# Cafe Society **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/cafe-society/15.md?page=359 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 360 --- ## [All In The Family Parlor Trick](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-parlor-trick/930262)
**Author:** [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [January 11, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-in-the-family-parlor-trick/930262 "2021-01-11T16:20:33Z")
I don’t know if it’s really a parlor trick but I couldn’t think of any other way to title my topic. Does anyone remember the episode of All in the Family where they placed a chair sideways in front of a wall, a person w… --- ## [Why does Japanese Cuisine (seem to) use no tomatoes?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-japanese-cuisine-seem-to-use-no-tomatoes/921967)
**Author:** [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Replies:** 83\ **Last updated:** [January 11, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-japanese-cuisine-seem-to-use-no-tomatoes/921967 "2021-01-11T16:03:59Z")
Perusing my cookbooks I noticed that the Japanese ones do not use tomato as an ingredient. Can people who know more than me about Japan confirm this impression? And if it is right: does anybody know why? And is this limi… --- ## [Tom Cruise working with NASA on a film aboard ISS](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-working-with-nasa-on-a-film-aboard-iss/853219)
**Author:** [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Replies:** 46\ **Last updated:** [January 11, 2021, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-working-with-nasa-on-a-film-aboard-iss/853219 "2021-01-11T09:33:42Z")
Just hope NASA doesn’t believe in code reds https://twitter.com/JimBridenstine/status/1257752395750289409 --- ## [TV characters who have a drug problem but....no one cares](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034)
**Author:** [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Replies:** 67\ **Last updated:** [January 11, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034 "2021-01-11T04:31:52Z")
Usually (even in a comedy) when its revealed that a character abuses drugs…they quickly are non-functional and it becomes a ‘special episode’…see The Drew Carey Show. But what characters openly flaunt their abuse and th… --- ## [Jay Jackson and the first Black Superhero](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-jackson-and-the-first-black-superhero/930148)
**Author:** [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [January 11, 2021, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-jackson-and-the-first-black-superhero/930148 "2021-01-11T02:14:33Z")
Here’s some history that has been forgotten by virtually everyone including comics historians. In 1942, Jay Jackson, head cartoonist of the historic black newspaper The Chicago Defender, revived the moribund Bungleton G… --- ## [Is it ok to use cooking spray in an air fryer](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-to-use-cooking-spray-in-an-air-fryer/930170)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [January 10, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ok-to-use-cooking-spray-in-an-air-fryer/930170 "2021-01-10T18:09:03Z")
My dad and I both like to use our air fryers, but we both normally use the aerosol sprays with olive oil in them, something like this But I read some comments that the contents in the spray bottles can damage the air fr… --- ## [Amusing kitchen accidents](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-kitchen-accidents/925829)
**Author:** [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Replies:** 42\ **Last updated:** [January 10, 2021, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-kitchen-accidents/925829 "2021-01-10T06:02:58Z")
Inspired by a couple of people mentioning having potatoes explode in another thread I was reminded of the time I tried to “fix” an undercooked “hardboiled” egg. Yes, I knew eggs could explode in the microwave, but havin… --- ## [Danish TV debuts new children's cartoon - about a man with a giant, uncontrollable penis](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danish-tv-debuts-new-childrens-cartoon-about-a-man-with-a-giant-uncontrollable-penis/929875)
**Author:** [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Replies:** 45\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2021, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danish-tv-debuts-new-childrens-cartoon-about-a-man-with-a-giant-uncontrollable-penis/929875 "2021-01-09T23:50:49Z")
If it was a tail, that I could understand, but a PENIS? And it’s aimed at young children! What I saw of the episodes on You Tube were even too risque for Adult Swim MHO. If Danes think this is child-friendly, they mus… --- ## [RIP Dawn 'Mary Ann' Wells](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dawn-mary-ann-wells/929292)
**Author:** [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Replies:** 43\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2021, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dawn-mary-ann-wells/929292 "2021-01-09T23:19:18Z")
--- ## [Easy low calorie meals](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-low-calorie-meals/930124)
**Author:** [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-low-calorie-meals/930124 "2021-01-09T23:08:54Z")
Every once in a while I “invent” (probably for the 4000th time in human history) a low-calorie dish that I prepare and eat until I’m so sick of it that I don’t eat it again for two years. Today I had the idea to microwav… --- ## [Drowning coyotes and other cartoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drowning-coyotes-and-other-cartoons/930132)
