#Whalethoughts
September 19, 2022 3:10 AM Subscribe
If this thread were a whale, its name would be?: a) Fail, b) Willy, c) Moby, d) Dick
Bonus question: if you had a Chrysler as big as a whale, about how many would it seat? (hint: SAIT)
At any rate, all silliness aside, we will be your fully liberated aquatic placental marine mammal for the day; please post and link freely, and enjoy the complimentary krill!
Bonus question: if you had a Chrysler as big as a whale, about how many would it seat? (hint: SAIT)
At any rate, all silliness aside, we will be your fully liberated aquatic placental marine mammal for the day; please post and link freely, and enjoy the complimentary krill!
i hope nasa has their insurance and registration in order
posted by pyramid termite at 3:23 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by pyramid termite at 3:23 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
It seats about twenty, or perhaps only five plus one rock lobster.
Don't forget your jukebox money!
Also, what does SAIT mean?
posted by Athanassiel at 3:32 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
Don't forget your jukebox money!
Also, what does SAIT mean?
posted by Athanassiel at 3:32 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
"Same as in town," from an old old oft-repeated Mefi jokey answer to just about any question in the form of "What's X?" (eg, Q: What's krill? A: $20, same as in town)
I think cortex is responsible.
posted by taz at 3:40 AM on September 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
I think cortex is responsible.
posted by taz at 3:40 AM on September 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
I missed my chance to mention this during the last free thread, good to see another one so soon! My partner released a mini concept album last week. It's on the psych/prog/alt-rock end of things. He's struggling with the utter misery of digital music promotion in the age of TikTok, as someone on the older side who'd much rather seek out a smaller group of fans who actually dig what he's doing rather than trying to get maximum exposure or make it really big. Sharing on the off-chance that some of the fine folks here might also be some of those fans.
posted by terretu at 4:14 AM on September 19, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by terretu at 4:14 AM on September 19, 2022 [9 favorites]
For a long time I believed the lyrics were "and bring your juicebox money", as you would need to buy a plastic container of fruit juice. Despite now knowing better, I think it remains good Love Shack hydration advice.
posted by solarion at 4:27 AM on September 19, 2022 [15 favorites]
posted by solarion at 4:27 AM on September 19, 2022 [15 favorites]
I ended my summer as a picket captain on the picket line where I work. It was my first strike, and I found it oddly unsettling and fascinating at the same time.
It's an odd thing to go on strike while working graveyards and picketing in the wee hours. We went back to work at our unions behest, as a 'sign of good faith', while the tentative deal was being worked out. In the end, it's not much more than the deal we voted to strike on; quite disillusioning, that. We will vote on the tentative contract in October and my guess is that it will be a 'no' vote again, so more turbulence ahead at work.
Anyways, I'm glad I volunteered to be a picket captain, someone had to do it.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 4:35 AM on September 19, 2022 [17 favorites]
It's an odd thing to go on strike while working graveyards and picketing in the wee hours. We went back to work at our unions behest, as a 'sign of good faith', while the tentative deal was being worked out. In the end, it's not much more than the deal we voted to strike on; quite disillusioning, that. We will vote on the tentative contract in October and my guess is that it will be a 'no' vote again, so more turbulence ahead at work.
Anyways, I'm glad I volunteered to be a picket captain, someone had to do it.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 4:35 AM on September 19, 2022 [17 favorites]
Remember that time a kid taught a whale to jump out of its tale.
posted by interogative mood at 4:43 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by interogative mood at 4:43 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
At MST Club (alternate night) last night we saw the episode of BBC The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy with the whale, who I am going to name "Ground." I wonder if it would have been friends with me?
posted by JHarris at 4:44 AM on September 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 4:44 AM on September 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
The abbot of a remote mountain monastery decides one evening that he will walk down into town. On his way, he meets a young woman under a streetlight who asks him, 'wanna have a good time, padre?' He is confused, but continues his walk. That night, the Abbot asks a visiting nun, 'sister, what's a good time?' 'Twenty dollars, same as in town.'
posted by Bee'sWing at 4:56 AM on September 19, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by Bee'sWing at 4:56 AM on September 19, 2022 [10 favorites]
"Prince of --"
I was awake, the funeral is on half the major TV channels in the U.S.A... the mourners are still marching from Westminster Abbey.
It's almost 1 p.m. in London. But it didn't rain.
R.I.P.
posted by TrishaU at 4:58 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
I was awake, the funeral is on half the major TV channels in the U.S.A... the mourners are still marching from Westminster Abbey.
It's almost 1 p.m. in London. But it didn't rain.
R.I.P.
posted by TrishaU at 4:58 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
I am in the unnerving position of having my life more or less back after a prolonged hiatus to deal with family issues, and have to admonish myself that it doesn't mean I get to be upset about politics right away. I marked my social media and news apps collections on my phone as "Jesus No" and "Depression," respectively.
posted by Peach at 5:01 AM on September 19, 2022 [14 favorites]
posted by Peach at 5:01 AM on September 19, 2022 [14 favorites]
"Oh no, not again."
posted by wkearney99 at 5:12 AM on September 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by wkearney99 at 5:12 AM on September 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
Yesterday I played Clue/Cluedo for the first time in a while, I think four games. I won none of them, but it was fun. Not 100% sure, but I don't think I ever played it before, like, age 25 or so. It's one of the childhood things I never got to do that I've subsequently experienced in adulthood and enjoyed--ditto Paddington, whom I adore and apparently grew up to resemble.
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:15 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:15 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
Sitting in a Starbucks on Long Island before I have to attend a funeral, watching the traffic go by, and frankly surprised at how drama-free the weekend has been. Life is funny.
You know what else is funny? Whales don't have noses. They smell, of course. Like whales, but also with their blowholes.
posted by tommasz at 5:18 AM on September 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
You know what else is funny? Whales don't have noses. They smell, of course. Like whales, but also with their blowholes.
posted by tommasz at 5:18 AM on September 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
I think about and discuss the Man-Thing a lot more than is required, and I have a lot of fundamental issues with the entire Man-Thing premise. I mean -- I love the Man-Thing. It's an inversion of the whole idea of a western superhero -- almost wholly responsive, it doesn't seek adventure or injustice, it's just a constant challenge to a writer to come up with compelling stories about a protagonist that things can only happen to.
But "whatever knows fear burns at the touch of the Man-Thing" seems like a mug's game. It's like a nine-foot horror from the swamp. Everybody is going to know fear! And then when it touches you, bursting into flame is not generally recognized as a calming experience, so the Man-Thing's whole deal is like a self-fulfilling downward spiral. "Everyone who sees this thing is f*cked", while probably not good from a Comics Code perspective, would have been a much better tag line.
posted by Shepherd at 5:21 AM on September 19, 2022 [10 favorites]
But "whatever knows fear burns at the touch of the Man-Thing" seems like a mug's game. It's like a nine-foot horror from the swamp. Everybody is going to know fear! And then when it touches you, bursting into flame is not generally recognized as a calming experience, so the Man-Thing's whole deal is like a self-fulfilling downward spiral. "Everyone who sees this thing is f*cked", while probably not good from a Comics Code perspective, would have been a much better tag line.
posted by Shepherd at 5:21 AM on September 19, 2022 [10 favorites]
The older I get, the more certain I am that the only real reason to create the Man-Thing was solely to be able to put out a comic titled Giant Sized Man-Thing. That, and the essential vacuity of the character (who, unlike DC's Swamp Thing, seems to be completely mindless) drove Steve Gerber to use it to spin off Howard the Duck.
