but! I learned that Xeni is pronounced "Zhenny" not "Zeenee"!

I thought it was pronounced "Shenny."

/embarrassed to even have an opinion about that
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 6:37 PM on July 22, 2008

You know why nouveau riche have such bad taste? Because money is still fun for them.

That's deep.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 8:28 PM on July 20, 2008

I like the way, at the end, she tried to squeeze a few more farts out but came up empty.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 11:18 PM on July 17, 2008

This reminds me of our discussion a few days ago about tattoos being the province of people who didn't go to college.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 8:07 PM on July 17, 2008

I've seen criminal defendants in federal court use an argument that I thought hailed from the Uniform Commercial Code. It seems to spread among inmates incarcerated in federal facilities. It is funny to watch these things happen; the defendant insists on addressing the court directly (despite the presence of his attorney) and then begins to recite this nonsensical, memorized spiel. The judge listens patiently.

The last time I saw this happen, the next attorney to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 8:48 PM on July 16, 2008

Savannah: “I held my head down so that they could not see that I was about to cry.”

Mick: Kerry Wilson, I hope those words haunt you to your grave.

The chances are nil that Kerry Wilson will ever think he did anything wrong.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 11:04 AM on July 13, 2008

This reminds me of a post on Metafilter a while back, concerning a school principal who, concerned about the possibility of "dirty dancing" at a school dance, conducted panty checks on high schoolers --- out in the open. It may be the Rita Wilson case, although I didn't think it was that long ago.

I wonder what the long-term significance of the Web will be in moderating the behavior of people in power. I think about... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 12:49 PM on July 13, 2008

I had the opportunity to be around a bunch of hip young people in a nightclub setting a few months ago, and I realized:

The big revolution in t-shirt design in the last ten years is the printing that extends up to the shoulder seam.

Practically every young man was wearing the uniform of expensive jeans and a dark-colored t-shirt with a kind of intricate, flowered, ornate design that extended up to the shoulder seam.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 9:14 PM on July 12, 2008

I have not read any of the links yet, but I assume you (dejah420) are exaggerating something or your sources are bad. As nutty as the administration is, I cannot imagine the administration being interested in something like this.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 10:50 AM on July 12, 2008

Looking at the company website, I first thought "hoax" (their motto is "Keeping the Situation Under Control"?) but a Google search suggests they are legit.

That's seriously fucked up.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 10:56 AM on July 12, 2008

Yeah, the deeper you dig into this website the more you understand how totally fucking insane the people running it must be.

In fact, it's kind of awesome.

What I love is companies run by insane people who are so secure in their sanity that they actually answer objections from their critics, thus proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are insane.

When I first looked at the website, I was... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 11:50 AM on July 12, 2008

mrzarquon, I really hope you weren't planning on doing any flying in the next few decades, after your little brainstorm upthread.

You are so going on the no-fly list.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 5:34 PM on July 12, 2008

The people who are putting brand logoes on their cars are doing so because they are bright, colorful, familiar. It never occurred to them not to think brand logos were something distasteful.

These people did not receive the windfall of the expensive education to teach them that they shouldn't like brand logos, that it's shallow to think brand logos are cool, etc. It never occurred to them to "think critically" about the role of corporate brands in their lives.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 9:51 PM on July 11, 2008

Your favorite band sounds awesome.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 9:05 PM on July 10, 2008

What a way to end a piece of writing: "I hope the next time I talk to you will be after I receive the only anti-biotic which crosses the brain barrier."
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 8:53 PM on July 8, 2008

Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Edgar Allen Poe.

Papa Hemingway

Jack Kerouac.

Hunter S. Thompson.

Ken Kesey.

I think these writers were interesting when they were sober.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 4:30 PM on July 6, 2008

It was really pathetic how McCain's people tried to capitalize on the non-issue of Wesley Clark's non-criticism of McCain's military service.

And then, when Obama nonetheless distanced himself from the remarks, the McCain people basically said, "No, we won't accept you distancing yourself from the remarks. The remarks were made by someone supporting you, therefore you must be held responsible for the remarks."

It was the most bizarre... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 1:45 PM on July 5, 2008

Me too. Hi.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 4:33 PM on July 2, 2008

Whoa, after looking at that site for too long it seems like mefi changed color.

