Pig-racing? Is that a big spectator sport?
As far as I know, it usually goes on at fairs, but maybe Texans are more enthused about it.
They have them at the NC State Fair, you're probably unsurprised to discover.
I wouldn't put it past them, FL.
I'll totally go and take photos of the first race.
For greyhounds you use a fake rabbit, for horses a crop. How exactly does one get a pig to run?
I cannot imagine living in a community that wouldn't collectively decide that Craig Baker was being a pointless dick about this.
Perhaps Baker should go into partnership with the guy in the penultimate paragraph here. This is a bit like mounting a picket with placards saying "I Am a Complete Prat".
Wow. Irving's brother is a Muslim pig farmer. That's fantastic.
wow. that is fantastic.
JM; It's an odd thing. You don't have to get far out of the city (or in some cases inside) to run into alien weirdness like that.
Sure, but I have to hope that his entire family is mortified about all this.
Me too. I was semi-serious about the going to the first race thing ... in the hopes there was some significant effort of shaming him out of it.
Thing is, though, I half suspect he is just out-and-out lying about being told to pack up and leave (as against a misunderstanding). In which case he may be beyond hope.
10: I wouldn't count on it. I'll also bet most of the town thinks it's hi-lar-i-ous. The rural South isn't generally a pleasant place, and this seems particularly true in Texas.
Once again, I'm surprised at the openness and acceptability of anti-muslim sentiment. I have it good, so I'm not interested in playing misery poker, but what other group could you do something like this to? (Other than atheists.)
3 -- we do it here in Jersey too. My reaction: "Aw, cute!"
Soubzriquet, your whole insider's knowledge of Texas is making me wonder how oblique you were being with the "we might know people in common"! We really should have a Texas Meetup.
I wonder if there's been a big growth in the self-consciousness of rural folkways which contributes to the meanness.
13 - I think overweight women take a LOT of open abuse.
13: Gays, pagans, atheists, `illegals', minorities if you finesse it right. It isn't a short list. In the town mentioned, I suspect anti-black sentiment is just as acceptable, just people have learned to be careful about actionable expressions of it.
10: depressing but true.
18 is a good point --- not just women either (although I'm certain it is worse for women). Particularly, it is socially acceptable to treat obese people very poorly, it seems.
This is just to say that Taylors of Harrogate Scottish Breakfast (loose, in the tin) is the best, most satisfying, richest, brightest, most milk-begging tea I have ever had. ToH also has a very good Imperial something or other which is a close second. These days, though, a morning without ToHSB is like a wet cold slap in the face of my soul.
Good god. What a pointless waste of an orgasm that guy is.
Perhaps one of the generous contributers could set up a comment thread where we could find out who exactly is from Texas/visting Texas and could meet up? The holidays seem like a good opportunity.
What does "milk-begging" mean -- it begs to be adulterated with milk?
"I'll also bet most of the town thinks it's hi-lar-i-ous."
If they're really discussing a pig-racing "complex," then perhaps they've taken the joke a bit far. Are box seats for high-rollers on the adjenda?
The holidays seem like a good opportunity
Except I think all the Texans are going to be in DC.
24: Unfortunately, as I mentioned in the other thread, I'm out of the country from the 18th until January or I would have tried to get something going.
27 - we can insert a non-compete clause.
Isn't January 6th some kind of minor holiday, like All King's Day or something?
For greyhounds you use a fake rabbit, for horses a crop. How exactly does one get a pig to run?
I'd use a motorized trough of acorns.
what other group
Homosexuals, of course. Speaking of which, I watched this documentary the other night, and it's really, really good.
"For greyhounds you use a fake rabbit, for horses a crop. How exactly does one get a pig to run?"
Tell them they'll be safe if they can get to the mosque next door?
Hilzoy's point on cocoa is well met, but I ain't obsessing over online games because now there is a market for people to make money by selling a high-level character thus.... using energy.
What did the "energy consumed by avatars" mean? Is that kilowatts for running servers and air-conditioning server farms? Because that's not exactly unique to online RPG's. Is there some other energy use I don't know about that is RPG specific? Otherwise this seems like a weird use of brain power.
acceptable to treat obese people very poorly
This makes me crazy. My own family, my very flesh and blood, think fat people=undisciplined, and are therefore due ridicule.