I got an unpleasant surprise yesterday: I was dead-dog tired the day before and forgot to lock my car, and some shitbird tried to hotwire it sometime in the night. It's been a while since cars were able to be hotwired the way you could in movies like The Terminator, and even then I think that it was mostly cars made by GM (which is why they led the list of most-stolen cars for many years), so all they did was render my car undriveable, so I get a towing fee on top of however much it'll cost to fix, if it even can be. Hurrah.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:32 AM on September 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
I got an unpleasant surprise yesterday: I was dead-dog tired the day before and forgot to lock my car, and some shitbird tried to hotwire it sometime in the night. It's been a while since cars were able to be hotwired the way you could in movies like The Terminator, and even then I think that it was mostly cars made by GM (which is why they led the list of most-stolen cars for many years), so all they did was render my car undriveable, so I get a towing fee on top of however much it'll cost to fix, if it even can be. Hurrah.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:32 AM on September 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
it's just a constant challenge to a writer to come up with compelling stories about a protagonist that things can only happen to.
JHarris' earlier comment referencing Hitchhiker's Guide made me think of that old observation about the difference between American and British protagonists in how British protagonists are considered heroic because things are always happening to them and somehow they manage, ala Arthur Dent.
And now I just want a story about a lumbering swamp monster that does all sorts of heroic stuff while just trying to get a good cuppa.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:33 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
JHarris' earlier comment referencing Hitchhiker's Guide made me think of that old observation about the difference between American and British protagonists in how British protagonists are considered heroic because things are always happening to them and somehow they manage, ala Arthur Dent.
And now I just want a story about a lumbering swamp monster that does all sorts of heroic stuff while just trying to get a good cuppa.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:33 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
Like (probably) most on Normal Island, I've been watching the funeral events. It's all very strange. My son and I had a little cry, in remembrance of those we've lost recently. I'm no monarchist, but I'm no revolutionary either, so for the moment, monarchy it is.
The coffin has just been loaded into a hearse the size of a small whale.
posted by altolinguistic at 5:38 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
The coffin has just been loaded into a hearse the size of a small whale.
posted by altolinguistic at 5:38 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
And on a more prosaic note, I've been marvelling at the sheer planning and logistics that have gone into all this. And at the music in the Abbey, which was amazing. The government undervalues music in this country, and I suspect that not even events like this will make it change its mind.
posted by altolinguistic at 5:39 AM on September 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by altolinguistic at 5:39 AM on September 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
I don't think I have any whale facts, but ... folx! It's about 3 hours until we can Return to Monkey Island! (on International Talk Like a Pirate Day, naturally)
posted by uncleozzy at 5:53 AM on September 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by uncleozzy at 5:53 AM on September 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
How to curse like an Irishman
"Whale oil beef hooked!"
posted by DreamerFi at 5:58 AM on September 19, 2022 [16 favorites]
"Whale oil beef hooked!"
posted by DreamerFi at 5:58 AM on September 19, 2022 [16 favorites]
Like, does Man-Thing have any sense of sadness just wanting a friend to talk to but when he tries to get close, they just burn at his touch? Like, "garblgarbl whooooag oh no not another one garblgarbl bluuuuugh"?
posted by Kitteh at 6:15 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 6:15 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
Big fan of whales. I sometimes read Wikipedia to fall asleep, and whale articles are some of the best. Did you know that the baleen whales are called Mysticetes? It doesn't really mean "mystic" but it sounds like that and I think it fits. I'm afraid I'm going to miss a whale watch trip this season.
Locally, a poor baby seal got picked up and cuddled by some fools who wanted the video for social media. Marine vets had to come take her in and feed her up because she couldn't be left in peace and might be abandoned by her mother. No cuddling seals!
posted by Countess Elena at 6:27 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
Locally, a poor baby seal got picked up and cuddled by some fools who wanted the video for social media. Marine vets had to come take her in and feed her up because she couldn't be left in peace and might be abandoned by her mother. No cuddling seals!
posted by Countess Elena at 6:27 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
Marine vets had to come take her in and feed her up because
There are two very different denotations to “Marine vets” and I confess I went with the other one for a second and was confused.
Of course, the two groups are not mutually exclusive and while the Venn diagram might have little overlap, it may not be zero. I wonder if there are any Marine vet marine vets.
Also yesterday partway through my lunch of sushi I dropped one of my chopsticks on the ground and had to finish my meal with... chopstick.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:35 AM on September 19, 2022 [11 favorites]
There are two very different denotations to “Marine vets” and I confess I went with the other one for a second and was confused.
Of course, the two groups are not mutually exclusive and while the Venn diagram might have little overlap, it may not be zero. I wonder if there are any Marine vet marine vets.
Also yesterday partway through my lunch of sushi I dropped one of my chopsticks on the ground and had to finish my meal with... chopstick.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:35 AM on September 19, 2022 [11 favorites]
had to finish my meal with... chopstick
While I'm sorry you went through this -- eating with "...chopstick." is not easy! -- you may be relieved to know that sushi is pretty much a finger food. Next time your chopsticks become "...chopstick." that option is on the table!
posted by majick at 6:48 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
While I'm sorry you went through this -- eating with "...chopstick." is not easy! -- you may be relieved to know that sushi is pretty much a finger food. Next time your chopsticks become "...chopstick." that option is on the table!
posted by majick at 6:48 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
My family won't play Clue/Cluedo with me anymore because I would routinely try to sniff out a card by bluffing on the other two. Like I'll be holding Mustard/Candlestick and I call out Mustard/Candlestick/Library and when nobody has Library they all stare at me. And then I don't call that as the solution and everyone accuses me of cheating. AITA?
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:58 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:58 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
Right now, as I open this thread, there is a formation of clouds that looks like a giant kissing one of those whale-monsters one always sees on old maps. You know the ones that look like a mash-up of a whale, a snake and a dragon. The whale is huge, it is still passing my window, even though it has pretty good speed. And it has little whale-monster babies, swimming below it. I'd really like to see a real live big whale once. Here, we mainly have the smaller ones, though some get caught up in the shallow waters and can't find their way out again.
Wait, now there is a school of fat tuna. The sky is the ocean today.
posted by mumimor at 7:01 AM on September 19, 2022 [9 favorites]
Wait, now there is a school of fat tuna. The sky is the ocean today.
posted by mumimor at 7:01 AM on September 19, 2022 [9 favorites]
JoeZydeco, I am not a Clue expert, but unless I am mistaken… isn’t that just… plating the game? (If there are Clue mores, I don’t know them.)
posted by cupcakeninja at 7:10 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by cupcakeninja at 7:10 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
I see where the Orange Line just reopened in Boston. I am very, very glad not to ride the Orange Line for work anymore, but I would like to see it looking clean and tuned up for probably the last time in its existence
posted by Countess Elena at 7:11 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 7:11 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
Bonus question: if you had a Chrysler as big as a whale, about how many would it seat? (hint: SAIT)
My first car was a 1965 Dodge Dart (this was in the 90s), and we used to sit three across the front bench seat with no one in the back. It was spacious, even with three up there. I wonder why we no longer get the front bench.
Also, whale's blowholes are basically noses. If you Google them (and I often do), they look just like backwards noses, and often even have two nostrils
posted by Literaryhero at 7:25 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
My first car was a 1965 Dodge Dart (this was in the 90s), and we used to sit three across the front bench seat with no one in the back. It was spacious, even with three up there. I wonder why we no longer get the front bench.
