I just opened up this story in the Magazine on my kitchen table tonight. It starts out great, looking forward to reading it!
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 8:01 PM on June 17, 2013

Kinda like Joseph Heller, say.

I dunno, a lot of people we call "great novelists" really only wrote one good book, and lots of mediocre ones. I love Kurt Vonnegut, for instance, and I might even say that about him. A lot the best novels in English were written by one-hit wonders.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 8:23 PM on June 17, 2013

I'd say Vonnegut wrote at least three classics

I picked a controversial example on purpose, but "de gustibus" and all that.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:30 AM on June 18, 2013

Finally read it. Interesting piece. You kind of want to know more - whence sprang this guy's pathological arrogance and anger?
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 5:59 AM on June 19, 2013

Seconding Desert of Maine. Also recommending the Maine State Prison Showroom. Lipstick Thespian I will do our best to join you depending on when this falls exactly...I have work next weekend but we can try. We can get to Portland pretty easily and any points south of there.
posted to MeFi IRL by Miko at 4:45 PM on June 16, 2013

We are a thin possibility. It's hard on a weeknight. If we don't make it up, have a great time though!
posted to MeFi IRL by Miko at 5:44 AM on June 19, 2013

My parents use this expression constantly. I grew up with it. I'm 42, they're in their 60s.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Miko at 7:40 AM on June 18, 2013

I am sure he is a terrible writer and that his arguments are weak and badly constructed and generally terrible. I scanned it very lightly and saw where it was going, and am not interested in getting into the detail, which I'm sure as full of flaws as the comments indicate.

Yet there are important, and very true, points to be made about the privilege and power people who embrace this way of thinking assert to themselves, and also thoughtlessly attempt to wield, in the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 8:19 PM on June 17, 2013

who I decide I support and will defend because they are on the side of the angels ...

And did I support and defend him? No, I did not.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 6:10 AM on June 18, 2013

I'd really love it if someone can pinpoint the artist, but it is a longshot. The style is definitely 60s modern, maybe 50s but doesn't seem likely. The style looks familiar because there is a lot of illustration that shares this aesthetic.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Miko at 7:22 PM on June 17, 2013

I think a few of these answers don't take into account what it's like to hang at the track for hours. You don't need an excuse for one race, like the horse doesn't look good or you don't like these odds. You need an excuse for not gambling all day long over the course of a few dozen races.

So it's gotta be a general lack of interest in betting that day, for whatever reason. It can't really be "I don't understand horse racing" because there... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Miko at 7:11 PM on June 17, 2013 marked best answer

Argh. WE keep meaning to organize one of these readings and then we forget until the next Bloomsday. We've been to two and they were great experiences on their own. I think we could do it better, with food and music and stuff.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:13 AM on June 17, 2013

People don't do Bloomsday because The World Has Empirically Declared that It Is The World's Best Novel, people organize Bloomsday events because there is a critical mass of Ulysses fans that have gotten off their ass and done something about it.

We're not even massive Ulysses fans. It's possible to do Bloomsday because you like literature and language and the language is just fantastic to listen to. It really doesn't have to be the great World Novel... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 11:12 AM on June 17, 2013

The pub part goes without sayin'!
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 6:11 PM on June 17, 2013

I wholeheartedly agree with the others that if your husband cares what kind of wine you bring to parties, then your husband should buy the wine you bring to parties.

It would be nice and good to bring $10-15 bottles of wine, for reasons others give about making a gesture that is beyond the everyday and shows special appreciation, but it is nothing but gauche for people to talk behind your back about the wine you bring. I mean really. Maybe that is... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Miko at 9:41 PM on June 14, 2013

There are no end of "value wine" columns and lists online and in wine magazines, if your husband would like to become expert on good wines in the $10-15 category. He could apply his research skills to that. Also, a story makes it seem more interesting. If he can find a wine that has a great backstory, about the vineyard, the family, the region, even the label, it will seem as though it's a more thoughtful and impressive selection. It's all a lovely project for him.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Miko at 7:03 AM on June 17, 2013

'Cause that street must have some amazing acoustics.