That happened to me, too. For a moment I thought I had somehow ended up on projects; the color seemed to go greenish.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 7:24 AM on June 29, 2008

I did really poorly.

This quiz reminded me of a lot of candy bars I had forgotten exist: Skor? Zero? 100 Grand? I actually used to buy those candy bars.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 8:42 PM on June 27, 2008

Are there any posts specifically pertaining to the APS owner's "fuck it, let's boot every motherfucker within ten square miles" powergasm?

That's the most interesting part of the story --- a spectacular corporate flameout --- and that's what I want to read.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 2:47 PM on June 19, 2008

Why is it that car aficionadoes seem to spend all their time on crappy phpBB bulletin boards? (Last time I saw one, I think, was when there was a Metafilter post about a guy who had a very rare japanese car and all these bulletin board denizens banded together and caught the tattooed delinquent who stole it.)

There's something really odd about these communities and the members' bizarre "avatars" and little signature lines, and when you combine their adolescent... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 2:51 PM on June 19, 2008

jayder: ... APS owner's "fuck it, let's boot every motherfucker within ten square miles" powergasm?

tkolar: Yeah, didn't happen.

Well, it appears that something like that may have happened. I found this in the summary on page 52. And if you scroll about a tenth of a way down the page you can see photos.

"APS HAS JUST OFFICIALLY GONE BOOT CRAZY IN THE PAST 24 HOURS... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 10:21 PM on June 19, 2008

tkolar: ... then you, fff, have participated in the widespread slander of innocent people.

Oh, please. "Widespread slander of innocent people"? You accused FFF of being over-enthusiastic in his descriptions, but I think you've done the same thing.

This situation is FPP-worthy because it strikes a familiar chord with many of us who have been subject to the petty tyrannies of people like these APS goons.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 10:06 AM on June 20, 2008

My dad was admitted to Brown law school and left after one semester to go to the local public university, and it was almost entirely due to this attitude that he left. Turned out to be a hell of a lawyer, and the lack of the Brown name on his educational experience didn't hurt him one bit, but he was glad to get a decent education without having to turn into an entitled jerk to get it.

When did Brown have a law school?
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 3:32 PM on June 18, 2008

Regardless of whether the article "gets Ivy culture" we have a terrible problem in this country. People have no education. Anyone with an education knows this. Around the water cooler, it can be difficult to find people who've read Shakespeare, memorized a poem, understand game theory basics, know how to build a pc, have listened to Balkan music, feel strongly about American literature, and know how to throw a punch. Occasionally one person will know one of these things, but... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 8:45 PM on June 19, 2008

On McCain: "Who started this rumor that he was a war hero? Where does that come from, aside from himself? About his suffering in the prison war camp?"

I always did think it was odd that having been imprisoned --- however unjustly --- would be considered a credential for Presidential leadership. It's not like he chose to be imprisoned ... so how is being imprisoned "heroic"?
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 2:17 PM on June 15, 2008

I've never been able to pin down quite what it is about Vidal's style that is unusual. I am tempted to call it a gnomic style. You see it in that interview as well as in his writings. I suppose it's that virtually every sentence he utters is either a bon mot, or aspires to be a bon mot. And then there is the layering of high-cultural allusions with personal gossip and cattiness. Then there's the sort of rich disdain that seems to thickly coat his every utterance.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 9:47 PM on June 15, 2008

For another perspective on Russert, his work has been masterfully critiqued at the website The Daily Howler over the years.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 12:56 PM on June 13, 2008

Maybe somebody mentioned this upthread and I missed it, but a few months ago there was an AskMe post by a female college student, asking what she and her female roommates should do about the man who liked to walk around nude in his own house across the street. She apparently thought he enjoyed it.

I can't find the thread, but I am quite certain that many MeFites suggested taking pictures (and possibly posting on the web) to humiliate him.

It is... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 10:27 PM on June 12, 2008

Oh, I see that the naked male neighbor has already been discussed.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 10:31 PM on June 12, 2008

Does anyone have a mirror of Kozinski's site? I would love to see the step-by-step tutorial on shaving one's pubic hair.

He is currently facing his own obscenity case as well ...

I don't think this is right. There's no indication that he's being prosecuted or facing prosecution.

I was actually planning to post this myself. Here's the money shot (heh) from the L.A. Times... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 1:59 PM on June 11, 2008

... and is occasionally mentioned as a potential Supreme Court nominee.