Also, whale's blowholes are basically noses. If you Google them (and I often do), they look just like backwards noses, and often even have two nostrils
posted by Literaryhero at 7:25 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
Everyone knows that the only way to play Clue(do) is to sneak a peek at the set-aside cards while no one is paying attention, and then loudly announce early on that you're pretty sure of whodunnit, with what and where, but are just holding out for confirmation. Then, whenever you ask anyone anything, no matter their response you reply "iiiiinnnnteresting" and scribble frenetically on your slip of paper. When things are getting near the end, offer to write your "guess" on a piece of paper and fold it over. Then, no matter who wins, you win too.
Note: this version best played with gullible youngsters.
posted by chavenet at 7:36 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
Note: this version best played with gullible youngsters.
posted by chavenet at 7:36 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
I wonder why we no longer get the front bench.
Safety? Manually tightened lap belts don't cut it anymore, and while shoulder straps in the center are possible, anchoring to the roof probably isn't as practical or safe as anchoring to the side pillars.
It looks like some Volvos now have rear bucket seats which on first glance looks ridiculous but the more I think about it, the more I wish every car did that because it just looks so weird and futuristic.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 7:59 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
Safety? Manually tightened lap belts don't cut it anymore, and while shoulder straps in the center are possible, anchoring to the roof probably isn't as practical or safe as anchoring to the side pillars.
It looks like some Volvos now have rear bucket seats which on first glance looks ridiculous but the more I think about it, the more I wish every car did that because it just looks so weird and futuristic.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 7:59 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
We will vote on the tentative contract in October and my guess is that it will be a 'no' vote again, so more turbulence ahead at work.
Yeah, that is about the situation I'm in with my spouse's job: they just wrapped up a three-day strike with a planned end last week, and management has caved on a lot of things... but not the salary increases that are critical to stop the staff drains and recruit enough new nurses that the hospitals aren't literally depending on overtime shifts to make it by. It's nursing, so I don't bear the extremely expensive travel nurses brought in for the scab shifts much ill will, but the gossip I hear is that they got pretty badly shafted by management, too: there just aren't enough nurses on the continent right now to go around and recruit, so there weren't really enough of them to go by. There's got to be wage incentives to lure more people into the field and retain the ones already there.
Anyway, their first shift back is this week, and they're working on a totally new floor doing different specialty work because the job change happened at an awkward moment. It will be interesting to hear how the aftermath of the strike shook out on the new floor, I think.
posted by sciatrix at 8:00 AM on September 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
Yeah, that is about the situation I'm in with my spouse's job: they just wrapped up a three-day strike with a planned end last week, and management has caved on a lot of things... but not the salary increases that are critical to stop the staff drains and recruit enough new nurses that the hospitals aren't literally depending on overtime shifts to make it by. It's nursing, so I don't bear the extremely expensive travel nurses brought in for the scab shifts much ill will, but the gossip I hear is that they got pretty badly shafted by management, too: there just aren't enough nurses on the continent right now to go around and recruit, so there weren't really enough of them to go by. There's got to be wage incentives to lure more people into the field and retain the ones already there.
Anyway, their first shift back is this week, and they're working on a totally new floor doing different specialty work because the job change happened at an awkward moment. It will be interesting to hear how the aftermath of the strike shook out on the new floor, I think.
posted by sciatrix at 8:00 AM on September 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
tommasz: Whales don't have noses. They smell, of course . . .
Well actually not so much. Toothed whales [Odontoceti] can't smell anything and the baleen whales [Mysticeti] have very much a reduced instruction set w.r.t. olfactory receptors ORs. Readers of MeFi have about 900 functional OR genes, while MeFi dogs have more: ~1,300. The old saw does apply however:
My dolphin's got no nose
How does he smell?
Terrible
posted by BobTheScientist at 8:03 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
Well actually not so much. Toothed whales [Odontoceti] can't smell anything and the baleen whales [Mysticeti] have very much a reduced instruction set w.r.t. olfactory receptors ORs. Readers of MeFi have about 900 functional OR genes, while MeFi dogs have more: ~1,300. The old saw does apply however:
My dolphin's got no nose
How does he smell?
Terrible
posted by BobTheScientist at 8:03 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
METAFILTER: I think cortex is responsible.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:04 AM on September 19, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:04 AM on September 19, 2022 [11 favorites]
Mr Zumbador teaches at a school. They had a special dress up day where everyone had to dress as Rugby players. See if you can guess which one of these people in the picture is Mr Zumbador.
posted by Zumbador at 8:11 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Zumbador at 8:11 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
The first car I drove was a Galaxy 500, which drove like a land whale, although we never tried to put 20 people in it. I never was able to drive it well. After I drove my father's Mustang once, we agreed that I'd never drive the Galaxy again. (It was a 1968 Mustang, and my mother's first car.)
In picketing news, the Church we started going to was picketed by Young Republicans yesterday. We'll probably keep going.
posted by Spike Glee at 8:11 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
In picketing news, the Church we started going to was picketed by Young Republicans yesterday. We'll probably keep going.
posted by Spike Glee at 8:11 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
And at the music in the Abbey, which was amazing.
Why no Purcell, though?
posted by Phanx at 8:30 AM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Why no Purcell, though?
posted by Phanx at 8:30 AM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
From a pier in Cardiff, one can hear the wails of wales in Wales.
posted by Bee'sWing at 8:33 AM on September 19, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by Bee'sWing at 8:33 AM on September 19, 2022 [7 favorites]
If this thread were a whale, its name would be?: a) Fail, b) Willy, c) Moby, d) Dick
Whaley McWhaleFace
posted by plep at 8:43 AM on September 19, 2022 [7 favorites]
Whaley McWhaleFace
posted by plep at 8:43 AM on September 19, 2022 [7 favorites]
For those keeping track, the strawberries I propagated from runners are doing quite well, especially now that the heat wave has passed.
posted by SPrintF at 8:51 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 8:51 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
The Lord Chamberlain just broke his (pre-broken) stave of office.
It's 4:50 p.m. at Windsor Castle, and the bagpipes are playing.
posted by TrishaU at 8:51 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's 4:50 p.m. at Windsor Castle, and the bagpipes are playing.
posted by TrishaU at 8:51 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
My father's mother drove a yellow Galaxy 500 for many years. It was always fun when she arrived in it, because the trunk (which was the size of a swimming pool) was filled with trashy magazines and tabloids to read. She wrecked it in Sonora, Texas, and my father and I had to drive out to fetch her. She moved to California after that, which led to two excellent summer road trips. Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Berkeley, all sorts of wonders.
posted by Bee'sWing at 8:53 AM on September 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Bee'sWing at 8:53 AM on September 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
My dad had a red Galaxy 500 and that thing was a wallowing beast. My mom drove a tiny white VW Beetle that I used to jump-start by rolling it down the driveway and popping the clutch. I preferred the Beetle, even though it was a Very Small Whale.
posted by Peach at 9:17 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Peach at 9:17 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
I think cortex is responsible.
Well, somebody's responsible.
posted by flabdablet at 9:18 AM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Well, somebody's responsible.
posted by flabdablet at 9:18 AM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Phalanx: Why no Purcell, though?
There was a little Purcell!
posted by altolinguistic at 9:40 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
There was a little Purcell!
posted by altolinguistic at 9:40 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
The sky is the ocean today.
