WTF-Beta

For those who celebrate Guy Fawkes Day...

As Bonfire Night approaches and firework displays light up the UK, in a file on a shelf in the labyrinthine National Archives can be found a flat vellum page, inscribed in exquisite calligraphy, and the origin of this week’s explosive celebrations.

The 1605 Thanksgiving Act was passed by James I after Guy Fawkes’s failure to assassinate the king, the Lords and the Commons, at the opening of parliament that year.

Celebrating the “miraculous and gracious deliverance” of the Protestant church from the “malignant and devilish papists”, it directed that church services be held every 5 November to commemorate the failure of the “Gunpowder Plot”.

It is one of several documents relating to Britain’s most famous treason plot which are among 4m records transferred from the archives of parliament to the National Archives at Kew, south-west London, a project now complete five years after it first began.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/nov/03/law-behind-bonfire-night-among-records-sent-from-parliament-to-national-archives

Don't buy Samsung. Horrible customer service for repairs. A lot of shops won't do warranty work on Samsung because the company is a total pain to work with.

@jon-nyc You'll need to find someone else to argue with. I am not your new Horace.

I'm done in this thread.

I get your Islamophobia, @jon-nyc . Far be it from me to stand in your way. Carry on. But I think this sort of stuff goes over much better next door than here.

It's November 5, we haven't had a killing frost. My poblano peppers are blooming and forming new peppers and the cold-sensitive impatiens are blooming like crazy. Even the hostas are mostly green, with very few leaves turning yellow.

There are all kinds of bollards and other barriers that were installed as part of the project to make Oxford Street car-free.

Lord Khan’s pedestrianisation of Oxford Street “discriminates” against wheelchair users and the visually impaired, disability campaigners have said.

The scheme was described as “shockingly bad” and discriminatory because it restricts access to the street.

Campaigners criticised inconveniently placed benches and bollards, and ramps that were “painful” to mount. They added that shops were also more difficult to access now that there was no direct public transport.

https://www.aol.com/articles/khan-oxford-street-makeover-discriminates-172332000.html

This isn't a "Christmas market" thing. The plan to close off Oxford Street has been in the works for a long time. They did rush to get it in before Christmas to maximize foot traffic to businesses during the holiday shopping season.

Are they just for a Christmas market? I thought they just closed Oxford street to vehicle traffic ("pedestrianisation") and those barriers are to keep any traffic out.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/oct/22/everyone-hates-oxford-street-will-pedestrianisation-save-it

I was going to post the Guardian article and see if @andyd had any opinions on the closure...

@jon-nyc said:

I want to know how he crossed the Darien gap.

Some info here on his website. Excerpts from his book, I think.

https://karlbushby.world/story

Drifting

Lifting

Julia Child’s giblet gravy is prepared in advance.

https://www.womansworld.com/food-recipes/holiday-seasonal-recipes/julia-childs-thanksgiving-feast-turkey-gravy-and-stuffing

Karl Bushby has returned to his childhood home in Hull after leaving Chile in November 1998 with the aim of walking an unbroken path back to his roots

And no, he doesn't walk on water. But he did swim the English Channel.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cxp8gmqdqdz1t

Have you gotten into sourdough discard crackers? I bought a little cutter that makes them into nacho shaped-crackers.

They come in a bunch of different shapes:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SPMFPGN

Hope you're feeling better soon, @shirokuro . How is Mr sk doing? Has he recovered enough to take care of you?

When I made it myself I used the ATK recipe which calls for a Pepperidge Farm bread, maybe the Country? Buttermilk? You cut it up into cubes and dry it in the oven and then make the stuffing. I used it in the Julia Child deconstructed turkey recipe. You just throw it in a large roasting pan and put the deconstructed turkey on the top. Pretty mindless but it does require an oven, which your slow cooker recipe does not.

Homemade sourdough sounds lovely.

I had it once, in 2023. I felt crummy for a couple of days. Mostly fatigue, sore throat, a fever for maybe a day. I followed the @steve-miller protocol and totally vegged while I was feeling poorly.

Thank you, Pete!

I tried this stuffing that Costco had but found it too salty for my taste.

https://kooshy.com/products/sourdough-stuffing-mix

We like the Aldi offerings better. Brioche stuffing. Packages are wtg household-sized

It's Mr wtg, me, and the turkey. I'd have to wash the Wedgewood bowl. Tastes the same coming out of the metal container.

I can't give away trade secrets.

And yes, I was surprised to find that the forum has been sitting there since 2005. Someone is paying for that storage even though no one (well except me) can get to it!