I grow many aconitums and am alarmed by this alarmist talk of alarmingly poisonous plants (which, in my garden would probably be nearly all of them). You do not need to avoid planting it and by all accounts, the hugely poisonous attributes of aconitum are more likely mythic rather than factual....but hey, here's a bit about it from the 'Poison Garden' at Alnwick Castle How Poisonous, How Harmful? The principal alkaloids are aconite and aconitine. Of these aconitine is thought to be the key toxin. Ingestion of even a small amount results in severe gastrointestinal upset but it is the effect on the heart, where it causes slowing of the heart rate, which is often the cause of death. The poison may be administered by absorption through broken skin or open wounds and there are reports of florists being unwell after working with the flowers but there are no documented cases. Its distinctive taste makes it unpleasant to eat so accidental poisoning is extremely rare but not unknown. The taste is described as initially very bitter followed by a burning sensation and, then, a numbing of the mouth. Incidents In July 2014, I was contacted by someone whose small terrier had died after eating some of the root. The dog had buried a bone at the base of the plant and is thought to have scratched at the root when retrieving it. It is not clear whether the owner had bought the plant from somewhere other than an HTA member garden centre or whether the warning required by the HTA list of potentially harmful plants had proved inadequate. A rising young Canadian actor, Andre Noble, accidentally ate monkshood on 30th July 2004 whilst on a camping trip. He is said to have believed he was eating wild parsnip. Until recently, the only well established case of murder with aconitine was in 1881 when Dr. Lamson used it to poison his brother-in-law after putting it in the newly invented soluble capsules for taking medicine without having to taste it. The 'yuck' inducing details of how Dr. Lamson was convicted form one of the highlights of the Medical Murderers talk. In February 2010, Lakhvir Singh was convicted of the murder of her lover, Lakhvinder Cheema, who died after eating a curry to which Ms Singh had added the extract of Aconitum ferox, known as Indian monkshood or Himalayan monkshood. His new fiancée, with whom he shared the meal, became very ill but recovered. Media reports have described the poisoning agent as aconitine but the primary alkaloid in Aconitum ferox is pseudoaconitine, sometimes called Indian aconite. Gurjeet Choongh, who survived the poisoning, told the court that Mr Cheema said that he felt numb and 'everything was going dark'. Mr Choongh, who ate less of the leftover curry, later began experiencing similar feelings as well as abdominal pain. The two were treated in hospital but it was not possible to save Cheema. Both experienced severe vomiting and the tachycardia expected in Aconitum poisoning but no aconitine was found. One of those involved in the case had read an 1845 publication about Aconitum napellus that had mentioned 'far-eastern' species and noted that these might have different effects. When an herbal remedy was found in the killer's possession, tests showed that it contained pseudaconitine and this alkaloid was also found in the victims. Aconitum napellus, monkshood Aconitum napellus, monkshood Again in February 2010, a case was reported from India of a 62-year old man given a herbal remedy for diarrhoea who suffered severe heart problems. Analysis showed that the remedy contained roots from an unidentified species of Aconitum. In 1996, a 61 year old man died after eating the leaves of Aconitum thinking it was an edible grass. The 2002 annual meeting of the North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology heard a case report of a 36-year old man who ate an estimated 30gms of crushed root, believing it would reduce his neuropathic pain. He had heart palpitations and chest discomfort but no vomiting. He recovered after 24 hours of treatment to control ventricular tachycardia. The fact that such a large dose can have such a relatively small effect illustrates the difficulty of answering the question 'How much would it take to kill?' when applied to any poisonous plant. In 2005, a 21-year old man made up his own capsules of crushed Aconitum root which, he believed, would work as 'natural' sleeping tablets. He suffered all the classic symptoms of monkshood poisoning but recovered after two days in the hospital ICU. A couple thought it looked so lovely they planted it to brighten up their herb garden. When the wife picked a herb leaf salad she, accidentally, included some leaves from the monkshood and both suffered severe stomach upsets lasting two days. These last two prove a point which was contentious for a long time. Many people said that it was only the root which was poisonous and not the leaves. Even today, it is possible to find poison plant listings that say the root is the only toxic part. William Rhind was a 19th century Scot who trained and practiced as a doctor before turning his attention to studying and writing about natural history in all its forms. In his ‘History of the Vegetable Kingdom’ he cites a case in Sweden, though without giving a date, where a man exhibited maniacal symptoms after eating fresh leaves of the monkshood. A doctor, summoned to assist him, expressed the view that the plant could not be the cause of his disorder since it was only the root which was toxic and ate freely of the leaves to prove his point. He died in dreadful agony.

I had a smelly bathroom sink once. It would smell for a few seconds after I started running water, then dissipate. I suspected trapped gas in the pipes or something. When I had a plumber over for an unrelated problem he said that the smell might come from the space between the overflow opening and the drain. Stuff gets caught in there over time and is just about impossible to clean. When you turn on the water, the gas that sat in that space gets forced out of the overflow hole. Something like that. I dribbled some disinfectant cleaner into the hole and a bottle cleaner to wipe around a bit, then rinsed. That seemed to have helped.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America - Barbara Ehrenreich

Here are a few more characters I think apply to the main question: Billy Kwan in The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher J. Koch and in the subsequent film starring Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver, and Linda Hunt. I read the book first and in it there is no doubt that Billy is male. Actually, there's none in the film, either, except the role of Billy is played by a woman. When I first saw the film, I didn't know that the actor is female, so I wasn't wowed by the fact that she played Billy so convincingly. Some watchers, however, can't seem to get past that fact. At any rate, without Billy Kwan, a heterosexual male dwarf, the story wouldn't be much beyond the typical love affair during difficult times. (That descriptive of a particular type of a small-sized person is not PC, I know, but good grief, things do have to be taken in context of the times depicted.) Flora in The Piano by Jane Campion and Kate Pullinger and in the film starring Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin. The book actually came after the film, in one of the rare instances when a novelization of a screenplay is quite well written, probably because Jane Campion, the screenwriter and director, had her hand in the novel as well. As memorable as Flora is in the film as the daughter of the main character, Ada, I was pleasantly surprised that her actions were translated to the book in depth. Sally Bowles in Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories and in a couple of films: "I Am a Camera" (Julie Harris in the role of Sally) and in "Cabaret" (with Liza Minnelli as Sally) Sally Bowles was English in Isherwood's stories and in "I Am a Camera" (although Julie Harris, the actress, was from the U.S.), but she's American in "Cabaret." I read somewhere that Minnelli was so perfect for the part, but she couldn't sustain an English accent so it was logical to change Sally's nationality. I agree in this instance. What about Harry Lime in The Third Man, a novelization by Graham Greene of his own screenplay for the film of the same title starring Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, and Alida Valli? Apparently, Greene wanted the character of Holly Martins to be English instead of American. But he always wanted the villain to be American. Greene did not have a very high opinion of Americans. Instead, Martins as played by Joseph Cotten is a Yank. But which is the main character, Harry Lime or Holly Martins, in spite of the billing order of the starring actors? The English characters, all of whom could be said to be secondary, are some of the best ever, I think: Major Calloway (Trevor Howard), Sergeant Paine (Bernard Lee), and Crabbin (Wilfrid Hyde-White). What do you all think of those characters? Good choices or not? I'm trying to think of very well known books and films that many people have probably read or seen, although it is likely more have seen the films.