Every Major's Terrible
January 19, 2014 7:45 AM   Subscribe

The Simon Fraser University Choir performs "Every Major's Terrible" by Randall Munroe (xkcd.com)
posted by Chocolate Pickle (29 comments total) 27 users marked this as a favorite
 
Have to say, that is pretty darn fun.
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:52 AM on January 19, 2014


Oh how i love xkcd. The chior is good too.
posted by AlexiaSky at 7:58 AM on January 19, 2014


How is it possible for something to be at once so correct, clever, metrically-unassailable, bleak, heartwarming, and demonstrative of the potential for collaborative synergy in new media!?
posted by lumosh at 8:17 AM on January 19, 2014 [6 favorites]


I'd forgotten about this! (The xkcd comic, I mean; I'd never seen the performance until just now.) My current subway routine is memorizing patter songs to pass the time, so I've got "The Major General's Song," the Ruddigore "Matter Patter Trio" and recently "The Sorcerer's Song" all down pat, so I guess I'l be moving to this one next.

Great find!
posted by Navelgazer at 8:18 AM on January 19, 2014 [2 favorites]


Navelgazer: I just read your comment to my partner (Mefi's Own tesseractive) and they cried "They haven't done 'The Worst Pies in London?' Come on, that's the best patter song ever!"
posted by The demon that lives in the air at 8:22 AM on January 19, 2014 [2 favorites]


I'll put it on the list, then!
posted by Navelgazer at 8:26 AM on January 19, 2014


Holy shitballs do I regret going to college.
posted by pwally at 8:41 AM on January 19, 2014 [1 favorite]


My current subway routine is memorizing patter songs to pass the time

Which is perfect for the subway, because that particularly rapid unintelligible patter isn't generally heard--and if it is, it doesn't matter.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 8:47 AM on January 19, 2014 [8 favorites]


Mr. Bad Example, you are wonderful.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:48 AM on January 19, 2014 [1 favorite]


Navelgazer: The Very Model Of A Cartoon Individual
posted by hippybear at 8:59 AM on January 19, 2014 [4 favorites]


Holy shitballs do I regret going to college.

SFU. Burnaby. BC. Canada.

"University." You regret going to "university."
posted by ethnomethodologist at 9:23 AM on January 19, 2014 [4 favorites]


Navelgazer: "I'd forgotten about this! (The xkcd comic, I mean; I'd never seen the performance until just now.) My current subway routine is memorizing patter songs to pass the time, so I've got "The Major General's Song," the Ruddigore "Matter Patter Trio" and recently "The Sorcerer's Song" all down pat, so I guess I'l be moving to this one next.

Great find!
"

When you get to "I've been everywhere", you better make a video.
posted by notsnot at 9:41 AM on January 19, 2014 [2 favorites]


Holy shitballs do I regret going to college.

It's about the expeeeeeeeriiiieeeeeeence
posted by sonic meat machine at 11:30 AM on January 19, 2014


Then there's I've Built a Better Model than the One at Data General by Steven Levine.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:25 PM on January 19, 2014 [1 favorite]


Philosophy's not just math minus anything...and it's certainly not math minus rigor...though it certainly lacks the rigor *of math*...like every other non-math discipline does...

Still kinda funny though.
posted by Fists O'Fury at 2:34 PM on January 19, 2014


How very original and refreshing of Munroe to turn to the under-utilized "English majors can't get jobs" trope. Never mind that recent English graduates have an equal-or-better employment rate than many other majors - computer science, for instance. But yeah, let's continue to perpetuate the idea that only STEM fields have economic value!
posted by erlking at 3:03 PM on January 19, 2014 [2 favorites]


Navelgazer: in my college G&S days the measure of a man was his ability to perform the "Nightmare song" ("When you're lying awake...") from Iolanthe: learning that certainly got me through several dreadful summer jobs.
posted by Omission at 3:48 PM on January 19, 2014


As an alumnus of SFU, I heartily approve. Nicely done.
posted by sharpener at 4:20 PM on January 19, 2014


Awesome with a capital Awwwww. Adorable!
posted by tspae at 4:48 PM on January 19, 2014


Erlking, your article says that English majors have an unemployment rate of 9.8% and Computer at 9.1%. That's a higher unemployment rate, not a lower one.

Anyway, the real question isn't whether they're employed, but whether they're using the college education in their job. Working at Starbucks doesn't require a college degree...

(The last chart also says that Humanities graduates were only making two-thirds what engineering graduates were making.)

Anyway, his cheap shots about English were no worse than the ones he slung at everything else. This is humor, not a serious treatise!
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 5:45 PM on January 19, 2014 [3 favorites]


Omission: "Nightmare Song" (which is, indeed, a nightmare) has been intimidating me from it's "next on the list" spot for a while now.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:14 PM on January 19, 2014


Erlking, your article says that English majors have an unemployment rate of 9.8% and Computer at 9.1%. That's a higher unemployment rate, not a lower one.

Oops, looks like someone didn't major in reading charts.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 9:09 PM on January 19, 2014 [1 favorite]


How very original and refreshing of Munroe to turn to the under-utilized "English majors can't get jobs" trope.

Did you miss how he skewered every major with its most common tropes?

I mean, I hear you, but you can stand down from your Defense Of The Right-Brained, there.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:44 AM on January 20, 2014 [1 favorite]


erlking: "How very original and refreshing of Munroe to turn to the under-utilized "English majors can't get jobs" trope."

It's a sketch about an incoming freshman choosing a major. Due to lack of experience and knowledge, freshmen are generally making their decisions based on incomplete or inaccurate assumptions. Of course it's based on tropes and stereotypes about the different majors — that's part of the joke!
posted by Lexica at 9:59 AM on January 20, 2014


Chocolate Pickle: "Erlking, your article says that English majors have an unemployment rate of 9.8% and Computer at 9.1%. That's a higher unemployment rate, not a lower one."

Priceless.
posted by IAmBroom at 12:37 PM on January 20, 2014


What I meant was "That's a higher unemployment rate for English majors, not a lower one." I thought that was clear.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 1:36 PM on January 20, 2014


Wow, did you not think maybe you should double check your figures instead of doubling down on being wrong? The charts says 9.0 for humanities, not 9.8, and 9.0 is less than 9.1. If that wasn't enough, the text itself, which you obviously didn't bother to read, states this explicitly.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 1:56 PM on January 20, 2014


The chart says 9% for humanities. The article says 9.8% for English and History majors. Try reading.
posted by sonic meat machine at 6:10 AM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Ha! Looks like I'm the one who needs to go back to school. Apologies!
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 7:10 AM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


« Older If you're sick of Garfield and Mary Worth   |   Where the road ends Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments