Gwynneth Of Olwen

Someone mentioned the use of a Zither in the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock film, but something like it figures prominently in the soundtrack to the BBC's "Sherlock". I've searched all over, even found an interview with the composers but NO mention of what the instrument is. It also sounds like a Turkish Qanun. Is it? Anyone know? I love the sound of it!

TELL you anything?

I'm NOT trying to be sexist at all, but my wife told me even SHE was grossed out by the birth process (?), so I figured, after watching "Knocked Up" and listening to HER go "UGHHHH! EWWWW" (like the guys--and if you notice, also like Heigl's character Allison, when she sees it in a mirror!), that maybe there IS something to SOME guys NOT watching their kids be born.

I mean, in ancient times, was there some whacko with a mirror, chanting and recording the thing on video or whatever? NO! Women got thru it as best they could and many say forgot about it (I dig that! MY wife says you never forget, which I get, also. I would NOT forget "trying to pass a basketball", as some have described it!

Any takers? (And can we NOT go into that debate of "Natural is beautiful" vs. EWWWW thing? I"m interested what you GUYS (WHO HAVE BEEN THERE) think!

Reason: I wanna know what to tell my son how to react when and if he ever becomes a dad (his mom will only say "It's a F********* NIGHTMARE--but at least I have YOU!" Hmmmm... Okay.

Egad! Jason Segel (one of my fave actors) has made a flick about his pet thing: puppets, but not just that...MUPPETS! I think there was a reason they were "out of circulation", as the film says, for a LONG time! Any ideas how many people want to see them again?

I am looking at flats on the outskirts of London to get an idea of where I'd like to spend a year or more and possibly move there. Some listings say "might be freehold". We don't have that term in the U.S. What is it? Is it better or worse than NOT freehold? And would it be different for someone buying a flat vs. a detached house?

In "The Lord of the Rings", by J.R.R. Tolkien, the 3/4 Elven maiden, Arwen, gives up the immortality her half-Elven father, Elrond chose, to be with Aragorn, a mortal man. Naturally, Elrond wants her to give him up and live forever.

If you were faced with the same choice, which would YOU choose? And I don't just mean a passing fling, but the kind of love for which you would wait decades to achieve, as Arwen does.

I'm selling my '97 Mercury Mountaineer to a salvage place, but several people said to take out the catalytic converters, since the stuff inside (platinum, etc.) is worth more than what the salvage place will pay. I knew a guy who bought and recycled the stuff inside them and there are plenty of places on the Internet, just not near me. Should I shop around for a place to sell them or just take the $200? If, so, where's the best place to do this? The car is a mess (outside for 2 yrs., not driven) and would cost way too much to fix.

I'm getting near retirement and want a place for 2-3 in Great Britain, not in the city, but with some geography like that of New England (hills, woods), and with reasonable rents, with probable eye on buying there. Any ideas? I'm thinking of Surrey, or Devon. I'm REALLY open to ideas, including places like Wales.

Who's prettier? I got into a heated argument w/my mum, who claims Catherine Z-J is prettier. I say it's Kate...by a LONG shot. Those EYES! Jones' are like dead coals and as she's portrayed in the film, "High Fidelity", thinks WAY too much of herself!

Also, Z-J can't really act (see above film), whereas Winslet was stunning in "The Reader" ...well, EVERYTHING!

So, you DUDES out there...tell my envious mum to take a hike (I know that's what it is--Z-J's eyes are just like hers, so they're "okay"!). GRRR!

And don't tell my wife!

Instead of my (Firefox) homepage, this keeps appearing, and gets a huge warning from WOT. I went to another site that says it's related to porn. WTH???! Searches and "WhoIs" produced nothing.

I like West Coast Rap but it has to have a heavy dose of FUNK for me. Nowatimean? Any recommendations beside Ton-Loc and Coolio. Yes..I'm a "Clueless"! white boy.

