I had more problems with the levels than the bosses, but the Galaxy Man and Magma Man levels were the ones I could beat without stocking up on power-ups from the shop. Whatever weapons you have, you can get through pretty much all of them with one or two energy tanks.

Hornet Man's bee shooter (sic, I know, it's the Hornet Chaser), like Metroid Baby says, is tremendously useful. Not only can it get items that are otherwise unreachable (including 1-ups), but you can fight... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 8:14 AM on October 6, 2008

Whatever weapons you have, you can get through pretty much all of them with one or two energy tanks.

By "them," I meant boss fights, not levels.
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 8:15 AM on October 6, 2008

Colorado - Obama
Florida - McCain
Indiana - McCain
Minnesota - Obama
Missouri - McCain
Nevada - Obama
New Hampshire - Obama
North Carolina - Obama
Ohio - Obama
Virginia - Obama

Popular - 8% Obama
posted to MetaTalk by ignignokt at 8:51 PM on October 2, 2008

The Dartboard
The Econovane
Random Walk
Past Results Are Not an Indicator of Future Performance Weekly
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 3:45 PM on October 1, 2008

Things will get better, in all respects. I think most people will credit you more for having been in a seven year relationship than they will debit you for not having actually penetrated a vagina.

About jumping back into it: Going on a date doesn't mean you're committing to a person for another seven years. If you have the chance to go on a date with someone that has potential, go ahead. If it turns out you don't enjoy it, then at least you know you're not ready for that... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 2:46 PM on September 30, 2008

Ooh, I hope some of Revelations is written out in bitchin' Iron Maiden lettering, with a picture of Eddie scrawled in the margin.
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 12:55 PM on September 30, 2008

This is certainly more clever than just having his mom call the debate commission to tell them he has the runs and can't come in and take the test today.

McCain loves the stunts! Here's the next one: He'll publicly "learn" that Rick Davis has been on Fannie Mae's payroll the whole time. He'll be like, "What?! I trusted you, Rick. You don't take McCain's trust for granted. I care about this country too much to let you get away with this!... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 12:54 PM on September 24, 2008

Wow. Thanks for posting that, jacalata. I think that your brother isn't going to be swayed by anything and is not the independent undecided voter that everyone's fighting to get. However, I'm struck by this:

Chicago is corrupt and any politician from Chicago must be corrupt

Where is he from? I had no idea that other parts of the country thought this way about Chicago.
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 9:08 PM on September 27, 2008

Obama missed chances to nail McCain when it came to Palin's earmarks, but he did get him on Iran and Spain. McCain did far better than expected, though. I honestly have no idea who moved the polls more. However, McCain did do the sighing and smirking, which supposedly lost Gore his debates.
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 9:29 PM on September 26, 2008

Thanks, guys. It was reassuring to hear about your specific experiences, and I think I'll at least go to the camp. Slow graffiti, it's good to know that it's not an all-or-nothing five week commitment.

I do have a new concern, which is that I'm 31, and everyone else doing this seems to be in their early twenties, but at worst, it's probably a minor annoyance.
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 11:38 AM on September 23, 2008

Thanks, weebil. That's comforting to know.
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 4:23 PM on September 25, 2008

The neck is a lot less brittle than those clips would imply. And as they said in judo, where the head goes, the body follows; in all of those clips, the victim's shoulders would most certainly twist with the head, and for the victims caught by surprise, there would be some serious neck spraining, but no death or paralysis.

For the attacker to twist the head so that it would actually break the neck (which wouldn't kill the victim), they'd have to lock down the rest of the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 10:18 AM on September 24, 2008

Shinya Aoki recently neck cranked his opponent from a somewhat upright position recently. (Fight starts at around 7:00, slow motion replay at around 8:00.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 11:51 AM on September 24, 2008

Find a local mixed martial arts gym and start training to get in the cage.
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 9:46 AM on September 24, 2008

"Their fans" meaning the fans of Psyopus and Fuck the Facts, Fiasco.

That was a pretty cool cover, hellojed. When I first heard Master, I'd back the intro up over and over, which is sort of what they were doing. That riff that precedes each verse is possibly the best part of the song.
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 10:34 PM on September 22, 2008

Also, I hope people actually watch those performances. They're good, and they made me feel good.
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 10:38 PM on September 22, 2008

Nothing against iniginokt, I just feel like the well of Metallica discussion ran dry twenty years ago. Yes, we (all true old school metalheads) have been betrayed by them. Yes, we all realize that the first three albums are classics (though not everyone agrees). No, they will never redeem themselves.

