I'm on your side, but unless the handing out of flyers is only a way to get arrested, and the larger goal is to use your incarceration to drum up publicity via an advocacy organization working on your behalf back home, it's probably not going to have the impact you desire.

Otherwise, you'd better start training now, so you'll be able to dodge the flame-thrower-operating, machine-gun-wielding, Segway-riding security forces. Because they're getting ready too.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 2:12 PM on July 11, 2008

Nisus Writer Express (you might prefer their Pro version) bills itself as a word processor for writers. You won't be able to do advanced graphing, but what you do get is the features you actually want if you work with words. You can also save in its native .rtf format, as .pdf, or as Word .doc format, so you're good to go in terms of interacting with Word users (I found out about it searching for something that would open my old .wpd files--this program makes me not miss WordPerfect so much as I... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 11:08 PM on July 10, 2008

Oh gosh. If you have any photos with her in them, or other such memorabilia which includes events in her life, gather them into a new album and give it to her (when she's ready, of course, and has a place to stay again). That stuff is irreplaceable, and anything she gets back now will be like a part of her life that's been snatched back from oblivion.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 10:53 PM on July 10, 2008

You wouldn't purposefully use this to confuse someone without context, but phrases like "my neighbour's mother's cousin's daughter's boyfriend" always makes the listener interrupt, say, "hold on," then count through the relationships out loud, one stage at a time. After which, both of you acknowledge the listener is up to date, then you go on with the story. And each time you tell the story you sort of expect to get interrupted right after mentioning that part.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 10:10 PM on July 9, 2008

Holy crap, I just finished this novel the day before yesterday. It was, I thought, a bit episodic in points, as any story of a journey is, but there's a few moments that are very cinematic. I had no idea it was being made into a film until now, though. And Herzog would be just the man for the job.

As for the "Myanmar Film Council," you'd have more luck looking under the yellow pages under Censor. Herzog would never be able to film in Burma. NO ONE films in... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 8:29 PM on July 6, 2008

In Canada, at least, the cliched fireworks song (cliched for patriotic truth, that is) is The Tragically Hip's "Fireworks". That may be a bit, um, patriotic to the wrong country, seeing as the verses of the song explore relationship evolution via the metaphor of the 1972 Super Series of hockey between Canada and Russia). But maybe you're a sports fan as well as a fireworks fan. (Note: the video link is the real song, but placed over footage from Corner Gas, a comedy show up here--close... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 9:41 AM on July 4, 2008

Well, there's no trombone, but Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash did some sessions together in '69, and did a song called "Blues Yodel #4." Bob does a little yodel at the end of each verse, and after the last one says "I ain't gonna do it one more time" and Johnny laughs and says "okay."

Where was you mamma when the train passed a shed
Where was you mamma when the train passed a shed
Standin' in my front door,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 10:48 AM on June 22, 2008

Ah, shoot, now i see that "there was no legitimate yodelling in the song" you remembered. So close and yet so far... Good luck.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 10:49 AM on June 22, 2008

While "Hi, I'm so sorry about your wife. How are you feeling?" might sound awkward to you, I don't think it will be to him. That's the most important issue in his mind right now, and hopefully he'll be having similar conversations with plenty of people, so it won't seem out of left field even if you've never been close.

I really liked what vytae said here. Remember, too, that while "hopefully he will be having similar conversations... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 10:30 AM on June 22, 2008

This is the first I'd heard of an Italian interest in Native American culture, but my first thought is to remember that these are tattoos. Think what tattoos people in North American tend to get. Would you say that everyone with an Asian symbol stamped on them has a fascination or admiration for Asian culture? I'd think that, if Italian tattoos of Native Americans are popular, it's more to do with liking an image rather than a sign of a deeper cultural affinity. 'Course, I'm... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 9:06 AM on June 11, 2008

Cormac McCarthy has a stunning vocabulary, and he wields it in ways that give it a near-Biblical force. I don't have Blood Meridian in front of me to type you out a representative passage (maybe someone else does?), but pick up any of his books and flip through and you'll see what I mean.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 9:30 PM on June 10, 2008

Oh boy, you need a song called "Always Keep An Edge On Your Knife" by Corb Lund & the Hurtin' Albertans.