I'm not going to say because then I'd deprive anyone who answers of commenting/guessing how I chose mine (not much of a stretch unless you're REALLY into LOTR). But aside form the standard kind, how and why did you choose your avatar? (btw: how many can define what "avatar" means?).

I'm the "IT" person for our house and struggling to keep our computer alive. We have Windows 7 and an expired trial copy of Windows 2010, but running XP. Since I've let a couple careless family members use the computer, weird things have happened. The other night, one of them got hysterical and I came in to see the computer saying "Please Wait while 15,471 Updates Download"!!!

I've never seen anything like this before. I keep a close watch on things or try to, and have Norton Internet Security, Windows Defender, CCleaner, Glary Utilities. I defrag regularly and update my antivirus/antispyware almost every day. While surfing with Firefox, I also employ Request Policy, NoScript, & Ghostery, along with Adblock Plus.

Can anybody tell me WHAT the hell is happening here and why? The day after this, as I tried to run some diagnostics, I got messages that first, Word wasn't "responding", then Windows and then the Computer itself! I'm out of my league...

My son (a 20-y.o. Caucasian mainlander) as been seriously dating a girl from Hawaii, whose parents are Filipino (as in, emigrated from the Philippines). I've TRIED to acculturate, but to little avail. The girl barely speaks to me and just to my wife when asked. She told my son and wife that girls are taught not to address boys and kids aren't allowed to address adults first. But after FOUR years, and staying with us for 6 months, you'd think she'd be more comfortable! Is this something that will ever change?

Also, despite all this talk of respect and modesty, she can be very pushy and orders our son around like a servant (she's quite well-off, so maybe that's it). I don't think it's "respectful" to do that, nor to ignore someone when they're trying to engage you in conversation.

I wouldn't care so much if I wasn't pretty sure he intends to marry her! HELP! And no "Haole" trashing, please. Been there, heard that!

Our son is deeply in love w/a girl from Hawaii, of Filipino descent (1st Gen....that is, her parents moved here from there). She's now going to a local university to be near our son, but there are SO many things we don't get, such as her reticence to speak to adults (which she says she was raised to do???)

To be fair to her, (and we DO see her as part of the family), we would like some insights into how she might have been raised. For instance: tho' she was taught to "respect" adults no matter what, her own family sems to be a mess (perpetually drunk--she says she hates them and her own mother raised her not to trust ANYONE!).

WTF??? Any insights would be appreciated! (BTW...she and our son are both 19 and PLEASE don't respond if you're gonna say "Let them go on their own"...we're NOT built for that!...Not yet anyway).

Someone recently posted this for liberals. Let's see if the other side's prejudices are as bad and their stereotypes as nasty as those who trashed the liberals!

My mom plans to leave her house to my family (the other kids got land), but now, due to a long, stupid feud, two of my sisters are trying to get her to alter her will. One of them is her executor, to make it worse. She is afraid of them and keeps insisting everything's okay. But I don't trust them, for good reason. I've gone to legal advice sites but usually, nobody responds. Do I need a lawyer NOW?

I just got a petition in my email to help end childhood obesity, but I thought: it's NOT really the schools' problems, nor even the government's, when advertisers bombard kids with sugar-coated ads and parents do NOTHING to stop them from gorging on sweets and fatty snacks!

Shouldn't we have a petition to educate PARENTS, or the main caregivers on how to teach kids to eat correctly? It's pretty hard for a kid to say no to sweets or fats when they watch their parents gorging on all kids of junk food, overeating and having huge glut-fests, such as during the Superbowl and on Thanksgiving!

IMO, kids have enough to worry about in this world without being entirely blamed for eating the wrong thing!

My kid is visiting his girlfriend in Oahu, HI, and insists that even if WE call THEM on the landline (we have Verizon unlimited long distance), they'll get charged! WE never get charged for out of state calls (including ones from HI).

I say it sounds REALLY fishy!!! Any explanations...if they exist?! Is this family using another network that does this? DOES such a thing exist???? I'm getting worried!