The ocean is a desert with its life underground, and a perfect disguise above.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:04 AM on September 19, 2022 [12 favorites]
The ocean is a desert with its life underground, and a perfect disguise above.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:04 AM on September 19, 2022 [12 favorites]
Ursula Vernon is so creative. I loved her recent Twitter Comic using AI illustrations. I couldn't come up with such... synesthesia between storytelling and hypetech if someone gave me a prompt.
That said, this is her speech (I found it on the blue!) for her 2017 Hugo Award and it starts like this:
"Well. This is an unexpected honor. My fellow winners have said some very meaningful things up here on the stage tonight.
I want to talk to you about dead whales."
It's such an amazing acceptance speech!
posted by flamewise at 10:06 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
That said, this is her speech (I found it on the blue!) for her 2017 Hugo Award and it starts like this:
"Well. This is an unexpected honor. My fellow winners have said some very meaningful things up here on the stage tonight.
I want to talk to you about dead whales."
It's such an amazing acceptance speech!
posted by flamewise at 10:06 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
The ocean is a desert with its life underground, and a perfect disguise above.
You ever going to name that damn horse?
posted by hippybear at 10:12 AM on September 19, 2022 [11 favorites]
You ever going to name that damn horse?
posted by hippybear at 10:12 AM on September 19, 2022 [11 favorites]
had to finish my meal with... chopstick
...
The Lord Chamberlain just broke his (pre-broken) stave of office.
A solution to your chopstick problem occurs to me.
posted by jedicus at 10:23 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
...
The Lord Chamberlain just broke his (pre-broken) stave of office.
A solution to your chopstick problem occurs to me.
posted by jedicus at 10:23 AM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
Well, in my bag I had a stainless steel straw. I briefly pondered pressing that into service as a brevet chopstick but I was nearly done so I pursued a course learned in fondue, of the old “spear-it-and-hope-it-holds” school.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:28 AM on September 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:28 AM on September 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
We took the Tiny Monster to his first occupational therapist appointment/evaluation today. He had been getting low marks for the last couple of checkups on fine motor skills so we wanted someone who wasn't hoping for any answer in particular to meet him. It went like I expected.
"Here are some blocks. Can you stack them like this?"
*knocks down stack of blocks
"I'm going to give you the blocks. Can you stack them?"
*throws blocks across room
The therapist's conclusion was she has no idea what his skills are because he is only interested in chaos.
Next week: speech therapist, because the Tiny Monster also has no interest in repeating anything anyone says.
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 10:32 AM on September 19, 2022 [14 favorites]
"Here are some blocks. Can you stack them like this?"
*knocks down stack of blocks
"I'm going to give you the blocks. Can you stack them?"
*throws blocks across room
The therapist's conclusion was she has no idea what his skills are because he is only interested in chaos.
Next week: speech therapist, because the Tiny Monster also has no interest in repeating anything anyone says.
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 10:32 AM on September 19, 2022 [14 favorites]
Another thing that got forgotten was the fact that against all probability a sperm whale had suddenly been called into existence several miles above the surface of an alien planet.
And since this is not a naturally tenable position for a whale, this poor innocent creature had very little time to come to terms with its identity as a whale before it then had to come to terms with not being a whale any more.
posted by Chuffy at 11:17 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
And since this is not a naturally tenable position for a whale, this poor innocent creature had very little time to come to terms with its identity as a whale before it then had to come to terms with not being a whale any more.
posted by Chuffy at 11:17 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
Hearing test. Behavioralist person. They are so good with rewards and obeservation.( I watched in awe as one of them totally ran a class, in under two minutes.) I rail at the concept, but it saves aot of energy.)We had incredible wood blocks when I was a kid. They came with columns and arches and all. Reading fairytales made context for creating cities and walls, etc. Sometimes the smartest kids are also the most frustrated, even preverbally, they want context and purpose, and company in these things.
posted by Oyéah at 11:26 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 11:26 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
The horses being ridden by the RCMP at the very front of the funeral procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace left their calling cards all over the roadway, and of course, one entire column of brightly-costumed soldiers was obliged to march right through it in their shiny, shiny shoes.
posted by briank at 11:29 AM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by briank at 11:29 AM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
shiny, shiny shoes
Surely shitty, shitty shoes or possibly shitty shiny shoes?
posted by maxwelton at 11:39 AM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Surely shitty, shitty shoes or possibly shitty shiny shoes?
posted by maxwelton at 11:39 AM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
My name is mumimor because I am the mother of Mumi, the Danish name for Mumin.
But I am also the mother of Piglet*. And well, you all probably know Piglet. Now they are both happy adults, but when Piglet was in preschool and the teachers told their group that they were getting ready for school, their first strategy was to hide beside the sofa. Then, as they gradually figured out the concepts behind pre-school school prep, they sabotaged every single moment, deliberately, and in hindsight with some skill.
We have talked about this, and I am pretty amazed at how much thought and deliberation they put into avoiding school, but on the other hand, one of my best friends when I was in school did the same (and thus he was a year older than the rest of us). Obviously, neither Piglet nor my friend understood that one cannot escape school, or death or taxes.
*Piglet totally embraced their nickname, and they may have chosen it for themself, I don't remember. I do remember that when they grew out of their first Piglet halloween costume, they demanded a new one.
posted by mumimor at 11:44 AM on September 19, 2022 [8 favorites]
But I am also the mother of Piglet*. And well, you all probably know Piglet. Now they are both happy adults, but when Piglet was in preschool and the teachers told their group that they were getting ready for school, their first strategy was to hide beside the sofa. Then, as they gradually figured out the concepts behind pre-school school prep, they sabotaged every single moment, deliberately, and in hindsight with some skill.
We have talked about this, and I am pretty amazed at how much thought and deliberation they put into avoiding school, but on the other hand, one of my best friends when I was in school did the same (and thus he was a year older than the rest of us). Obviously, neither Piglet nor my friend understood that one cannot escape school, or death or taxes.
*Piglet totally embraced their nickname, and they may have chosen it for themself, I don't remember. I do remember that when they grew out of their first Piglet halloween costume, they demanded a new one.
posted by mumimor at 11:44 AM on September 19, 2022 [8 favorites]
Okay, the Clue derail incoming...
So yes, the 2 and 1 is exactly what you should be doing...
Clue Master Detective is a larger Clue, more stuff. And apparently a fairly recent reprint. But, that being said, there are many better deduction games than Clue. There are 12 pages of games marked as "Deduction games". A lot of them have a "Traitor" mechanic, which may or not work for you.
On that link, Cryptid is very abstract, sort of working backwards, and Sleuth is a card game that feels a lot like Clue, but I think, long out of print.
Also on that link, many things missing that have geduction as a mechanic. Decrypto, and things like Codenames don't have the murder mystery, but are great.
I could go on and on, so I will stop now.
Don't have much to say about whales, (I don't speak whale), but, they seem pretty chill and we should stop fucking with them...
posted by Windopaene at 12:03 PM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
So yes, the 2 and 1 is exactly what you should be doing...
Clue Master Detective is a larger Clue, more stuff. And apparently a fairly recent reprint. But, that being said, there are many better deduction games than Clue. There are 12 pages of games marked as "Deduction games". A lot of them have a "Traitor" mechanic, which may or not work for you.
On that link, Cryptid is very abstract, sort of working backwards, and Sleuth is a card game that feels a lot like Clue, but I think, long out of print.
Also on that link, many things missing that have geduction as a mechanic. Decrypto, and things like Codenames don't have the murder mystery, but are great.
I could go on and on, so I will stop now.
