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• Comment on Musely's answer…

  0 0 Indeed - the tube (pronounced in UK as "chewbe", not US-style "toob") is awesome - well, at least as a tourist, when you don't have to ride when it's crowded at rush hour to get to work, and aren't affected by the always ongoing maintenance, elevator outages, and the like. Any resident will tell you it's by no means perfect; but as a tourist, you can certainly appreciate the good parts. Next time you visit, be sure to check out the London Transport Museum at Covent Garden, which features the history of the London Underground prominently. And in the meantime, check out this on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrhslXjN5xE - there's also much other tube-related content to be found there. Musely commented 11 days ago

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  Recommend an audio system for rent for a weekend event in June?

  0 0 I'd suggest checking with http://www.sbkaraoke.com/pages/rental.html (see near bottom for pick-up rentals vs deliveries) to see what they have to offer. I get a group of friends together once every couple of months or so to use their karaoke room rental near ReBar; but apparently they also do equipment rental. From what I've read on their website, they rent complete systems including the PA plus computer with karaoke software and music on it. Worth checking them out as one data point of nothing else. Musely answered in Regional Trips 12 days ago Answer and comment »

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  1 0 Awesome! Musely commented 15 days ago

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  1 0 There's so much to do in London that it really depends on what your interests are, and how much time you have, and what time of day that free time is. The museums are phenomenal, but can soak up time like there's no tomorrow: The British Museum and V&A are both stellar. The British Museum is notable for having the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles (from the Parthenon in Greece), and a wonderful glazed interior courtyard. The V&A also has a gorgeous Museum Cafe (the first in the world, apparently), three rooms covered in glazed tiles with stained glass. One blue police box that I know of is right outside Earl's Court tube station on the Earl's Court Road side - you can see it on Google Maps Street View. St Paul's may also be worth a look; you can take an elevator+stairs up to the top of the dome for good views nearby. Or you can climb the Monument nearby for almost comparable views. There's also the London Eye. Strolling around the West End is also fun; be sure to visit Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Sq and Covent Garden somewhere along the trip. If you have an evening free, head to the "Tkts" half-price ticket booth in Leicester Sq in the morning/afternoon and see if there's any shows you're interested in later that evening. (There's a ton of 'discount ticket' operators in that general area, but Tkts is the official one. More details on their site - http://www.tkts.co.uk/) And grab a copy of Time Out London as soon as you get in, as it has very comprehensive theater, music, gallery and other event listings. Musely commented 25 days ago

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  What electrical service (volts) does England use? 110 AC? 220 AC?

  1 0 The plugs/sockets are different, so you'll need a travel adapter so you can just plug things in. You can often find these in drugstores - this is what a UK plug looks like: http://www.cellphoneshop.net/ukplug.html?CAWELAID=993626248&gclid=CLC0h9Ci3q8CFQJdhwodYG54Ag Voltage is 240V AC in the UK (while continental Europe is 220V - they're both close enough to be essentially the same). For most electronic goods that have separate power units (camera charger, cell phone charger, laptop adapter and so on), the adapter or charger will have a note somewhere on it indicating the voltage range it can take; this is nearly always 100...240v or similar for most modern electronics. If that's the case with yours, then you can just plug it into the adapter as in the picture above, and it will work just fine on UK voltage. If you have some item that is only rated for 110, then you'd need to buy a more expensive voltage converter unit. (It's somewhat rare to actually need this for casual travel, though; most personal electronics work fine on 110 or 240, and the things that are voltage-specific tend to be appliances that one generally doesn't bring on vacation.) Not sure about the hair dryer, though; most hotels have these anyhow, so you may be better off leaving yours at home. (Not an expert, but I'd be wary of pluging a heating device rated at 110v into a 220v source for fear of it overheating.) Musely answered in Long Distance Travel 26 days ago Answer and comment »

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  Best wine for mulling?