35: The conclusion of the argument being equally as crazy as the premise.
34: I took it as "we really need to find a real social problem." If anything, unemployed teenagers in Romania or whereever farming in Internet cafes and then selling their characters for real American money seems to me to be really an innovative group of entrepreneurs. Maybe we should all take care that we only buy our pretend game money from small businessmen.
Clown, are you really saying that milk in tea is bad? It almost sounds like you're saying that, but I know you aren't, because that would be insane and dangerous.
Could one of our actual Muslims weigh in on how bad it is to have pig races next door on Friday nights? It's a deliberate gesture, of course, and that's obnoxious, but pigs are just unclean, sort of gross, etc., and so having them next door would not pose a real issue, right? Also isn't the masjid mostly unused on Friday nights except for Ramadan?
FL, I am not saying that because I don't believe it. I was just asking for clarification -- I did not understand the adjective.
I refuse to hear anything against tea without milk, either, though.
(FWIW, I usually drink my tea without milk or any other adulterant.)
(Wait strike that -- I frequently put bourbon in it. Also rum.)
Everything I know about pigs I learned from Deliverance, but Iranians sure don't put milk in their tea. Let's set aside for the moment how gay (ANGBWE) it is for an American male to enjoy tea, and ask why someone would ruin delicious tea with milk.
I've never encountered a form of tea that was not made worse by milk.
how gay (ANGBWE) it is for an American male to enjoy tea
This, of course, does not obtain for iced tea.
44, 45 - what about Thai Iced Tea? Criminally delicious.
how gay (ANGBWE) it is
I think there's something to be said for folding "gay" into the acronym, producing a satisfying GANGBWO. Sorry, GANGBWE.
44, 45 - what about Thai Iced Tea? Criminally delicious.
I agree. That's more of a recipe with tea as an ingredient, though.
I would like to amend 45 to specify "hot tea".
38: I don't think you have to be Muslim to object to a large number of pigs being in your vacinity; just ask any of us Iowans. And I'm thinking that the bigoted motivations behind putting the pig races next to the mosque is the main problem here. After all, Muslims regularly shop at grocery stores that sell pig meat for eating without protest.
50: exactly. What this guy is proposing is both stupid and bigoted. It isn't the stupid part that people are likely to complain about.
Some teas are good with milk. Strong black tea that I associate with my grandmother is good with milk and sugar. Some teas are nasty with milk or any sort of sweetenin' to sweeten it wi'.
The real question is what would I have to do to make coffee drinkable black.
just ask any of us Iowans
I was surprised to find out that North Carolina has only the second largest pig population in the US, behind Iowa. Y'all best watch your backs.
what would I have to do to make coffee drinkable black
Practice.
Seriously? I should drink my tea without milk?
Rexus, I agree that the attempt to offend is the main offense. Some of the articles suggest that Baker etc. thought "heh, this'll show'em" as if they'd hit on something that would be extra-hard for the muslims to tolerate. Instead it's just noise and smell.
what about Thai Iced Tea?
Also, Bubble Tea. Hot tea, though, no milk. Also, chai. Ok, I've convinced myself. I'd rather drink tea with milk. The important question here, though, is: Hot Tea: Pinky's extended or no?
Now the second paragraph of 52 is just weird. No other adjective really suits.
I think what is hard for the muslims to tolerate is having a bunch of morons as neighbors.
57 - who's Pinky? And what's he doing to the tea??
52: All it takes is good coffee.
Milk gives tea a nice, smooth feel in the mouth. Without milk, tea can be too insubstantial.
61: But coffee with cream and a little bit of sugar is just so delightful.
Coffee's best when served like melted ice cream.
This, of course, does not obtain for iced tea.
Tea: hot or not?
63 -- of course it is. But your 52 seems to be saying that without the cream and bit of sugar, the coffee would no longer be delightful. And this is, as I said above, just weird.
No online discussion of tea is complete without a link to the Russian Tea HOWTO.
I like mint tea at Persian restaurants, which probably makes me gay.
tepid, sb.
Sorry, I'll try harder. Perhaps drawing inspiration from DaveB's lovely paean to mouthfeel.
Moroccan Mint, excellent.
Also, gotta love Lapsang Souchong.
