When I was in college I used redlightgreen to do this. At least, I think I did. I can't remember that well. But now redlightgreen redirects to WorldCat.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 6:22 AM on June 26, 2008

Both psychosomatic symptoms and actual allergies occur in the world sometimes.

It's OK.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 11:58 AM on June 17, 2008

It's kind of funny how surprised I was at how much it actually resembles the laying of an egg.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 4:41 PM on June 12, 2008

Are you saying that my daughter, who is very prolife, and stuck to that when she found herself pregnant and unwed, wants to control women and doesn't care about babies?

One person making the choice she thinks is right, no matter the reasons, is not trying to control women. One person, pro-life or pro-choice or ambivalent, deciding to stay pregnant and have a baby, does not have any effect on whether abortion is safe, legal, and affordable. You know... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 7:00 AM on June 8, 2008

FFF, it all boils down to I think abortion is the taking of a human life, period.

That's a perfectly valid opinion, of course. I think the idea of the link here is that no matter how benign or wrong you see abortion as we know it today, if it weren't legal, not only would it be no better, it would actually be horrifyingly worse.

I would personally rather see assistance to mothers and children come from churches and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 2:18 PM on June 8, 2008

I can see comparing the British Office and the American Office. But I can't really see the point of comparing Gervais and Carrell in terms of their performances of that character. It's not like they're two actors performing the same character created by a writer who is a third party. They are two different characters, the first created and written by the same person portraying him, and the second one based on that first character but written by neither of the actors in question. (Well, actually,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 11:28 AM on April 25, 2008

Doesn't seem that exotic to me. Minus the bloomer bread (whatever that is) and pudding, plus a couple of grilled buttermilk biscuits, swap the tea for strong coffee, and add a big glass of some kind of juice, and it looks pretty much exactly like a typical weekend breakfast in my homeland of Maine, USA. Maybe it's the British ancestry or the logging/fishing tradition, but yeah this seems like the very definition of breakfast.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 7:25 AM on April 18, 2008

The sltrib's Polygamy blog has some interesting stuff, but it seems there are few details at this point about what exactly happened and why.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 3:40 PM on April 8, 2008

I've been watching The Mary Tyler Moore show on hulu. I've always loved old sitcoms but it's been a while since my favorites have been on Nick at Nite. I didn't know they had Twilight Zone on CBS.com, though. That's cool. Since I don't watch any new shows on CBS, I hadn't been keeping up with their online presence.

I don't begrudge their showing ads for full shows, and one 30-second ad per break is a lot better than watching on TV. Some sites handle it better than others,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 9:21 AM on April 4, 2008

On the message board, Ken and Carlo seem to explain that Carlo was implying that Alex's anecdote "died" because no one cared, so Carlo was saying that Gertrude died too. Doesn't make much sense to me, but...that's OK I guess.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 6:05 PM on March 31, 2008

Yeah, the books I put back on the shelf with post-its sticking out the tops so I can find my favorite parts again. Few and far between (thank goodness because those post-its look tacky).

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien:

You can tell a true war story if it embarrasses you. If you don’t care for obscenity, you don’t care for the truth; if you don’t care for the truth, watch how you vote. Send guys to war, they come home... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 5:42 AM on March 10, 2008

I've recently started skimming design blogs pretty much every day. And the first couple of times I saw this strategy, I thought it looked pretty cool. But the problem with looking at design blogs every day is that you see more and more interiors of different designery houses, and you start to notice that everyone who seems to fancy themselves an amateur interior designer has started doing this. And it just seems to me that one, a huge rainbow does not belong in every home, and two, once you see... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 5:26 AM on March 5, 2008

Actually I think one of the real quotes was the funniest part:

"Playing bridge is hard. Caucusing is easy. I THINK!"

Ruining Christmas was also amusing. I always smile a little at humorous Christmas-ruining.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 5:24 PM on February 29, 2008

On the show, I'd be nice to see a little less Elmo and a little more classic characters like Cookie Monster and the others.

But for TV interviews, I'd much rather see Kevin Clash as Elmo than non-original performers as classic characters. Elmo/Kevin is actually really funny when free to deviate from a preschool-oriented script. I'd say Kevin Clash was funnier on Rove's show than Cookie was on npr, but not as funny as Cookie on Martha (that must be Oz,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 5:21 PM on February 15, 2008

If she and her fellow sperm-bank-mom friend are so desperate for a trench-buddy that they'd consider marrying closeted gay men, why don't they just shack up together themselves? They apparently don't care about sex, or even if the thought of touching their partner revolts them. They clearly don't care about social stigma--at this point a single sperm bank mom probably gets as many evil eyes from squares as the average lesbian mom couple. They're on the same page as far as having kids is... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 2:22 PM on February 10, 2008

Regarding the actual content of the post: enjoyable.

Regarding pedantry: The past couple years, (perhaps since Lemony Snicket used it in the title of his 12th Unfortunate Events book?), I've seen many people use the word penultimate, seemingly meaning "ultimate" or perhaps "super duper the most ultimate ever." I've seen it on this website and others too many times to think it a fluke.

