Displaying comments 1 to 50 of 246
MeFi post:
Clones and Kidnapped Mormons
This is the most entertainingly oddball thing I've read yet today, and I work in the internet industry. Awesome.
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 12:23 PM on August 8, 2008
Holy crap! Some people are just living in a whole different universe, aren't they?
Yes.
And I want to know how I can get there from here, because that universe is full of more AWESOME than mathowie's pants.
That's a lot of awesome, I am reliably informed.
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 12:52 PM on August 8, 2008
MeFi post:
“The counter-argument to that, which I concurred with, was that this is a medical textbook that could save lives.”
The greatest advances in emergency medicine, particularly the treatment of trauma, generally come from war zones. That's because the chess game between force protection and antipersonnel warfare results in new and challenging injuries, often in great numbers. Wars also produce tremendous amounts of primary, secondary and tertiary blast injury, gunshot wounds, and secondary shrapnel injury.
All of these wound modalities, all of them, are entirely... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 7:37 PM on August 5, 2008
MeFi post:
sinuosity
Just what kind of biker bar was this?
The right kind?
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 12:21 PM on August 5, 2008
MeFi post:
Salman Rushdie wins all-time best of Booker Prize
I've discovered that I like Salman Rushdie the personality much more than Salman Rushdie the author. Whatever his faults or strengths as an author, I've always found him delightful to listen to, and remarkably self-effacing and sometimes self-mocking in interviews. For someone who faced a very real threat of death for nigh unto decades because of a book he wrote, he seems to be pretty level-headed.
Of course, for all I know, he's a lederhosen-molesting closeted... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 1:55 PM on July 10, 2008
MeFi post:
Wow-e: Malthusian Fear Mongering Can Be Annoying
I've been to see it twice with The Boy (who is 3 1/2 and adores the movie), and will probably go many more times. It's a masterpiece.
Nobody else seems to have mentioned this yet, but Peter Gabriel's absolutely exquisite "Down To Earth" over the end credits deserves mention as an earworm par excellence.
One minor unnervingness: as I asked my wife after we saw it the first time, "is it... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 4:01 PM on July 2, 2008
MeFi post:
Military tattoos in the age of Iraq
The first thing it reminded me of were those photographs of Russian prison tattoos -- less codified, but still somewhat similar. Interesting stuff.
Were you making a general reference, or referring to something specific on MeFi recently? Because, if so, that sounds cool, and I'd love a reference.
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 10:35 AM on June 23, 2008
MeFi post:
Zombie-Like Doo-Doo Heads
Childhood has nothing on adulthood. Being a grown-up is an awfully grand adventure.
Goddamn YES. A THOUSAND TIMES YES.
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 9:31 AM on May 27, 2008
MeFi post:
The Rise of the Rest
Did some unexpected convolution of time and space occur where Fareed Zakaria suddenly knows what he's talking about and is no longer a complete idiot?
Or did I just miss a memo?
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 5:06 PM on May 5, 2008
MeFi post:
Cornbread Nation
MikoFilter: one weighed-down church-supper table full of oral history/blog MAGIC.
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 6:12 PM on April 28, 2008
MeFi post:
Purgatory Iron Works
This is wonderful.
My best friend, who has been involved in various flavors of SCA amusement for nigh unto decades, took a job one summer working at a historical park, and developed a deep and abiding interest in metalworking. So he decided to build his own backyard forge, in Maryland.
Cut to a visit from me and my wife one year, the same year he finally achieved his intended vision of the backyard forge. It's late fall (November), the leaves are... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 8:30 AM on April 23, 2008
MeFi post:
A Guide To Armageddon
Don't forget Testament, which, to my mind, is even more affecting than Threads. Fair warning: after seeing Testament, you will never be able to forget it.
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 8:19 AM on April 15, 2008
MeFi post:
Damn Rippies
As people grow older, stereotypes tend to fall apart. You'll notice that there aren't a lot of 18-24 year-old "ripsters" in that article.That's because shit starts to wear out and break down, and you realize that, hey, you know what, if you go from sitting on your rear end to an impromptu pick-up game, there's a better than average chance you'll wind up in the ER.
There is really nothing like the average 18-to-24-year-old for self-delusion... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 12:48 PM on March 31, 2008
IS THIS SOMETHING I'D HAVE TO SMOKE TO UNDERSTAND
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 1:35 PM on March 31, 2008
MeFi post:
He turned ALL of his cheeks, repeatedly
I think my biggest problem with this story is in how it's related. I hope it's a true story. I really, really do. But my biggest problem with it is that transactions like the one described just aren't, in my experience, that simple, with clear lessons and heartwarming conclusions. Human interaction is messy, and I find it kind of implausible that it all happened as neatly as its written.
Which is a matter of preference: I'm sure it got edited like... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 1:07 PM on March 28, 2008
Lemme hastily step back in here and say that I wasn't trying to pull an electionfilter derail with my last sentence: it was intended as an observation about what we consider normal behavior in our culture at the moment.
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 1:15 PM on March 28, 2008
True stories, based on actual experiences, don't often sound true because they do not conform to our standard of characterization, story arc, etc. This is why many "fiction" stories feel more "true" than a real life story.I actually completely disagree with this.
