Recent content by jian

Not if he’s secretly Nasir.

Yes, it’s one of the cheaper yet nicer places to live in Europe and it offers a good digital nomad visa. So lots of expats and also Airbnb ruining the Lisbon area.

AFAICT Nasir is the archetype and thus one of the most notable modern additions to the Robin Hood legendarium.

Azeem: "And now you know how I feel." Is it just me, or are Azeem (Morgan Freeman's character in RHPoT) and various similar Saracen characters in Robin Hood (Kemal in the 1997 TV series, Dhaq in the 2006 TV series, Yahya in the 2018 film, and of course Achoo in Men in Tights) all descended from...

“What’s your name, heroic outlaw?” “Rhydderch ap Euffydd.” “Rhy… rach… sod it, we’ll call you Robin.”

I think it’s an interesting take but it would be a different game, fighting natural obstacles and getting lost rather than monsters. And I agree that D&D wouldn’t be a good fit. I’d also pedantically point out that the word adventurer was rarely applied to explorers in previous centuries. It...

I don’t think she’s actually bending the bow? The string is apparently made of elastic. Worth noting that Robin using a longbow definitely doesn’t turn up til later (19th century, I think, along with early Victorian ideas about chivalry and the Hundred Years’ War) and would make no sense in the...

Obligatory reference to Once and Future again, when some English nationalists summon Arthur (who’s undead) and he kills them all because they’re Saxons.

It kind of amazes me when I look how much more expensive eating out in the US vs Canada seems to be (at least in cities). The minimum appears to be CAD to USD direct (so about a 40% markup, since 1 CAD = 0.71 USD). And of course the UK is worse; I just grit my teeth and pretend the prices are in...

Any Robin Hood does have to thread the needle between the various versions. He kind of started out as a generic criminal and robber (it was a common pseudonym or byword for robbers in medieval England, a bit like John Doe) and then a robber who robbed the rich and gave to the poor in folktales...

Yeah, it’s a major issue in Japanese media - even something anti-war like Grave of the Fireflies leans into it, or at least the idea that WW2 was something that happened to Japan or was done to it externally rather than something in which the country was an active participant and initiator.

I’d say the following generally about eating out in the UK vs NZ in recent years: 1) It’s generally more expensive and the service is often worse, especially in smaller places (such as your average country pub) because it’s harder to get staff. So expect to pay NZD40-50 for a good burger or...

Cafe brunches. They were just consistently excellent. Vancouver isn’t at all bad at them either but I’m perplexed that a) apparently almost every restaurant does them, like happy hours* and b) they always come with bottomless mimosas. Who wants a Bucks Fizz at 10am? *Happy hours here are 2-5...

I think the pub burgers in NZ were pretty similar to those in the UK - they were well executed with good beef and brioche buns, not smash, good chips. But I didn’t have that many. (I did have quite a few in a great Southwestern US place in Christchurch which is now sadly closed, Sun Dog, but...

No love for the donut or ramen burgers? No, me neither. I don’t have a favourite burger but I do like testing burgers at new places (like pubs or similar, that serve various different dishes) to see what they consider important and whether they pull it off. It’s a bit like always having the...