Avenger: Well, Gage was kinda nuts after the whole tamping-rod-thru-brain adventure.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 1:02 AM on July 30, 2009

Economic forces also played a role. For example, north of Seattle, Snohomish County's "Japanese Gulch" was vacated in the 1930s when the local mill closed down. There is a monument nearby. Nobody was left there by the time of World War 2. Kanashii, ne? [Sad, isn't it?]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 8:58 PM on June 8, 2009

How interesting that this particular topic should be brought up today.

Here's yet another resource, SafeNest.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 2:11 PM on December 2, 2008

All I ever got to read of his in school were two books about dogs in the Klondike. I'd had him pigeonholed. And that being who I thought he was, I considered him vastly inferior to, say Robert Service, author of The Cremation of Sam McGee. I guess I'll have to do some reading and re-evaluating of Mr. London's work.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 5:19 PM on October 10, 2008

Well here's the problem. If they make it hard for people them to get drivers licenses -- the primary purpose of which is to say somebody knows how to drive* -- then they won't drive legally. That doesn't mean they'll take the bus or get a friend to drive them to workH^H^H^H^H where they need to go, that means they will drilve illegally. With no insurance. Possibly with minimal driving skills. Is this a net benefit to society?

* Remember, the state also issues... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 5:04 PM on October 10, 2008

grrr, "same" and "license". having a bad fingers day.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 5:05 PM on October 10, 2008

They fired the stereotype checker a few decades ago. He was too stereotypically ______.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 1:12 PM on October 4, 2008

I got my copy of "Karen" (now long since given away) from Scholastic Book Club. I don't even recall what book they ran out of, but they gave me Karen and my choice of any book out of the next catalog. Since Amazon doesn't seem to know about any printings even close to the years I am thinking of, I wonder if they weren't old stock Scholastic was trying to ditch.

The part I remember most is the other kids teaching Karen to go up and down the stairs by herself... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 8:24 PM on October 1, 2008

Forward to about minute 4.

Ahh musician jokes. Gotta love them. Never B Sharp; Sometimes B Flat; Always B Natural.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 5:25 PM on September 2, 2008

And here in Vegas the Stratosphere is running an $8.88 mass wedding special.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 1:25 PM on August 7, 2008

If you haven't listened to his The Man Comes Around album, you need to.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 5:13 PM on October 29, 2007

Disclosure of pests that some people don't believe in? Not sure about that. I do know however that in the United States I am not required to disclose that a property is a crime scene, that someone has died there, or that someone with AIDS has lived there. Unless the law has changed since last Friday.

A lot of crazy stuff has to be disclosed, but Marge Simpson totally did not have to tell Ned Flanders he'd bought the "Murder House."
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 9:57 PM on October 16, 2007

more.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 8:34 PM on October 7, 2007

Wait... You guys are just now on this? A custody-case involving a website (and an associated community easily as big as MeFi)? That happened over a week ago?
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 10:37 AM on October 6, 2007

Dear World,

Sorry about all the stupid people. If it's any consolation, guys like Rick Mercer and Jay Leno can really get a laugh out of how stupid some of my countrymen can be.

I try talking sense to as many of them as I can, but one person can only do so much. What really gets me is when I hear supposedly well-educated people say stupid stuff like "but if I turn the thermostat way up the hot air will come out faster" or "Maybe... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 9:16 PM on September 23, 2007

Not only can she not find out, her representatives in Parliament cannot find out, the Congressional representatives of the college where she still has a job if she can ever get there can't find out, her lawyers can't find out, their lawyers can't find out. If it were a simple matter of an overstayed visa (in which case why was she issued a new one good through 2008) or some other simple but legalistic problem, somebody would be able to tell her! And furthermore, if she were really a Bad Guy... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 5:05 PM on September 18, 2007

I had a classmate who really went out of his way to have masculine speech patterns. Boku this and -ta that. The magic of anime.

I agree that listening is important, gaikokujin is more polite than gaijin (which is a lot more polite than baka gaijin) (only gaikokujin is on the level 4 proficiency exam list), more polite is better than not polite enough, and the proper reply to "jozu desu ne" is "iie, mata jouzu ja arimasen" ("no, I'm not very... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 9:20 PM on September 17, 2007

Then of course, there's the much harder issue of how to bow.