I think it's safe to say this is now ruled out, if it was ever a real possibility.

I have heard that for Supreme Court clerks, Kozinski is one of the main "feeder" Circuit Court judges.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 6:28 PM on June 11, 2008

Check out the update on the WSJ link (the "innocent fun" link above):

UPDATE: We connected recently with Cathy Catterson, a spokeswoman for the Ninth Circuit. She sent along the following statement:

With regard to the article in today’s Los Angeles Times, the computer server is maintained by one of the judge’s sons. It is not government property. All family members use it. Pictures, documents, other items of personal and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 6:34 PM on June 11, 2008

Looking at the blog Above the Law, I see that Kozinski is making a valiant attempt to exonerate himself from posting these things (despite having previously admitted uploading them and saying the items were "funny" and "part of life").

For some reason his backtracking pisses me off. I suppose it's the fact that judges --- especially those who preside over criminal trials and appeals --- pass judgment on human frailties and foibles all the time, and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 8:19 PM on June 11, 2008

Cyrus Sanai, the lawyer who apparently outed Judge Kozinski's porn stash, has been corresponding with a blogger, and commenting on his discovery.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 3:52 PM on June 12, 2008

Although there is no reason to assault and arrest a reporter doing his job, the cameraman in the clip was certainly obnoxious. I guess you have to be to work in that business.

Details, please? I watched the video, and didn't see anything obnoxious about the cameraman's behavior.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 4:37 PM on May 31, 2008

Three objects that I like and use. All three are simple, beautiful, efficient and deadly…

He actually said that?
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 12:46 PM on May 24, 2008

Amazon even has a community for cockfighting.

How is allowing someone to tag a product with a particular word equivalent to "having a community"?
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 8:47 PM on May 23, 2008

The site seems to be up again.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 4:53 PM on May 22, 2008

Yeah, ASUS whored up the kid in their shot, very creepy. Perhaps they were just going for the rosy bloom of youth, but they ended up with fushia lipstick and Wild West prostitute rouge.

Whoa, it's an Olympic-level leap from the actual photo to the conclusion you have drawn.

Being a cable-news political spinner would be a perfect job for you.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 10:54 AM on May 18, 2008

It is basically tattered-paperback porn, which, as someone who has spent way too much time prowling cramped bookstore aisles, appeals to me.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 4:29 PM on May 14, 2008

It's weird, kd, that you've been silent for six years on these boards and then decide to make your entrance again by posting such a pathetic link.

I don't think it's pathetic.

Maybe this is odd, but I think this kind of stuff is actually "best of the web." I think it's cool how the author trolled Flickr looking for photos of the books.

At the same time, I disliked the list of "top... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 6:59 PM on May 14, 2008

I saw *exactly* that, a few years ago in the main concert hall at the Sydney Opera House.

I saw Glass play it too, at the Texas Union in Austin several years ago, at a several-day-long Glass festival.

Needless to say, it was the biggest crowd of pretentious tossers I had ever seen.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 12:54 PM on May 11, 2008

I haven't read all the links. But it looks, from nissan.com's page about the lawsuit, that the issue was litigated all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied cert. Was that just over the rights to the domain? Now Nissan USA is alleging damages against Nissan Computer?
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 5:38 PM on May 10, 2008

I really hope he used a condom.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 2:08 PM on April 30, 2008

If I declared, "for the next month I'm going to eat meat at every meal and shit it out in the name of art," would that be offensive to someone who believes in the right to eat meat?

If you believe in the right to abortion, as you believe in the right to eat meat, how is her (probably hoax) project any different from, or more offensive than, the meat-shitting project?

If you think you support the right to choose, but you are upset by... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 3:22 PM on April 17, 2008

I think her project was cool.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 10:07 PM on April 21, 2008

Too bad she wasn't a MeFite -- it would have been a great Projects contribution.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 10:08 PM on April 21, 2008

Someone stupid enough to get sucked into Scientology still isn't interesting when he comes out the other end, either.

I could only take about five minutes of it. Dude loves to hear himself talk.

The kind of empty, but what passes as "smart sounding," introspective stuff he was spouting was eerily reminiscent of the famous Tom Cruise P.R. video for the Church of Scientology.
posted to MetaFilter by jayder at 8:23 PM on April 21, 2008