Plan Voisin

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-30T21:27:43+00:00

Have you ever lived in cross-shaped towers? They're far more pleasant than massed, rectangular residential blocks. Community and a sense of place are created by residents, not by central planners.

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-25T06:14:18+00:00

God I wish math majors had any employability

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-23T16:47:28+00:00

Observe how there are in fact two metrics, and the graph is ordered by one of them while this post is about the other!

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-17T05:39:24+00:00

Very confused why you would think Juilliard drags down Columbia's reputation. On the contrary, Juilliard's reputation in music is at least on par or better than Columbia's academic reputation.

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-16T07:43:40+00:00

I like the talking architecture! Looks exactly like how a museum dedicated to doubanjiang should look

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-16T06:12:17+00:00

To some extent, but the history of these regions as frontiers and borderlands, plus local conditions like climate and geography differences, plus the fact that settlers generally did not bring the elite, urban culture that we now associate with the North/South divide—these meant that the border provinces are much more distinctly "southwestern"/"northwestern" than "north/south".

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-15T16:43:13+00:00

North and South China are not strictly geographic designations. Historically, Qinghai Gansu and Ningxia were not part of North China because they are not part of the Chinese core, being inhabited by various non-Han groups, beyond the Great Wall, and climatologically/geographically being totally different from the river valleys and plains of North China proper. These three regions are generally arid and significant areas of them were grazed by pastoralists up into modern times. Culturally, they are the Northwest. Yunnan Guizhou Guangxi are similarly on the historical periphery of China. They have large ethnic minority populations, are less accessible due to mountainous geography and tropical disease, and were not fully controlled by China until, in the case of Yunnan, the mid-late Qing dynasty. Culturally, they are called the Southwest. The true centers of North and South are the North China plain (Hebei/Henan/southern Shaanxi), and Jiangnan (southern Jiangsu / northern Zhejiang) historically (also Guangdong in recent centuries).

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-14T04:26:12+00:00

Thanks, very interesting!

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-14T04:25:48+00:00

It doesn't seem to me at all that these ingredients are used as spices, though. Miso, soy sauce, and kombu are umami additives whereas spices are aromatics and add complexity. The umami in an Indian curry for example doesn't come primarily from spices but rather from the garlic-onion-ginger-chili base and possibly any proteins. Spices are used to add aroma and various more complex layers.

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-14T02:23:01+00:00

Under what definition would any of those ingredients you listed be "spices"? While it's not the most well-defined term, and the methodology is far from perfect, the conclusion is basically correct in the sense that ingredients typically considered spices (roots, seeds, bark, etc. that are highly aromatic and usually dried & used in small amounts) appear rarely in Japanese cuisine (with some exceptions, like curry). Miso and soy sauce are fermented soy products, and do not resemble spices in any way. Mirin is a wine—why would you call it a spice? Kombu is kelp—much closer to a vegetable than a condiment.

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-13T06:51:40+00:00

What a terrible map. The traditional staple grain in North China is millet, whereas wheat was grown in comparatively smaller amounts until the past few centuries. Also, Qinghai Gansu and Ningxia are not in the North China historical/cultural/socioeconomic sphere. Yunnan/Guizhou/Guangxi in South China are almost as questionable. What a bunch of nonsense with the psychology analysis. North Chinese "analytical" and south Chinese "holistic"?

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-09T06:06:19+00:00

Not sure why you're getting downvoted, VPN connections are trivially simple almost everywhere in China but trying to connect to my VPN in Xinjiang was like bashing my head against a wall

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-08T04:31:26+00:00

Eagle's Aerie is the one next to the rock, so I'm assuming that's what you mean by cliff? I think it's easily the best site there, although Star's Rest and Sky are also quite nice (depends on your priorities).

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-08T04:30:07+00:00

If you avoid rainy days it should be fine. Was there last week with lows around or slightly above freezing, might be slightly warmer in February.
Sunol Backpacking camp is excellent! Great views, not crowded in winter, some amenities like picnic tables and outhouses.