A couple months ago I was criticized by my karate-no-sensei for bowing the Japanese way instead of the Chinese way at the beginning of my pinan. So it's even more complicated if one wants to be sensitive to multiple Asian cultures.

You must learn the ways of the force *covers mouth and giggles*

*Diet Coke Plus goes up nose*
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 10:16 AM on September 18, 2007

my opinion on this research
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 11:49 AM on September 16, 2007

And about half of all people are below average. Film at 11.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 9:31 PM on September 12, 2007

Oy vey.

Relatively recently I was exposed to the idea that "American Jews must support Israel so they will have a place to escape to in the next pogrom, because there will be one someday just you wait and see." This idea shocked me, and I think many people who hear this sentiment are thinking "Fine, let me buy you a ticket, just don't come back."

The smartest thing I ever heard about Israel was on NPR... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 11:26 AM on September 10, 2007

What, no link to the guys who actually had the Abbot of the Shaolin Temple as their guest last week?

BTW, the Monks were awesome and hilarious at once. They have no respect for traffic lights. They like digital cameras and posing with wonderstruck students. I wonder what they thought of the P.F. Changs that they could see from their hotel....
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 5:58 PM on September 3, 2007

That was a movie. A comedy movie.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 9:20 PM on September 3, 2007

Saying "Buddhists believe..." is much like saying "Christians believe...". With the latter we must know are we talking about Baptists? Catholics? Pentacostals? With the former we should distinguish whether we are talking about Tibetan, Free Land, Theravada, Mahayana, and so forth. Some believe in reincarnation/rebirth, and most believe in the idea of enlightened entities (often called Bodhisattva) that are born as humans with the specific purpose of helping the rest of us... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 10:24 AM on August 29, 2007

Does anyone think that an '87 is a classic?

Does anyone have a running '87 vehicle?

I kid, I kid.

Seriously though, about Geoff's list. Incoming students also have the prospect of substantially higher student loan debt even on an inflation adjusted basis. They have lower job prospects, also on an inflation adjusted basis. They see people 5 or 10 years older than them trying to juggle credit card debt... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 10:23 PM on August 21, 2007

Unfortunately, they're eating drunken Serbs.

Do not feed the bears yourself.

Actually I'm kinda dissapointed I wasn't in time to post the CNN link myself....
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 10:24 AM on August 20, 2007

800 years eh? Seems more stable than American mining operations......
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 10:41 PM on August 16, 2007

I loved the cats in a box. I sent it to all the cat lovers I know, including the one that sent me this email (click a link, feed a cat. or dog).
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 10:02 PM on August 12, 2007

Prosecute the assholes involved. Then prosecute their boss for allowing it to happen. Then sue the owners of the facility for running an attractive nuisance. Then prosecute the parents for negligence in not taking their kid home the moment they began to suspect something more than an open-handed spanking was involved.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 9:51 PM on August 12, 2007

Ok, let's get beyond the definition of campus cop, and the qualifications to become one. Since this almost certainly varies from state to state and country to country, it's like trying to play "pin the tail on the jello."

The University's independent investigation has determined that the officer(s) a) did something wrong b) did something against policy and c) that policy as it stands is way too harsh (implying that what the officer did is way beyond the pale... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 4:57 PM on August 6, 2007

Well, I did know that the first novel was written by Murasaki Shikibu, but I did not realize that she was (then) merely the latest in a line of ladies of the Japanese Imperial Court who wrote while not attending to their noble patrons.

Sonno Joi!

Short version of Tale of Genji: "Once upon there was a handsome prince who just could not keep his kimono closed. His noble private parts led him into many... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 1:06 PM on July 26, 2007

And the AP reporting was really bad.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 8:32 PM on July 25, 2007

[lloyd_bridges] Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue. [/lloyd_bridges]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 3:11 PM on July 21, 2007

Wile E.

Coyote, that is. supergenius.

geez, nobody's made a Warner Brothers cartoon reference yet?
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 9:15 PM on July 16, 2007

With slight modifications, almost all those items could be found a Star Trek Fan Phrasebook.

