It occurs to me that all my Yiddish comes from Weird Al and Spider-Man. I'm such a schmuck.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 2:00 PM on July 24, 2008

On the subject of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head", I just want to mention the most inspired use of the song in a movie was in "Spider-Man 2".

Seriously, that scene was indisputably comedy gold ... and a bit sad, too. In fact I think that song was actually made for Spidey, but there was this weird time loop shenanigan, and we only think it was made for Butch and Sundance - that's how well it fits.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 6:21 PM on July 23, 2008

If you look closely, the fish in pwb's video are being dragged faster and more smoothly than their fins could be pushing them. I don't know if it's ever been confirmed, but it's at least widely hypothesized and denounced in the fishkeeping communities as showcasing fish who've had magnets implanted, or who've been induced to eat magnets (goldfish eat gravel, sometimes). Probably they didn't live very long after that video - it's pure cruelty.

Fish school is totally... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 11:43 PM on July 22, 2008

"Lucky"? The lucky tree is diseased!
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 7:50 PM on July 18, 2008

Worth noting that the whole "but the Amish are so friendly and nice to animals!" thing works out particularly badly when it comes to horses. People who decide they just can't keep their faithful steed anymore think that, oh, if they give him to the Amish, he'll pull a plow for a few years and then have a nice, happy retirement in a pasture! Won't that be nice.

In actual fact, the Amish have zero problems working their horses near to death with minimal medical... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 2:55 PM on July 7, 2008

This is totally awesome! I love elephants and elephant schtickery. Although I am sad that the Moulin Rouge elephant is gone (I was a little confused by that scene in the movie).
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 8:16 AM on June 23, 2008

Quite apart from anything else, that trailer is very well put together. None of the expected re-enacted scenes of explosions or mourning, only mounting tension and then a hair-raising silence.

Thanks for a very informative post, netbros.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 11:24 AM on June 22, 2008

Herodios - I think that's exactly rokusan's point: that "green" is etymologically descended (or at least related) from the Old English verb "growan" and thus as non-native as "orange" or "verdant". One can't define so-called native color terms as words which have no etymological intermediary other than their meaning as a color, and then turn around and say, "Well, as modern speakers, we don't use these terms with their original meaning, so it doesn't... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 5:41 PM on June 20, 2008

Those painted elephants are adorable.

And honestly, the photos don't do Marrakech justice. Where are all the carpets?
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 5:18 PM on June 20, 2008

Can anyone else figure out how to make the "Gobsterclaw" jaw open vertically (like for the 'phatburd' demo creature) instead of horizontally? I want my insectile giraffe creature to have a parrot mouth.

eurasian and Dave, your guys are badass.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 7:16 PM on June 18, 2008

Thanks, Spatch! Not only is my giraffe thingamabob much better looking, but I have concocted a ... well, it's a hippo-frog-orca-gorilla thing, I think, with a sideways opening mouth. I quite like it.

Behold, my thingy-whatsits.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 12:25 PM on June 20, 2008

The samaritan impulse is sweet and Jet is adorable, but did they try and find him a wildlife rehabilitator before doing DIY? It's very important when raising an orphaned animal to minimize the social contact the baby has with humans and domestic animals. Otherwise you have a so-called wild animal who doesn't recognize that other humans besides its foster parents should be avoided, and it can never be safely released into the wild. Unless the original foster parents can keep it, there's not much... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 3:12 PM on June 15, 2008

Like I care - pseudo-Bud's a name thief anyway. (Budweiser/Budvar/Czechvar has been linked three times in this thread; I'm not linking to it again.)
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 8:35 PM on June 12, 2008

Mmmm, my morning dose of orientalism!

Seriously, why does the sexay robot look like a geisha?
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 11:46 AM on June 11, 2008

You know what? I stink at doggerel, but this really needs a Burma Shave ad. Hop to it, Mefites!
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 3:43 PM on June 11, 2008

Er, jingle, that is. Burma Shave jingle.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 3:43 PM on June 11, 2008

My father went to North Korea (not to Mount Kumgang, so far as I know) last year, and he reported that although he was required to take the "Our Country, Let Us Show You It" tour, customs was far less stringent than in the US. They want you to see their awesome, prosperous communist regime and how much better it is than capitalism &c &c.

