It doesn't actually matter how much more expensive petrol is in Europe than America, or any two countries. If you were paying half as much for petrol five years ago (like I was when I started driving in Australia) then it still hurts, regardless of how much more expensive it may be in other places. If the rent on a tin shed in Bangledesh doubles in price, it'll still hurt the owner even though it's still dirt cheap by our standards.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 7:13 PM on June 29, 2008

It's friday where I am. Huzzuh.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 10:16 PM on June 19, 2008

I'm so going to see this movie. Can it possibly be so outrageous that it'll top Crystal Skull? What an age to live in, when mega-movies battle each other for the title of 'most implausible ill-conceived trash'.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 8:47 PM on June 17, 2008

That's disgusting. It's abusing the trust of the students, it's exploiting them, manipulating them, and I have trouble believing that this will have any net benefit.

Yes, it's a serious issue. Yes, sometimes you need to shock people to get them to understand the gravity of the situation. If they'd showed disturbing photos of crashes, or had survivors come in and speak earnestly about how horrible their experiences were, that's fine. It's still shocking, but it's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 5:23 PM on June 12, 2008

Unless I'm missing something, nothing has evolved here. Cats were introduced and thrived, but they don't seem to have evolved specialised iguana-eating teeth or anything.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 9:51 PM on June 11, 2008

That's not too different to the 'AB special we can get in Adelaide. Australia.

It's chips covered with kebab meat and drowning in mayonnaise, and ketchup.

It's name derives from the fact that it looks something like an afterbirth.

I like the Scottish version though. It's like the Very Special AB Special.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 5:29 AM on June 11, 2008

I have a shirt that says "BINGO IS LIFE... the rest is just details"

I don't know if I'll be able to wear it again after this.

Seriously, a self link for bingo?
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 12:47 AM on June 11, 2008

I bought a wonderful old typewriter on ebay for $10. The base is cast iron, I think, and it weighs a ton, but it's such a gloriously old machine. It took me weeks to figure out why there wasn't a key for 1 or ! ('1' is a lower-case 'L', and '!' can be made with a full stop then backspacing and typing an apostrophe over the top).

I use it for letters to friends overseas, and for typing up poems that I stick on my pinboard. There's something quite pleasing about having... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 11:26 PM on June 5, 2008

Perhaps it's the luddite in me, but there is something quite pleasing about the older way of doing things. One of the commenters in the article mentions the smell of the ribbon and the (literally) sensational experience of using her typewriter. Although computers are far more efficient (when they work), they lose that specific, tactile please. I find it's similar with wine- many wineries are now changing to stelvin (screw cap) closures. They're cheaper and have far less risk of spoiling the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 11:58 PM on June 5, 2008

I love America. As an Australian, that's an extremely unpopular point of view because for most people the general impression of the US is a country of overly patriotic cowboy morons too busy congratulating themselves on being the best to see their own faults.

So thank you. Honestly. Now there's a nice easy thing to point to when I want to tell people that there's still a chance for intelligence and reason there.

(And if I can be even more... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 11:04 PM on June 3, 2008

I once came across a positions vacant ad for Subway while I was doing the working holiday day thing around London. I already had a job, but for a bit of fun made up the most appalling cover letter I could imagine.

I swore, detailed my hatred for minorities and left-handers, proudly discussed my poor hygiene and penchant for innappropriate nudity, admitted that I only wanted the job to steal food and as a front for my illegal porn and wildlife smuggling business, and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 4:28 PM on June 2, 2008

I can't say I understand the fuss. They weren't priceless artworks, they weren't masterpieces, they were just okay-ish paintings that were particularly interesting because they were by Hitler. What would have happened to them if not this? Some gallery may have bought them (uproar!) and had an exhibition and you could have gone along and thought "well, Hitler painted these. Isn't it strange how a person we commonly think of as absolute evil began life with an aspiration toward art and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 4:24 PM on May 31, 2008

How is this a 'climate change sceptic' robot? It isn't as harshly worded as the die hard climate change proponents, but the statements are still true: there will be less oil and gas, the Earth will be warmer.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 4:29 PM on May 27, 2008

krautland- whereabouts is the download for the song? I can't find it anywhere. Do you need to be a member?
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 3:15 AM on May 26, 2008

That's lovely. I was stuck for a while in the tunnel (stomach?) with the fish on the other side, but it all came good.

It'd be nice to find the soundtrack to this and just let it play on repeat when I'm waking up.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 3:10 AM on May 5, 2008

Still going too...

The moment at the coffin, and the glove, is so touchingly rendered. This article is far more relevant to war than any number of news reports and death counts.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 11:14 PM on April 30, 2008

They say it in every creative writing course- show, don't tell. This article is showing you what it is like when a soldier's body is returned home. That's all. It's showing you the reality of something that most of us aren't aware of in any great detail. It's not an opinion piece, it's not an anti-war or a pro-war story, it's just a war story. It doesn't have to pick a side. We can read into it what we will, and that's what makes it such a rich piece of prose. I'm appalled by the coffin... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 5:05 PM on May 1, 2008

I've loved Ben Webster for a while now, thanks for the videos. My favourite recording of his is 'My Romance', but the only youtube I could find of it is this rehearsal with pretty average quality. Still nice, though.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 10:41 PM on April 28, 2008

This is still going? I ran out of popcorn an hour ago, and I'm tired of carrying this pitchfork around.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 4:57 AM on April 28, 2008

.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 10:18 PM on April 24, 2008

I'm a geology post-grad student in South Australia, and I've done some field work around the area where I believe this sample came from. We visited an outcrop of tidal rhythmites which were, I'm told, of the same age as this snowball earth sample. These tidal rhythmites have discreet layers that reflect individual tidal deposits, which means that at this point in time there was not complete glaciation.