71 -- au contraire, it doesn't even make the list.
The trouble began when the Katy Islamic Association moved in, and the community responded with plans for pig races.
This just sounds weird to me. What did Ogged say the other day? 95% of what you read in the news is true, the other 5% you know first hand?
Fucking imperialistic Russians. That's how Iranians make tea, too.
72's recommendation OTOH, tops the list. Roamsedge: more manly than Michael.
I have recently taken to frothing my milk on the stovetop before adding it to my coffee. Since I almost never have milk in the fridge, this means I have recently taken to frothing half-n'-half or heavy whipping cream. Hmmm, delicious.
I forget, is this the thread where heebie-geebie and soubzriquet are about to have sex?
79 -- I think you want the fashion thread.
78 -- what does frothing entail -- do you just heat it in a pot while beating it? Or something more complex?
(Also -- does this make you a frothing lunatic?)
73 - What the hell, they list Ice Tea Peach in the same group with Pu-Erh? That's a hell of a jump.
82: I've read that shaking hot milk in a cocktail shaker works nicely, but I haven't ever tried it.
Oh, the iranians do the Tea Concentrate thing? I sort of do that when I go for cups 2 through n, since the pot has long since turned too potent for my poor stomach.
On the other hand, iced tea with some mint and a nice bourbon, very manly.
You heat it in a heavy pot while stirring vigorously with a flat whisk. If you don't have a flat whisk, you can use a fine normal whisk, OR--and this has been working pretty well for me--a little tea sieve. Be careful not to burn your milk, though.
The milk frother extensions on most home espresso machines, btw, are completely useless.
It's funny to me that tea-drinking is supposed to be not-manly. In the Middle East, it's like, a requirement for being a man; they all sit around and drink tea and play backgammon and smoke shisha (or, you know, hashish). My dad doesn't drink tea, and this declaration is always met with a response not unlike "what the fuck is wrong with you?"
That's why I said "American male," leblanc.
90 - I lived in Turkey for almost 2 years, starting when I was 6. I still remember getting tea in the markets of Adana (father stationed at Incirlik). Tea was everywhere. Wonderful place, Turkey.
64: "like melted" s/b "with a scoop of vanilla". Like a root beer float but with coffee.
Tea I like with a spoonful of honey,
No milk -- milk makes tea taste funny.
93 -- that only works with espresso -- ice cream overwhelms brewed coffee.
Espresso, eh? I'll have to try that. I still stand by 93 though.
This is an awesome Ice tea maker:
http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-40911-2-Quart-Electric/dp/B00008VSCO
It makes it super easy to make Ice tea. I drink about 2 quarts of unsweetened ice tea each weekend day.
89: the hand pump thingies work really well though --- pretty much defeats the `easy to clean' criterion, but they work well.
71: doesn't hold a candle to gunpowder tea that way
lapsong souchong is good though I understand why some don't like it.
87: sounds like some sort of tex-mex mohito.
I don't know how anyone can adulterate a good bourbon. At most 1/2 an ice cube on a hot day, just to get the temperature down a touch.
Fortnum & Mason loose leaf English breakfast tea with milk and sugar is one of the world's best beverages....Chai is a scam, whose popularity comes from the fact that it's the only time you're likely to be served black tea with milk in this country.
also, I brought some cheap black tea back from turkey and it seems to require a completely different brewing mechanism from other loose leaf even though the consistency is similar. You have to pour the water directly over the leaves and strain afterwards--if you use a tea ball it's way too watery.
90: You made me homesick!
The Muslim / pig racing thing is stupid. If I were at that mosque, I don't see why I should care about the animals, but I would probably understand that the humans were trying to diss me (though in a stupid and pointless way) and that would annoy me.
As for tea, once I had to serve it at a reception and a lady asked for Red Zinger with milk. It curdled the hell out of it. I was about 12 at the time and very embarrassed.
In Egypt (M Leblanc chime in here) it is common to make tea with hot milk rather than with hot water - for breakfast only or when one is not feeling well. (Chai bi laban) Other than that, very black with more sugar than tea in it. (And backgammon and shisha of course)
I'm totally up for a Texas meet-up. Even if it only involves chaperoning heebie-geebie and soubzriquet.
And 62 gets it exactly right.
