Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with regional

Light Metal Indian Dishware?

watercarrier — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:11:17 -0800

Indian Cooking - I want those authentic tin plates and bowls - where? I'm all for traveling light. I like those tin/aluminium bowls, plates and containers I've seen the cooks in India using. What are they called? What is the spice container (with all the small tin bowls fitting inside) called? Looking for an online supplier that's cool to work with and is reasonably priced. Nothing fancy - just what the locals use. Thanks.

Is there a regional airport that would make it easier for me to get to Red Bank, New Jersey

Dave. — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:16:15 -0800

Is there a regional airport that would make it easier for me to get to Red Bank, New Jersey as compared to going into the dreaded Newark Airport (EWR)? I know that Red Bank is only 30 miles south of Newark ... but for obvious reasons (flight delays, traffic, etc) I would like to avoid it. Unfortunately, I can't come up with a better alternative. Any thoughts appreciated, thanks!

And if it matters, this is a flight leaving 11/1 and returning 11/6 out of Jacksonville or Gainesville, FL.

Differences in libraries

bad grammar — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 11:09:13 -0800

Librarians on Metafilter: Do you still find significant regional differences in U.S. school and public library collections? I'm not speaking of obvious differences (e.g., local history and area guides, collections in languages other than English), but demographic, social, and political influences on collection building between, say, urban and rural regions, or the Northeast U.S. vs. the South or West.

I'd expect that the Internet would have a homogenizing effect on library collections. The education of librarians might also have a homogenizing effect.

However, it is traditional that public library collections, dependent on state and local funding, reflect community standards. There are many areas of the U.S. that are less connected, more conservative and more religious.

This also impacts the job search -- can blue-state librarians seek jobs in red states / localities, and vice versa?

At the risk of chatfilter, I'm interested in your actual experiences, not just academic studies. I haven't visited enough public libraries in different states. I live in a blue area of a blue state; the public libraries buy a range of political viewpoints, but political books by people like Hannity, Beck, and Coulter tend to remain on the shelves. I'm aware that it might be different elsewhere.

Snacking around the world

doift — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:39:03 -0800

Blogs about regional junk food and snacks? I'm mildly obsessed with regional junk foods, and know that there are lots of folks like me. Some of them must have blogs, either writing about the specialties of their own region or seeking out treats from other areas. Bonus points if the blogs are especially well-done or popular.

I'm in the U.S. but I'm interested in American and international snacks. Beverages count, as do regional homemade specialties.

The only time you'll want to combine garbage disposals and bidets!

atrazine — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:42:30 -0800

What are some interior fixtures unique to houses in different parts of the world? Inspired by this question about garbage disposals. I just remembered that when I lived in the US everyone seemed to have these things, but I've never seen them in a residential setting elsewhere.
Some examples of the kind of thing I'm looking for:
Bidets - I've never seen one in North America but a lot of European and most Middle Eastern houses have them.
Lights on the ceiling vs. standing lamps

To my Yank ear, Marsha from Spaced sounds like Sophie from Naked. Just me?

bartleby — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:29:54 -0800

UK accents for Americans: these two actresses sound similar to me. Is it a regional accent, or are their distinctive speech patterns just similar? I took a mental vacation this weekend and watched all of Seasons 1 and 2 of Spaced. (Brilliant!)

The landlady Marsha, played by actress Julia Deakin, had an odd manner of speaking that sounded familar.

By about episode 4, it came to me that it sounded like another memorably odd voice I'd heard, this time from the late Katrin Cartlidge, as seen in Mike Leigh's Naked.

If I had to characterise it, I'd use worlds like "high up in the nose", monotone, mumbly.

Either they're both simply putting on a voice, Ms. Deakin is "doing" Ms. Cartlidge, or it's some kind of regional or class accent.

Tell me, oh hive minders with more educated ears, which might it be?

What is this raw beef dish from Texas or Louisiana?

fiercecupcake — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:50:28 -0800

I can't remember or successfully Google the name of a raw meat dish that may have originated in East Texas or Louisiana. It involved raw ground beef and possibly raw onions, peppers, and maybe egg -- very much like steak tartare. (Another comparison: as with citrus in ceviche, the "heat" of the onions/peppers was supposed to have some effect on the meat.) It's on the tip of my tongue -- I think it started with a P and sounded vaguely like it could be a girl's name, but I don't want to lead anyone astray. I think it was eaten with bread or crackers. I was quite young and didn't like the idea, though I suspect I would love it now, if I only knew what it was!

You can't get that from here.

Lou Stuells — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:08:17 -0800

What goodies do we need from Phoenix, AZ? Husband is going there for a few days in July, and we're trying to think of what treats he ought to bring back to New England - stuff we can't find here at home. Cactus Cooler soda and prickly pear jelly/candy are all I can think of. See's Candies would be wonderful, but would not travel well. Any other regional favorites? Thanks in advance!