/me ducks, sneaks into what looks like a big, blue police box which subsequently vanishes before flames can begin.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 1:40 PM on July 8, 2007

Ahh I was wondering how long until someone mentioned Buffy and Hildegard.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 9:21 PM on July 6, 2007

Call me a bleeding heart liberal (I'm not) but I don't think any human being deserves this: "[they] strip[ped] him and beat him into submission, using steel-toed boots. They made deep slashes into his chest, investigators said. Then they drove a sharpened plastic PVC pipe into his anus so deep that his internal organs were damaged"; and "[they] stomped and burned [him] with cigarettes, and his attackers poured bleach on him before leaving him for dead." I furthermore don't... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 12:13 PM on July 3, 2007

Someone has already pointed out that Witchita Lineman was written by Jimmy Webb. I've had the great pleasure of reading Mr. Webb's book on songwriting, Tunesmith. In it, he lays out his theory that a really good song should be a 3 minute play. Think about that the next time you listen to "Up up and away" or "MacArthur Park."

He also says there is no point in rhyming the word "love"; you'll just end up with cliche all over your face.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 9:20 AM on June 16, 2007

Miss Lynnster:

Although he discusses the fact that he was asked to write it as an experimental piece, and the artist who asked subsequently decided not to record it, he does not discuss the cake incident.

Honestly, I think the main character of MacArthur Park is supposed to be somewhat crazy. He/she wants everything to be perfect perfect perfect for a perfect day: look I borrowed this recipe to make a perfect cake and now it's ruined... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 1:35 PM on June 16, 2007

The author lost me at the mention of "genital warts" in the third paragraph.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 10:25 AM on June 14, 2007

[DragonBall] Clearly we must train and become stronger to overcome this new enemy! [/DragonBall]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 7:18 PM on June 4, 2007

Here's the thing that I think some people are missing. The USDA is not just saying "no widespread testing". They are also saying that individual meatpacking businesses are not allowed test their own cows at their own expense.

They are saying "I'm sorry, you are not allowed to spend your own money to make your product more appealing to certain consumers."

Nobody... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 9:34 AM on May 31, 2007

Shame they don't have sources for the studies.

When somebody cites stats without telling me where they come from, I start wondering about them. Who did the study? Did they have an agenda to prove? How was the study constructed? What data did they use, what data did they not use? Did they consider other factors that might explain their conclusion? Did they make it up?

By way of contrast, and on topic to boot, this guy... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 10:18 AM on May 25, 2007

I met Cage in 1990. Got to sit in on a seminar with him. Wonderful, strange, slightly senile, but still brilliant man.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 2:02 PM on May 20, 2007

There is just not enough caffiene in the world....

Oh well, at least it's not a marathon of early twentieth century operas.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 1:58 PM on May 20, 2007

You know, I'd like to take the "of course it's cause they take time off to have babies!" argument out back and shoot it with this: Pay gap starts within one year of leaving college but it does continue to get bigger.

By way of summary: yes there is such a thing as a pay gap; the severity and direction changes with the field (engineering firms like having women engineers on the payroll and are willing to pay a premium, medical offices are willing to pay a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 4:43 PM on May 18, 2007

Now you see, this is exactly why pretty much all the so-called "universal" coverage plans being floated are not going to truly cover everyone. In fact, I prefer to call them mandatory insurance plans. They're almost all based on the idea that employers will be forced to buy insurance policies, and everybody who is not covered in this fashion will be forced to buy an individual policy in the open market (if they can afford it, if they can get covered, if their... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 5:51 PM on May 17, 2007

This thread got this far without somebody tossing the Gaudi Album in and running like crazy?
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 9:33 PM on May 15, 2007

Best cave I ever visited was Crystal Cave in Missouri. The old fellow in the picture owns the property, and personally gives tours. When we visited (must have been about 1989 or so) he took his dog along.

How cool is that, to have a personal tour of a huge cave, given by a guy and his dog?
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 9:47 PM on May 6, 2007

Also, if you have a list of uniform job applicant questions, you are less likely to accidentally do anything discriminatory.
posted to MetaFilter by ilsa at 8:57 AM on April 30, 2007