Never sell the old .22, son, never sell the old .22
cause the old .22’s shot a gopher or two
so don'tcha never sell the old .22
Aim it to the left a little low, son, aim it to the left a little low
cuz the old iron sight fires high and to the right
so aim it to the left a little... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 4:04 PM on June 6, 2008

You've written a book of linked short stories. This is common, though publishers may want to lean toward calling your book a novel purely for marketing reasons. Resist.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 3:57 PM on June 5, 2008

This article--The Man in the Water--is apparently revered in journalistic circles. It's about a man who dies saving others from drowning. But it takes a wider view, and a more true view, than merely reporting the facts. The last sentence will probably stay with me forever.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 9:05 PM on May 30, 2008

definitely Cat Empire. Boy, that's a fun band.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 8:43 PM on May 30, 2008

HERE LIES HYDRATE--
He Did The Convenient Thing


(does that seem like a good gravestone to you?)
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 10:13 AM on May 30, 2008

In the vein of yearly anthologies like Best American Short Stories mentioned above, there's the O. Henry Prize collections, which come out annually and contain, say, twenty excellent stories from magazines published that year in Canada and the US. The great thing about these anthologies is that you're guaranteed to be exposed to a variety of voices, all uniformly strong (I was blown away by about half the stories in the 2000 edition, and only one out of the twenty didn't do... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 7:11 PM on May 28, 2008

clearlydemon, thanks for linking to that set of comics: having browsed a few, I think I can confidently say my dance card is now filled for at least the next half-hour. Clearly the wikistraction effect is not limited to wikipedia alone. (on preview, looks like jacalata's got it too...)

Oh yeah, and that's my offering: wikistraction.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 9:32 PM on May 27, 2008

Day Spent On Internet Comes Full Circle
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 9:34 PM on May 27, 2008

Yeah, I took it as everyone else does. More importantly than the fact that it's funny, though, is that it's a really immediate and concise way to establish, with one line of dialogue and a minimum of screen time, that a) this guy is a real jerk, and b) he's going to steal all the scenes he's in, so keep an eye on him. How else could you do that in one line? Great

zemblamatic, that's a really fascinating article, for lovers of this film, lovers of Italy, lovers of film in... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 9:02 AM on May 24, 2008 marked best answer

("Great film." was what that paragraph should have ended with.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 9:03 AM on May 24, 2008

strangecargo, the former is indeed what I was trying, so I'm off to try your password suggestion now. Thanks for the comprehensive instructions. I'll report back after giving that a shot...
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 12:01 AM on May 23, 2008

Well, using the hex version of the password brought the same negative result. So tomorrow I'll buy a cable to connect the LAN ports and test out your other suggestion, re: bridging mode.

(I'm going to mark strangecargo's answer as a best even though the problem isn't necessarily solved yet. I'll report back on it, and in the meantime, if there are any other thoughts, folks, please keep 'em coming...)
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 12:30 AM on May 23, 2008

Hmm. There's no Ox (or 0x) leading off my hex password. For the record, it's a WEP 128 bit. But google says WEP 128 passwords usually have 26 hex characters, whereas the password I'm finding for mine has 32 (not including hyphens). But I'm sure I've got the right one, because I'm working from a fresh install of leopard and there ain't much else in there but this. It's listed under the right wireless network name and everything. (I'd post the string of numbers to confirm but methinks that's not... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 1:08 AM on May 23, 2008

Thanks everyone. On further research I'm not going to connect my Time Capsule to this network at all, for fear of screwing up one or both. I'll be moving out in two months and will have a more sturdy network to attach to then. In the meantime, I'm going to plug my MacBook directly to the Time Capsule with an ethernet cord, say, once a day, when I'm home. I'll run Time Machine, back up my stuff, and disconnect until the next day.

