Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with roots

I need to kill a tree.

ldenneau — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:34:32 -0800

I have a ficus tree in our yard (planted by the previous homeowner) that is growing too fast and the roots have breached the main sewer line on our property. The trunk of the tree is maybe eight inches in diameter, and completely removing the tree is dicey due to terrain and sewer line considerations. I live in Hawaii. Any suggestions?

How to start a community music ensemble

argybarg — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 15:09:27 -0800

Are there instrumental equivalents to community choirs? And which ones work? I'm loving being in a community choir. The director brings songs from around the world, teaches them to us one part at a time until the harmonies are developed, and then we perform once a season. No sight reading, no technical proficiency required, just tons of fun. It's a big hit, with 40 members after only a few months.

I'd like to get a sister group started, only with instruments. I know tons of American roots and other kinds of music I could teach to people, and I think I could help shape the performances if people bring guitars, banjos, fiddles and other acoustic instruments. I play a bunch of instruments myself.

I live in a small, friendly island community with lots of musicians, so the demographic feels right. But I don't know of anyone who has done this before. I've heard of standing jam sessions, but not of open-to-the-community groups that practice and perform. Have you?

I might as well air my worries, and perhaps you know solutions to them:

The bluegrass curse. Some people can really play, and they want to play the right way. This could kill the fun of the community. I don't want music purity or blazing solos every time. On the other hand, I don't want to dumb people down.

Jamming. I do not want to play 10-minute meanders on Grateful Dead songs. I do not want to play half-remembered Bob Marley songs as in college. But maybe some people do. How do I add some focus and punch to the proceedings without becoming a dictator?

Numbers. What if four piano players and no fiddlers show up? What if 25 people want to join? Do I split the group?

Song choices. Not everyone is as excited about 1920s string bands and Italian folk music as I am. On the other hand, they might enjoy them if they learn them. Are there musical traditions broad and enjoyable enough to invite everyone in? Or should I try to include a bit of everything? Or: To hell with it, it is what it is?

Thanks for thinking this through with me.

Intense breaks + soft music = ???

azarbayejani — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:02:13 -0800

Breakfilter: Help me find songs that have similar drum breaks to You Got Me by The Roots. I've kind of been obsessed with this song for a few days. I'm talking about the drums that come in at around 3:30. To be more specific, it's not just the drums that attract me, but the drums set in such a laid back, jazzy background.

So basically I'm looking for some chill, jazzy hip-hop or trip-hop music that has some intense breaks in it. I like that contrast.

Side Question: What other hip hop groups use live instrumentals?

Are self-installable dental electric nerve blocks on the horizon, at all?

Quarter Pincher — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:39:24 -0800

Would it be very plausible to hope that a consumer-good electric(al) nerve block be developed for dental/oral surgery pain management? Soon? I will likely be having lots of dental work in my future, unless I can somehow discover a drastically inexpensive way to skip right to dentures.

In the meantime and less pricey time, I'd ideally like a consumer-implementable electric(al) nerve block that I could install myself when needed, because getting the chem-shot is almost as bad as the toothache itself, so much that I've had my last umpteen fillings bored and filled without any shots and going purely off nitrous and goa-trance.

The pain-to-the-point-of-insanity I feel when injected with whatsit-caine nerve block meds into the gum is absurdly fearsome, but I'll overlikely be needing a number of root canals later in my years -- and it seems like an electric/electrical nerve block would be the answer, but to get a dentist to buy one and use it would take decades rather than me just bringing one in and using it myself.

Would you suppose the installation of electric(al) nerve block is too delicate or sensitive (pun, yes) of a procedure for standard consumers to implement, or could a rudimental version be contrived that essentially accomplishes the goal without needing to know advanced bio-science?

As of 2008, what can science tell me about my genetics thru DNA testing.

cadastral — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:20:55 -0800

Wondering if anyone here has had a Genealogical DNA test for purposes of learning more about your distant (ie. not recent/paternity) ancestors. I have questions about the differences (price, service, thoroughness) of the various companies offering this service, the type of data that different tests can produce, and ways this data can be (constructively) interpreted. I had heard of various folks having these tests done (one example of many) for all kinds of reasons. I was/am interested, and I researched it a bit. But I got overwhelmed somewhere between Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups and Mitochondrial DNA haplogroups, and started wondering just what, exactly, these tests could actually deliver.

Then, to confuse me even further, at minute 1:10 of this YouTube video, Christopher Hitchens says the following, which, if true, raises my estimation (and expectations) for these tests a hundred-fold:

"...and I, by the way, have been to the National Geographic... and had--as you can have, for a hundred bucks--my DNA analyzed. And I can show you on a map which part of Africa my ancestors come from. Looks like Angola, In my case."

So, MetaFilter... please clear my head. My questions (to start) are these:
• How much (and how specifically) can these tests tell me about my ancestry (best case/worst case)?
• What types of tests exist, and what are the strengths and weaknesses of each type?
• Which suppliers/labs dealing in these tests do you have a personal (even anecdotal) experience with that has led you to have either a high, or a low opinion of them?
• What price range are these tests?
• What combination of test_type/lab/other_variables will most likely produce the largest, most enormous and rich mountain of (worthwhile) interpretable data?
• What are the things that I am certainly overlooking that I should not be?

