Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2016 October 6

= October 6 =

batu belah batu bertangkup
1. how did the mothers feel learning that her share of the fish roe had been eaten ? 2. how would you describe the children ? 3. what kind of a mother is mak minah ? 4. why did the mother thing of committing suicide ?


 * Malay Wikipedia has an article on the legend of Batu Belah Batu Bertangkup (and on the 1959 film version too). You can find the story told online in English too, but please do your own homework. ---Sluzzelin talk  11:57, 6 October 2016 (UTC)

an allusion in Pogo
On March 6, 1950, this happened in Pogo:
 * Pogo Possum: "H'lo, Downwind -- how'd you like to work for our newspaper?"
 * Downwind (a skunk, fishing): "Nossir! Had a cousin what wrote a newspaper column an' he got so trigger happy that his own family wasn't safe --- his name was Upwind or Eastwind or -W--ooop!" [Pogo slips and falls in water] "Anyway, that boy was mad at everybody--- why he couldn't get within arm's length of himself without holdin' his nose an' coverin' his eyes."
 * Pogo: "My sakes-- did everybody objeck to the poor crittur?"
 * Downwind: "Well, no some didn't objeck -- but them as didn't wasn't really breathin' no how."

What might the cousin's name be? Windchill is a possibility, but I invite other conjectures. —Tamfang (talk) 17:16, 6 October 2016 (UTC)


 * Given that we already have Downwind, Upwind and Eastwind I would expect Westwind. Wymspen (talk) 17:57, 6 October 2016 (UTC)
 * It fits the pattern, sure, but why build up to that? —Tamfang (talk) 09:04, 10 October 2016 (UTC)


 * From everything I've now read about Walter Winchell and about Pogo's punny names, I don't think your guess can be improved, Tamfang. ---Sluzzelin talk  20:43, 6 October 2016 (UTC)


 * To convey stinkiness, how about "Passwind" ? StuRat (talk) 02:49, 7 October 2016 (UTC)


 * You couldn't get away with that in 1950. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 04:20, 7 October 2016 (UTC)


 * "A coat is for cold weather, a jacket for cool weather, and a windbreaker is for when you feel the need to break wind." StuRat (talk) 19:18, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
 * Peter Schickele introducing P. D. Q. Bach's Erotica Variations: "I don't know why [this instrument] is called a windbreaker; it doesn't resemble a jacket in any way that I can see." —Tamfang (talk) 00:26, 8 October 2016 (UTC)

Blond Romanians
I remember reading an article here on Wikipedia about a historical area of Romania with a high percentage of blond people with some possible explanations for that, but I can't find it anymore. Any idea? Thanks! --188.218.117.245 (talk) 18:38, 6 October 2016 (UTC)
 * Țara Moților may be it, I believe. -- Jayron 32 18:49, 6 October 2016 (UTC)
 * That's it! Thanks a lot! How did you find it so quickly? --188.218.117.245 (talk) 19:09, 6 October 2016 (UTC)
 * I typed "Blond Romanians" into Google and kept paging down until I found the first Wikipedia entry in the Google search. -- Jayron 32 19:15, 6 October 2016 (UTC)

My Mango is Ripe, Now What?
I bought one of those red and green smooth "avocados" that were labelled as "Mexicos" and it has become ripe according to the mango article. I just have one question about pealing. This BBC link implies that there is no need to peal like a cucumber, that you can just press on the skin, and the fruit will "pop out like a hedgehog". Given neither hedgehogs nor mangoes are native to the US NE, can I assume this means the skin will come off the way the shell comes off a hard-boiled egg if the egg was cracked before being placed in boiling salt water? Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 18:55, 6 October 2016 (UTC)


 * Please note,you cannot just press on the skin of a hedgehog and its insides will pop out.That will get you into lots of trouble... Lemon martini (talk) 21:52, 8 October 2016 (UTC)


 * Here is one method. -- Jayron 32 18:59, 6 October 2016 (UTC)


 * Well, at least that was funny for those of us without PTSD.... μηδείς (talk) 19:07, 6 October 2016 (UTC)


 * If that method doesn't work for you, here is another method which was one of the contraindicated methods noted by Alton Brown in the prior video. It should be noted that Brown himself, on a prior episode of Good Eats (Special Episode #2, "Down and Out in Paradise, transcript here) actually used BOTH of the proscribed methods himself, i.e. the "peel the whole thing and then slice" method, and the "slice, grid cut, then peel" method.  -- Jayron 32 19:21, 6 October 2016 (UTC)


 * I cut the skin into quarters (I can't cut all the way through the mango because of the massive pit). Then I peel the skin quarters off with my fingers, starting at the corners (this is messy, so do it over the sink).  Some meat sticks to the skin, so I enjoy scraping the meat off the skin with my teeth. That leaves the meat and pit.  I then slice off chunks with a knife and eat them, until I get down to the hairy pit.  I then might scrape the remaining meat off the pit with my teeth (be prepared to floss after). StuRat (talk) 19:25, 7 October 2016 (UTC)


 * That must qualify as the world's worst way to peel a mango. Peeling it over the sink means you are losing juice that you could enjoy. Meh. Richard Avery (talk) 06:54, 8 October 2016 (UTC)


 * Over a plate in the sink then. You don't want any juice that misses the plate ending up somewhere that needs washing up.  Now, as for the world's worst way, how about if you cram it down the garbage disposal and run it long enough to remove the peel, then leave it running but attempt to pull the rest back up with your bare (and soon also skinless) hand ? :-) StuRat (talk) 22:35, 8 October 2016 (UTC)


 * Yes, that probably qualifies. :-) Richard Avery (talk) 06:33, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

I have a question about 2 kinds of hair dye
I have long past the shoulders medium brown hair currently dyed dark blond. So I want to colour it a funky colour when the blond colour grows out and I want it to last meaning I don't want it fading out after washing it or being in chlorine or water. Would the hair dyes pravana or elumen work? Swancat (talk) 22:38, 6 October 2016 (UTC)


 * I don't know, but I bet the fine folks at the Hair Dye Forum would love to help you out, as would the subreddits Fancy Follicles  and Hair Dye . SemanticMantis (talk) 17:13, 7 October 2016 (UTC)


 * Hair dye which is closer to your natural color will cover better and last longer. So, with medium brown hair you might do better with a darker "funky" color, like purple.  Hot pink, on the other hand, would be more difficult to pull off and be far more obvious when your roots start to grow out.  StuRat (talk) 19:29, 7 October 2016 (UTC)