I'm curious: did most of you read this as fiction or non-fiction? I assumed it was the latter, but looking back over it I don't think it is. That certainly weakens the response I have to the work. If it's more-or-less true, it's a greatly moving story of friendship and a perfectly realized piece of reportage. If it's not, though, I find it to be an interesting but overly maudlin short story that feels a little undercooked.

(Regardless, that suction-cup Homer on the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 12:53 PM on July 23, 2008

You know what? I totally missed the things that mwhybark pointed out--the fact that almost all the dialogue was Simpsons-based, and the meaning of the clouds--and I see now that I missed the level of control that Sugar was demonstrating here.

I stand by the fact that it's a lot stronger as non-fiction that fiction, but I'd like to take back about 75% of my earlier complaints.
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 1:48 PM on July 23, 2008

I knew an admin who used 445supermag's method, and he always liked to brag that his passwords were so secure that not even HE knew them. Heh.
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 4:35 AM on July 21, 2008

I discovered this site a year ago after watching this fascinating Nature special on hippos and deciding that I really wanted a hippo skull. Uh, in my mind the connection makes perfect sense.

I learned two things from Skulls Unlimited:

1. Hippo skulls are expensive. Which in retrospect I guess I should have known. I mean, what was I expecting, twenty bucks?

2. Someone already had the URL skullsunlimited.com, which, even... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 8:23 PM on July 12, 2008

Oh, please. Midnight's Children is clearly just a rip-off of Straczynski's Rising Stars...

joke
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 8:16 PM on July 12, 2008

Cut Man: We always called him Cunt Man. I'm glad the MMRNC didn't name him Scissor Man, because it wouldn't be very clever at all if I called a guy named Scissor Man "Cunt Man." It would just be crass.

Oh man, that takes me back. Whatever happened to Seanbaby, anyway?
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 8:34 PM on July 1, 2008

Thurston.. I think it's 10:30.. we're callin' from Providence, Rhode Island. Did you find your shit? You gotta watch the mota, Thurston.. Yr fuckin memory just goes out the window...
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 8:05 PM on June 27, 2008

This was a great post. Over the course of an hour, I went from "there's no way I'm reading all of this" to "I can't believe I just read all of that."

Despite the failure of their business, I have to applaud them for actually attempting to create an open and friendly environment for new gamers. It's so frustrating to be a hobby gamer who tries to get other people into the pastime. The games we play are fun and easy and intriguing and, fuck, they're... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 2:14 PM on June 27, 2008

This awesome New Yorker profile of Karl Lagerfeld achieves the seemingly contradictory goal of making the designer seem:

1. fascinating, admirable, even sympathetic; and
2. ten times crazier than we already suspected.

Seriously, there's a pull-quote in every paragraph. Highly recommended.
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 5:48 PM on June 16, 2008

Farishta: If you ever want to see something really funny, find a slightly doughy guy in his thirties--the sort who thought that High Fidelity was a lifestyle guide, not a scathing indictment of emotional immaturity--and start talking about Pulp's "Common People." Mention that you think it's one of the greatest singles of the 90s, and that Cocker's genius lies in how he starts out condemning the strawman of the rich art school girl, but by the end of the song the "you" he's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 10:43 AM on June 9, 2008

Sigur Rós, whose lyrics are often in an invented language, have a new single called "Gobbledigook?" That's genuinely hilarious, and shows a sly sense of humor I didn't associate with those guys.
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 4:56 AM on May 28, 2008

Oh, awesome, now I don't have to like totally waste an AskMe!

NebulaWindPhone, or anyone else really: Who is Dean Allen? I've been reading Textism for a couple months now, and I really enjoy the guy's writing a lot.

However, I get the sense his "fame" comes from something other than his site. What is it?
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 4:54 PM on May 19, 2008

(Thanks, lowlife!)
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 9:51 PM on May 19, 2008

Against all odds, Larry Salander's day just got even worse...
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 7:55 PM on May 14, 2008

I make somewhere between a quarter to half my income as a stage "mentalist" whose act somewhat resembles Derren Brown's--though not to his "magic handshake" level--so let me post a clarification, a bunch of caveats, and as much information as I can without making my colleagues mad at me.

(Paging The Deej! Hope me fellow magician!)

First, there are three very different forms of hypnosis being talked about... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 3:32 AM on May 12, 2008

SassHat: I'm all for grammatical vigilance, but "literally" was used correctly in this case: within the context of Mars Attacks, Slim Whitman's music causes the aliens' heads to explode. The phrase isn't a metaphor, it's a literal description of what happens in the film.

Saying that "literally" is incorrect because the event happens in the movie world instead of the real world is a needlessly hard-line interpretation of the rule. Darth Vader literally... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 9:56 PM on May 1, 2008

Now that they call it Myanmar Shave, it just ain't the same...

