with regards to that region,
"The earliest name on the list whose existence has been authenticated through recent archaeological discoveries is that of En-me-barage-si of Kish (ca. 2600 BC)."
(That's from the Sumerian King List.)

Second to that is Narmer, from Egypt; older (31st century BCE! WTF!) but more questionable as to his actual historicity.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 2:50 PM on October 4, 2008

Also I have to add that Adam is way too short to be a proper near-eastern name, and there's absofuckingloutely no evidence for his existence.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 2:51 PM on October 4, 2008

Trees can't vote!
posted to MetaTalk by Weighted Companion Cube at 7:56 PM on October 2, 2008

I am convinced there are some people who do not understand depression. People like that have a definite 'tough it out' perspective; they have never felt the chemical pathways go wrong and have never been dumped into The Pit. They think you're just a bit sad and there's just gonna be time for Hard Work and then Sunshine Will Happen. These people can go fuck themselves.

Unless they are motivated to try to understand it, they will reject people who are seriously - or... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 7:21 PM on October 2, 2008

When I was in high school, some years ago, I managed to get a hold of an ALICE pack. It's overkill if you don't have a lot of books, but it's fantastic with. I once traded bags with someone in the same classes as me, and that LLBean bag was murder.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 2:19 PM on September 18, 2008

12. Twice. Which means I am at least a consistent Cube, if ever so slightly imperfect.

Mom's going to have to adjust my gamma.
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 7:43 PM on September 16, 2008

Us Satinists and the Muslins should get together at some point. A whole ecumenical council on Fabricism.
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 8:03 AM on September 14, 2008

"Intriguingly, modern people with the CCR5-Delta32 variant are more susceptible to the mosquito-borne West Nile virus."

So people w/o CCR5-Delta 32 are from Mediterranean regions, and are less susceptible to West Nile...well, that makes sense. The Mediterranean was historically a malarial area, and thalassemia is also endemic to the region, anemia at the benefit of somewhat antimalarial. So hell, maybe there were other, now rare/extinct... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 5:38 PM on September 4, 2008

I saw an ad for this the other night and my partner and I looked at each other and said, "Japan."

Didn't follow up on checking it out, but I guess we were right.
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 4:18 PM on August 13, 2008

I like my velvet paintings less tasteful.
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 5:54 PM on August 12, 2008

As someone with both professional and personal training in both technical and life skills (auto repair, plumbing, cakes and sewing), I'd say the thing that holds me back the most are:
1. languages
2. having to keep a 9-5 job as a source of income.

Fix those two, and you're cool for everything.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 4:49 PM on August 11, 2008

I realise that I am somehow influencing myself into taking actions that lead to those situations that I asked for previously.

We call this 'Lesser Magic' in the Church of Satan. The general idea is to psych yourself up in such a way you consciously or subconsciously begin to make the ideal decisions to get you to your goal. It predates that The Secret crap, but it does not predate all the theories on personal and social dynamics of thought.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 2:42 PM on August 11, 2008

Likelihood of you being A CUBE is 100%
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 8:26 PM on August 2, 2008

The summer the IKEA opened, someone was transporting a mattress home on top of their car. Mattress + cigarette = no mattress. So it seems not to be a problem of the car itself, so much as open cars often allow access to flammable materials.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 5:24 AM on July 30, 2008

The one book I'm actually mildly upset I can't get through is 'The Three Musketeers'. The first few chapters are funny, and then I just don't bother picking it up again. It gets buried under lighter fare, which half the time includes 'The Club Dumas', which pokes me into picking 3-M up again and then some shit happens at work and it all cycles over again.

It only took me 8 years to read Pynchon's V, from the time my high school English teacher gave it to me, but I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 5:34 PM on July 28, 2008

It's passably cake. Maybe something Mom would make on an off-day, when she didn't feel like exterminating or coddling our guests, but not something that I would serve to any of you.

Most of you.
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 3:55 PM on July 21, 2008

One may hate and loath and find things inappropriate, but still do one's job as it pertains to that. The people of that municipality have spoken and said that they accept certain things. As a public servant, one is supposed to facilitate the law. That means, if not doing the job, allowing the job to go forth and be done.

