The "how I will be watching the election results" thread

[vimothy]

538 -- What Remains Uncalled

Some interesting stuff. Mostly odds 'n' sods. Looks like Obama will win Omaha, and thus Missouri.

EDIT: Also see this post at 538 for exit poll demographic breakdown. Obama outperformed Kerry among every demographic (more white people voted for Obama than Kerry, e.g.) except the over 65s and gay and lesbian voters.

 

[vimothy]

Brendan Nyhan -- 2006 + 2008 = blowout:

James Carville just made a really important point on CNN that was also emphasized to me by one of my advisers -- while Democratic gains in the House and Senate tonight are significant, the combination of 2006 and 2008 adds up to a shift of historic proportions:

Republicans are on target to lose somewhere between 12 and 14 Senate seats in a two-year period and somewhere around 50 to 55 House seats... The Republican party is getting a drubbing tonight the likes of which we've never seen. This is a two-year cycle in which this party has been hammered.​

For the sake of comparison, the GOP picked up 54 House seats and eight Senate seats in the "Republican Revolution" of 1994.​

 

[crackerjack]

[EDIT: Also see this post at 538 for exit poll demographic breakdown. Obama outperformed Kerry among every demographic (more white people voted for Obama than Kerry, e.g.) except the over 65s and gay and lesbian voters.

What's that about then? He did come out against gay marriage, whereas I guess the GOP position hadn't changed at all.

I've actually stopped paying attention now - so is Missouri still out? I know NC went for Obama.

 

[scottdisco]

quoth Luka:

"this has turned into the dirtiest nerd orgy in dissensus history, and thats saying something."

now now my dear man, don't forget me and Stelfox and assorted folks banging on about real ale once..

 

[luka]

yeah but you didn't produce an array of pie charts to bolster your case....

 

[scottdisco]

i like eating pies, if that counts? and of course you know all about my friends in nearby Wigan.

(and obviously i know you used to bake them.)

good work on Starbucks closing loads of their Aussie branches BTW!

also: what do you prefer, a savoury, main-meal-type pie (hot meat and taters, for instance), or a fruit flan you might eat as a pud?

i am probably more in the savoury camp.
you know, if i had to break things down in this oppositional way. (which i am doing as it's a message board, and i want an either/or response..)

 

[luka]

savory. americans dont' know about meat pies. they used to come into my pie shop and, see the options (chunky beef, mince beef, beef and mushroom, beef and potoato etc etc) suddenly their faces would register utter bemusement and dismay. then they would ask if i had any apple pies. i would sneer disdainfully.

 

[nomadthethird]

savory. americans dont' know about meat pies. they used to come into my pie shop and, see the options (chunky beef, mince beef, beef and mushroom, beef and potoato etc etc) suddenly their faces would register utter bemusement and dismay. then they would ask if i had any apple pies. i would sneer disdainfully.

umm you can buy "pot pies" everywhere in the U.S., but they're especially popular in the south

it's not hugely popular but they exist

i'd imagine people were disappointed due to the semantic difference where savory pies are called "pot pies" here, while fruit pies are just called "pies"

 

[luka]

thats intersting, they always told me they'd never heard of such a thing.
are the pot pies entriely encased in pastry? what are the most commn fillings?

 

[luka]

A pot pie is a type of baked savory pie with a bottom and top completely encased by flakey crusts and baked inside a pie tin to support its shape.

This is in contrast to the Australian meat pie and many British regional variants on pie recipes, which may have a top of flakey pastry, but whose body is made from heavier, more mechanically stable shortcrust, hot water crust or similar pastry.

hmmmm

An Australian meat pie is a hand-sized meat pie containing largely minced meat and gravy sometimes with onion and often consumed as a takeaway food snack. The pie itself is congruent with the United Kingdom's steak pie.

It is considered iconic in Australia and New Zealand [1] . It was described by former New South Wales Premier Bob Carr in 2003 as Australia's "national dish". [2] Across the Tasman, New Zealanders regard the meat pies as of New Zealand food, forms part of the New Zealand national identity[3].

The popular brand Four'N'Twenty produces 50,000 pies per hour and Australians consume an average of 12 meat pies each per year. [4]. The average consumption of meat pies in New Zealand is higher at 15 per person per year[5].

 

[Mr. Tea]

It's all about the steak, ale and mushroom...

*drools*

 

[craner]

But did you sell any pies that didn't contain beef?

 

[scottdisco]

Craner to thread!

i was going to bring that up too, Luka. at the risk of sounding, er, libertine, was there any chicken and mushroom?

Mr Tea on steak, ale and mushroom is surely right.

i have had many pot pies in the central belt of the USA, and they are sublime.

i think, though, that perhaps the American apple pie is at the height of all of this.

(thus arguing against something i earlier said, although Ollie and Luka can testify as to how i am quite the flip-flopper.)

no, on second thought, steak, ale and mushroom.

or perhaps minted lamb and a sharp cheese. (though that is a bit libertine, for sure..)

 

[scottdisco]

your chunky beef does sound magnificent Luka.

no, sack it, i'm definitively striking out for the hot Brit/Aus/NZ savoury camp..

 

[Mr. Tea]

This thread has brought together everything that's great about Dissensus.

 

[nomadthethird]

Usually the kinds of pot pie that you buy at like KFC where they're faking the real kind *is* encased in crust, but I think traditionally it's just a layer of crust over a casserole-like meat and gravy combination. I'm sure there are other differences too, I've never tried British pie.

Sounds great, though.

 

[nomadthethird]

Speaking of meat pies I love those Jamaican patty things. I think this has been discussed before by the Trinidadian poster with the Gandhi avatar whose name escapes me.

 

[Mr. Tea]

Speaking of meat pies I love those Jamaican patty things. I think this has been discussed before by the Trinidadian poster with the Gandhi avatar whose name escapes me.

YES! They're great, aren't they? I'm reliably informed the cheese version is be avoided if you know what's good for you, though.

 

[bassnation]

YES! They're great, aren't they? I'm reliably informed the cheese version is be avoided if you know what's good for you, though.

hmm, i find the pastry a bit dry compared to what i'm used to (cornish pasties and occasionally cheese and onion - typical crap british diet).

 

[Mr. Tea]

Well the Cornish pasty is an art unto itself, isn't it? Proper ones, I mean, not yer Ginsters motorway-service-station shite.

Then you've got a very similar Argentinian thing called an empanada, Indian samosas, Turkish borek...meat encased in pastry seems to be one of those great cultural invariants.