**Author:** [@DooProcess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooProcess)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2021, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drowning-coyotes-and-other-cartoons/930132 "2021-01-09T22:48:10Z")
While watching some Saturday morning cartoons (unfortunately a tradition that has almost disappeared) I noticed that when Wile E Coyote becomes submerged he often holds up fingers and counts to three. Is this to do with… --- ## [Come up with an inappropriate song for an event](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-up-with-an-inappropriate-song-for-an-event/929657)
**Author:** [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Replies:** 57\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-up-with-an-inappropriate-song-for-an-event/929657 "2021-01-09T18:01:39Z")
(perhaps this might belong in MPSIMS or IMHO - mods move as you see fit). I had posted on Facebook about an odd commercial for Johnnie Walker liquor, featuring a woman doing a soulful version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’… --- ## [Rip Torn appreciation thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn-appreciation-thread/930081)
**Author:** [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2021, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn-appreciation-thread/930081 "2021-01-09T17:12:59Z")
With the passing of Tanya Roberts, I sadly considered her for a bit. I realized that I, as a young boy was very…ahem…appreciative of her…ahem…acting…yeah that’s it. I remember, ahem, admiring her work fondly as a boy. … --- ## [Family Video appears to be shutting down](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-video-appears-to-be-shutting-down/929738)
**Author:** [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2021, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-video-appears-to-be-shutting-down/929738 "2021-01-09T16:23:43Z")
Family Video, one of the last remaining major chains of video rental stores in the U.S., announced today that it’s going to be shutting down its remaining 250 locations, and will be liquidating their merchandise. As rec… --- ## [Movie composers most likely to move you](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-composers-most-likely-to-move-you/930048)
**Author:** [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2021, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-composers-most-likely-to-move-you/930048 "2021-01-09T15:39:45Z")
For me, its John Barry on multiple occasions Somewhere in Time Dances With Wolves “We Have All the Time in the World” from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. I see he did Peggy Sue Got Married? Thats a weird combo, I’v… --- ## ["Big Bang Theory" question about Bernadette](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-theory-question-about-bernadette/929956)
**Author:** [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2021, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-theory-question-about-bernadette/929956 "2021-01-09T14:14:26Z")
I have a question about Bernadette. Was it ever specified that she got her Ph. D. in Microbiology from CalTech? Or was it from a different university? --- ## [Food cravings you got from reading](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-cravings-you-got-from-reading/929975)
**Author:** [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2021, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-cravings-you-got-from-reading/929975 "2021-01-09T08:38:19Z")
There must have been threads on this before, but I can’t find any. When I read a novel that contains descriptions of foods, I start craving them. It started way before I read Proust and developed the requisite craving fo… --- ## [Free Willy, or Denmark's Newest Children's Show](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-willy-or-denmarks-newest-childrens-show/930097)
**Author:** [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2021, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-willy-or-denmarks-newest-childrens-show/930097 "2021-01-09T06:14:11Z")
Denmark’s main broadcaster has launched a children’s show called John Dillermand, “an animation starring a man with a penis so massive and flexible it can save children from danger, fetch objects from a river and operate… --- ## [Your loyalty is not to me](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-loyalty-is-not-to-me/930026)
**Author:** [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2021, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-loyalty-is-not-to-me/930026 "2021-01-09T00:52:38Z")
Not a political thread I swear, but Biden said this about Attorney General in waiting Merrick Garland today. Anyone else completely unable to hear this without completing the line? --- ## [Where was Pratchett Taking Ankh-Morpork in Discworld? (warning, spoilers in the open!)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-pratchett-taking-ankh-morpork-in-discworld-warning-spoilers-in-the-open/923245)
**Author:** [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Replies:** 67\ **Last updated:** [January 8, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-was-pratchett-taking-ankh-morpork-in-discworld-warning-spoilers-in-the-open/923245 "2021-01-08T23:13:18Z")
WARNING: Spoilers for the Discworld Novels ahead! So, after banging my head to near-death against my desk as I read on news and current events, my bludgeoned mind turned, as it does, to happier thoughts. Specifically,… --- ## [Blood Meridian (Cormac McCarthy) NO SPOILERS PLEASE](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-meridian-cormac-mccarthy-no-spoilers-please/929019)
