General Discussion Thread

[RC1138]

Oh, finaly. War and Peace vol.1 finished. 3 books left

[SectoBoss]

Meanwhile in Iceland: someone has stolen 60 small birch trees ranging from size 1-1,5m tall. Who's going to need that many and for what purpose I wonder... are they just going to plant them in their own backyard and hope no one notices that 60 small trees just appeared out of nowhere, is there a black market for tiny birches, does someone just hate trees in general or what?

If, like me, you can't read Icelandic and just look at the picture, it looks a bit like a news story about an oddly regimented set of moles ravaging the Icelandic countryside. That aside, one really does have to wonder who steals 60 birch trees!

The cuts are from opening a gazillion boxes of cottage cheese.

Are cottage cheese boxes really sharp or something?

[Haiz]

Are cottage cheese boxes really sharp or something?

the head cook said so last week
and I was all "of course I'll be careful"
cut to today, opening yet another 100 boxes or so
"what are all these red spots on my hands- oh. ohhhh."

it's either the box edges or the aluminium lids

[Solovei]

Meanwhile in Iceland: someone has stolen 60 small birch trees ranging from size 1-1,5m tall. Who's going to need that many and for what purpose I wonder... are they just going to plant them in their own backyard and hope no one notices that 60 small trees just appeared out of nowhere, is there a black market for tiny birches, does someone just hate trees in general or what?

Reminds me of the time when someone broke into a maple syrup refinery and stole a bunch of the stuff, and the media were having a field day with it, calling it "a heist" and running footage of the scene all over the news. The two guys they caught were charged  $18 million dollars

Yes, we don't really get much news in Canada...

[Sunflower]

Oh, finaly. War and Peace vol.1 finished. 3 books left

Awesome.  I actually enjoyed War & Peace (once I *had* to read it in college).  Our professors let us skip the boring parts where Tolstoy goes on and on with his thoughts on war, history, destiny, etc., and go straight to the soap-opera parts:  Parties!  Vodka!  Gossip!  Seduction!  Cosplay!  Pierre wrestles a bear!  Natasha almost gets kidnapped!  Nikolai goes off to war! 

If you want to move this issue over to the Books thread, you might find others who also like "loose baggy monsters" (which is how the writer Henry James described War & Peace).

[Fimbulvarg]

Meanwhile in Iceland: someone has stolen 60 small birch trees ranging from size 1-1,5m tall. Who's going to need that many and for what purpose I wonder... are they just going to plant them in their own backyard and hope no one notices that 60 small trees just appeared out of nowhere, is there a black market for tiny birches, does someone just hate trees in general or what?

This sounds like something out of a Terry Pratchett novel. if they need birch that badly they could just plant some.

The two guys they caught were charged  $18 million dollars

Sounds like they stole an entire gallon of the stuff.

[viola]

Reminds me of the time when someone broke into a maple syrup refinery and stole a bunch of the stuff, and the media were having a field day with it, calling it "a heist" and running footage of the scene all over the news. The two guys they caught were charged  $18 million dollars

Yes, we don't really get much news in Canada...

NOOOOOOOO not the maple syrup!!!! 

[Solovei]

This sounds like something out of a Terry Pratchett novel. if they need birch that badly they could just plant some.

Sounds like they stole an entire gallon of the stuff.

ummmm I feel like it was a bit more than a gallon? XD "In August 2012, thieves were reported to have stolen roughly 1,000 tonnes of syrup worth CA$30 million from the new ISR facility in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford. The amount stolen was about a quarter of the facility's reserve.[5] "

[Fimbulvarg]

ummmm I feel like it was a bit more than a gallon? XD "In August 2012, thieves were reported to have stolen roughly 1,000 tonnes of syrup worth CA$30 million from the new ISR facility in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford. The amount stolen was about a quarter of the facility's reserve.[5] "

It was a joke. The price for maple syrup here (which I suspect isn't proper maple syrup at all) is pretty close to a million a gallon.

[SectoBoss]

ummmm I feel like it was a bit more than a gallon? XD "In August 2012, thieves were reported to have stolen roughly 1,000 tonnes of syrup worth CA$30 million from the new ISR facility in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford. The amount stolen was about a quarter of the facility's reserve.[5] "

How do you steal 1000 tonnes of anything without someone noticing?

(Well, obviously someone noticed eventually, I suppose)

[DB (f.k.a. DaveBro)]

>snip!<

If you want to move this issue over to the Books thread, you might find others who also like "loose baggy monsters" (which is how the writer Henry James described War & Peace).

That's rich.  Does anyone recall who said "Mr. Henry James writes as if it is his sad duty"?   

[Haiz]

It was a joke. The price for maple syrup here (which I suspect isn't proper maple syrup at all) is pretty close to a million a gallon.

isn't that the price of any food in norway

[viola]

isn't that the price of any food in norway

* Feartheviolas mumbles something about having free maple syrup because her family makes it

[SectoBoss]

isn't that the price of any food in norway

Note to self: consider saving up more money than planned for that holiday in Scandinavia

[Sunflower]

Meanwhile in Iceland: someone has stolen 60 small birch trees ranging from size 1-1,5m tall. Who's going to need that many and for what purpose I wonder... are they just going to plant them in their own backyard and hope no one notices that 60 small trees just appeared out of nowhere, is there a black market for tiny birches, does someone just hate trees in general or what?

Trees are valuable in wind-swept Iceland!  Ownership of a forest is actually a plot point in the current chapter of "Thistil Mistil Kistil," a terrific online comic about Scandinavia in Viking times. 

I just hope the current tree theft doesn't grow into some big saga-esque feud.  Is there an equivalent for weregild for trees?  A fine in pounds of CO2, or something?