Don't have much to say about whales, (I don't speak whale), but, they seem pretty chill and we should stop fucking with them...
posted by Windopaene at 12:03 PM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
I enjoyed a reminder of the joy of encabulator technology this week. Didn't want to self-promote in far thread but here in free to, right? Endpoint Encabulator was my attempt to add to/pay homage to/butcher the art of encabulation.
posted by avapoet at 1:00 PM on September 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by avapoet at 1:00 PM on September 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
Safety? Manually tightened lap belts don't cut it anymore, and while shoulder straps in the center are possible, anchoring to the roof probably isn't as practical or safe as anchoring to the side pillars.
Yeah, that car had lap belts in the front and no belts at all in the back. Gotta wonder what my parents were thinking.
posted by Literaryhero at 1:01 PM on September 19, 2022
Yeah, that car had lap belts in the front and no belts at all in the back. Gotta wonder what my parents were thinking.
posted by Literaryhero at 1:01 PM on September 19, 2022
Konami is releasing a remastered version of the first two games in the "Suikoden" series
Someone recommended Suikoden to me years ago. One particular scene early in the game annoyed me so much that I quit and never forgave the game nor tried anything else that friend recommended.
There's this very suspicious old woman who keeps insisting, nicely, that you drink the tea she has offered. You can tell her no, but you can't actually tell her no because she simply asks again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And you can't progress until you finally agree to drink the tea.
And of course, you can't pretend to sip it, nor "accidentally" spill it. The only thing you can do is answer yes, drink the tea and discover that SURPRISE it was drugged! HA HA YOU FELL RIGHT INTO MY TRAP!
The game could simply have not given me the fake option, or it could have found another way to get my character(s) captured to railroad the plot into wherever it was going anyway -- either would have been preferable.
posted by Foosnark at 1:29 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
Someone recommended Suikoden to me years ago. One particular scene early in the game annoyed me so much that I quit and never forgave the game nor tried anything else that friend recommended.
There's this very suspicious old woman who keeps insisting, nicely, that you drink the tea she has offered. You can tell her no, but you can't actually tell her no because she simply asks again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And you can't progress until you finally agree to drink the tea.
And of course, you can't pretend to sip it, nor "accidentally" spill it. The only thing you can do is answer yes, drink the tea and discover that SURPRISE it was drugged! HA HA YOU FELL RIGHT INTO MY TRAP!
The game could simply have not given me the fake option, or it could have found another way to get my character(s) captured to railroad the plot into wherever it was going anyway -- either would have been preferable.
posted by Foosnark at 1:29 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
The Mustang had both a seat belt AND a shoulder belt. By the time I was driving it, Alabama had a mandatory seat belt law. Sometimes, when I was feeling like a rebel, I'd just buckle the shoulder belt, leaving the seat belt off. That'll show 'em.
posted by Spike Glee at 1:57 PM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Spike Glee at 1:57 PM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
At the vet's last week for our new pet cat, and I learned something new: apparently Cat Leprosy is a thing.
posted by Paragon at 2:40 PM on September 19, 2022
posted by Paragon at 2:40 PM on September 19, 2022
Aaaah sorry to hear about kitty!
My father just helped me replace the headlight on my car. After all the hassle involved with that I'm left wondering how anyone repairs anything on a car. Like four things had to be removed just to get to it, and that's only because it was driver's side, passenger's side would have involved even more. Then getting it out took 15 minutes of futzing at least, and getting the new one in was like 20. Then all those parts had to go back, and that was its own thing. Most people just pay a mechanic to do all this, but my chronic money problems meant that's not an option for me.
I feel like I'm just not well suited to living in this world, and not for the first time by a long shot.
posted by JHarris at 3:41 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
My father just helped me replace the headlight on my car. After all the hassle involved with that I'm left wondering how anyone repairs anything on a car. Like four things had to be removed just to get to it, and that's only because it was driver's side, passenger's side would have involved even more. Then getting it out took 15 minutes of futzing at least, and getting the new one in was like 20. Then all those parts had to go back, and that was its own thing. Most people just pay a mechanic to do all this, but my chronic money problems meant that's not an option for me.
I feel like I'm just not well suited to living in this world, and not for the first time by a long shot.
posted by JHarris at 3:41 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
After all the hassle involved with that I'm left wondering how anyone repairs anything on a car.
Hubris.
posted by Horkus at 3:54 PM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Hubris.
posted by Horkus at 3:54 PM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
JHarris: I attempted to take a car repair class many years ago and between that and general conversations with people over the years, some models of cars make that particular task easier to do than others.
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:56 PM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:56 PM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
In picketing news, the Church we started going to was picketed by Young Republicans yesterday.
why are they doing this?
posted by pyramid termite at 4:13 PM on September 19, 2022
why are they doing this?
posted by pyramid termite at 4:13 PM on September 19, 2022
Okay, the Clue derail incoming... ongoing:
I haven’t played in many years, but my recollection is that you can win by deducing that you yourself are the murderer. Surely this cannot be a good modelling of your standard murder mystery, can it? Seems more like Memento than Miss Marple.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:44 PM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
I haven’t played in many years, but my recollection is that you can win by deducing that you yourself are the murderer. Surely this cannot be a good modelling of your standard murder mystery, can it? Seems more like Memento than Miss Marple.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:44 PM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
I had a 1997 Chrysler Concord. I called it a beast, not a whale, but I guess a whale is type of beast? Anyway, I once squeezed 8 people into Old Beastie, not including the driver (me, for whom the rear view mirror was useless). 0/10 would NOT recommend!
posted by MuChao at 4:49 PM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by MuChao at 4:49 PM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Wait.. recalculated, there were 10. Six in the back and four in front. Probably could've fit one or two more skinny people.
posted by MuChao at 4:50 PM on September 19, 2022
posted by MuChao at 4:50 PM on September 19, 2022
You are correct ricochet biscuit, which in a way makes it more of a family game. No one is lying to everyone else pretending not to be the traitor/werewolf/murderer.
And you can totally create a narrative about revealing yourself as the murderer.
"Did You Order the Code Red?"
"YOU'RE GODDAMNED RIGHT I DID"
posted by Windopaene at 4:55 PM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
And you can totally create a narrative about revealing yourself as the murderer.
"Did You Order the Code Red?"
"YOU'RE GODDAMNED RIGHT I DID"
posted by Windopaene at 4:55 PM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
I'm left wondering how anyone repairs anything on a car.
I used to work on my cars a lot; many things were easily doable with the right (readily-available) tools. In fact when the main bearing went on my '71 VW van I was able to completely disassemble the engine down to its individual component parts and fix/reassemble it, and it ran better than ever. But the last one I was able to do any work on myself was an early-80's Saab 900. Even then things were starting to change, and my next car (a mid-90's Toyota) got too complex and too tight - as JHarris found, fixing anything involved undoing other things and/or expensive specialty tools and/or were non-serviceable electronic parts. Since then I've never even tried to do any self-maintenance. Fortunately my current 2008 VW has been (so far) reliable enough that it's only needed scheduled maintenance.
Six in the back and four in front.
But how many in the trunk?
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:15 PM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
I used to work on my cars a lot; many things were easily doable with the right (readily-available) tools. In fact when the main bearing went on my '71 VW van I was able to completely disassemble the engine down to its individual component parts and fix/reassemble it, and it ran better than ever. But the last one I was able to do any work on myself was an early-80's Saab 900. Even then things were starting to change, and my next car (a mid-90's Toyota) got too complex and too tight - as JHarris found, fixing anything involved undoing other things and/or expensive specialty tools and/or were non-serviceable electronic parts. Since then I've never even tried to do any self-maintenance. Fortunately my current 2008 VW has been (so far) reliable enough that it's only needed scheduled maintenance.
