Poison

9 Responses

1. I just happened to be listening to an interview with a toxicologist on the CBC shortly before listening to this podcast regarding the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

   She said there were two key components to whether a substance was toxic or not. The amount of the substance (as you mention) and the time (or length) of exposure.

   Good show. Looking forward to the next one.

2. I just happened to be listening to an interview with a toxicologist on the CBC shortly before listening to this podcast regarding the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

   She said there were two key components to whether a substance was toxic or not. The amount of the substance (as you mention) and the time (or length) of exposure.

   Good show. Looking forward to the next one.

3. You mention attercop in relation to the D&D ettercap. An important(?) pop-culture(?) reference is from The Hobbit, when Bilbo taunts the spiders in Mirkwood by calling them Attercop and other Old English words for spider. More info here:
   http://www.daimi.au.dk/~bouvin/tolkien/spidernames.html

4. You mention attercop in relation to the D&D ettercap. An important(?) pop-culture(?) reference is from The Hobbit, when Bilbo taunts the spiders in Mirkwood by calling them Attercop and other Old English words for spider. More info here:
   http://www.daimi.au.dk/~bouvin/tolkien/spidernames.html

5. Point of order, Kevin actually rated The Young Poisoner’s Handbook 9/10. HA! Geisel ftw!

6. Point of order, Kevin actually rated The Young Poisoner’s Handbook 9/10. HA! Geisel ftw!

7. I was forcing my bf to listen to this episode when I thought I remembered that the Tylenol poisoner had been caught. However, after some research, I discovered that it was a copycat incident right here in Washington state: http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/terrorists/tylenol_murders/4.html. (I love this website) I’m surprised you didn’t go into the whole black widow serial killer phenomenon, where women often use poison to kill used up and lazy husbands. But you could probably do an entire episode on those cases.

8. I finally got around to going back to Series 1 and listened to the poison episode. After hearing none of you had had Fugu I wanted to share my experience. I was in Japan for a business trip and decided that I wanted to do something unique. My coworkers picked a restaurant that specialized in Fugu. We went in and had a 5 course meal. They have tanks of live fugu swimming about and it’s like lobster you can pick your own or let the chef choose but the fist is definitely fresh up until you eat it.
   First was a Fugu skin salad. The spikes are pulled out and the skin is cut into small thin strips and dressed with some vinegar and sesame oil. I found it rubbery and unpleasant.
   Second was Fugu Sashimi – This was very thinly sliced and a white opaque pearly color. The meat was still twitching slightly due to the freshness and the bed of ice it was served on. It was very sweet and delicate with a slight chewiness like squid.
   Third was fried Fugu – light tempura nuggets with a dipping sauce. Very calamari-esque you never would know you weren’t eating calamari.
   Fourth was bakes Fugu with a miso broth which was quite tender and delicious.
   Fifth was a sake where they took a Fugu fin, lit it on fire, and then dropped it into the Sake to give it a smoked briney taste. It was actually more delicious than it sounds. Like a slightly salty smokey scotch.

   My coworkers told me that Fugu is often a seasonal dish and is only offered for part of the year.

9. I finally got around to going back to Series 1 and listened to the poison episode. After hearing none of you had had Fugu I wanted to share my experience. I was in Japan for a business trip and decided that I wanted to do something unique. My coworkers picked a restaurant that specialized in Fugu. We went in and had a 5 course meal. They have tanks of live fugu swimming about and it’s like lobster you can pick your own or let the chef choose but the fist is definitely fresh up until you eat it.
   First was a Fugu skin salad. The spikes are pulled out and the skin is cut into small thin strips and dressed with some vinegar and sesame oil. I found it rubbery and unpleasant.
   Second was Fugu Sashimi – This was very thinly sliced and a white opaque pearly color. The meat was still twitching slightly due to the freshness and the bed of ice it was served on. It was very sweet and delicate with a slight chewiness like squid.
   Third was fried Fugu – light tempura nuggets with a dipping sauce. Very calamari-esque you never would know you weren’t eating calamari.
   Fourth was bakes Fugu with a miso broth which was quite tender and delicious.
   Fifth was a sake where they took a Fugu fin, lit it on fire, and then dropped it into the Sake to give it a smoked briney taste. It was actually more delicious than it sounds. Like a slightly salty smokey scotch.

   My coworkers told me that Fugu is often a seasonal dish and is only offered for part of the year.