It's not hard proof, of course- neither side of the argument has... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 10:55 PM on April 21, 2008

They seem to be overlooking the fact that while they need to convince every one of their followers to join them, their 'be fruitful and multiply' opponents are giving birth to new members every day.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 11:46 PM on April 15, 2008

"Experts hope bystanders will now be more willing to jump in and help if they see someone suddenly collapse. Hands-only CPR is simpler and easier to remember and removes a big barrier for people skittish about the mouth-to-mouth breathing."

It sounds like they're not saying this technique is better, but that more people will be likely to use it.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 8:54 PM on March 31, 2008

For years, I've been drinking myself into a stupor every night simply for the sheer reality-avoiding fun of it. Thank you, whale-safe beer! Now my drinking is helping the whales, and killing Japanese businessmen! Just what I always wanted...
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 4:41 AM on March 12, 2008

It's interesting, but I wouldn't have minded if it went into a bit more in depth- why are some of the areas where you might expect more of an effect (like the GBR) fairly fine, and what in particular makes the worst areas that way? Without that information it's just a colourful map, really. Are there different conservation programs? Different government requirements for companies regarding dumping/pollution?
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 6:20 PM on February 14, 2008

Well, rtha, I guess they're technically not telling lies- it's true that condoms don't prevent the transmission of STDs, but they do drastically reduce the likelihood of transmission.

Still, loophole honesty or not, they're deliberately giving people a false impression.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 4:01 PM on February 14, 2008

A post entirely about science but with virtually no scientific merit. Top stuff.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 3:02 AM on February 11, 2008

They're incredible. I wonder if they start to crinkle and peel off after a few years though?
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 6:29 PM on February 1, 2008

I'm 22. I spent most of last night in a hospital with one of my best friends. I still have his blood on my clothes. He was skateboarding down a hill. He was skateboarding down a hill at night. He was skateboarding down a hill, at night, without a helmet or any other protective gear, and he'd never tried this before.

He would have been going 40 or 50 km/hr when he came off the board. I never want to see something so violent happen to a human body again. I don't... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 3:23 PM on January 30, 2008

Okay, if we're going to get caught up on words- I think it's possible to do a stupid thing without being a stupid person. Better?
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 5:40 PM on January 30, 2008

I do love my father, but a small part of me knows that when he dies the grief will be quickly lost during the fight over who gets to keep his (huge, huge!) lego collection.

This is tempered somewhat by the fact that I know I'll be able to wear my LEGO CUFFLINKS!!!1!! to his funeral.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 6:18 PM on January 28, 2008

ericb, didn't you realise that most of the world lives in New York?
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 8:40 PM on January 27, 2008

Game over is brilliant. It also makes me hungry.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 7:20 PM on January 18, 2008

"pushed into your care"?? This is a hospital. It's their job to have people pushed into their care, and their job to care for them, not just turf them out onto the street.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 4:59 PM on January 18, 2008

And absalom, do you see why that makes privatized hospitals a bad idea? Hospitals should have an obligation to their patients, not to shareholders. Sure, I can see why it comes to this, but that isn't an excuse for leaving it that way.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 5:01 PM on January 18, 2008

I don't think anyone's saying that they are morally better, just that a system which requires everyone to pay and which provides medical care for everyone is better than a privatized one. It's not a question of generosity.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 5:38 PM on January 18, 2008

I think you're right Tex, there are two issues. Yes, with the current system, they may have provided care and satisfied all the required criteria. Yes, they aren't tasked with the job of taking care of people after discharge.

That doesn't stop it being shocking. That doesn't make it right. The main issue isn't whether or not they did their job, it's that the definition of their job needs to change if it leads to cases like this.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 6:19 PM on January 18, 2008

"Just stop freaking out when other people don't choose to spend their money to buy something you want."

This isn't a widescreen tv or a new pair of sunglasses. It's not about wanting something for ourselves. It's about agreeing that there are basic things that should be available to all people.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 6:22 PM on January 18, 2008

Tex, can I ask why you wouldn't want to spend your money on this? Why you'd resist government provided health care, funded by tax payers? We've clearly hit an impasse, so I'd be interested in knowing a little more about where you're coming from with this. It's got to be a bit more than just "not my problem", right?
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 6:41 PM on January 18, 2008

You know, I'm currently talking to a travel agent planning a trip to South America at the end of the year. Of those five bugs, four live there.

Great.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 6:15 PM on January 18, 2008

Are the products barcoded? I don't think many retailers would mind selling things they got for free. Unless it was 'anti-family', of course.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 8:43 PM on January 14, 2008

"Just Married" on a used car.
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 6:10 AM on October 25, 2006

As an Australian.... yes, it's a US thing. Never heard a whisper of it over here. What we DO here though is what's happening over there, so generally most Australians think most Americans are blockheaded fools. I've been to your united states a few times and I know that most of you are wonderful a friendly and intelligent people, but all we ever hear about or see on tv here are the Jerry Springers and the Judge Judys and the IDers. Of course, the fact that so many people assume that your... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by twirlypen at 2:30 PM on November 13, 2005