It makes me wonder if... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 7:10 AM on February 9, 2008

A couple weeks ago my husband was watching the movie Being There in the other room. The part came on when the main character is watching an episode of Mr. Rogers. I sang along with "Won't You Be My Neighbor." Then I heard him begin, "you are my friend. You are special..."

and I burst into tears.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 6:10 AM on February 3, 2008

A scientist thought that women's average height would grow more than 8 inches in one or two generations? That is the weirdest part to me.

OK, break's over. Back to prizefightin' in pants. Really, really long pants.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 10:36 AM on January 31, 2008

OMG, thank you, world!

I was JUST trying to remember the name of this comic earlier today.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 7:15 PM on January 28, 2008

I made a very mild, slightly off color, mostly off-hand remark. I thought it was funny, and it is certainly something I would say in mixed company, with friends, in public. I am not ashamed, even a tiny bit, at my thoroughly PG remark.

I don't want to speak for nickyskye, and others have said similar things more eloquently on this site. But without trying to start a fight, I just feel compelled to point out that the vast majority of sexist crap that... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 7:10 AM on January 19, 2008

Or, you could choose not to care about something

No, I can't. There's a difference between choosing to feel and choosing to act.

I will NEVER take offense at it, because they are not talking about me.

Yes, they are. But I wish I could just not care or not notice. I'm envious, really. The comment made me uncomfortable, that's all I can say. It's not like I saw it and thought... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 8:14 PM on January 19, 2008

It's so easy to pick on RENT because it's so 90s and so sincere. It's the type of thing that dates pretty quickly, but it was awesome when it was new. Maybe it'll make a great period piece as a revival one day.

The movie is what it is, but whatever it is, it's not the show. It's the movie. They're not the same thing. I thought changing the story so the first act doesn't all happen on Christmas Eve really changed the whole tone.

And people, Benny... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 5:28 AM on January 17, 2008

Re: the reemergence of movie musicals:

Also, there's the fact that movie musicals still seem to be the status quo in India, and the other fact that Indian culture, particularly its cinema and movie stars, is becoming increasingly visible in the US. I don't know what the next step is in that progression per se, but I do know I've seen more recent movie musicals, with and without Indian actors/characters, since Aishwarya made her international splash than I did before.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 2:34 PM on January 17, 2008

Elyse and Marty had been together since before either one was famous, or at least long before I had ever heard of either one. I don't really know when (if ever) the Shins came into "fame," but they'd been a couple for four years before Garden State came out.

I watch ANTM because it's a very entertaining combination of reality competition, fashion, photography, and over-the-top campy humor. Elyse was my favorite in the first season. She came in third. I've... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 1:06 PM on January 6, 2008

Honestly...I would love to hear one sentient viewpoint about what ANTM or anything like it adds to our culture other than a quickly/cheaply produced show for the networks, and an hour or so of bottom feeding escapism for viewers.

Well, as I just said, "I watch ANTM because it's a very entertaining combination of reality competition, fashion, photography, and over-the-top campy humor."

But now... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 2:13 PM on January 6, 2008

Because of that commercial, "je suis la jeune fille!" is pretty much the only French phrase I know other than "je ne parle pas francais."

Also, when I was a kid, I had a "character" that I would draw comic strips about. He was a big furry monster named Muzzy. He looked a little but not a lot like the commercial Muzzy. I remember first noticing that commercial and thinking "what the hell, man! I thought of that first!" But I've... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 1:31 PM on December 16, 2007

I don't really care what he said in real life. But I think that in theory, it's possible to try to find out what he said in real life, and still watch and appreciate that bit as an ambiguous part of the movie. Like roll truck roll, this strikes me as movie trivia, not cannon. If one were to find out what Bill Murray said, that same person could still watch that movie and not think that's what that character said. It's like the letter aftermarketradio links to. That's what the real life paper... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 9:40 AM on December 13, 2007

People who get free kittens or puppies from parking lots or ads in the paper never go on to spay/neuter those animals or give them any kind of vaccinations and don't feel bad about moving and abandoning the animal.

I'm all for spay/neuter programs, but it's really unfair to equate all people who accept free kittens with those who let their pets breed willy-nilly or people who get a pet and then drop it off at the shelter a month later when it's no... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 3:09 PM on December 9, 2007

I just spent the past few days reading this in its entirety. I'd only been reading it daily for a few months, so there was much I'd missed. (And, of course, I still haven't seen any of the pre-2002 stuff).

Reading it en masse, I feel like I "get" it so much more than I did when I was just reading it each day, though I enjoyed it then as well. It's a disarmingly honest portrayal of the best and worst of life's small moments. I especially feel for him when he... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 12:13 PM on December 8, 2007

WOW.

Wow. I almost remember this. I feel like I must have seen it once and never thought of it again, because while I spent the first few minutes like "Alf too???" and "that green Ecto Cooler thing from Ghostbusters???" and "AND THE CHIPMUNKS OMG!!!" I do for some reason remember the character Smoke, but he doesn't seem to be from anything other than this. The Wiki page doesn't say, but I wonder if they had McDonald's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 4:59 PM on December 3, 2007

That's my only (not really) criticism of the books - they have been marketed as kid's books, but they are very complex and difficult to read kid's books. The best readers will love them because they are complex - but many kids won't be able to follow the plot or complex world creation.