Hillbilly pernunciation

F Mackenzie — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:04:57 -0800

Regional dialect or dyslexic family? Switching the "r" with a vowel at the beginning of words. My wife points out that my mother and I "kinda talk funny." Specifically, on words beginning with the combination of "consonant-letter R-vowel" we often transcribe them as "consonant-vowel-letter R." Perscribe instead of prescribe, for example. Perspective instead of prospective. Dozens of other examples escape me, but I know I pronounce (pernounce?) them incorrectly without knowing.

Mom was born and raised in rural Missouri of German heritage but near an area rife with Scot-Irish immigrants via Kentucky and Tennessee. My question: is this there a regional linguistic history behind this mispronunciation?

Best way to watch regional sports out-of-region?

carsonb — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:43:49 -0800

What is the best way to watch a regionally televised college basketball game if I'm not in the region? The UofArizona men's basketball season starts this week! Tomorrow night, actually. Alas, after many seasons in Tucson I have recently moved to Los Angeles and out of FSNAz's region. I have basic cable but cannot afford a sports package. I wouldn't mind finding a comfortable place nearby that provides refreshment and sports television. In Tucson I knew of a sports bar that handed out/rented little radio receivers tuned to televisions at each table—something like that would work, but if I could find a way to pull this off and enjoy hawt Wildcat action from home it would be awesome. If it must be a sports bar, please let it be near to—if not floating in the middle of—Echo Park Lake.

I welcome all suggestions, recommendations, and ideas. Thanks!

I go to Blackpool for my holidays...

champthom — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 18:10:12 -0800

What are some popular, regional touristy type attractions? What I don't mean is obvious tourist stuff - Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, Mount Rushmore, etc.

What I mean is pretty much the following criteria places that are typically visited by people from the surrounding area. Put-In-Bay for Ohioans, Kennywood for Southern Pennsylvanians or places like the 1000 Islands for upstate New Yorkers like myself.

To some extent, I'd include places like Blackpool, England or Myrtle Beach. I don't mean places like Cancun or any other "package" city (though that would be an interesting question for some other time).

So essentially, I'm looking for places visited mostly by regional residents, mostly geared solely tourism, typically considered a "traditional" vacation, and ideally should have some kitsch factor involved.

To what extent do major companies play to regional audiences?

magikker — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 18:46:07 -0800

I've noticed that lots of major nationwide American companies sell special "Texas" items here in Texas. Do they do they personalize stuff for other states? It just dawned on me that Buger King offers a Texas double Whopper, Jack in the box offers the Big Texas cheese burger, Nissan offers a special edition Texas Titan truck... There are ton of similar examples. I am really curious if other major companies either offer these Texas items outside of the state or if fast food joints are offering Ohio bugers in Ohio and Vermont bugers in Vermont and so on....

How can I get around regional Internet content restrictions?

Turtle — Thu, 05 May 2005 05:24:23 -0800

I can't watch some Yahoo (ex-launch.com) music videos because I live in France. Is there a way to get around this? When I click on some videos (but not all), I get a page saying "Cette vidéo n'est pas disponible pour votre pays [translation: This video not available in your country]. ... Please use the following error code when writing to Yahoo! Help. (Error Code: 21)."

I guess it's not such a big deal if I can no longer watch the Eels' Rags to Rags video, though I can still see Prodigy's Breathe (note: links to these videos only work in IE for me). Still, regional restrictions (like DVD zones or the Chinese Great Firewall) creep me out.

One of the coolest things about the Internet is being able to ignore geography. Any way to treat this as a defect and route around it, perhaps via some kind of proxy or anonymizer? In some cases I'd be willing to pay for this.

Any other international Mefites run into this kind of problem?

Hickory Nuts -- where to get 'em?

Rash — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 09:45:45 -0800

Anybody know a by-mail source for hickory nuts? And are they worth it? The nuts of hickory trees are similar to those of walnut and pecan. In old stories I read the occasional reference to hickory nut cookies & etc. Hickory nuts are supposedly available regianally -- do you ever see them for sale? And are they shelled?

Where can I find deep-South groceries in New York City?

grumblebee — Mon, 02 Aug 2004 12:28:18 -0800

My wife and I live in New York City, but she's from the Deep South (Alabama). She's often miffed that when she goes to a grocery store in the city, she can't find food and treats that she grew up with (i.e. Goo Goo Clusters). I know you can order a lot of stuff online, but I was wondering -- since there are Korean grocery stores and Indian grocery stores (and even British grocery stores) in NYC -- is there a Southern U.S. grocery store? If not, is there a central website for ordering Southern food products (rather than multiple websites of various product manufacturers)?