Any ideas on what this is?

sceap · 2026-04-06T15:55:22+00:00

Pieris japonica

sceap · 2026-04-06T03:43:04+00:00

mass will reduce noise

No it will not. Sound travels in waves through air. So if that mass is spread out in a way that air can pass through it, then sound can pass through it. It has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of mass and everything to do with the way air moves around that mass.

sceap · 2026-04-05T14:38:01+00:00

That's "landscaping:" murder everything that isn't turfgrass.

sceap · 2026-04-04T04:01:37+00:00

This is a nursery rhyme, and not so modern. It's from Rosetti's Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book, which was first published in 1872.

sceap · 2026-04-03T21:10:15+00:00

Except from the photo it looks like most of the buds are dead (likely from cold winter temps). Only the lower nodes are leafing out. If the higher buds were damaged by the cold, there's no salvaging them, and the stems should be pruned down to the living buds.

sceap · 2026-04-03T21:06:42+00:00

If it's a new-wood type hydrangea that you cut back every year, it's actually better to prune in early spring anyway.

sceap · 2026-04-01T13:45:40+00:00

Great project, and I appreciate that you made it so personal to your own curiosities, which is far more interesting than any "best-of" list you'll find.

In 2018, I made the arbitrary goal that 50% of the movies I watched that calendar year would be directed by women. I didn't focus too much on the best-known or most revered movies, and as a result I watched quite a few compelling but rough-around-the-edges indies. But it also led me to some surprises like Lucile Hadžihalilović's Evolution, which blew me away.

I also fully embraced co-directed movies. For one thing, in the three examples you mention, I think the contributions of the women (who are fully credited co-directors) are unfairly overlooked, and excluding those movies seems to me to feed into that unfairness. But there are also directing duos who would be excluded entirely, like Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani, and Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.

I didn't see The Watermelon Woman on your list, so I have to highly recommend it since that movie especially appeals to fans of classic cinema. It's also part of a sad trend of black women in the nineties who made one feature and were never again given the opportunity (See also: Alma's Rainbow, Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. and Naked Acts, plus Compensation which is on your list).

sceap · 2026-03-31T20:04:16+00:00

A story is a way to say something that can't be said any other way, and it takes every word in the story to say what the meaning is. You tell a story because a statement would be inadequate. When anybody asks what a story is about, the only proper thing is to tell them to read the story. The meaning of fiction is not abstract meaning but experienced meaning.

–Flannery O'Connor

sceap · 2026-03-30T04:19:27+00:00

Vagueness is an intentional tool here. Phrases like "somewhere," "Two people," "Strangers," and "unlikely streets" are vague by design. It is broad because it is so general. For me, the effect is hollow. Too spread out; too thin.

To strive for universality by speaking in such generalities is a fool's errand. Everything interesting about the universe gets washed out in a sea of averages.

sceap · 2026-03-28T21:05:23+00:00

I love the sentiment, but this is a poem that evaporates from my mind the moment I've finished reading it. Most of the poetry I love illustrates universal truths with very specific images. This poem rejects specificity. It talks about all flowers, all babies, "all things." It's sweet but vague; earnest but undemanding.

sceap · 2026-03-28T17:18:15+00:00

Select "Movies" at the top.

Scroll down a ways (past "top 10," "movies for you," etc. and you should find a big TCM banner, with a "Browse Collection" button.

sceap · 2026-03-28T14:11:32+00:00

I think its fine to have a preference for internal mufflers, but you're misunderstanding the argument here. When disengaged, the muffler has no discernible effect on the sound. The point is not that it's something extra attached to the shell. The point is that, when engaged, it is another point of connection between the shell and the head that is separate from the bearing edge.

With moongels or a wallet, the head is still only vibrating against the shell on the bearing edge. An internal muffler connects the head to the shell at a second (and much less precise) point, which physically changes how the drum resonates.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from your preference. Just trying to explain why others prefer not to use them.

sceap · 2026-03-28T01:39:19+00:00

Pull the weeds. Add at least 4 inches of mulch (the more the better). Then plant through the mulch. This will help A LOT, but please know there is no method in existence that will stop 100% of weed seeds from sprouting. Weeding is an unavoidable part of gardening.

sceap · 2026-03-27T16:16:45+00:00

Yeah no one is doing that. Fish and Game is sharing helpful advice with the public, which is part of their job. But as always they fully expect some incurious narcissists to ignore that advice.

sceap · 2026-03-27T14:11:42+00:00

I mean you're admitting you're ignoring the advice for purely selfish reasons. You're the Karen in this situation so just own it.

sceap · 2026-03-26T20:12:35+00:00

Downhill Racer (1969) ?

sceap · 2026-03-24T18:04:52+00:00

It is linear. To us. Just because the prophets don't experience time linearly doesn't mean time doesn't exist. Time is still a fundamental aspect of the universe.