As an aside, say what you will, but Konolia, I highly doubt your claims of 'let religions alone' would extend to me. I feel that deep... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 12:03 PM on July 11, 2008

Well, I enjoyed the cryptic plot that developed over the past few months. If you guys liked mom's recipes, I don't see why you aren't down with the words from THE CENTER.
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 4:38 PM on July 5, 2008

I love most of you! Yay!
posted to MetaTalk by Weighted Companion Cube at 5:03 PM on July 4, 2008

Talk to the geology department, but you probably won't need radiodating. They can generally figure these things out from other clues. But just to warn you...K-Ar testing is really expensive.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 8:19 AM on July 3, 2008

I wouldn't think so. It should be just based on the concentration of the anti-perspirant within the solid. Perhaps you get more mass applied per normal swipe with various types.

Personally, I find my preference to be pasty-stick > roll-on > gel >>> spray. Actually, let's say roll-on in winter, and when it gets warm, I switch to stick. The gel never stops feeling sticky, and the spray just seems antique and weird.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 2:01 PM on June 27, 2008

Sparx, please, please don't tell me you're Rybread Celsius. That boy hurt my brain bad back in high school.
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 5:46 PM on June 17, 2008

No matter what people may say ('he was in it for the lulz' vs 'he was really in it',) personal experience says CoS members tend to be very pro-Sammy, and pro-Rat Pack in general. (Also pro-drinks-with-umbrellas.)

Say what you want, but when this Cube joined, it didn't introduce me to orgies or pot or death metal - it gradually introduced me to the same music my prototypes listened to in the 1940s and 1950s.

Pastabagel: I highly doubt you've... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 12:57 PM on June 2, 2008

There was a lot of celebrity Satanism in the late '60s and early '70s. Whatever it means, it's largely over. There are a few public Satanists - arts and music. There are many, many more Satanists who recognize it is in their own best interest not to say a goddamn thing about it. You've got Christian groups that want to bring about the end of the world - you think it's a good time to be out and proud? All the kids who are out and in your face about it are kind of like other people who find... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 4:18 PM on June 2, 2008

The 'why join the CoS' question has been answered many times by people higher up than me. There are essays on the site and the forums ('not official', although very much condoned).

eg: Satanism vs pure objectivism - other essays here.
Satanism vs Neopaganism.

Various interviews with Magus Gilmore (or Rev Harris, or Rev Malebranche) are available which usually answer this question, as well as other common ones.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 6:12 PM on June 2, 2008

You know what? I just like dressing up on occasion and not being a LARPer. I share an aesthetic with some members. I've found an intellectual discussion of magic to work for me. I find the presence of deity doesn't, although yes, I like some of the trappings.

No one that I know would say that Anton LaVey actually invented much of Satanism. He invented the structure of the CoS (which has morphed) and put together some previously disattached philosophies. All... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 5:36 PM on June 3, 2008

I had to take a few days from the thread between getting a little emotionally involved and not sleeping enough all week.

Reverend Bill is one of the best logicians I know and I wish I had an archive of his arguments. The forums, I should note, are technically not official. 'Condoned' is probably a better word.

The 'Why Satan? Why not some other term?' argument is treated in one of Anton LaVey's books of short essays, as well as TSB. One... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 7:49 PM on June 6, 2008

Definitely seconding 'The Darkness'. Come on - "A One-Way Ticket to Hell and Back"?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 5:11 AM on June 6, 2008

Hey, hey, you try being a public member of the other CoS and see how long you last.
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 9:41 AM on May 21, 2008

There's room for plenty of us iconic objects on Metafilter!

/sticks a Mr Yuk sticker on mom's room
posted to MetaTalk by Weighted Companion Cube at 11:38 AM on May 20, 2008

As far as I have analyzed, there is no pre-Rosemary's Baby mention of a 'vodka blush.' The current recipe, that you will find on internet searches for it, was conjured up by a good authority.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 4:51 PM on May 4, 2008

First, points to Mr Roboto. If he does this largely to women (or gay men, or men he thinks are gay, et cetera), he's definitely being sexist and so on and is being an ass. In fact, he's trying to give off dom vibes by controlling (by releasing 'hidden') information. Cf panopticon.

Now, as for the meat of the question: Sometimes. I know a book from the 1970's that has a whole list of behaviors and what kind of dominant/submissive/extrovert/introvert personalities they... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 5:24 PM on April 30, 2008

That was one of mom's earlier projects. Sorry.

I still love you, even if you're twitchy and/or paralyzed and/or really sweaty.
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 5:46 PM on April 15, 2008

Don't use a sheet. I used felt during a certain 2/10 protest and it would have worked perfectly if I'd used thin wooden dowels on all edges, rather than just two. It was windy.