I see what you're saying, but no one's making you talk about that. Not every thread involving performance of music from a band has to be a referendum on... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 12:36 AM on September 23, 2008

Cat Pie, I think the Black Album would have been good if it was just a detour, too.

Not sure what the point of this post is. Some minor bands play covers of Metallica once a week? This is noteworthy, how?

Watch the videos. They're good, and they capture a lot of enthusiasm and energy (in both the bands and the crowd) that Metallica doesn't seem to have that much of lately.

And why in fuck would it be... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 10:46 AM on September 23, 2008

Signal, I was explaining why it doesn't matter that they're covers by "minor bands" instead of Primus and Disturbed and the other "major bands" you linked.
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 4:35 PM on September 23, 2008

Thanks, vorfeed. Even though retro thrashers are never as good as the originals, I can't say I don't enjoy listening to them.
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 4:36 PM on September 23, 2008

I'd like to hear that. Vader's (pretty straightforward_ Raining Blood was great, simply because they were able to yell "Slayerrrrr!" right when it went into the gallop part, something Slayer themselves can't do.
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 9:01 PM on September 23, 2008

Superman has always sucked and always will, no matter how hard you try to make him seem interesting.
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 4:49 PM on September 23, 2008

The movie Gangs of New York portrays an almost mythological early New York, replete with secret Irish tunnels under New York and primitive large-scale ethnic clashes.
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 10:15 AM on September 22, 2008

Most of these comments are already spot on, but I'd add that they don't train in martial arts like Praying Mantis kung fu because those martial arts are not trained with live, full contact resistance. Mixed martial arts matches and real fights are dynamic, and it's hard to apply a technique you've only used in pre-scripted form-like situations. Sure, your eagle claw looks neat, but it's the height of conceit to assume you'll be able to apply it to someone that doesn't want you to if you've never... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 10:38 AM on September 19, 2008

Damn, that's brilliant!

If I had $800 to spare, I'd send her this Spanish Flea loop I put together. I was going to put the Nigga Ya Love to Hate over it, but I was never able to get the a capella for that.
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 9:38 PM on September 18, 2008

I haven't been able to see the show in a while, so he may have already done it, but I hope that Superman someday makes it past the first stage someday.
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 2:17 PM on September 18, 2008

Don't worry so much about not alienating people. You have to break the Eggs of Politeness to bake the Cake of Respect, so to speak. You have qualities that they like other than rolling with their punches, I'm sure, so don't worry about be a little bit nasty. Also, it could be that they've noticed that you are eager to not offend at all costs that makes you the easy target.

As for turning the target back to someone that's ribbing you a little too much, it is kind of hard... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 3:44 PM on September 17, 2008

"He might not have been the greatest bass player, but he had a good laugh. He had a good laugh."
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 12:38 PM on September 16, 2008

Don't try to shoo this away with "Oh, it's class not race." No matter how poor the white person is, this is still true:

White privilege is when you can call yourself a “fuckin’ redneck,” like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll “kick their fuckin' ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 10:24 PM on September 15, 2008

He asked a very specific and non-chatty question. It's fine. So would "How can I convince my friend that Clinton failed as a president?" The question might not get many answers, but it's a valid question.
posted to MetaTalk by ignignokt at 11:01 PM on September 14, 2008

I didn't even see the Activity Tracker before. Before, I just cared about having a good president, but now I'm all annoyed that my stats aren't registering! Man, I could have leveled up by now if my "Doors Knocked" points were accurate!
posted to MetaTalk by ignignokt at 10:53 PM on September 14, 2008

Even though I'm horrified by news like this, I gotta say, I really enjoy these MetaFilter financial disaster threads. They're very informative and have plenty of apocalyptical humor. What more could you want? Other than non-plummeting "safe" investments?
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 10:35 PM on September 14, 2008

Tramp stamps.
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 2:35 PM on September 11, 2008

Nthing what people are saying about dropping the isolation exercises. You need to work the large muscle groups if you want to build muscles, so the squats and deadlifts are great. Instead of doing curls with the dumbbells, you could do the stuff at the bottom of this comment.
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 9:24 PM on September 8, 2008

When I heard there were death metal bands in Kyrgyzstan and black metal bands in Singapore (which reminds me that I should listen to Impiety's Skullfucking Armageddon again), I knew metal was everywhere.

I had no idea about this, though:

It turns out that the biggest market for Heavy Metal outside the US is across the Muslim world.

Whoa.

