bigbenchrob.bsky.social
54 posts
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Also (outside perspective — Canadian) half the country seems to hate the other half. AFAIK this was true before Trump arrived on the scene. With his instinctive low animal cunning, he manipulated and exploited the resentments, fears, and racist inclinations of one half. And so could the next Trump.
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You can do dramatic experiments dunking a flower or banana into liquid nitrogen and shattering it with a hammer.
You can also reach into a dewar and casually scoop up a palmful of liquid N2. There is always an insulating boundary layer of N2 gas (the Leidenfrost effect) - doesn’t even feel cold! 😎
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I threw up a little bit in my mouth when I saw the soldiers doing the simpleton dance
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My father took me to see them in the late sixties when I was a kid in Halifax. Had totally forgotten about them — thanks!
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That was intentional payback for Dick Van Dyke’s cockney accent in Mary Poppins
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… all day long
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Yes, and hardly surprising given it’s Salinger!
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Also it had Salinger
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I wholly concur that this film is one of the greatest pieces of art that has ever been created.
(The second one not so much except for the Fort Mac women’s baby blue snowsuit)
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One 1940 dollar would be $22 today. I always look at these old menus and think “Wow, look at all the crazily cheap prices!” But the 65 cent club sandwich would be $14.50.
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What distinguishes general, statutory and government holidays?
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Very cool! But next time I have the flu I’m going to feel very itchy knowing that is going on in my pulmonary epithelial cells
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When my daughter was travelling in Europe, I bought her an aluminum doorstop. It has a screw with a point that you tighten down into the floor. No way anyone is getting inside against your wishes!
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When Bettman first took over, he found himself in one of the dressing rooms at an NHL old-timers game. He asked how everyone was doing.
The Gumper yelled “Where’s our fucken pension?!”
Bettman looked at him blankly, clearly having no idea who this toothless old man was.
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Blue, Fully Completely: check. Walking out of a Bruce Cockburn show at the Orpheum in Vancouver in the early eighties I heard someone say, “that was almost as good as Harmonium”. I thought “who’s Harmonium?”, then, when I really got into them, really wished I had seen Serge Fiori et al. live.
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Wore out that record in the late seventies. “Au Nord de Notre Vie”!
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My uncle, Sgt. Clarence Whitman, was with Canada’s Hasty Pees. They fought their way through Italy to eventually liberate Holland. My Aunt said they saw a reenactment of the D-Day landing on tv once. She looked over and tears were running down his face. She asked and he said “It was terrible.”
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Not really. I can only speak for Canada, but here half the country doesn’t hate the other half and actively wish them pain and misery.
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I had a paper in ‘93 in which we presented evidence that floor plate cells can transfer macromolecules to commissural axons with which they come into contact. If you have this kind of access I can suggest an experiment based on some unpublished work I did. DM me if you’re interested!
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Love seeing The Lions in all their changing glory when I go to Cleveland Dam
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This is thrilling! (I did my PhD on axonal pathfinding at the neural tube floor plate)
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Reading Barney’s Version right now by chance. Nice reference}
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That’s the whole thing. Get rid of Trump and you’re not going to get rid of that whole racist, hateful bloc. They will be ready to support the next buffoon who entertainingly mirrors their views.
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Terry Fox! I’ve driven between Vancouver and Montreal three times, and was always inspired and moved when I stopped at the memorial.
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Both strong contenders. However, if I’m not mistaken Anne Murray is from Springhill NS so I give it to the bratty fifties teenagers’ Liars Bench.
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(Also, I saw him slice the end of his finger(s) off on Peter Gzowski’s ill fated evening tv show, demonstrating the wonderful new food processor before it had safeguards, and that will always be the first thing I think about when I hear the name Pierre Berton)
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Loved many of the books of this great chronicler of Canadian history, but seeing Drifting Home in the pile reminds me how special that was. And now I am going to reread it!
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I can’t watch that recorded show at the Burton Cummings Theatre in Winnipeg any more because it affects me too much.
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That is just great! (Also never met a postie I didn’t like, especially the ones rocking shorts all winter in North Van)
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To wit: You go to the hospital. People take care of you. Now imagine your private insurer is cut out. That whole bureaucracy is gone. So is the entire hospital department that has to deal with them. All that’s left is the people taking care of you. There is money left for them. More than enough
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Just think: in any care, whether in a hospital or a doctors office or a clinic, all the money that would be siphoned off by insurance companies, their bureaucracy, the bureaucracy needed then to deal with them from the provider side: all gone.
Money left for the people who actually do the work
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My daughter is an RN in an unnamed small city in British Columbia Canada. It is a very difficult job, as nursing is everywhere. I don’t want to give details, but she makes an EXTREMELY COMFORTABLE living via the B.C. Nurse’s union from the provincial government. Mere “living wage” it is not!
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Hmm. She worked for the govt. so she must have witnessed all the terrible waste firsthand. What was she expecting: that she and the other grifting employees would get bonuses? Rejoice, lady, and put that lawn sign back up! It’s a new golden age of government efficiency! (\s)
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I have a 2014 Forester (90,000 km) that I just did the 250,000 km service on to ensure it would keep running for another ten years! (Purring like a kitten and takes me where I need to go in Canadian snow!)
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Extremely moving episode.
When Mark looked back at Helly at the end it was like that magical moment at the end of Heaven Can Wait when Julie Christie and Warren Beatty passed each other in the stadium corridor and paused with a look of recognition. Bravo.
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They showed that to the whole school in Grade 8 in Winnipeg one night (c 1972). There was a scene in which (I think Vincent Price himself?) literally ripped the bodice off the actress. All the boys were wholeheartedly in favour of this.
That’s what I remember about Dr. Ogives!
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My #1. As a 19-year-old I saw it 6 times in the theatre. Conrad gives the most apt description of depression I’ve heard: “Uh... I don't know. It was like... falling into a hole. It keeps getting bigger and bigger and you can't escape. All of a sudden, it's inside... and you're the hole”
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The American system of government, invented by a group of genius Founding Fathers, is the most excellent system ever conceived. It includes a set of checks and balances that guarantees no President can possibly abuse executive power.
Just look at how well its working!
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I knew thyroid storm in a small group because I had seen it on Saint Elsewhere the night before. (UBC medicine class of ‘86)
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I am exactly that age, played goal in Halifax/Winnipeg, and had EXACTLY the same gear. So cool to see that photo!
Always trust a goalie.
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I’m not surprised at all at the resolute opposition Canadians have mounted.
Outsiders tend to portray Canadians as goofy Ned Flanders types— too nice for their own good.
If you live here you know that you piss someone off at your peril.
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Right some cold!
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Finally America is getting the respect it deserves.
I’m not sure I mean the same thing Ron does…
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Sublime
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A pressure cooker is your friend here! Far less time than boiling. Instant Pot maybe a bit too big. I bought a Hawkins on Amazon (EVIL! but that was before…). They are reasonably priced, have a clever design, seem safe, and come in a wide range of sizes.
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Just like how Great Granny made it in the farmhouse kitchen!
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It used to be rare for me to receive them on GMail. Now it’s one or two a day. They’re far more sophisticated than the old “MASSIVE ERECTION SPURIOUS HERBAL DICK PILLS!” type — they tend to look like innocent enquiries from a colleague.
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Useful tip, thanks!