Obsidian Wings

The latest Japan-Korea thing

by liberal japonicus

As was astutely observed in the comments, it's amazing that problems are so often reduced to a failure of people to make proper contracts. If you like the sarcasm in that observation (which I do), you'll love this, below the break

Hello . . . there!

by wj

I came across this article in the Washington Post today:
We’re having trouble recognizing each other in masks, and it’s getting awkward
I confess my immediate reaction was: Welcome to my world!

There are some people, me being one, who are really terrible at recognizing faces. It doesn’t necessarily rise to the level of Prosopagnosia (a neurological disorder characterized by the inability to recognize faces). But it can be difficult nonetheless. I spent years travelling as part of an organization I belonged to. And I often would arrive somewhere to be greeted as a long lost friend . . . by people that I had no memory of ever having seen before. I routinely responded to “Hello, Bill” with “Hello . . . there.” Simply because I just had no name to insert.

And it isn’t just casual acquaintances. One of the stories in the article is of a guy who encountered his wife while working, where he had no expectation of seeing her. With masks, he simply didn’t recognize her. Me, I wouldn’t put money on my picking a picture of my wife (or my brother, or my sister) out of a photo array unless there were contextual clues I could use. I just don’t register faces.

Now, it appears, masks are bringing this to everyone. Except they don’t have a lifetime of practice at covering up their failure to recognize others. Rough.

Totally open thread.

An open thread for dishes and recipes

by liberal japonicus

Commentariat regular nous wrote

New Mexican apple pie (with hatch chilis, piñon streusel, and cheese in the crust) is the pinnacle of apple pie as far as I'm concerned.

Found some recipes, here's one

https://www.newmexico.org/nmmagazine/articles/post/an-official-new-mexico-state-pie/

Favorite dishes or ones you want to try, with or without recipes. My daughter is coming home and earlier, she discovered Brussel sprouts, so I'm going for this recipe, I found a local veggie store that sells them fresh. Incidentally, they are called me-kyabetsu (cabbage buds?) here in Japan.

https://www.wellplated.com/sauteed-brussels-sprouts/

Deep in the heart of Texas

by liberal japonicus

Thought I'd crack open a quasi open-thread with two links

This one, from TPM, has some great info about the current energy systems crisis in Texas.

And this one from lifehacker, entitled How to Take Time Off Without Screwing Over Your Coworkers, leads with a picture of Ted Cruz.

Have at it!