Six in the back and four in front.
But how many in the trunk?
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:15 PM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
$20 to find out. Same As In Town...
posted by Windopaene at 5:30 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 5:30 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
I was able to replace the lights on my Saturn without taking things apart, back when I had it. Ditto my wife's Santa Fe. After my daughter's Corola got hit, it developed a small brake fluid leak, and we ended up replacing the fluid a couple of times, before fixing the leak. Getting to the brake fluid required removing a couple of pieces, but it was straightforward enough that my kid could do it after helping me do it the first time.
As for the Young Republicans, they were really upset about Drag Bingo. They might have been upset about other things as well (like the room of clothes for transitioning people), but that was the sign that I saw.
posted by Spike Glee at 6:39 PM on September 19, 2022
As for the Young Republicans, they were really upset about Drag Bingo. They might have been upset about other things as well (like the room of clothes for transitioning people), but that was the sign that I saw.
posted by Spike Glee at 6:39 PM on September 19, 2022
As for the Young Republicans, they were really upset about Drag Bingo.
is that why they always paint jesus wearing a dress?
posted by pyramid termite at 7:00 PM on September 19, 2022
is that why they always paint jesus wearing a dress?
posted by pyramid termite at 7:00 PM on September 19, 2022
If this thread were a whale it would be awesome, why end?
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 9:05 PM on September 19, 2022
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 9:05 PM on September 19, 2022
Also, totally taking my hat off for the ThrillKrillKult tag
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 9:09 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 9:09 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
No casual whale related-conversation is complete without a rendition of The Decemberists' The Mariner's Revenge Song.
posted by MrVisible at 9:44 PM on September 19, 2022
posted by MrVisible at 9:44 PM on September 19, 2022
I was able to replace the lights on my Saturn without taking things apart, back when I had it.
This is very tangential to the Saturn brand, but I guess this is the thread for diversions: from the outset there was a sort of marketer-designed attempt to cultivate a mystique to the vehicle, and Saturn owner in my experience seem to feel themselves to be in a club with other people who drive the same car in a way that Honda Prelude drivers do not. My favourite manifestation of the Saturn Club was an early adopter friend of mine (who, incidentally, went by first/middle/last (like James Earl Jones or Charles Nelson Reilly) so we called him Threenames).
Threenames bought one of the very first Saturns sold in Canada and regaled us all with tales of the things the company did for the owners. A prime example would be when the company would rent out an entire drive-in and held a party for the Saturns, where the owners all get to go and see the double bill and get free popcorn and a drink in between the flicks. Threenames mentioned how he loved this... until he went for his complimentary popcorn and Coke between shows, stepped out of the concession stand, went to head back to his car and realized that he was standing in a field of eight hundred identical cars. He was reduced to pacing the rows of vehicles, balancing a double armful of popcorn and Coke, peering through the gloom to see if he could recognize his license plate, while all his fellow Saturn owners did likewise.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:54 PM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
This is very tangential to the Saturn brand, but I guess this is the thread for diversions: from the outset there was a sort of marketer-designed attempt to cultivate a mystique to the vehicle, and Saturn owner in my experience seem to feel themselves to be in a club with other people who drive the same car in a way that Honda Prelude drivers do not. My favourite manifestation of the Saturn Club was an early adopter friend of mine (who, incidentally, went by first/middle/last (like James Earl Jones or Charles Nelson Reilly) so we called him Threenames).
Threenames bought one of the very first Saturns sold in Canada and regaled us all with tales of the things the company did for the owners. A prime example would be when the company would rent out an entire drive-in and held a party for the Saturns, where the owners all get to go and see the double bill and get free popcorn and a drink in between the flicks. Threenames mentioned how he loved this... until he went for his complimentary popcorn and Coke between shows, stepped out of the concession stand, went to head back to his car and realized that he was standing in a field of eight hundred identical cars. He was reduced to pacing the rows of vehicles, balancing a double armful of popcorn and Coke, peering through the gloom to see if he could recognize his license plate, while all his fellow Saturn owners did likewise.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:54 PM on September 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
Inveiglement is my new favorite word.
posted by interogative mood at 10:01 PM on September 19, 2022
posted by interogative mood at 10:01 PM on September 19, 2022
taz: I think cortex is responsible.
I'm sure he'll appreciate the compliment.
posted by Too-Ticky at 8:54 AM on September 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm sure he'll appreciate the compliment.
posted by Too-Ticky at 8:54 AM on September 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Just popped in because thanks to the theme of this thread I have a song stuck in my head and I've been silently humming "whale fish, whale fish, whale fish" to myself for days now.
Figured I should share for all the people who enjoy listening to songs with extremely repetitive lyrics about whales.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 10:23 AM on September 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
Figured I should share for all the people who enjoy listening to songs with extremely repetitive lyrics about whales.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 10:23 AM on September 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
This was a good day, and I've just spent time explaining to Piglet and their partner how magical Pythagorean Geometry can be, because this was what I was teaching today, in open air, and I was kind of high when I got home.
It's interesting, because in my whole life, I have wondered why this had mystical/religious dimensions back in antiquity, but in the specific context I taught it today, I could see how it felt almost magical.
posted by mumimor at 11:52 AM on September 20, 2022
It's interesting, because in my whole life, I have wondered why this had mystical/religious dimensions back in antiquity, but in the specific context I taught it today, I could see how it felt almost magical.
posted by mumimor at 11:52 AM on September 20, 2022
I love my job, but I am underpaid, and I am really wondering if I would spend my last ten years in the workforce better if I taught geometri at a village school in the remote provinces.
posted by mumimor at 12:03 PM on September 20, 2022
posted by mumimor at 12:03 PM on September 20, 2022
Obviously, as a math teacher, you don't need to know spelling.
posted by mumimor at 12:43 PM on September 20, 2022
posted by mumimor at 12:43 PM on September 20, 2022
Speaking of whales, I came across this recently: Whale Temples of Vietnam.
posted by gudrun at 6:18 AM on September 21, 2022
posted by gudrun at 6:18 AM on September 21, 2022
I think I actually saw Thrill Kill Kult in the back room at a small club in Hollywood once. I was out with my future wife-not-wife's roommate and it was a very dark blacklight lit place and the tables were covered with like water soluble glow in the dark paint so by the end of the night everybody was sorta glowing. She was a fun girlfriend for a while. Sorta one of the most memorable.
We got into a couple of good arguments/debates. The first was when I called her 'cute' and she came back with "don't call girls cute, that's for kittens and puppies and children". Queue like a thirty minute discussion on the meanings of 'cute'. We settled on 'attractive' after going through the whole concept of what is the thing that knowing nothing else at first glance makes one want to investigate another person.
The second was when I called her 'big'.... "don't call girls big". Queue another thirty minute discussion. I'm 5'7", she's 6'4". I'm small, you're big. I swear I had to climb her like a tree and sometimes felt like a praying mantis and she was just going to rip my head off and start eating me, or she could sqeeze me to death or throw me across the room. We settled on 'statuesque' like the old Greek/Roman/etc. statues where they're normal in proportions but just larger than life so you can see them further away.
