User Comments - pretzellogic

Posted on: Advice for a Young Journalist

interesting and surprising topic for cpod, considering Vera's statements about sensitive topics. Having not listened to the lesson, was this a local Chinese journalist, or a foreign reporter for a foreign newspaper, or a local Chinese person for a foreign news source?

Posted on: Bakery Binge

Stop knocking the iconic Twinkie. Speaking for all 9 year olds, we're interested in sweetness, not nutrition. :-)

A coworker once showed me his 7-year old Twinkie. It turns out that after a few years, the twinkie starts "decaying" in a way that gives off some type of gas. So the bag the twinkie was in was inflating. (by the way, the twinkie still "looked" edible, although I can't comment on what it tasted like.) I would love to know what biologic processes are going on in a 7-year old still-wrapped twinkie. Sometime later, I went to see him and asked about what his then 10 year old twinkie. He said it was gone; someone stole it or something, but it was nowhere to be found.

I understand that even if Hostess is liquidated, someone/some organization is likely to buy the Twinkie brand, and capitalize on Twinkie nostalgia.

Posted on: Lessons Per Week

a call placed after 1am to arrange a meeting for sex. See the urban dictionary for more flavorful definitions and examples.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=booty%20call&defid=1567315

Posted on: American TV Shows in China

I have yet to see "The Sopranos" in Chinese. But i'll start looking.

Posted on: Interviews: Obama or Romney?

Thanks Vera. At least for once, we got a clear answer from Cpod about a lesson topic.

Posted on: Interviews: Obama or Romney?

so, about 57 years ago, Isaac Asimov wrote a story in which one voter is selected to represent the entire electorate by a computer. Now, it turns out that 2-4 counties each in Ohio, Florida, and maybe Virginia and New Hampshire will decide who's going to be president for the rest of the country. So maybe 500,000 people making the decision for 300,000,000.

Posted on: Lessons Per Week

whimsy break: it's cute how you can look at the original post, and its on one topic, then 17 posts later, and you see the thread, and its talking about something else. Like the telephone game where someone intentionally says something different from the message being passed.

Cpod should have a lesson on philosophers, then have someone talk about Kant, then after 44 posts, have someone ask what's a booty call.

Posted on: Difficult Cake Choices

Yeah, my wife mentioned there was another chain that was big in Beijing. I vaguely recall its name is the one you mentioned.

And yeah, Sanlitun isn't the best place for bakeries, but I never looked there. But surely people going to Sanlitun aren't usually looking to buy cakes. Maybe an iPad or a beer.

apropos of your Australian citizenship, and your shift to a hotel near the Landmark buildings (the far northeast corner of Sanlitun), I thought the Australian embassy looked really cool. The American embassy (the new one) looks like a 21st century fortress (I assume it has a dungeon, but I didn't get to see it.) The moat isn't that deep, but the drawbridge door is pretty strong.

Posted on: Difficult Cake Choices

Oh, never mind. There are a ton in Chaoyang district alone.

http://www.jfcx.cn/help.shtml?method=helpone&&helptype=HELP&&helpid=8

interestingly, this chain is only in Beijing and Tianjin. Funny how that works.

Posted on: Difficult Cake Choices

FWIW, The Golden Phoenix Bakery on Jiuxianqiao lu in Beijing (next to the 798 Art Zone) is where I usually go for birthday cakes. Their breads/cookies are ok, some of the cakes are way too fruit laden for me, but they do have a chocolate crusted one that I love that the kids hate. Go figure. And I'm not even the chocolate fan.

http://www.jfcx.cn/

I've been casually combing their website for their locations, but I don't even see the one that I go to. I'm not surprised it might be difficult to locate.