My suspicions immediately go up as soon as any story that's described as being "true" starts conforming to narrative convention, and that's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 1:39 PM on March 28, 2008
it's a specific cynicism that is appropriate given that journalists can be just as manipulative as copywritersMore than, I'd say. As a society, we tend to expect copywriters to attempt to manipulate us, but until fairly recently, the US had a huge blind spot to the possibility that the media would engage in the same thing. Particularly the print media. And we wound up finding out the hard way about that. We always considered copywriters sleazy manipulators, but journalists got... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 1:50 PM on March 28, 2008
Sorry I misinterpreted you, whimsicalnymph. And, yes, you're right: the story does read (to me) like a stereotypical parable, which is what sets off my alarm bells.
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 1:54 PM on March 28, 2008
MeFi post:
You know what I do to squealers
My favorite Widmark biographical note:A passionate liberal Democrat, Widmark played a bigot who baits a black doctor in Joseph Mankiewicz's "No Way Out" (1950). He was so embarrassed by the character that after every scene he apologized to the young actor he was required to torment, Sidney Poitier.
In 1990, when Widmark was given the D.W. Griffith Career Achievement Award by the National Board of Review, it was Poitier who presented it to him.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 8:40 PM on March 26, 2008
MeFi post:
Jeremiah Wright in context.
Personally, I'd love to hear more here from people both with experience in black Liberation Theology and Liberation Theology in general.
I'm an atheist, but I've always had the greatest of respect for practitioners of liberation theology, because it seems to me to be the purest form of attempting to live your faith, often in defiance of what people think you "should" do. Black liberation theology, as a branch of liberation theology, has a long and distinguished... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 12:02 PM on March 26, 2008
MeFi post:
One for the History Books
I'm kind of amazed at the sheer volume of perfect as the enemy of good going on in here. It's like we just can't handle the sheer cognitive dissonance of an honest, straightforward speech, and we've been conditioned by forty years of lying on the part of everyone from the President to the dogcatcher to look for the hidden message.
For the first time in my adult, voting life (I'm 35), a politician said exactly what he meant, and didn't weasel-word, shy... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 9:14 AM on March 19, 2008
I guess it's probably because they're mostly under 40, or have never voted in a general electionGo fuck yourself.
I'm 35, and I've voted in every. single. election, local, state AND general, that I was permitted to since I was 18, because my parents drilled into me that participation in democracy was a privilege, not a right.
I have diehard conservatives and outright neocons in my family. I also have diehard leftists in my... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 9:23 AM on March 19, 2008
I'm starting to become more and more convinced that Jim Webb needs to be his running mate.As attractive as this is, Webb has always struck me as a "party above self" guy, and it's undeniable that him leaving his seat would put the Democrats in a bind. Don't get me wrong: I'd love to see it, too, but the plain fact is that Webb put up a hell of a fight to win that seat, with a lot of activist help on the ground, and he undoubtedly feels like he has... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 10:42 AM on March 19, 2008
it won't just go back to chaos
Go back to?
It's there now. I mean, maybe you and I are watching different wars, but, Jesus, nobody with an iota of actual clue about the situation thinks things are going anywhere but down, regardless of what we do.
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 12:48 PM on March 19, 2008
MeFi post:
Nashville or LA
My first suggestion would be posting this in AskMe. :D
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 4:36 PM on March 13, 2008
MeFi post:
Mythbusting Canadian Health Care
I can sum up this entire argument in one sentence.
The only people who oppose single-payer, Canadian-style healthcare are those who have never been without insurance, never been seriously ill, or never worked in the healthcare industry.
In other words, the people least qualified to judge whether or not the US system is "effective".
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 12:35 PM on February 14, 2008
MeFi post:
Fear(less)
Late to the party, like usual.
I think an important element that's been alluded to by various folks, but most eloquently by QuietGal, is that context is critically important.
People who work in fire, police, EMS, emergency medicine and so forth cry. Men and women. All the time. But very, very rarely on the job. In fact, losing your shit on the job is the quickest route to making your coworkers not trust you, because it shows a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 10:46 AM on February 11, 2008
MeFi post:
The Most Frightening Sandwich In The World
Well, damn. I thought I'd done my due diligence on this one. Sorry!
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 2:56 PM on February 5, 2008
It's like eating a jar of mayonnaise.
You say that like it's a bad thing.
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 3:29 PM on February 5, 2008
Divine_Wino, are those the same states that warsh their hands and dishes?
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 9:25 PM on February 5, 2008
Define "lite".
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 3:01 PM on February 6, 2008
I think we all owe RokkitNite a debt of gratitude for, as it were, taking one for the team.
WELL PLAYED EATEN, SIR
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 6:50 AM on February 7, 2008
MeFi post:
Not quite your Vonnegut
I'm going to try not to preach, here, but my family ameliorated a lot of our horror at the industrial food complex by moving to Community Supported Agriculture.
We now get our produce from Live Earth Farm and our meat from Morris Grassfed Beef, and we've found that the costs are slightly higher than Safeway, competitive with Whole Foods, and that we don't mind paying a small premium to know exactly where our food is coming from.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 1:11 PM on February 1, 2008
MeFi post:
NO FATTIES
Isn't the guy who invented BMI as a measurement of fitness the same guy who came up with medicinal leeches?
If so, it speaks well of him: medicinal leeches are a superb tool for microsurgery and plastic surgery.
posted to MetaFilter by scrump
at 12:50 PM on February 1, 2008