So she was attractive and statuesque. She had short hair and was mostly punk-like, and an artist. I still have a flannel that I wore in high school that is now so threadbare and worn out and shredded, it still has an orange streak on it from one of her like big fat oil crayon art things. It never came out. We were never destined for anything serious, just a couple or three weeks of bonking buddies. The discussions... priceless.
posted by zengargoyle at 9:59 AM on September 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
We got into a couple of good arguments/debates. The first was when I called her 'cute' and she came back with "don't call girls cute, that's for kittens and puppies and children". Queue like a thirty minute discussion on the meanings of 'cute'. We settled on 'attractive' after going through the whole concept of what is the thing that knowing nothing else at first glance makes one want to investigate another person.
The second was when I called her 'big'.... "don't call girls big". Queue another thirty minute discussion. I'm 5'7", she's 6'4". I'm small, you're big. I swear I had to climb her like a tree and sometimes felt like a praying mantis and she was just going to rip my head off and start eating me, or she could sqeeze me to death or throw me across the room. We settled on 'statuesque' like the old Greek/Roman/etc. statues where they're normal in proportions but just larger than life so you can see them further away.
So she was attractive and statuesque. She had short hair and was mostly punk-like, and an artist. I still have a flannel that I wore in high school that is now so threadbare and worn out and shredded, it still has an orange streak on it from one of her like big fat oil crayon art things. It never came out. We were never destined for anything serious, just a couple or three weeks of bonking buddies. The discussions... priceless.
posted by zengargoyle at 9:59 AM on September 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
I played Clue/Cluedo for the first time in a while...
We have an absurd amount of books in our house (they're almost all mine and purchased at thrift stores). A couple of weeks ago my wife said, I think seriously, that we should build an addition onto the house for a library. I replied "But then Colonel Mustard will whack me with a candlestick!". Friends, my wife had no idea what I was talking out.
posted by neuron at 1:06 PM on September 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
We have an absurd amount of books in our house (they're almost all mine and purchased at thrift stores). A couple of weeks ago my wife said, I think seriously, that we should build an addition onto the house for a library. I replied "But then Colonel Mustard will whack me with a candlestick!". Friends, my wife had no idea what I was talking out.
posted by neuron at 1:06 PM on September 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
In the bloated whale category, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment has struck a deal with the Dairy Producers of Ontario to put Milk logos on Leafs jerseys. This has really ticked me off. Yes, of course, I don't like advertising logos on hockey jerseys as a general rule, but this annoyance is well beyond that.
The Leafs are not a poor organization. MLSE is not a poor organization. They've got plenty of money. They're doing just fine. They're also not an essential part of people's daily lives.
The price of dairy, on the other hand, has skyrocketed this year and is continuing to climb. Dairy farmers are crying about costs. I get it, things are expensive, recession, supply chain, etc., but this is how the group that supports the farmers decides to spend its money? Nope. No way. You've totally lost any sympathy I have for dairy farmers or the industry as a whole. (And no, we don't need a derail about dairy not being essential or even needed. Please just assume we've heard all those arguments before.)
If you're a business that provides an essential service (or a basic need for most people) then you'd better cut back on your stupid, sports-related advertising when times get tough and when your profits go down, if you expect your customers to retain any positive feelings about you. And yes, I'm also looking at you Scotiabank for exactly the same reasons. The Leafs don't need your money, and they certainly don't need it badly enough for you to keep hiking up service charges on your customers.
posted by sardonyx at 2:41 PM on September 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Leafs are not a poor organization. MLSE is not a poor organization. They've got plenty of money. They're doing just fine. They're also not an essential part of people's daily lives.
The price of dairy, on the other hand, has skyrocketed this year and is continuing to climb. Dairy farmers are crying about costs. I get it, things are expensive, recession, supply chain, etc., but this is how the group that supports the farmers decides to spend its money? Nope. No way. You've totally lost any sympathy I have for dairy farmers or the industry as a whole. (And no, we don't need a derail about dairy not being essential or even needed. Please just assume we've heard all those arguments before.)
If you're a business that provides an essential service (or a basic need for most people) then you'd better cut back on your stupid, sports-related advertising when times get tough and when your profits go down, if you expect your customers to retain any positive feelings about you. And yes, I'm also looking at you Scotiabank for exactly the same reasons. The Leafs don't need your money, and they certainly don't need it badly enough for you to keep hiking up service charges on your customers.
posted by sardonyx at 2:41 PM on September 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
well, in other news, one of our most prominent members just had his comic strip cancelled by 77 papers
i suppose he can always make a post on projects if things get too desperate - if he manages to tone the cluelessness down
posted by pyramid termite at 2:51 PM on September 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
i suppose he can always make a post on projects if things get too desperate - if he manages to tone the cluelessness down
posted by pyramid termite at 2:51 PM on September 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
Perhaps he needs an AI to explain to him why, when you keep telling the same joke to the same audience over and over and over, they eventually get bored with it?
Dilbert peaked a long time ago.
posted by flabdablet at 11:58 PM on September 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
Dilbert peaked a long time ago.
posted by flabdablet at 11:58 PM on September 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
Welp, someone emailed some kind of threat to two schools around here, which are now closed until further notice. Whee. The 2020's continue to 2020.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:12 AM on September 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:12 AM on September 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
I find it honestly interesting how MetaFilter has, for the first time in its history really, had an open thread to talk in, and it always starts to peter out after 3-4 days and is mostly dead by the time the next one is started.
I just told a goth-y friend of mine that I love him and if I could I would do a lot of murders of people so he would be forever haunted. What sort of weird things have others said lately for the fun of conversation?
posted by hippybear at 8:18 PM on September 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
I just told a goth-y friend of mine that I love him and if I could I would do a lot of murders of people so he would be forever haunted. What sort of weird things have others said lately for the fun of conversation?
posted by hippybear at 8:18 PM on September 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
Today's conversation revolved around who got shot first this afternoon, why it hurt more than the last time, why I insisted that my sweet husband take the first seat, would a tattoo hurt worse... yeah, COVID-19 booster time.
Fun conversations in the appliance store.
Weird fact: finding the bivalent Moderna booster was hard. We went to three places before getting our appointments at Target. Pfizer is the local drug of choice.
After lunch I got a call from CVS (which schedules for both pharmacy chains) and we came in an hour earlier. Otherwise, a "large family" would bump us to a later time.
Good to know others are doing their part.
Now to get the flu shots in a couple of weeks. Yeah, they can be given at the same time, but one set of potential reactions is plenty.
posted by TrishaU at 9:52 PM on September 23, 2022
Fun conversations in the appliance store.
Weird fact: finding the bivalent Moderna booster was hard. We went to three places before getting our appointments at Target. Pfizer is the local drug of choice.
After lunch I got a call from CVS (which schedules for both pharmacy chains) and we came in an hour earlier. Otherwise, a "large family" would bump us to a later time.
Good to know others are doing their part.
Now to get the flu shots in a couple of weeks. Yeah, they can be given at the same time, but one set of potential reactions is plenty.
posted by TrishaU at 9:52 PM on September 23, 2022
You know, I like it down here at the tail end of the free threads. It's quiet. Peaceful. It feels like a journal, or a confessional. So, here goes...
I love gay romance novels.
It started with T. J. Klune. He's become a New York Times bestselling author, and deservedly so. He writes stories where gay people get happy endings, fantastic worlds filled with queer representation and humor and weirdness. And he started out writing gay romance, so as I delved deeper into his back catalog I got pulled in.