I can believe it's based on the live recordings from the mics, but I think there'd have had to have been a lot of tweaking in the audio after the original recording. The main reason is that I have no small amount of personal experience singing with people on the back of a horse-drawn wagon (don't ask) and one of the loudest sounds is not the clip-clop but the constant white-noise-ish grind of the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:27 AM on June 15, 2013

Previous comment amended: I just noticed the wagon has rubber wheels, like bicycle wheels. Therefore I do not know what I am talking about w/r/t wheel noise.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:28 AM on June 15, 2013

Rootsy sounds go through periodic revivals. It was just coming time again.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 6:47 PM on June 16, 2013

But this stuff is the uncanny valley of roots music - its close to the real thing, but its utterly artificial.

I don't think that's a problem. Authenticity is something imaginary. Roots music exists in a lot of contexts. This is a kind of use of roots influences and instrumentation that engages mainly with mainstream commercial pop music, yes. But it's reflective of a massive roots revival that's been going on since at least the mid-1990s and has... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 6:59 AM on June 17, 2013

I just came here to make this post (basically) after spending the morning on Kupperman Country and wondering if he'd showed up here lately. I love, love, love Michael Kupperman.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 6:45 AM on June 17, 2013

I think this is great. The clothing suggests characters and makes the statues feel really alive. It also reveals how incredibly masterfully the bodies were formed.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:21 AM on June 15, 2013

One of them is just in a bra... Is that "hipster"?

If you're wearing it as streetwear, yeah, probably.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:29 AM on June 15, 2013

Darn, I would love an excuse to go to Western Mass but I plan to be in NJ that weekend.
posted to MeFi IRL by Miko at 7:08 AM on June 15, 2013

I find myself feeling resistance to this prescription for how we should interact.
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 11:42 AM on June 14, 2013

I think it's just something that works best in highly structured situations with a clearly defined outcome, and MetaFilter isn't that.

I may have a generally higher tolerance for conflict than others, but I would not patronize a website where people talked this way to each other every time they disagreed. I personally find it mannered and patronizing outside of a context where it belongs.

It can be useful at times to prevent arriving at... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 11:59 AM on June 14, 2013

These parts of the Wikipedia entry are interesting:

There is little published critique of NVC. However, researchers have noted that NVC lacks an evidence base beyond the copious anecdotal claims of effectiveness and similarly lacks discussion in the literature of the theoretical basis of the model.

Bowling Green State University Professor Ellen Gorsevski, in assessing Rosenberg's book, "Nonviolent Communication: A Language of... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 12:04 PM on June 14, 2013

It feels to me like it takes something that would be a quick two-liner conversation between my partner and I and turns it into a BIG DEAL.

You mean conversations like this?

(more cartoons here)
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 12:31 PM on June 14, 2013

I also think that the thread could have benefited from more personal utterances from others as well as to why they felt the way that they did.

See, I am not at all sure that why people feel the way they do is always an important contribution to a discussion.

less talking about the subject of the conversation and more talking about the conversation itself.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 1:53 PM on June 14, 2013

I'm a little disappointed by the resistance to the suggestion that, "Hey, maybe this could be useful."

It's not OK to say "I wouldn't find this useful?" "I don't want to talk to other people like this?"

The broader point, that people should be less confrontational and fighty, is more relatable and IMHO more valid.

That's something it's hard to... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 3:14 PM on June 14, 2013

I want this place to stay interesting. I don't want it to be conflict-free. It can be decent and respectful without needing to be conflict-free or needing to use special language.
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 9:20 PM on June 14, 2013

I'm disappointed people are so quick to dismiss it.

I wouldn't be quick to assume it's quick, either. This stuff isn't especially new to a lot of us. Saying it's not right for MetaFilter is not necessarily a knee-jerk, rapid-fire decision for those of us that have some background with this sort of approach.

Within just the last month or so, there was an FPP made of an improv comedy sketch between two women having an... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 9:27 PM on June 14, 2013

I was going to recommend what DingoMutt did - write about it. When my cat Alvin passed away last year, I was pretty heartbroken - he was special. I wrote a lot about who he was, what he was like, how he made me feel, how he looked and his little behaviors that had given me joy every day. In all seriousness, there were moments I was totally weeping and writing at the same time. But it was a really good thing to do. it let me think and "talk" about him as much as I wanted to without... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Miko at 8:26 PM on June 13, 2013

Afrilachian? Neat.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 2:14 PM on June 13, 2013

Heh, ftl, I did exactly the same thing! I hope the concept spreads. It makes immediate sense.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 8:19 PM on June 13, 2013

I think it's especially interesting in tying abstracted, imagined authenticity to sexual desire.

