Simon: I, uh... I never-never shot anyone before. Book: I was there, son. I'm fair sure you haven't shot anyone yet.

'War Stories'


Natter 40: The Nice One  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


brenda m - Nov 02, 2005 5:38:13 pm PST #944 of 10006
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there

How do people feel about cranberry relish? I always make it by grinding cranberries coarsely with oranges, peels and all and just enough sugar to take the edge off.

We totally do it like that in my family, in the old school meat grinder that clamps to the table. LOVE IT.

That's how we do it. I don't actually like it (I don't like orange with cranberry) but I love making it.


Jessica - Nov 02, 2005 5:39:13 pm PST #945 of 10006
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

I think you mean The Great Influenza. The Great Mortality was about the Black Death.


brenda m - Nov 02, 2005 5:39:25 pm PST #946 of 10006
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there

A really excellent book on the 1918 influenza is "The Great Mortality" by John Kelly. It explains why influenza is such a versatile and fast-moving bug.

Isn't that about the Black Plague?


bon bon - Nov 02, 2005 5:40:37 pm PST #947 of 10006
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.

Just tonight I went out and had a "turkey dinner" from one of the gajillion restaurants in my neighborhood that tries to do American classics with "a twist"-- it had weird tasting cranberry relish. When I got to the bottom I realized why. Black licorice! WTF?


sarameg - Nov 02, 2005 5:41:18 pm PST #948 of 10006

See, I can't see adding any more flavor to relish. But I suppose cooking a wee bit mellows it. But...NO. I like it fresh and painfully tart.

But I suppose the recipe is delish, regardless.

Just not mine!


Lee - Nov 02, 2005 5:41:39 pm PST #949 of 10006
The feeling you get when your brain finally lets your heart get in its pants.

Ewww, bon bon.


sarameg - Nov 02, 2005 5:42:28 pm PST #950 of 10006

Licorice is a bit much. I like fennel and its cousins fairly well, but not with THAT.


Betsy HP - Nov 02, 2005 5:43:27 pm PST #951 of 10006
If I only had a brain...

I think you mean The Great Influenza. The Great Mortality was about the Black Death.

Le oops. You're quite right. I picked up the wrong book from the floor next to the bed.

I can do you a good line of recommendations in poisons, too.


aurelia - Nov 02, 2005 5:53:05 pm PST #952 of 10006
All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story. Tell me a story.

A year after a given strain hits your immune system, its surviving descendants are very likely to be completely unrecognizable as far as your antibodies are concerned.

I had a very nasty flu (doc's couldn't identify it, so it must've been a new one) just before my sophomore year in college. I didn't catch another flu for at least 6 years after that and I know I was exposed plenty. Even in the last couple of years, when I've been surrouded by sickies I've sometimes felt tired and achey for a day and then felt fine after that. I think my antibodies are pretty good at the recognition thing.

Of course this means something like the 1918 influenza would turn me into a puddle of white cell goo.


Kathy A - Nov 02, 2005 6:08:36 pm PST #953 of 10006
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil

Yup -- the one plague in history where being outside the 20-40-and-healthy demographic was a plus.

IIRC, the second wave of Black Death in 1361 hit the teen-30 population worse than the next older group, which was a big difference from the 1347 inital outbreak. After that, the occasional outbreaks seemed to hit new populations that hadn't been born during the prior outbreak the worst.