Coffee and Other Important Matters

November 18, 2009 8:56 AM

15 Things Worth Knowing About Coffee.17 Things Worth Knowing About Your Cat. The MotherF**king Pterodactyl. These and various other amusements courtesy of The Oatmeal.
posted by brain_drain (30 comments total)

Previously.
posted by Caduceus at 9:10 AM on November 18, 2009

Chum for the internet masses. Or, basically this
posted by crayz at 9:14 AM on November 18, 2009

Nice stuff. I took the driving test and this is BS:

When do pedestrians have the right of way?

* At all times
* Only at marked (painted) crosswalks
* Only at intersections
* CORRECT ANSWER: At crosswalks and intersections regardless if the crosswalk is marked (painted) or not.

I was taught that pedestrians always have the right of way. And since this question was effectively asked twice, I got double dinged!
posted by DU at 9:15 AM on November 18, 2009

Well, at least I learned that a cup of "joe" was supposedly named after WWI US troops. I always thought that Kyle MacLachlan coined that phrase.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:17 AM on November 18, 2009

You were taught wrong. If pediestrians ALWAYS had the right of way, it would be chaos on the highways, with pedestrians leaping into traffic with impunity, just to watch the big rigs slam on their brakes and jackknife off the road. Chaos, I tell you!
posted by yhbc at 9:19 AM on November 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

Plus, I could kill 35 baboons with a giant dildo!
posted by yhbc at 9:20 AM on November 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

I REALLY want to hear the pterodactyl poem read by Samuel L Jackson!
posted by Yer-Ol-Pal at 9:20 AM on November 18, 2009

Fun site. Thanks!
posted by bearwife at 9:21 AM on November 18, 2009

But they would die with a big grin on their faces.
posted by Balisong at 9:21 AM on November 18, 2009

A dozen things I already knew about coffee, a few popular misconceptions, and something about instant coffee.

Black Coffee was much better, and I didn't think that was especially good. But at least they pointed out that espresso actually has quite a low amount of caffeine, not the opposite, as this seemed to suggest. ("This is hardcore" ?)
posted by paisley henosis at 9:28 AM on November 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

Seconding that "always" was the correct answer on my driving exam.

It doesn't make jaywalking legal. It's not a walking exam. It means if they're on the street, of course you defer to them.
posted by rokusan at 9:28 AM on November 18, 2009 [5 favorites]

I think the quiz is just wrong. The second question about pedestrians is the same question but has a different answer. The peds have the RoW even without the crosswalk in that one.
posted by DU at 9:30 AM on November 18, 2009

Dude has some wrong examples in the previously, too. Basically this is a cutesy graphic design site, and shouldn't be relied on for actual facts.
posted by Caduceus at 9:33 AM on November 18, 2009

Excuse me, I've got to go get some dancing goat juice.

(Fun coffee fact. There was a movement to ban coffee in Christendom in the 1500s because of its association with Islam. Pope Clement VIII, an avid coffee drinker announced ""This devil's drink is so good... we should cheat the devil by baptizing it." and thus coffee became kosher for Christians.)
posted by The Whelk at 9:36 AM on November 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

Well, I didn't take the driving test, but I did like the Cat one. Fun site.

And the website definitely provides a valuable service with the PSA which helped me to determine that yes, I have a 52% chance that MY LOVED ONES ARE PLOTTING TO EAT ME.
posted by misha at 9:53 AM on November 18, 2009

Let me blow some minds by saying that I have a cat who LOVES fruit. Clearly she "can not" have taste buds for sweetness, so why does she love fruit? I should make a youtube video. She can hear a banana peeling from across the house, no kidding.
posted by cbecker333 at 10:04 AM on November 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

cbecker, cats are big on texture, though. I'm betting she likes the mouth-feel.
posted by ShawnStruck at 10:13 AM on November 18, 2009

Checker, I have a cat that loves to munch hair and plastic bags.

None of them seem to give a damn if a space is smaller than their whiskers, though.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:26 AM on November 18, 2009

Excuse me, I've got to go get some dancing goat juice.

The local coffee chain here uses a goat as its logo as a reference to the dancing goats story.
posted by octothorpe at 10:28 AM on November 18, 2009

Clearly she "can not" have taste buds for sweetness, so why does she love fruit?

There are other flavors in fruit besides "sweet." Wanna taste them? Brush your teeth with toothpaste -- most contain sodium lauryl sulfate, a chemical that temporarily turns off your ability to taste sweetness. Then right afterward, bite into a piece of fruit, or drink a glass of O.J. Most of what you'll be tasting are the things that are sour and bitter.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:28 AM on November 18, 2009

I visited expecting much lame to ensue. I was sorely disappointed!
posted by tybeet at 10:43 AM on November 18, 2009

+1 "crane kick you in the mouth"
posted by 1adam12 at 10:49 AM on November 18, 2009

Oh man, it's the sound that only the young can hear. It's painful! It made my dog stop playing, look around, and whine. Crazy.
posted by xorry at 10:51 AM on November 18, 2009

I gave $2 to the coffee fund for 15 Things Worth Knowing About Coffee.

It was worth $2.
posted by humannaire at 11:00 AM on November 18, 2009

Other content from the same artist. I thought the cat looked familiar.
posted by fiercekitten at 11:06 AM on November 18, 2009

Wait. I can hear that, does that mean I'm young? If so, 35 is young. Yeah.

(I can also hear the high-pitched whining noise made when a CRT monitor is turned on. I find it annoying.)

And despite the complaining, I found the presentation style to be fun, even if the facts weren't necessarily groundbreaking. The pterodactyl thing made me laugh, I admit.
posted by caution live frogs at 12:00 PM on November 18, 2009

I was taught that pedestrians always have the right of way. And since this question was effectively asked twice, I got double dinged!
...
I think the quiz is just wrong. The second question about pedestrians is the same question but has a different answer. The peds have the RoW even without the crosswalk in that one.

Yeah, I heard that too growing up but I don't think it's actually true. Otherwise, why would they have crosswalks?

Anecdotaly, I have an acquaintance who actually hit a drunk pedestrian. Not only was he not at fault, but the pedestrian actually had to pay to fix her car.

Doing a little googling: every state is different, but here's a page about the laws in Georgia. Here's what it says:

(a) Every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right of way to all vehicles upon the roadway unless he has already, and under safe conditions, entered the roadway.
(b) Any pedestrian crossing a roadway at a point where a pedestrian tunnel or overhead pedestrian crossing has been provided shall yield the right of way to all vehicles upon the roadway if he uses the roadway instead of such tunnel or crossing.
(c) Between adjacent intersections at which traffic-control signals are in operation, pedestrians shall not cross at any place except in a marked crosswalk.

And Here is an article in the SF examiner, that seems to support the "crosswalks only"
posted by delmoi at 12:13 PM on November 18, 2009

Basically this is a cutesy graphic design site, and shouldn't be relied on for actual facts.

*Runs to retrieve atlas, almanac, dictionary, and encyclopedia, and Uncle John's Bathroom Reader out of the trash*

*Runs back to trash, throws Uncle John back in*
posted by scratch at 12:29 PM on November 18, 2009

My Texan uncle says "a pedestarian allus has the right of way, but he's a damned fool to insist upon it."
posted by Graygorey at 10:37 PM on November 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

this is agonizingly juvenile
posted by p3on at 7:18 AM on November 19, 2009