I know the point of the North Korea entry was that specific mountain and how you can't get to it... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 8:16 PM on June 10, 2008

matteo: For an old, racist tool devised to keeps blacks out of the Armed Forces, IQ tests still do have quite a fan base, I have to admit

Bzuh? Granted, you're completely right about how the American military ended up using early versions of the IQ test (oh, let's not forget about the Poles, Italians, and anyone else Insufficiently White), but what we now know as the IQ test was created by the psychologist Alfred Binet (and collaborator Theodore Simon)... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 2:09 PM on June 8, 2008

Neat process, but oh lordy, why do people think this man can sing?
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 9:28 PM on May 31, 2008

Oh no! Is that website up to date? Is Rajan still in danger? I found April 2008 photos of him swimming with tourists, but they didn't come with commentary.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 4:26 PM on May 31, 2008

Hey, now I remember that Zoobook as well! Thanks, PhatLobley.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 8:53 PM on May 31, 2008

22.

*slinks away shamefully from all you 25 people*
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 3:36 PM on May 31, 2008

Cranberry - the European Robin is not at all closely related to the American Robin; the former is just named after the later because of the red breast connection.

Great post! Hmm, this is inspiring me to get a hummingbird feeder...
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 2:00 PM on May 31, 2008

Damn straight I wear leggings and tights, people. I live in Michigan! Oh, wait, I'm supposed to freeze for fashion, okay then.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 1:55 PM on May 31, 2008

... Stop taking humor so seriously, damnit!
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 11:39 AM on May 25, 2008

Oh my god, the white male middle class privilege made me - I would say gag, but double entendre and all that.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 9:47 PM on May 23, 2008

Um, I hate to burst your bubble and all, but this was old news on the internet when I was a freshman in high school, and I'm now a graduate student.

The nostalgia is kinda nice, though.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 10:59 PM on May 15, 2008

... What's boudoir cheesecake?
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 1:24 PM on May 14, 2008

So, I never actually watched the X-Files and this is kind of tempting me, now. Hunh.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 12:40 PM on May 14, 2008

So basically, we can't legalize medical marijuana because the children could steal it. 'Cause they're not doing that already, nope.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 11:48 AM on May 11, 2008

I was a bit reluctant to click through because I've had very bad experiences with Westerners projecting their own ethnocentric ideas onto Southeast Asian narratives with astonishingly racist results, but this is great, even taking into account the "student" effect (e.g. bad art).

Page 132 is particularly striking. "By 1979, you could count the number of doctors in Cambodia on your hands." And the pair of hands shown have missing and bandaged fingers...... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 6:51 PM on May 9, 2008

And I know how to close a paranthesis! ) There.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 6:51 PM on May 9, 2008

*clicks*

*shrieks*
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 10:12 AM on May 9, 2008

Yeah, in a way it's quite sad that Seduction of the Innocent has come to obscure the rest of Wertham's career. He did far more with his life than write that one book, and as much as the Comics Code was a giant, industry-swallowing mess, it's important to remember that he was a key witness, not a decision-maker. To a certain extent we've turned Wertham into a scapegoat for the entire process, when he was a bit more of a figurehead.

In his later life,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 7:38 PM on May 8, 2008

In my life, I've known several amazing artists who were also serious jerks. I'd use a stronger word, but you get the idea. So I sort of came to terms with the notion that, if you don't want to arbitrarily limit your consumption of great art, you've got to evaluate the work on its own.

I've heard this sentiment before, and it always makes me blink a little. 'Cause you know, life is finite, and there are more amazing artists out there than we can... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 5:32 PM on May 6, 2008

But I also like Heinlein books despite his being a total dipshit about a fair amount of stuff, ditto Ditko and any number of Silver Age writers. And I generally hate Bendis and Millar, despite them paying attention to all the proper political shibboleths.