For a while I avoided full-on gay romance by indulging in the amazing wealth of LGBTQIA+ books in all sorts of genres; science fiction, fantasy, young adult, that sort of thing. But gradually it occurred to me that what I liked most about those stories was the romance.
And now I'm deep into it. To the point where the thread making fun of the Christmas romance movie tropes was particularly hilarious. But that thread got me thinking, too. First about how effectively all the tropes are subverted when they're in a story with two men; everything is recontextualized and can be reimagined. And secondly, about why I needed these stories.
When I grew up back in the 80s, there was some sparse gay representation. (I've been watching Matt Baume's excellent videos about queer representation in the media lately, and it's fascinating to see how pivotal the sitcoms of the period were.) But the gay people I saw on TV were all miserable, they were the butt of jokes, and the ended tragically. Gay people didn't get lives or partners or happiness, they were the embodiment of controversies and tragic drama.
Reading these novels is healing a part of me that badly needed to be healed. I'm too old to be starry-eyed anymore, too jaded to bother with actual romance, but in a way that's freed me to revel in the kind of fictional romances that I should have been envisioning when I was a kid, the kind of loves I should have dreamed about, if only I'd known how.
And the books I've found are surprisingly good. I'm a sucker for witty banter, and in most fiction you have to use that pretty sparingly; it's a spice, not the main course. But in gay romance the author can indulge their penchant for snark and repartee to their heart's content, it's hilarious. There are insights into gay life, and the obstacles we face, which I'd never considered before. There are wonderful characters.
And it's absolutely glorious to pick up a book and know that, whatever happens, the gay characters are going to be actual characters, that their love will be central to the plot, and that they'll have a chance at happiness in the end.
posted by MrVisible at 8:23 PM on September 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
I love gay romance novels.
It started with T. J. Klune. He's become a New York Times bestselling author, and deservedly so. He writes stories where gay people get happy endings, fantastic worlds filled with queer representation and humor and weirdness. And he started out writing gay romance, so as I delved deeper into his back catalog I got pulled in.
For a while I avoided full-on gay romance by indulging in the amazing wealth of LGBTQIA+ books in all sorts of genres; science fiction, fantasy, young adult, that sort of thing. But gradually it occurred to me that what I liked most about those stories was the romance.
And now I'm deep into it. To the point where the thread making fun of the Christmas romance movie tropes was particularly hilarious. But that thread got me thinking, too. First about how effectively all the tropes are subverted when they're in a story with two men; everything is recontextualized and can be reimagined. And secondly, about why I needed these stories.
When I grew up back in the 80s, there was some sparse gay representation. (I've been watching Matt Baume's excellent videos about queer representation in the media lately, and it's fascinating to see how pivotal the sitcoms of the period were.) But the gay people I saw on TV were all miserable, they were the butt of jokes, and the ended tragically. Gay people didn't get lives or partners or happiness, they were the embodiment of controversies and tragic drama.
Reading these novels is healing a part of me that badly needed to be healed. I'm too old to be starry-eyed anymore, too jaded to bother with actual romance, but in a way that's freed me to revel in the kind of fictional romances that I should have been envisioning when I was a kid, the kind of loves I should have dreamed about, if only I'd known how.
And the books I've found are surprisingly good. I'm a sucker for witty banter, and in most fiction you have to use that pretty sparingly; it's a spice, not the main course. But in gay romance the author can indulge their penchant for snark and repartee to their heart's content, it's hilarious. There are insights into gay life, and the obstacles we face, which I'd never considered before. There are wonderful characters.
And it's absolutely glorious to pick up a book and know that, whatever happens, the gay characters are going to be actual characters, that their love will be central to the plot, and that they'll have a chance at happiness in the end.
posted by MrVisible at 8:23 PM on September 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
Mr Visible me too!
Do you have any recommendations?
My latest that I enjoyed were Boyfriend Material and Husband Material by Alexis Hall.
posted by Zumbador at 8:37 PM on September 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
Do you have any recommendations?
My latest that I enjoyed were Boyfriend Material and Husband Material by Alexis Hall.
posted by Zumbador at 8:37 PM on September 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
It feels like ... a confessional. So, here goes
"Bless me Father, for I have scanned"?
more seriously... As a member of the "straight white male" group that has been represented in our culture to within an inch of our lives, that's an enlightening - and sobering - view into what it's like at the other end of the media-depiction spectrum. I'm glad you're finally getting a chance to see that, and it's a damn shame it didn't happen sooner for you (and many others).
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:48 PM on September 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
"Bless me Father, for I have scanned"?
more seriously... As a member of the "straight white male" group that has been represented in our culture to within an inch of our lives, that's an enlightening - and sobering - view into what it's like at the other end of the media-depiction spectrum. I'm glad you're finally getting a chance to see that, and it's a damn shame it didn't happen sooner for you (and many others).
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:48 PM on September 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
I just finished the Finding Home series by Lily Morton, and it's just lovely. Hilarious, raunchy, low-stakes, and sappy as hell. I loved it. I've got the Alexis Hall books on my list for right after I dig into the rest of Lily Morton's books, thanks!
If you haven't read Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid, it's really good. A slow-burn romance between hockey players. I don't even like sports and I'm eagerly anticipating the sequel.
I just blazed through a bunch of stuff by Eliot Grayson. I really, really recommend The One Decent Thing, it's an unusual setup and was surprisingly moving.
And my ultimate favorite, of course, the one that I keep going back to, is T. J. Klune's How To Be A Normal Person.
And thank you, Greg_Ace, I really appreciate that you found it helpful. If you get a chance, I'd urge you to pick up that last book, How To Be A Normal Person. It's sweet, innocent, and hilarious, and I'd love to hear what you thought of it.
posted by MrVisible at 9:00 PM on September 24, 2022
If you haven't read Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid, it's really good. A slow-burn romance between hockey players. I don't even like sports and I'm eagerly anticipating the sequel.
I just blazed through a bunch of stuff by Eliot Grayson. I really, really recommend The One Decent Thing, it's an unusual setup and was surprisingly moving.
And my ultimate favorite, of course, the one that I keep going back to, is T. J. Klune's How To Be A Normal Person.
And thank you, Greg_Ace, I really appreciate that you found it helpful. If you get a chance, I'd urge you to pick up that last book, How To Be A Normal Person. It's sweet, innocent, and hilarious, and I'd love to hear what you thought of it.
posted by MrVisible at 9:00 PM on September 24, 2022
My conversations today involved Renaissance Faire, watching dudes beat each other with sticks, wig shopping, and noticing that the bird did NOT drop from the ceiling at the start of the show, making us wonder when it may drop? (Sadly, didn't fall during the bar scene, which would have been hilarious.)
Gay dude romance recs: Red, White and Royal Blue and The Understatement of the Year.
Yes, I have noticed the chatty winds down midweek and wondered why too.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:12 PM on September 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
Gay dude romance recs: Red, White and Royal Blue and The Understatement of the Year.
Yes, I have noticed the chatty winds down midweek and wondered why too.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:12 PM on September 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
Oh awesome thanks so much for the recommendations. Am sick with possibly-Covid so in need of distraction.
posted by Zumbador at 9:31 PM on September 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Zumbador at 9:31 PM on September 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
I hope you enjoy them, and I hope you get better soon.
posted by MrVisible at 10:51 PM on September 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by MrVisible at 10:51 PM on September 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
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Also, NASA is going to crash a spacecraft into an asteroid. On purpose
posted by Ipsifendus at 3:20 AM on September 19, 2022 [3 favorites]