Many, many books for kids and young adults have complex themes and other elements that most people--adults very much included--won't grasp. It doesn't make them adult... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 9:41 AM on December 1, 2007

I was going to say what gompa and flotson said. I noticed quite a range of expression, from passive to engaged. I imagine my own face expresses that kind of range when doing all the things I do, from work to commuting to consuming media, probably even when I'm with friends and family. I don't see what's so wrong with disengaging for a few moments every once in a while. A person needs to be alone and quiet now and then...not just in a quiet room, but a quiet brain, too. I have a hard time... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 4:52 AM on November 21, 2007

Just chiming in to say my usual, that TV has been kicking ass the past few years, and bragging about not watching is empty, snobbish, and illogical.

I'm a little disappointed that this probably means we won't get our promised 16 episodes in a row of Lost, but other than that, the shows I love are worth the wait for the writers to get a fair deal.

And Weeds last week was awesome.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 4:59 AM on November 11, 2007

Not necessarily, not if there are better alternatives, such as many, many more years of books and music to enjoy, not to mention exercise to be had, places to visit, friends to talk to, things to write, instruments to play, and so on.

Well, I was talking about bragging about not watching. I don't think it's empty, snobbish and illogical not to watch. That wouldn't make sense. If you really haven't found anything you enjoy, fine,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 5:11 AM on November 12, 2007

I love SMB2 too. I loved it when it came out, and I just replayed it all the way through (something I hadn't the patience for as a kid) and loved it again.

I'm not a gaming nerd--just a nerd that likes to play games--I didn't even know about Doki Doki Panic, and though I knew about the Lost Levels, I never really thought about where they fell in the whole sequence. I just liked playing all the games, especially SMB2. It's totally whacked out--that's why I like it.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 6:08 PM on November 5, 2007

I was ALWAYS Princess Peach. Even as an adult. Once I got used to that jumping control, I couldn't give it up, even though the other characters had their own advantages. It probably made the game even harder, in retrospect.

It was probably the first video game I ever played where playing a female character was possible.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 6:48 PM on November 5, 2007

Actually, yeah, I always called her Princess Toadstool, too. It was, like, a few months ago that I realized they now call her Peach.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 6:52 AM on November 6, 2007

Literally is highly overused by people who think it is a modifier which implies greater truth. It literally is not.

Well, it's definitely overused, but it is also a modifier which implies greater truth (well, I'd say emphasis). TheGoldenOne's use of the word might be considered excessive and/or unnecessary, but it wasn't wrong.

Correcting people for their use of the word literally has become the new... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 9:39 AM on November 3, 2007

Why, yes! I do want to create a font!

Nice.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 8:01 PM on October 29, 2007

Hey, my mom has those bowls.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 1:56 PM on October 27, 2007

Your mom has got big bowls.

Thank you. I hope to inherit them as my own one day.

My breasts, on the other hand, are already much bigger than hers.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 4:19 PM on October 27, 2007

The United Spains of India
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 6:26 PM on October 26, 2007

Yes, with regard to its presence or absence in the text, I think there's something between her going back and inserting something that was never there and her having mentioned it explicitly in the text. And the in-between thing is what happened.

Just because it's not there doesn't mean it's not there. The entire discipline of the study of literature is dedicated to thinking of things that are in texts that may not actually be there, but are there... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 9:30 AM on October 21, 2007

I've been thinking about this, as this debate continues on in my recent activity page. I totally understand and share amberglow's disappointment that she waited didn't take advantage of her opportunity to show a positive gay character in the most famous books of our lifetime. I hate when books for kids ignore the fact that gay people (and many, many other things) exist, and when they don't ignore it but manage to keep it cliche'd. I really, really hate that.

I've been... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 6:37 PM on October 23, 2007

I don't care how you take the image apart, she's not "really" spinning in either direction because she's not real. It's a 2-dimensional image that's completely black with no characteristics other than its outer shape.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 5:44 AM on October 20, 2007

Yay Maine! This is good.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 5:17 AM on October 19, 2007

I've never felt bitter about Watterson stopping his strip, or the quality of Peanuts in the later years. They are the two greatest comic strips of all time. One of the greatest strips of all time licensed out the wazoo and ran new strips literally until the day the artist died. The other greatest strip of all time stopped only a few short years after it began, and never licensed at all. Neither of these things change how great the strips themselves are.

I was born in... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 8:25 PM on October 13, 2007

I didn't forget about Krazy Kat. Krazy Kat paved the way for the two greatest comic strips of all time.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 9:19 PM on October 13, 2007

I understood how it could look either way long before I was able to see it both ways.

I think it really helped me to stare at the Ames window silhouette animation tickingclock linked for a little while and then looking back at the spinning girl. Both are completely black, two dimensional images changing shape that could look like they are spinning around or flapping back and forth.

It's not like you... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 5:04 PM on October 9, 2007

I agree with all the criticisms, but man, that food looks good. I'm hungry now. And I just ate lunch.
posted to MetaFilter by lampoil at 11:10 AM on October 9, 2007