for more than 2 months. Both cheap and expensive. All my cutting boards are bamboo, I hand washed immediately after using. I have no idea what was happening. All my current blades are Shun steele and easy to maintain. I still like the idea of a ceramic, but I'm hesitant to buy again.

rats.

I refuse to accept Merriam-Webster as the de facto 'rule of law' on English.

'From whence' - I die a little bit every time I hear it or, worse, see it in print. 'Whence' means, almost literally, 'from where' and so 'from whence' always strikes an involuntary 'from from where' in my mind. Same goes for 'from thence' and 'from hence' for the exact same reason, although those are almost never…

You've reminded me of the Exocet missiles used in the Falklands hostilities. Missiles basically removed a combat level of materiel from the armory - crappy-ass fighter-bombers can launch them against destroyers and cruisers. And this is all primitive crap. CIWS haven't really be tested against multiple incursion…

Your last point is the most salient I've heard yet. I know that posturing with naval vessels is a dance in a class all by itself [having served in not one, but 2 navies (glutton for punishment, yes)] and as such, needs to play out. But yes, there is nothing from anyone anywhere in any way, shape or form that could…

That's the best explanation of the concept I've ever read. Thank you. It makes a lot of sense.