Sam Dunn, the guy behind Metal: A... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 12:07 PM on September 8, 2008

After hearing My Apocalypse, a decent, but not great song, I'm totally ready to be tricked my Metallica for the fourth or fifth time! I think I know what's going to happen, but I enjoy being hopeful about Metallica.
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 8:48 AM on September 7, 2008

But I'm more struck by the Rorschach blot of opinion on the war it represents: You could be neocon to the bone or liberal as Al Franken and come away from it equally validated.

There's nothing wrong with this. Generation Kill does the same thing, no one gives them shit, and rightly so. Not everything about an event has to be a screed for or against it, no matter how terrible an event is. Should Slayer have put the line "Oh, man, and the Nazis were... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 8:53 AM on September 7, 2008

OK, only the last half of that song is good. But holy shit that solo had no wah on it!

The thing about Rick Rubin is that everyone loves to have him be the producer, but he doesn't seem to actually do anything. After every album, when they're asked what Rick Rubin did, Slayer goes, "Well, he showed up for like two days." Of course, doing nothing is better than ruining your album.
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 9:15 AM on September 7, 2008

Thanks for posting Broken, Beat, and Scarred, Effigy2000. It's not perfect, but pretty interesting. I think I'll download the album.
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 9:20 PM on September 7, 2008

Whoa, thanks for letting us know about the sale, answergrape! I've never been to the warehouse. Yeah, American Science and Surplus rules.

I loved the Museum of Science and Industry as a kid and would probably still have fun there.
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 2:25 PM on September 5, 2008

Man, the book of Revelations would be even better if Mexican Santa actually was in it.
posted to MetaFilter by ignignokt at 1:40 PM on September 5, 2008

Don't be manipulative. As uncomfortable as it is, you need to bring up, directly, that you love her and can't live with watching her steadily wreck her health over time. It's very hard emotionally to watch someone's health deteriorate over time through no fault of their own, but for her to expect you to do this even though it's within her control to prevent it is unreasonable.

Tell her it's not about being 30 pounds overweight (which is relatively trivial) but about... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 1:07 PM on September 5, 2008

Raekwon (with Deck, Ghost, and GZA) - Guillotine (Swordz) - This song is just packed with an air of confidence, deliberateness, and competence along with an eerie but strong beat from RZA.

Ice Cube - Down for Whatever - Office Space used this for the virus uploading mission montage.
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 9:31 AM on September 5, 2008

Amiga demoscene music! I can see the rotating colors and polygons right now.

It also reminds me of the Brinstar music from Super Metroid, especially those fade-in notes. Good stuff.
posted to MeFi Music by ignignokt at 9:58 PM on September 4, 2008

And the changing seasons of Mega Man Land.

Not bad for a laptop mic!
posted to MeFi Music by ignignokt at 9:55 PM on September 4, 2008

It's pure chance that you didn't get stabbed in the roof of the mouth. "No harm no foul" is bullshit in this case. People that sell food have an obligation to not injure you with it.

scruss has a good suggestion, and it doesn't hurt to contact the Whole Foods people again to drive home the point that you could have been hurt at that that is serious shit.

Others have a good point about not being angry in a way that actually... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 9:04 PM on September 4, 2008

I say go ahead and read Thud!. I started with Good Omens, then read one of the Death books, I think, but honestly, they're all written to be enjoyable on their own, and none of the books rely heavily on surprise twists, so you can pretty much start with any of them. I do agree that the first five or so are little rougher than the later ones, though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 11:02 AM on September 4, 2008

The above links are good. Here's something that rebuts the attacks from Palin's speech (which was pretty much all attacks) last night, which I imagine are going to pop up a lot in the next few days. I don't know if it's short and sweet enough, but you could probably easily condense those answers.
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 10:55 AM on September 4, 2008 marked best answer

I agree with abdulf and ludwig_van. You can get a traditionally attractive body without having to do the work necessary to swim like Michael Phelps, but training to be being healthy and strong will get you there as well, while being better for you.

You don't have to work out for 1.5 hours a day, either. Working out for a shorter amount of time, maybe even for ten minutes at a time, can do a lot to make you lean. (Of course, it's going to be a very hard... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 5:42 PM on September 2, 2008

You could take candidates out to lunch with your group and see how they mix in. You can also look for candidates that have previous, independent interest in your kind of work.

While you evaluate these guys, though, you might want to consider that not everyone has the same sense of humor.

One guy didn't even laugh when we changed his screen saver to a picture of a silly monkey.

A lot of people wouldn't... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by ignignokt at 11:16 AM on September 2, 2008