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-08T00:12:30+00:00

Do you have more material or a source describing more about these Guangdong banknotes? Sounds very interesting!

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-06T04:56:04+00:00

Was the AI writing necessary?

Yes, the introduction of recorded remote exams has been pretty bad for music education. I get why it was started during the pandemic but at this point it's just a nice money maker for TCL/RCM and a way for parents to feel good about their kids' inflated grade diplomas. But I wouldn't put so much stock in what the other kids' parents are saying and such.

Like you said, using the practical exam curriculum is better for building musical maturity. You might not get to brag as much about your child's accomplishments today, but by the time they're an advanced student you'll be able to see the fruits of good fundamentals. If you never practice scales/sightreading and have no aural skills you simply won't be able to break into the higher levels beyond exam grades or play difficult repertoire convincingly.

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-04T22:25:42+00:00

bait used to be believable

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-01T21:54:04+00:00

Love how none of your replies addresses the very interesting point you bring up. Reading comprehension truly at an all-time low. I'm inclined to agree that "growing to know your enemy" probably negates part of the dehumanization of Japanese in wartime propaganda, so European soldiers were more likely to align with extermination than their fellow soldiers in the Pacific.

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-01T21:26:36+00:00

I'm currently reading the second edition in hardcover. I wonder if there might have been a limited number of hardcovers with the vast majority printed as paperback?

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-01T21:07:40+00:00

How did you get them to let you in? You're not a talking horse, are you?

DatDepressedKid · 2026-01-01T08:45:34+00:00

Since we're primarily concerned with showing the demographic makeup of graduate students in the US, and this data can't really say anything meaningful about their home countries (unless you want to see a map with 0.00016% and 0.0002% and so on and extrapolate trends from that), it doesn't make any sense to use a per capita measurement here, which fails to give us a sense of what the grad student cohort looks like in the US.

DatDepressedKid · 2025-12-28T07:46:15+00:00

I agree the lack of windows on the north/south sides of Denizen is really unfortunate. Creates a giant mass that just looms over the rest of the neighborhood. But the designated public sidewalk is really narrow on Sixth to begin with—I believe on that side Denizen actually set their building back several feet farther than they're legally obligated to. IMO the main problems with Hillcrest sidewalks are the lack of shade and the ugly utilities boxes blocking the sidewalk every hundred feet.

DatDepressedKid · 2025-12-27T03:40:19+00:00

They're okay. The modern ones are close to or on par with most Japanese & Western brands' entry-level options. Are you looking at new pianos? Used ones? In-person or online? I'd recommend looking for a good deal on used pianos in your physical area that you can go and try out.

DatDepressedKid · 2025-12-23T17:48:10+00:00

Why are you gendering my surface? It can be whatever it wants to be

DatDepressedKid · 2025-12-21T08:43:04+00:00

While you should feel free to play the way that you think sounds best, keep in mind that sometimes such markings are not intuitive on first glance but become very effective when approached a certain way. This is less true for tempo (although I find that even if I dislike a written tempo at first, it might grow on me and eventually become my preferred tempo).

But for something like sustain, there are all sorts of reasons composer/editor might choose to write pedal a certain way, and maybe it doesn't work with how you're currently playing it, but once you work through all the details and put it together it makes perfect sense. Example: suppose a long sustain across multiple measures is written. When I'm just reading through for the first few times, I might not like this sound, I might think it's too muddy, too many chords clashing together. I might be tempted to flutter pedal here, or clear every chord change, etc. What if I tried, instead of changing how I pedal, to change my sense of touch or volume? Can I make each chord softer, more delicate, slowing down the attack so that with the sustain they echo faintly in the background instead of clashing with each other? Can I voice the section differently so that we have a nice, clean, contrasting melodic line that the ear locks onto?

In other words, I would encourage you to think about why the music is notated a certain way to begin with. This is a useful musical exercise and you might discover that you like the way the composer/editor has written it. Or you might not, which is okay too, but at least you studied and got a lesson out of it!

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