Random aside: ditto to your first two sentences, but Bendis and Millar, paying attention ...? I dunno. Bendis seems to alternately really grok and really NOT grok feminism, and Millar writing anyone... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 5:48 PM on May 6, 2008

Wow - this Nick Flynn guy is, well ... he's kind of a Grade A tool, isn't he?

...

Anyway, I have to say I'm incredibly impressed with the repair job, but I do wish they hadn't retouched the paint in the fill areas. I tend to lean towards the conservation side of things: the vases have been broken - that's part of their story now. Don't try to imitate the painting stytle of yesteryear - let them show their cracks!
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 2:38 PM on May 5, 2008

Uh, this is a popularity contest. Pretty straightforward with the "OMG you think FABLES is better than JACK COLE and GOTHAM CENTRAL" and similar shenanigans along with, "Yay, Starman acknowledged as the genius it is!" I'm not sure this is all that interesting except, well, as a popularity contest, though.

ErWenn, I'm wondering if they mean the panel where Charles Xavier is decked out in bondage gear. That one was pretty entertaining.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 9:43 PM on May 2, 2008

Oh.

See, I've never even seen that Wolverine panel. I just know about Charles Xavier wearing a black leather collar. Silly me!
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 10:35 PM on May 2, 2008

Actually, Kurt Busiek's run on Action Comics (that's a Superman title, for those not in the know) has been excellent - coming from someone who usually finds Superman hit or miss.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 1:13 AM on May 3, 2008

As a former/sporadic resident of Lausanne, Switzerland, I am now going to develop a complex that it was excluded while Bern, Zurich, and Geneva were all listed. SCREW YOU ALL, WE ARE JUST AS CLEAN. WE DON'T EVEN HAVE GUM UNDER PUBLIC BENCHES, THAT'S HOW CLEAN WE ARE. WE -

It's because of the leper colony, isn't it.

No really, we still have a bus line which carries the name. "5 Maladieres."
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 10:04 PM on May 2, 2008

So they have two animated films on that list (as far as I could tell on a quick skim), which are Toy Story - a solid contender but not actually as good as its sequel - and The freaking Jungle Book? With The Jungle Book ranked higher?!
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 9:48 PM on May 2, 2008

44% Yankee.

But some of those questions were a bit leading. "What do you call gym shoes?" "Where might you get water in a public building?" If you're undecided, those could easily swing you!
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 12:02 PM on May 2, 2008

I hate to play the cranky codger card, but back in the day you were known for what you said and how you said it, not how many friends you have or how attractive you are.

... Okay, Keith, your problem isn't just that you live in the past, it's that you've traversed several dimensions without realizing. Seriously, what alternate universe are you from and how do we get over there?
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 11:47 AM on May 1, 2008

What I want to know is when this will be available to the public.

Or, you know, the public with enough insurance.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 4:12 PM on April 30, 2008

Ooh, banished raises an excellent point. It would really suck to get your hand back and then die of cancer.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 6:06 PM on April 30, 2008

Oh my god, that was so much of an understatement as to be completely idiotic, wasn't it?


I'm going to bed.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 6:07 PM on April 30, 2008

Yeah, I could never eat puffers because they are SO CUTE OMIGOSH. I might get dwarf puffers when I next have a tank free and don't immediately feel the urge for another betta, because the tank requirements for 1 betta and 1 dwarf puffer are about the same.


So, my dad ate fugu once at a business dinner, and he told me it wasn't all that special but there was a great deal of amusement for him the next morning. See, he got a call early the next morning at his... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 5:15 PM on April 30, 2008

oh god and it's been favorited by betta fish

Actually, I was waffling, but I refavorited JUST FOR YOU!

I dunno, I see Napham's point, but at the same time, I'm with binturong and Blazecock on the cynicism and whether this is really about the environment.

It's worth pointing out that there's a certain conflation of "endangered animals" in this book. An endangered breed of cultivar is NOT the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 11:30 AM on April 30, 2008

One of the cutest things I've ever seen while diving is a baby nurse shark just kinda chilling on the coral.

But yeah, uh, this? No. Go find the hammerhead flocks - you don't need to chum them, and that's badass enough for anyone.
posted to MetaFilter by bettafish at 4:08 PM on April 29, 2008