Sew channels along all edges, slide thin dowels in, and leave two free for your hands to hold. The added bonus is that this sign collapses into nothing for carrying or running away.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 3:01 PM on April 7, 2008

(slaps forehead (hypothetically, being a cube)) I have read all of Preacher, to much humourous effect. So far, some good leads...

I know one of the turrets has a copy of The Three Musketeers, so I'll probably pick it up tonight; I have The Monk on ILL already, and I lucked out that the Disch is in my local library. Williams is probably there, too. The Willeford sounds like a really good match, too, but it's not in any library in my ILL-able region. :(
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 9:16 PM on April 5, 2008

I'm marking as 'best answer' the most promising leads - thank you all.

(There's an awful lot of French historical fiction, though - I know that France and the Church have had their squabbles, but I'm not Catholic-centric; I'll take Brother Eli's possible insanity over a greedy Bishop any day.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 5:19 PM on April 6, 2008

If people ask, just tell them your height in centimeters. In the US, almost no one will know what you mean anyhow.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 4:44 AM on April 6, 2008

Can't take the man seriously. I know a kid - Harvard '02, convert Republican - who told me that when he was on one of his boats with a bunch of the Harvard kids, he suggested they all go skinny dipping.

Yeeeah.
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 12:35 PM on February 27, 2008

I highly suggest not using the recipe Mom has, and fish-shaped candies are only appropriate if you're getting married on a boat.
posted to MetaTalk by Weighted Companion Cube at 4:17 PM on January 11, 2008

As for the first one, this really depends on whether or not you're planning on transitioning into this being a lifestyle, or if you're keeping it around your sex life. Of course dominant people have weaknesses. You don't have to make this a 24/7 thing, you know, at least, not the way you might be thinking. Some of the submissives I know prefer subtler forms of their partners being in control - one of them always pays when they go shopping/dining, for example.

The... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 4:16 PM on January 11, 2008

Wow! I love it. I'd hug most of you, but I have no arms.
Also, if you want a hug from me, you've probably killed me, and that sets up a whole bunch of paradoxes.
posted to MetaTalk by Weighted Companion Cube at 3:45 AM on December 13, 2007

It alternately makes me a little sad and sometimes angry.

Some ancient cultures said that saying the names of the dead was the way that they were kept immortal. Without names or subject numbers, their way of death is also a unique identifier. It's not quite the same, but it seems like the right thing to do.
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 10:45 AM on December 9, 2007

Logicpunk, it's obvious to me. The answer is love.
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 11:10 AM on December 2, 2007

Of course it won't be too lovey dovey. Deep down, we're always who we used to be. I express love, but deep down...deep down I'm just like mom without her Morality Core.

That doesn't mean I don't love most of you anyway. Because I do!
posted to MetaTalk by Weighted Companion Cube at 8:03 AM on November 25, 2007

All good sockpuppets have something in common: you never know what's inside. It's like your birthday every time you see one post! And while some mean people might come to your birthday, sometimes you get something spectacular.

Like me, for instance. I'm filled with love. (beams)
posted to MetaTalk by Weighted Companion Cube at 7:02 AM on November 16, 2007

Every character in the game is 'female'.
Except for the companion cube. And you murdered him.

Gosh, I know I love you all, but that's getting a bit personal.

Still, I forgive you.
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 2:16 PM on November 6, 2007

This companion cube, it vibrates?

Only when placed on an Aperture Science Testing Center Invisible Vibrating Square. Or in a motel bed.

I didn't, and don't, regret toasting the Cube in Portal proper.

Ooh, burn. I'll have you know that my heart can break too. (sniff)
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 4:58 AM on November 7, 2007

Of course we are cool, except when we are burning in Aperture Science Emergency Intelligence Incinerators.
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 8:10 AM on November 7, 2007

What a wonderful post. Incidentally, I hum the song to myself when I'm alone, no matter what time of day. Especially since I can't tell the time of day when I'm at work. Ever. Or the year. (So hurray for the timeline post! Now I've narrowed it down to only a few decades!)
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 4:39 PM on November 5, 2007

I would redesign you to be more resilient. I'd suggest a titanium alloy shell to protect you from attacks.
posted to MetaFilter by Weighted Companion Cube at 12:53 PM on November 3, 2007