Subscribe to Blog via Email
Join 296 other subscribers
Archive:
Month: November 2016
On this Electoralgeddon evening…
On this Electoralgeddon evening, I think, to my own surprise, of an exchange I had here during the Brexit referendum. I was transfixed here by the arguments during Brexit, the distress of the Remain camp, the snapping back by the Europeans. When the results came out, there was despondency on Quora, and a lot of […]
What is your favorite city in the world and why?
Vienna. Monumental architecture, cosy atmosphere, livable scale, awash with the history and the ghosts of some of the best culture Europe ever produced. Love love love Vienna. My wife and I both loving Vienna was one of the first things we bonded over when we started going out. (The second was Richard Nixon, God help […]
What are the best restaurants to try when visiting Melbourne, Victoria, Australia? What should you try while you’re there?
We are fricking foodies in this town, and this is a very hard question. At least, if you’re visiting Melbourne, it’s reasonable to constrain this question to the CBD, and to fine dining. That’s still not really constrained though. Of the options mentioned by other answerers, there’s the nouveau everything of Vue de Monde, the […]
What are some good ethnic restaurants and eateries in Melbourne?
It’s Melbourne, it’s fricking awash with ethnic fooderies. Can I just nominate two? Greek: Oakleigh, which is now Greektown, is full of Greek fooderies. All of them bad, and primarily about people hanging out pretending they’re in an Athens patisserie. The best place in Oakleigh is the one hidden away. Mezedakia. Opposite the train station, […]
Quorans describe your reaction to the 2016 US elections with an emoji and why?
As noted here: Nick Nicholas’ answer to Why do some questions, answers, and messages on Quora contain figures like this: U0001f60f? Only Plane 0 Unicode emoji will render in the Quora text editor: ⏱ ☃☹☺☻♨⛄⛱✊✋✌ I wish to convey a negative yet hopeful reaction. So: ☹ It’s sad, and ♨⛄Lots of stuff will melt down, […]
What are some good examples of music videos subverting their songs?
OP, I’ll go first. Kostas Makedonas, a fine Laïko (bouzouki pop) singer (Κώστας Μακεδόνας). One of his biggest hits was Μαργαριτάρια, “Pearls” (1994), which he duets the chorus of with Alkistis Protopsalti. It’s a great Zeibekiko, stern and catchy and melancholy, as all great zeibekikos should be. And the verse sings of the splendid arrogance […]
Why do many heterosexual men want to have anal sex with their female spouses, girlfriends, or lovers? Is it because of increased access to porn? Is it a dominance thing, fetish, or a bucket list item?
An A2A on subject matter I have no personal experience of, from Mary Gignilliat. This is going to be another one of those “only because you A2A’d me and I like you” questions. If you keep them coming though, I’m going to have to start calling you Mezza. (Mezza is, believe it or not, the […]
Should Greeks have white guilt about American colonial times?
This is an answer that a Ukrainian friend of mine came up with for Australia; it applies just fine to this scenario too. Actually, what the hell: I’ll link to her since she has a Wikipedia entry: Maria Tumarkin. No, Maria’s Ukrainian Jewish ancestors were not directly involved in the genociding, literal and cultural, of […]
What are your 3 worst mistakes? Would you fix any of them if you could go back in time?
A2A Habib le toubib qui demande les questions difficiles. I’m in a kind of strange place with Quora lately; I’m going to talk about it in another queued up A2A. As part of that, I’m going to be talking more personal stuff; and I’m going to resent myself for not talking enough sciencey stuff. Anyone […]
What are your most controversial or unpopular opinions?
No, I’m not going to read 111 answers to see if someone has already said this. We live in an age where stirring controversy seems to be require you to be a Circumcellion: you have to actively provoke people for them to get mad at you. A Traveller Way-Laid: Here’s an exception. Smokers. Yeah, yeah, […]