  1 0 Sounds like you're missing the sugar. I make a German-style mulled wine, called Glühwein, and it uses a bit of sugar to balance out the tartness. The recipe I use is: two bottles of cheap-but-decent wine (around 5.99 or so range); slice one orange, one lemon, mash them in the pot a bit to get some juice out; stick of cinnamon; a few cloves; perhaps also some allspice, and about half a cup of confectioner's sugar. Quite delish. (Optional: add a shot of amaretto or rum for an extra kick - "Glühwein mit schuss".) Musely answered in Alcohol 2 months ago Answer, comment & read 2 more answers »

• Comment on soundslikepuget's answer…

  4 0 Great answer; though one correction: with R71, it wasn't the legislature that referred it to voters; rather WA allows any measure passed by the legislature to be petitioned by residents to have the measure go to voters via a referendum. Back after Gov. Gregoire signed the Domestic Partership act, the group Protect Marriage Washington who were opposed to it had to go out and collect signatures to petition for a referendum; they got enough signatures, and so the measure appeared on the ballot. (Note that while the votes in the ballot are secret, the signatures petitioning for the ballot were recently confirmed to be part of the public record.) We'll likely see similar happen this time around, with a petition drive to get signatures, and if enough valid signatures are collected, voters will be asked whether to confirm or reject the measure allowing for marriage equality. According to Wikipedia: "Under the Constitution of the State of Washington, laws passed by the legislature do not take effect until ninety days after the close of the legislative session, unless the state legislature declares an "emergency" requiring the law to take effect immediately" -- so having the governor sign the measure only starts the clock ticking on the process that will possibly result in a challenge, ballot - and after all that's passed, finally it should become law. Also note that should all that pass, we'll have marriage equality, but only at the State level; the federal DOMA prevents the federal government from recognizing the marriages for federal purposes such as federal tax returns or spousal immigration. Musely commented 4 months ago

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  Where to find current design lamps

  2 0 Rather than going to a lighting-specific store, try a modern-oriented furniture store; they'll usually have a fixture or three along with the sofas, rugs and tables - although standard and table lamps tend to feature more so than pendant ones. But you might find one or two, or if nothing else, the staff there may have some ideas on where to look. There's a bunch along Western Ave in downtown Seattle, from Kasala at Pike Place Market (they also have an outlet store in SODO) down to Dania at Columbia St. Some of the stores are on the high-end spendy side, though. It might be worth also considering a retro store: a lot of mid-century modern designs - notably the Scandinavian folded paper globes - have something of a timeless appeal to them. Or you could go to IKEA, buy some inexpensive fixtures, and mod them. Musely answered in Interior Design 4 months ago Answer, comment & read 3 more answers »

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  Is there any place to see live music where I can sit down?

  2 0 Triple Door comes to mind, also Dimitriou's Jazz Alley which is also very booth/table focused. During Summer, the concerts at Chateau St Michelle are also very picnic / sit-down in style: though often much to the frustration of the crowd and/or musicians: I was there for the Corrs some years back, and if one stood up, the Security folks would quickly swoop in and tell one to sit back down, or move to the Designated Dancing Area off to the side. Meanwhile the band seemed quite perplexed and was trying to figure out what was wrong that nobody was dancing to them despite their cajoling... *Very* Seattle. By the way, Dimitriou's has both booth with table service, but also stools at the bar that still have good sightlines to the stage area, so those might be a good bet for a slightly more casual experience. Musely answered in Other Entertainment 4 months ago Answer, comment & read 2 more answers »

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  What are the most naturally innuendo-laden place names in Washington?

  3 0 From Ireland, Effin was in the news recently, with Facebook until just now refusing to let people select it as their home town. Austria is famous for this place name. But I think Ireland has one that can beat that - there's a town in the north of Ireland (just on the Republic side) called Muff. And it's on the coast, but on a nice sheltered estuary. So sure enough, there's a Muff Diving Club there - one of the oldest diving clubs in Ireland, apparently. (T-Shirts, hoodies, and mugs available.) Musely answered in Whatever 4 months ago Answer, comment & read 10 more answers »

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