Obviously this is not the wireless dream... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 10:04 AM on May 23, 2008

This thread from just a couple days ago mentions it, which is why I know it. It's certainly worth your while (as is the site mentioned in the initial post--haven't had time to read through the other suggestions there yet though). In addition to being an interesting insight into porn addicts, I thought it was a great summary of the world of retail work in general.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 2:33 PM on May 21, 2008

(On preview: yeah, what everyone else said)

In This Very Life is a book I'm reading now. I've found it to be a very instructional and comprehensive look at one path of Theravada Buddhism (specifically from the Burmese tradition, a path which apparently seems to cleave closest to the Buddha's own practice: YMMV). In case you're looking for further reading on Buddhism generally, I'd recommend it.

To take a shot at your question (and be forewarned... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 10:37 PM on May 18, 2008

Let's not forget Bartleby the Scrivener!

I would prefer not to...


Also, in 1999, Aung San Suu Kyi was toiling under house arrest in Burma when her husband Michael Aris, living in Oxford, England, was diagnosed with cancer. The junta denied his passport application to visit her, while at the same time offering to let her leave house arrest (and the country) to go visit him. Aris and Suu Kyi both knew that if she... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 4:30 PM on May 16, 2008

Also heard it re: publishing.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 4:10 PM on May 16, 2008

Always fun, though, to watch people trying to flag the attention of the perpetrator when not in his or her line of sight.

"Hey, you! You! Hey! With the headphones! Turn it--I can hear--I said I can hear--Can you turn that thing down please? Excuse me!"

Times like this, headphones seem the perfect weapon, spreading annoyance to others even as they remain impenetrable to foreign attack themselves.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 2:54 AM on May 10, 2008

I learned the really useful phrase "decline narrative" from this post by Miko. I gather it refers to the persistent perception that something is in decline, despite the fact that many people in the so-called golden age of the past also thought things were in decline. So either decline is perpetual and we're going to bottom out sometime or, more likely, that things are really declining only because we say they are, and not from any objective measure.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 11:25 AM on May 6, 2008 marked best answer

Thanks, you two. I was hoping someone else could at least confirm it's been shown elsewhere, but I guess at least this tells me it's pretty rare. I'll email the online store to ask--I'd feel bad using the form for the organization proper if I can avoid it. "Select subject...1) Hurricane relief" Uh, not quite...
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 2:45 AM on April 12, 2008

One of several reasons I don't have a blog is precisely the problem you raise: it seems like way too much effort to differentiate between the public and the private in such a share-now, ask-questions-later sort of format (which, respectfully, DarlingBri, is what I think distinguishes blogs from books--but I'll save my speculations about living with writers for another day). So I sympathize with you. Personally, I think that just because the concept of privacy seems to be becoming radically... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 6:17 PM on April 1, 2008

Tom Waits' Ice Cream Man starts and ends with a spooky melody that contrasts sharply with the song itself. Personally, my theory is that the whole album occurs over the course of a night, and that particular song is the part where he falls asleep, and dreams of being a way more macho guy than he is in the rest of the album. The spooky bit is the sort of "twilight zone" transition part where he falls out of consciousness, then comes back again when he wakes up. YMMV.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 8:41 PM on March 31, 2008

ignignokt's No Country for Old Men is pretty brilliant. Not sure if it's made better if they don't play country, or if they do.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 1:45 AM on March 31, 2008

Seconding The Vancouver Stories, which I came in to recommend but which KokuRyu got to first. I just finished it and enjoyed it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 2:12 PM on March 24, 2008

Op-Ed means "opposite the editorial page."

Huh. I always assumed it was short for "opinions of the editor" or some such, even though they're not written by the editor. Well, you learn something new every day.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 2:01 PM on March 24, 2008

Joel Plaskett: Television Set (which you can select and listen to here.)