**Author:** [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [January 8, 2021, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-meridian-cormac-mccarthy-no-spoilers-please/929019 "2021-01-08T21:10:53Z")
I am about 25% into this book and I am struggling. Not that I don’t like it. I’m struggling with the language. Between the vocabulary words and the frequent dialog in Spanish I am either stopping way too frequently to lo… --- ## [If you had to the power to stop Team Mickey from buying most of 21sc Century Fox would you? I would](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-the-power-to-stop-team-mickey-from-buying-most-of-21sc-century-fox-would-you-i-would/929968)
**Author:** [@Kadmos1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kadmos1)\ **Replies:** 41\ **Last updated:** [January 8, 2021, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-the-power-to-stop-team-mickey-from-buying-most-of-21sc-century-fox-would-you-i-would/929968 "2021-01-08T21:00:39Z")
\-Fox selling back those Marvel rights to Disney? Sure. However, at least give Fox Lucasfilm. Then, at least Fox would have had at least 1 major media franchise (Star Wars) to mooch off of. Don’t end a storied movie empir… --- ## [Changed Title: RIP Tanya Roberts \[death now confirmed\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-title-rip-tanya-roberts-death-now-confirmed/929643)
**Author:** [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Replies:** 47\ **Last updated:** [January 8, 2021, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-title-rip-tanya-roberts-death-now-confirmed/929643 "2021-01-08T20:52:03Z")
It didn’t seem to make the news services that I read, so maybe some missed it. Tanya Roberts died yesterday at 65, no cause of death given. I never saw her season of Charlie’s Angels, but I saw Beastmaster about ten tim… --- ## [Tell me about this very common joke type](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-this-very-common-joke-type/929644)
**Author:** [@Lantern2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern2)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [January 8, 2021, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-this-very-common-joke-type/929644 "2021-01-08T12:18:26Z")
Here is an example from Twitter : Someone said Josh Hawley had the charisma of a Moai statue and someone else replied: Harsh on Moai A type of joke you hear a million times but I admit it made me chuckle. The basic t… --- ## ["Death to 2020" (Netflix mockumentary)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-to-2020-netflix-mockumentary/929412)
**Author:** [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [January 8, 2021, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-to-2020-netflix-mockumentary/929412 "2021-01-08T09:53:27Z")
Highly recommended! They have (among others) Samuel L. Jackson, Hugh Grant, Tracey Ullman, Lisa Kudrow, etc. satirizing prominent reporters and scientists, and the way big stories were covered this year. --- ## [Recommend a Jimmy Carter bio](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-jimmy-carter-bio/927871)
**Author:** [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [January 8, 2021, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-jimmy-carter-bio/927871 "2021-01-08T02:37:58Z")
I was 14 when he was elected and not following politics much. My memories are of course dominated by the hostage crisis, I can remember waking up one morning to go to school and hearing about the failed raid to rescue… --- ## [Saw "Enter the Dragon" last night](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-enter-the-dragon-last-night/929811)
**Author:** [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [January 7, 2021, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-enter-the-dragon-last-night/929811 "2021-01-07T18:43:42Z")
Was a lot of fun, very entertaining… There’s a flashback in a flashback. That made me laugh. John Saxon is a delight. That guy totally bought into the idea that every actor should. Everyone is the hero of their own… --- ## [When inspecting and editing my photos on a digital device, how do I evaluate brightness and exposure when the display itself is variable?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-inspecting-and-editing-my-photos-on-a-digital-device-how-do-i-evaluate-brightness-and-exposure-when-the-display-itself-is-variable/929034)
**Author:** [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [January 6, 2021, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-inspecting-and-editing-my-photos-on-a-digital-device-how-do-i-evaluate-brightness-and-exposure-when-the-display-itself-is-variable/929034 "2021-01-06T21:52:12Z")
When taking photos with my DSLR and viewing them later on my phone, they frequently look a bit dim or underexposed at first, but if I crank up the brightness they usually look fine. (Well, duh, of course.) The thing is… --- ## [App for voice recording/ transcription?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-for-voice-recording-transcription/929809)
**Author:** [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [January 6, 2021, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-for-voice-recording-transcription/929809 "2021-01-06T21:26:53Z")
I’ve been trying to write a book, and trying to get exercise by taking two hour-long walks. I’ve recently discovered a voice-recording app on my phone that lets me dictate ideas and sometimes drafts as I walk, which is … --- ## [First use of the 'gravitational slingshot' in fiction?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-the-gravitational-slingshot-in-fiction/929611)
**Author:** [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [January 6, 2021, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-the-gravitational-slingshot-in-fiction/929611 "2021-01-06T10:19:03Z")
The title is the topic. As someone noted on Twitter this seems to be quite the overworn trope, especially lately (it was used in the latest George Clooney movie, Midnight Boredom… er, Sky, sorry… ) and I’m wondering when… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/cafe-society/15.md?page=358) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/cafe-society/15.md?page=360)