Every now and then I put my silver (the stuff I put in the dishwasher) into an aluminum foil lined sink, dump some salt and baking soda on it, and then pour a kettle of boiling water on it. It removes most of the tarnish.

That's nothing compared to what has happened in the (geologically recent) past there. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Caldera) Big Al

Yes, and I was building a vacation house for myself I’d like it even more. Scott’s good. But vacation houses are investments. They can be art projects but that’s not the part that makes money. I’ve seen far too many influencers try to convince people that the key to a great vacation rental investment is Venetian tile.

Wrestle with pigs…

Good article but the comments are making me crazy. Best I stop reading them.

I probably couldn’t bring myself to say that! But we’ve always gotten a discount when I said we just bought a house.

Fun!

I just got home to PDX from Chicago!

Too many Joes in this post. I think we should start referring to Joe B. and Joe M. like in primary school. Or we could also use Joe B. and Quisling. That also works.

Beautiful pictures. Would like to see that myself. Will check for lily allergy rating.

The books that made the biggest impact for me is a tough call. I suppose I'd have to say Ulrich Neisser's 1967 book Cognitive Psychology, whose focus and methods inspired my PhD and most of my career. But the most memorable books for me are novels, and they do vary. On the shortest list I would have to place Peter Carey's Oscar and Lucinda for its sheer imaginative force, and Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon for its spectacularly beautiful writing.

I don't know if you've looked at the Notifications you can adjust in your User Settings. Click on your avatar and choose Settings. You can get a Notification just on the forum when you haver a new chat, or you can also do email so get notified there even if you're not here when something comes in. Lots of other Notifications, too....just don't forget to go to the bottom of the screen and Save Changes when you're done.

Thank you @Big_Al @Big_Al said in Piano recording: I couldn't tell what was the influence of the sustain pedal and the resonance of the piano itself, what reverberation in the room might be contributing, and perhaps also the tendency of cell phones to try to maintain a constant level as the sound varies. Any ideas? All of the above?? Joking aside, I imagine part of it has to do with the cellphone recording, what you mentioned and also the fact that I set the cellphone on top of the music desk, treble side, which is surely not a good place for it! But another big detail is that Einaudi is very much expected to be played with heavy pedaling, and that's how I play it. Lastly, there were probably times when I was over fermata-ing to cover up for one thing or another. Like trying to keep my concentration, or one part where my bluetooth foot pedal didn't turn and I had to turn the page (on my iPad) with my hand (which I never do anymore and so it slowed me down). So yeah, that's probably all of what you were hearing... That and just general mediocrity.

Something really ironic about having Santa pass out Christmas candy to Jewish children. What a sick bastard. I'm surprised to learn that there are neo-nazis in a former Soviet republic. Big Al

I could go for a couple of those dogs. There was a Chicago-style hot dog shop across the street from my office when I worked in downtown Pittsburgh years ago, but it's long gone now. Another sandwich I really liked when I was working on a project at Inland Steel was Zel's BBQ beef sandwich. They had several shops in the northwest Indiana area. Big Al

I really like shiso when it’s in pickled plums or a seaweed salad. It also nice tempura-ized. But I think Mr. SK thinks of it as something you eat in food prepared at a restaurant, not something he uses in his regular cooking. And the plant is not something you think of as an indoor house plant… it kinda just looks like a weed in a pot.