The thing is I don't think Springsteen's authenticity is manufactured. He is one of the most sincere and effortful people you will ever meet. Yes, his work is songwriting and performance, but he works extremely hard at it, much harder than most, as is commonly attested by his coworkers and others who have done projects with him. And he continues to hew... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 6:57 PM on June 13, 2013

Also, that Lady Gaga video is a great case study. They're sparking off each other not least because they're the only two bothering to perform. The only two at all invested on a stage full of warmed-over egos.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:00 PM on June 13, 2013

[with apologies for dominating this portion of your thread - I'm headed to bed and just wanted to get this out too]

There's a comment below the FPP post I find really interesting, maybe gets at that embrace-of-sexuality thing I was trying to talk about above:

Going back to Brando for a moment, though, I’d also like to argue how the Boss’s rugged masculinity potentially feminizes itself. Again, I think this takes place onstage, where Bruce is... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:21 PM on June 13, 2013

I think that "authenticity" is subject to so many different definitions (was Bowie any less authentic than Springsteen?) that appealing to it as a justification seems kind of empty.

I totally agree. I think the whole notion is super problematic, not just in this context but almost anywhere it appears as a value critique.

But what I liked about the essay was more how she was seeing Springsteen's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:29 PM on June 13, 2013

They did the kiss a lot. Yeah, his sort of dabbling in homoeroticism is well known, but I don't think that's the same thing as "feminization."
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:46 PM on June 13, 2013

I would also guess tourist art, because the quality of the carving, though expressive, is not especially fine.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Miko at 7:43 PM on June 13, 2013

She said she loves it. She probably does! Don't be less affectionate. I have a similar balance in my relationship. Part of it is because I come from a more reserved, less touchy-feely family, so i have not developed a big vocabulary of spontaneous demonstrations of affection. One of the reasons I love my partner is that he is so un-hung-up about this and lets me know he is happy to be with me by being affectionate. She may not behave exactly as you do but she probably means what she says.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Miko at 2:20 PM on June 13, 2013

When they start doing the hollers at 9:00 it's awesome!
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 10:00 AM on June 13, 2013

OMG. Geek warning here. I've been working on researching this old sea chantey that has a verse about a horse in it: "If he dies I'll tan his skin/If he lives I'll ride him again." This verse has been collected and found in a bunch of different kinds of songs since 1830 or so. Well, damned if one of the Arabbers doesn't start singing it, at 9:30 or so. Holy cow - had no idea it was still in use in a non-formal-performance context anywhere. AWESOME. I will totally include that in the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 10:04 AM on June 13, 2013

the next big hipster food thing will be gelato-cart men who sing opera

In a town near the one where I grew up, a college kid recently figured out that he could make a bundle selling ice cream at the beach if he dressed up in a vintage-looking white button-down and white cap and sold it from a freezer mounted on a white bicycle. He's in his third year of this, I think. People eat that up.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 10:26 AM on June 13, 2013

My dad remembers his parents buying bananas like that from boats in coastal Texas in the 50s.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 10:35 AM on June 13, 2013

In the film is a rep from the Arabber Preservation Society. Interesting. Their homepage.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 10:50 AM on June 13, 2013

Wow. I don't think I will ever in my life hear the phrase "ice cold water" again without thinking of this guy.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 11:46 AM on June 13, 2013

New Orleans' ICE COLD COCA COLA guy

That made me curious and I ran across this Folkways thing. That sounds a little theatricalized to me, but it's probably based on actual cries. Then this incredible Vimeo turned up with an amazing project where an artist had kids in the hospital compose their own versions of strret cries - it starts with a New Orleans shoeshiner from 1958. I think his recording came from this Folkways record, which has several... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 12:58 PM on June 13, 2013

In similar threads I often suggest Mystic, CT.

-small walkable village setup
-good food and ice cream
-Mystic Seaport is really interesting for adults and very fun for 4 year olds (horses, boats, play climbers, things to play with)
-Ditto Mystic Aquarium
-a nice drive out of town puts you in beautiful green countryside
-pocket beaches nearby plus some of the country's nicest beaches in South County, Rhode... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Miko at 10:42 AM on June 13, 2013