I know there's no such thing as an original idea, I just don't want to see the proof.
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 1:37 AM on April 23, 2008

Those of you who are deciding to give the books a read: it's important you understand that the third book isn't just bad the way Return Of The Jedi isn't as good as the first two Star Wars movies. Titus Alone goes far beyond that: it completely recontextualizes the other books, diminishing them greatly in the process.

I'm trying to not be too spoilery...er, imagine if, at the beginning of Return Of The King, we discovered that Middle-Earth was an elaborate simulation... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 3:04 PM on April 16, 2008

No discussion of rational commentators who completely lost it post-9/11 would be complete without a mention of Phil Hendrie. Hendrie had the brightest, funniest, most slyly subversive radio show on the air, and then after September 11 he became just another ranting right-winger. (Though he still claimed to be a Democrat, he was pro-Bush and pro-Iraq.)

Actually, it was totally weird, because his comedy bits were STILL bright, funny, and slyly subversive, but whenever he... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 12:47 AM on April 16, 2008

The New Yorker on the new album.
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 12:49 PM on April 14, 2008

Great post, thank you!

If any of you have wanted to read Don Quixote but haven't quite gotten around to it, drop me a line. On my personal website--that is, not the one in my profile--some friends and I have a "book club" and it just so happens we start Cervantes in a couple weeks. Don't expect the Algonquin Roundtable or anything--it's mostly just a reading schedule to keep us on track, a few stray thoughts every day, and a handful of snarky comments--but it... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 6:20 PM on April 8, 2008

It's been, well, a decade since I read Theroux's book, but two parts have stayed with me and perversely amused me ever since:

-Theroux inscribing a touching dedication on the title page of his first book as a gift to Naipaul, only to find out that he sold it once Theroux became famous enough to make some money off it.

-When a surprised Theroux discovered that Naipaul had uncharacteristically bought himself a car, he asks him what kind he got. The... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 4:24 PM on April 8, 2008

Why are all the SciFi.com links delivering 404s for me? Is this happening to anyone else?
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 6:31 PM on April 5, 2008

Oh, I figured out the 404s. I'm trying to follow these scifi.com links on a Blackberry, and SciFi is one of those delightful websites that handles smartphone traffic like: "Oh, terribly embarrassing, but you seem to have clicked on this link with a phone. Here, let me send you over to our Mobile site, where you can download totally awesome ringtones!" Except in this case whatever page they're trying to send me to doesn't exist.

So, basically, even though... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 8:24 PM on April 5, 2008

A standard ice-breaker when I meet people older than 27ish is "Do you remember the first thing you ever looked at on the Internet?" If you ask the right people it can become a hilarious and occasionally touching anecdote about the people we used to be 15 years ago. (Mine, for example, is exquisitely dated: Liz Phair lyrics, followed by information about Pete 'n' Pete.)

When I say "the right people" I really mean "not nerds."... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 7:17 PM on March 31, 2008

ArmyOfKittens: if the show you're describing is Dirty Sexy Money, you might want to give it a shot...the transexual angle is portrayed as scandalous within the context of society--the male lover is running for Congress--but the show itself treats the love affair with a good deal of warmth and sensitivity. Despite what the ads would have you think, the relationship is almost never played for laughs; the show can be hit or miss, but this is one of the more affecting storylines. Also, it's never... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 10:00 PM on March 30, 2008

This was an interesting article, but I wish he hadn't used the loaded word "plagiarism," which inevitably gives rise to the banal (sorry) discussion about what artists can and can't appropriate.

Instead, I wish the author had focused on what Fairey's actually trying to say with his art, and whether his appropriations are being put to good use. The article has an interesting thesis at its center: the author believes that Fairey's art is symptomatic of a creative... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 4:28 PM on March 18, 2008

Cosmo7: I initially came here to ask you to turn off comments on your blog, or at least anonymous comments, because they were seriously obnoxious. But actually, the more I read them, and the stuffier and offended the comments become, the more I'm enjoying them.
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 11:42 AM on March 6, 2008

When I was home over Christmas, I made a special trip to the family safety deposit box and slipped a note in the If I Should Croak folder stating that Antony Hegarty's cover of Leonard Cohen's "If It Be Your Will" should be played in lieu of a hymn, and the first verse should be reproduced in the program:

If it be your will
that I speak no more
and my voice be still
as it was before,
I will speak no more,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 4:59 PM on March 5, 2008

(Thanks for linking that, Coventry...I wanted to, but I was on my Blackberry and for some unfathomable reason even if your HTML is impeccable, linking just doesn't work. I could have just posted a plain text URL, I suppose, but how vulgar.)
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 8:17 PM on March 5, 2008

"British spies hired an astrologer during World War II to write horoscopes for [Hitler] and other Nazi leaders. They soon regretted it."