Big Joe Turner, vocals, Elmore James, guitar: T.V. Mama (featuring the memorable line "the one with the big wide screen," which is good enough for me--listen here)
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 12:17 PM on March 22, 2008

As the trad. blues song says: "Motherless children have a hard road when your mother is dead."

And a hard road is what exciting stories are all about.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 11:59 AM on March 12, 2008

http://www.marcellosendos.ch/comics/ch/1994/12/199412.html

The comic strip Calvin & Hobbes has a brief sequence touching on the idea of decay being implicit in creation when Calvin makes "snow art." Scroll down to the 5th-, 4th-, and 3rd-from-the-end strips on this page. I thought it would give you a laugh while you're thinking about this.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 11:05 AM on March 11, 2008

You can get two thirds of the Metafilter trifecta kirkaracha mentions covered in a single song if you use "Incredibly Drunk On Whiskey" by the band Memphis (side project of the guy from Stars).
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 11:14 PM on March 7, 2008

The demo of "Every Grain of Sand" by Bob Dylan has a dog barking noticeably (and unintentially) in the background at one point. You want the one from here, not the one from here.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 10:58 AM on March 7, 2008

In When I Fall, by Barenaked Ladies, the narrator is a window cleaner on high-rise office buildings. It's the example I always think of when I think of songs about professions that define the way I think of those professions.
It also mentions a "you" who is presumably the window cleaner's lover, but it's pretty introspective, and so more about the job and less about the lovin'. Great song.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 9:15 PM on March 6, 2008

Sex Farm by Spinal Tap merges work and love--but maybe a bit too explicitly.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 9:24 PM on March 6, 2008

Nthing Democracy by Leonard Cohen, which was what I came in to suggest. It's even more perfect after reading your full description of what you want.

For a different take on off-beat presidents, there's Jesus Christ For President, lyrics Woody Guthrie, Music and Vocals Billy Bragg & Wilco, on the album Mermaid Avenue.
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 1:51 PM on March 6, 2008

I forgot Mr. President (Take Pity On The Working Man), though it's baby boomery, not Gen-Xish. Perhaps for ironic use?
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 2:07 PM on March 6, 2008

I think folks are off-base here, except for thomas144 who raises the notion of juvenilia, which I'd say is what you really want here. Everyone else is overlooking the significance of the line that divides obscurity from publication.

Whether publication means a book, an album, whatever, in most cases once you reach that point, at least someone (even if only your editor) has decided there's some merit to your work. So when we look at an artist's canon, and talk about... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 10:44 AM on March 4, 2008 marked best answer

"Girls go to Jupiter
To get more stupider
Boys go to Mars
To get more chocolate bars"

Yes, that's all I can contribute: that, according to my memory of stupid(est) schoolyard chants, "stupider" is a-okay. My grown-up self, however, dislikes it, and would use "more stupid," thus ruining the rhyme.

And not to derail, but my problem with the empathic/empathetic thing is that empath is... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 11:07 PM on March 3, 2008

I'll just flesh out and clarify what a few have already pointed to, re: the rerecordings, etc...

That verse doesn't show up in any released version, at least to my knowledge. I do know that Dylan's posted lyrics are often wrong, and have more to do with what was copyrighted (I think) than what is actually performed in a session. This is significant because his lyrics do tend to change rather quickly, and this is particularly the case with songs from Blood On The Tracks.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 12:37 PM on February 29, 2008

Dear xo,

These days, an especially great letter is any one that is sent by mail.

Posted letters have such significance now almost as a function of their rarity in the age of email or (worse) "text." I think the very fact of having a letter arrive on one's doorstep is often enough to encourage the sorts of feelings you are looking for. I know this answer is likely not what you were seeking, but I offer it to reinforce the worth of your... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by roombythelake at 12:36 AM on February 27, 2008