Well gopher, you asked for a brief synopsis of whatever drama is happening. Then don't be surprised to get posts about the drama that is happening. :P

Gossip girl: nerdy web forums edition. I’d tune in!

(Or be part of the cast)

Amby passed me a note before Study Hall saying that his best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with a girl who saw kaner pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious.

What a coincidence! Australia must be a very small town.

Apparently, there are some philistines among us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6f1MKpLGM

(Back to School, released the same weekend also with Edie McClurg and also taking place in Chicago/Madison, is still the better movie)

„ What a coincidence! Australia must be a very small town.“

I was surprised, then forgot, then was surprised again several times about the fact that Australia has the population of a mid-size European nation, despite being this vast (I know, a lot of desert and everything, but still).

Like Canada, Australia is a massive, largely empty country with a relatively small population that somehow manages to sustain the world's most unaffordable residential real estate anywhere in the world.

Sydney and Melbourne rank alongside Toronto, Vancouver, Zurich and Hong Kong well ahead of New York, London, San Francisco, and Tokyo in terms of housing prices.

Fun fact: there are 15 US states that are physically larger than the island of Great Britain, as is every continental state/territory of Australia save Canberra.

For those playing at home, those 15 states are Alaska, Texas, California, Montana, New Mexico (old Mexico is as well), Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Oregon, Wyoming, Michigan, Minnesota, Utah, Idaho and Kansas. Nebraska is the largest US state that is smaller than Great Britain.

And as everyone should be aware, if Texas were somehow grafted onto the Spanish coast, it would become the largest country in Europe excluding the European portion of Russia as it is larger than France and Ukraine.

The cultural shock would be great though. I’ll never forget how my American host family asked if I’d like to have some blue cheese, upon which I replied positively and expected something like a Roquefort or Gorgonzola, but received a half-gallon-sized plastic bucket filled with some blueish powder (?).

Didn’t even taste bad too after the initial shock.

Being from Texas, I honestly had no idea what product you were describing.

I had to Google to learn what it is.

https://roguecreamery.com/product/blue-heaven-blue-cheese-powder/

Here is what Amazon displayed in response to a search, and it was not the first result. So a search on Amazon for "blue cheese powder" does not recognize this product as what one is most likely looking for.

https://www.amazon.com/Uncle-Dans-Bleu-Cheese/dp/B0753Z2Q6C/

Cheese powders in general are apparently marketed as a topping for microwaved popcorn. I am guessing that since for some Americans the main use of blue cheese would be for mixing into ground beef to make blue cheese hamburgers, a dried powder might make that process easier.

Of course, now I am thinking about whether blue cheese might be good in a Texas Twinkie.

I was going to make a Simpsons joke and wondered whether European would understand. Then I found this while looking for a video clip of "Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJl-mlUYNZE

Speaking of mergers, I’d be down if we get a small three-figure billion amount of liquidity by the Swiss National Bank.

All we have to do is become systemically important for the diplomacy community, from there in it is cake.

Also being from Texas (long, long ago, in a state far away) I read gopher27's description of "blue cheese powder" and a) threw up a little, and b) shed culinary tears of a sort. Eeeeewww.

I had never heard of it before today.

"Cheese" and "powder" are two words I hope never to see in the same sentence again.

Oh, it's extremely common in the States to find powdered cheese, especially parmesan, designed to melt on your pasta much more quickly than shaved or grated parmesan would.

Nightmares, anyone?

Before any smart ass Europeans bring up protected designation of origin regarding American parmesan cheese, I want to point out that according to European Union regulations one cannot make Stilton cheese in Stilton.

UK regulation as well.

I have never really been a fan of these protections anyway, why shouldn’t South African farmers be allowed to sell a product named „Champagne“ that has all the characteristics of champagne, maybe if they simply call it „South-African Champagne“?

People who care are still able to get the product from the original place of it’s invention, the rest should just be open for the market.

Where would we get if all pasta had to be produced in Italy?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpNY2KfF92k

If only we could find grocery store shelf space for Stiltonian Stilton Cheese...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz1JWzyvv8A

Stilton?

Sorry.

White Stilton?

No.

Okay, have you got – WILL YOU SHUT THAT BLOODY MUSIC UP!

You guys ever see this deleted scene from the first Borat film?

https://youtube.com/watch?v=faXDCp0BDU4

I think I spot powdered cheese. ????

The scream emoji turned into question marks, ha ha