Whyever would they regret it?  Did it make them mad when day after day, Hitler's horoscope was all "If you've been feeling a little down in the dumps, this might be a great day to treat yourself to a shopping spree and a bubble bath"? 

Anyway, this part is so funny that I can only pray that... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 10:14 AM on March 4, 2008

(Oh my god, I totally read that last week without even realizing what she was up to! How embarrassing.)
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 10:16 AM on March 2, 2008

If this thread is anything like the James Frey or J.T. Leroy discussions we've had, we're about to get bogged down in a grad student snoozefest over "What is the essential nature of truth, anyway?" when all most of us want to talk about is how awesome it is when bad things happen to rich liars.

I love that Defonseca pulled out that old knee-slapper about how the story isn't "actually reality, but my reality..." Hilarious.

Hurf... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 6:29 AM on March 2, 2008

Has anyone ever positively identified the dancehall track in "Reggae?" Googling around finds a million people claiming that it's "Inna De Bus" (or "In A De Bus") by Professor Nuts, and then a million more claiming it's NOT that song.

(I also see a bunch of people saying it's something by Shabba Ranks, but I have to believe that if it really were Shabba we would have identified the song by now.)

Even Wikipedia, which... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 10:16 PM on February 26, 2008

Ah, man...I was hoping this really WAS the XKCD backlash thread. Rats. See you guys in a year!
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 2:04 AM on February 26, 2008

For sale: 19-0 hoodie, never worn.
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 9:04 PM on February 3, 2008

Dirtynumbangelboy, etc: You wouldn't have to get rid of the restaurants, would you? Couldn't you just enforce a law where fast food restaurants are not allowed to serve to unaccompanied minors during school hours? Or could only serve them from a special healthy menu?

(I'm not saying I necessarily support this, I'm just participating in our thought experiment...)
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 11:59 AM on February 1, 2008

I use a silicon muffin pan to make my giant ice uncubes. They're not awesomely spherical, but they fit so perfectly into my highball glass that guests are suitably impressed. They don't say anything, but I can tell. I can tell.
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 10:48 AM on February 1, 2008

NOTE: Ian AT is not responsible if you use a muffin pan made of silicon instead of silicone and somehow poison yourself.
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 10:52 AM on February 1, 2008

Some quick Googling reveals that Dave Secretary used to be a member of the bands Van Johnson and Black Actors. His current project is called "hrswhip," and he released an instrumental album last year.

Also, he apparently just moved to Anhui, China.
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 3:46 AM on January 23, 2008

Indulge this non-sports fan: does football ever call a game on account of cold? I mean, I guess not, if -15 is kosher. It just seems like it would be seen as a public health issue at a certain point, having some many thousands of people sitting immobile for hours at such temperatures, not to mention the hazards of getting to and from the game if there's just been an ice storm or a blizzard.

(I'm not saying I necessarily agree with that, I'm just saying that it's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 6:42 AM on January 20, 2008

That's funny, I was just reading Humorless Grammar Scold magazine's Top 5 QUOTATIONS Of 2007...
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 3:54 PM on December 31, 2007

Hell, I'd let Google Reader put my Social Security Number on the front page if they'd only let me subscribe and unsubscribe from feeds in the mobile version...
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 4:25 AM on December 30, 2007

Thank god these names weren't user submitted, 'cause the front-runners would be Ayn, L. Ron, and RonPaul2008.
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 9:26 AM on November 28, 2007

Damn it, now I look like I was ripping off Flashman. Okay, replace RonPaul2008 with [some lame Stephen Colbert reference that all the nerds would vote for].
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 9:29 AM on November 28, 2007

I'm impressed, SticherBeast. I'm sure it was tough to find something lackluster about a post offering over five hundred free and legal movie downloads, but somehow you found a way to pull out a "meh." And in the first comment, nonetheless. Bravo!
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 2:52 PM on November 26, 2007

Great. Now I gotta send Chuck Klosterman a deli platter.
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 2:46 PM on November 26, 2007

I don't care how many times I see it, that Max Headroom footage freaks me out.
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 4:52 AM on November 23, 2007

I'm just amazed Moore hasn't thrown a hissy fit and taken his name off the episode yet.
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 5:47 PM on November 20, 2007

This is pretty hilarious. My mom just brought me some dinner ("Don't get excited, it's just leftover Kung Pao chicken without chicken or peanuts") and I was telling her about Animal Crossing, specifically the depressing issues I raised up above.

Her comment: "It's like having a stuffed animal that knows you're taking him to Goodwill."
posted to MetaFilter by Ian A.T. at 5:55 PM on November 19, 2007