If this helps at all: I'm a white guy, mostly Northern European ancestry. I'm totally ignorant about, and incredibly stoked by the "non-mostly" part of that equation, and I'm chomping at the bit to get this done. Yes, it's vanity, but please indulge me this one thing. I'll wear the same shirt all next week in penance.

While I'm not very well-versed in the biological sciences, I'm not afraid of reading links you send or learning about it. In other words... not a "tell me like I'm 6-years-old" type of deal--more like a "tell me like I am an conscientious, interested, incoming freshman to your "intro to bio" class"... (or somewhere in-between). Many thanks.

what is "home" when it isn't a place?

headnsouth — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:31:30 -0800

Define "home." It's where the heart is, it's sweet, you can't go there again, etc. I can google the quotes. But what becomes "home" if you didn't grow up in only one place, or if your family isn't the Norman Rockwell kind of family one pictures when conjuring up an image of "home"?

I'm about to relocate my kids just as they begin high school. They spent their younger years in one state, their coming-of-age years in another, and they'll become adults in a third. I feel guilty but it can't be helped and it's a good move for all of us for a lot of reasons. Our extended family is quite limited so it's pretty much just us. We've got holiday traditions and all kinds of routines that don't/won't change, so there's that.

But their childhood "home" isn't a single place, and it isn't memories of big loud cheerful family gatherings. So what is it? What does it mean to have shallow roots & a peripatetic upbringing? And what will it mean for them when I'm dead & they don't have either a familiar place or a person to come home to?

I would love to hear from army brats, adult children of divorce, adults who were foster kids, children of overseas workers, etc. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

Recommendations for a Fahey fan

nasty, brutish, and of average height — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 07:11:08 -0800

Recommend me some old, weird Americana in the vein of John Fahey, please. Listening to John Fahey late last night, I realized I'm in the mood for more weird, backcountry yet kind of avant garde music. I like his guitar playing, but what I'm really after is that mood, if that makes sense (this is why I like Fahey more than Leo Kottke). I'm thinking of things like his "Portland Cement Factory at Monolith, California" or some of the abstract stuff from Yellow Princess.

Stuff I've already found:

I have a passing familiarity with old bluegrass, country and roots, but it doesn't go much deeper than, for instance, the Carter Family or Robert Johnson.
I've heard the recent Fahey tribute album
I know the bigger artists associated with modern, freak-folk stuff. I'm mostly looking for older stuff, but since I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of that genre, let me know if there's a particular modern artist I should check out.
I've seen this thread, which seems to focus more on current bands. But I'm looking at it nonetheless.

Can bamboo penetrate fibreglass?

figment — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 21:27:19 -0800

Can Bamboo (rhizomatous) damage a fibreglass swimming pool? Our neighbours have a smallish patch of bamboo against their back boundary. We are about to put a fibreglass pool in our backyard that will be about 2 meters from the boundary fence. Currently, the bamboo shoots emerge on our side of the fence and I cut and poison them as necessary. We are intending to get the bamboo removed as soon as possible but are curious as to whether it could in fact damage our pool. Having neighbours control the bamboo on their side is likely to be a constant battle.

How to touch up hair highlights inbetween salon visits?

20something — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 20:01:32 -0800

Is there anyway to touch up my hair highlights inbetween salon visits? I currently get highlights and lowlights at an Aveda salon every 8 weeks. I am wondering if there is any way I can touch up the roots inbetween visits so that I can maybe only have to go every 4-5 months, instead of every two.

Has anyone done this successfully?
How would I match the colour and how would I do it?

I am a bit worried I would end up looking all stripey or something.

Stop eucalyptus roots from damaging pool

diamondsky — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 11:22:04 -0800

Our eucalyptus trees are damaging our pool area. Is there a way to save the trees and the pool? Posting for a distraught friend:

I have two eucalyptus trees in a raised flower bed of sorts in my cement backyard. They're full grown, one much larger than the other. The trees are gorgeous thriving havens for local birds and reptiles in the So Cal desert.

My problem is that we have an in ground pool a few feet from the trees. There is a portion of the cement walkway that is buckling which, my husband says, is caused from the trees' roots. He had someone look at it and confirmed this and he was told that the roots would continue to grow until they break through the side of our pool.

My question: Is the only remedy truly is to chop down the gorgeous living trees? Obviously, the damage to the pool would be irreparable but I'm hoping that I can somehow have my cake and eat it too.

Like the wind and the rain / Like a southbound train

kjell — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 21:24:51 -0800

"Rock Me Mama," apparently a Bob Dylan unreleased track, also known as "Wagon Wheel" as played by Old Crow Medicine Show (and I'm sure the song has roots further back) - any music buffs know of this song and/or various recordings of it? I remember hearing it around a month ago on my iPod, and I made note that I should come back and hear it again when I got back to my computer, but never did (it was ~4am driving through north dakota).

I'm almost positive that it was Dylan playing the song - but going through the Dylan in my iTunes isn't helping me at all. The title of the song was something oblique, so searching by the title or lyrics doesn't help. I also can't remember being able to really comprehend many of the lyrics beyond rock me mama, if that might help anyone.