Displaying comments 1 to 50 of 284
MeFi post:
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.
John Varley's Steel Beach opens with the line "In five years, the penis will be obsolete."
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 8:28 AM on July 25, 2008
The iconic first sentence, always quoted in how-to-write-science-fiction books of the '70's, is: The door dilated.
That's not a first sentence, just a sentence. Read the link you provided.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 8:29 AM on July 25, 2008
I realize it's a translation, but how about Kafka's "The Metamorphosis?" I'd call it sci-fi.
"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin."
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 1:02 PM on July 25, 2008
I've also always loved the first line of C.S. Lewis's The Voyage of the Dawn Treader:
"There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it."
Yeah, I know, it's fantasy, not SF, but it's still a great first line.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 1:09 PM on July 25, 2008
MeFi post:
Meet Kevin.
It's possible that some Mefites have heard the term "faceless" applied to the Internet, and misinterpreted it drastically.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 7:44 AM on June 24, 2008
MeFi post:
George Carlin Dead at 71
I heard about this on the radio on my way in to work this morning. My immediate thought was "Fuck this fucking world." I think Carlin would have approved of that.
.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 7:02 AM on June 23, 2008
MeFi post:
Sign, Sign, everywhere a sign.
I missed only a couple, due mostly to signs I've never seen (nor am likely to). And my inability to tell an Elk Crossing from a Deer Crossing.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 9:03 PM on June 20, 2008
MeFi post:
Ambidexterity vs. ambidexterity
The pitcher doesn't need to commit. The batter does. It's fairly clear from the official rules. Nowhere in the section on pitchers, which is extensive, does it say anything about which hand they're pitching with. OTOH, in the section on batters, it does say that once in the batter's box they have to stay there unless the umpire calls time. This page, which was linked to on the 2006 FPP, confirms this interpretation.
The previous FPP does, however, have a link to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 10:02 AM on June 20, 2008
MeFi post:
Sexually explicit salmon hentai comics
I'm at work, so can't follow the link just now. I'm not at all sure I'm going to follow it when I get home, either. Seriously, is there some reason why I should want to click through? If I wanted to see that, I would probably have already known about it. I can see reading about it, but not actually seeing it firsthand.
I'm just saying that, as an FPP, it seems kinda fishy.
(Sorry about that.)
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 12:54 PM on June 10, 2008
MeFi post:
Name that note
I always have a hard time telling a fastball from a slider, so I doubt I'll do well on this.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 7:51 PM on May 1, 2008
MeFi post:
There are no Escalators in Wyoming.
Well, at least some Wyoming residents thought this was true as recently as 2002.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 1:24 PM on March 27, 2008
Oh. Oops. Didn't read the More Inside. Never mind me.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 1:24 PM on March 27, 2008
Ah hah! Found one! Search on this page for "escalator." It says, about Jackson Hole, "its [sic] home to the only escalator (its broken) in WY."
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 1:32 PM on March 27, 2008
R. Mutt: It was broken in 2005. It may have been fixed sometime in the three years since.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 1:36 PM on March 27, 2008
MeFi post:
One for the History Books
Jim Webb would be a good, but not great VP choice for Obama. Better, I think, would be Mark Warner, the former governor of Virginia and current candidate to replace the retiring John Warner in the Senate. He was extremely well-liked as governor and would be almost certain to turn the state blue in the election. Of course, someone would have to replace him in the Senate race, but there are quite a few who could.
There's been some talk about current Virginia Governor... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 11:41 AM on March 19, 2008
MeFi post:
The Missing Link found at last.
I'm against the death penalty in all cases, and, while I certainly agree the human race would be better off without this horrible, evil man in it, I also think that once you start making exceptions in your principles you weaken them.
I doubt this guy will ever, no matter how much treatment he has, be able to re-enter society. But maybe psychologists can learn from him what happened to make him snap, to make him do such inhuman things, and maybe help stop others from... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 7:46 AM on March 1, 2008
MeFi post:
The Dyatlov Pass Mystery
Cool, if creepy, post. The link to the novella would probably be more useful if I could read Russian.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 8:18 AM on February 22, 2008
MeFi post:
"Men know everything - all of them- all the time - no matter how stupid or inexperienced or arrogant or ignorant they are.”
Seriously, 1, you need to stop moderating your own post. Really. Even if people say things you disagree with. If what you have to say wasn't covered by your post in the first place, then you should make a stronger post next time. But otherwise just breathe deeply and relax, and read what other people have to say on the subject without arguing with them.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 11:14 AM on February 20, 2008
I thought that URL looked familiar. Most of those links are from nostatusquo.com, which is a Nikki Craft website. You may remember Nikki Craft from such posts as this, this, and this.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 11:26 AM on February 20, 2008
Here's a pretty good alternative view of Dworkin written just after her death. I'm not saying I agree with everything in it, necessarily, but I thought it would be useful to the discussion.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 11:53 AM on February 20, 2008
Here's what Susie Bright had to say (some NSFW pics on page) about Dworkin after her death.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 11:58 AM on February 20, 2008
MeFi post:
History, writ Gangsta
For the record, incidentally, it should be "Harry S. Truman." Yes, I know that "S" was his whole middle name. I also know that he wrote his name with a period after the "S." Unless you think you know better than the man himself, you should write it that way.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 3:27 PM on February 15, 2008
MeFi post:
The island where eye color can kill you.
I approach this problem from a different angle. Suppose the visitor had said "I see 100 blue-eyed people." Obviously, all the brown-eyed people would already know that and sleep well, and all the blue-eyed people, knowing that they can only see 99 blue-eyed people, would figure out that they must have blue eyes and kill themselves that very night.
Now suppose that the visitor had said "I see at least 99 blue-eyed people." Everybody would sleep well... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 8:44 AM on February 15, 2008
MeFi post:
First World War Draft Cards
Was Armstong really born on July 4, 1900, or was that just the date of record?
He wasn't sure when he was born, so that was the date he used because he liked it. It turns out he was actually born August 4, 1901.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 10:09 AM on February 12, 2008
Some good info on the corner-tearing can be found here. An excerpt:When it came to the draft, however, there was a reversal in usual discriminatory policy. Draft boards were comprised entirely of white men. Although there were no specific segregation provisions outlined in the draft legislation, blacks were told to tear off one corner of their registration cards so they could easily be identified and inducted separately. Now instead of turning blacks away, the draft boards were doing all they... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19
at 10:15 AM on February 12, 2008