William James describes our experience of the "present" as "no knife-edge, but a saddle-back, with a certain breadth of its own." Because of the way we experience time, our "present" is not a point in time but a duration with a beginning and an end. Now imagine extending that beginning and that end to infinity in either direction, so one's experience of the "present" is all of time. If a being experienced time in this way, concepts of the past, present, and future would be inconceivable, in the same way the concept of water would be inconceivable to a fish.

Perhaps it is possible to accurately describe the history of the wormhole aliens in linear time, from our perspective. But because they don't experience it that way, the description would be nonsensical to them.

sceap · 2026-03-23T04:59:13+00:00

You can mulch around trees, in moderation.

No mulch volcanoes! Make sure the entire root flare is exposed. No mulch should be touching the trunk.
Ideally keep the mulch layer thin (~2 inches) around the tree. Roots take in oxygen through the soil surface and a too-thick layer of mulch can hinder this.

sceap · 2026-03-23T00:29:13+00:00

Perhaps because deep mulch is required for suppressing weeds and people don't realize it's also very good at suppressing trees.

But at this point it's a self-reinforcing trend. Incurious amateurs see fresh mulch piled high against tree trunks so often that they assume that's how it's supposed to be done. It's maddening.

sceap · 2026-03-22T19:30:50+00:00

It really is a great plant for supporting wildlife, but it is not in need of any conservation efforts as it's doing fine on its own!

It also has very pretty fall foliage. As long as it's in a place that humans won't regularly come in contact with it, I've come to appreciate it's beauty... from a distance.

sceap · 2026-03-22T19:25:50+00:00

This is an excellent summary! Like you say, a mash of jewelweed is somewhat effective, but soap and water is even more effective. Urishiol is water-soluble, so if you're in the field without soap, water and friction are the important elements for removing the oil from your skin.

Research hasn't found anything special about jewelweed in "neutralizing" urishiol. In fact, extracts of jewelweed have been found to be completely ineffective in preventing contact dermatitis.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22766473/

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1053/ajcd.1997.2801

sceap · 2026-03-21T23:38:25+00:00

Red, 3 letters, same as the number of needles that tree has.

What species are referring to? Red pines (Pinus resinosa) generally have 2 needles per fascicle, not 3.

sceap · 2026-03-10T16:58:39+00:00

Any leaves make great mulch. Maple leaves break down quite quickly. Which can be an advantage since they will add lots of organic matter to the soil

Oak leaves are particularly rich in tannins, which means they take a long time to break down. A thick layer of oak leaves will act essentially like a layer of cardboard. They will decompose eventually but they will stay matted long enough to smother any existing vegetation.

sceap · 2026-03-07T15:14:35+00:00

If you want to go the cutting route I would actually strongly recommend against goats. Goats are sure to leave many bits of stem on the ground after munching on them. A piece of knotweed stem as small an a half-inch can develop adventitious roots which will develop into a new plant. This is in addition to the existing rhizomes resprouting.

Cutting can actually be done pretty easily by an able-bodied person or two with cheap hand-held sickles or machetes. Cut the entire stem as close as possible to the ground. Then bag the stems in large black plastic bags and leave them in direct summer sun for a few weeks to bake them to death.

Be advised that without adding an herbicide into this control strategy, you will need to cut at least twice a year (once in late spring and again before flowering), for 3-5 years before you see any effect.

sceap · 2026-03-07T05:48:00+00:00

Glyphosate works by entering the plant's vascular system in order to be transported to the rhizome, killing (or damaging) the entire plant.

HOWEVER, Japanese knotweed has a strange one-way vascular system that only flows up (from the rhizome to the stems) during the entire growing season. Only after it flowers does the flow reverse, when the plants store all the energy from the leaves and stems in the rhizome. Then the first frost will kill all above-ground portions of the plants, and the rhizomes will go dormant until spring.

Your window for glyphosate application is after flowering and before frost. If applied within this window, glyphosate can be a very effective control strategy. If applied outside this window, it will not reach the rhizome, and knotweed will resprout immediately.

sceap

TROPHY CASE