MetaFilter

Actually it's pronounced "Saht."
posted to MetaFilter by griphus at 10:51 AM on July 7, 2015

In my personal theology, "every single thing she mentions he 'did that one time, with my buddy' and is now an expert in" guy is the person that I get locked in a Camus-esque room in Hell with.

this hell exists and it's right here, it's us, it's metafilter.

we are both damner and damned
posted to MetaFilter by poffin boffin at 10:48 AM on July 7, 2015

Was it Mark Twain who said something like, "Boys start imitating men around age 12 and keep doing so for the rest of their lives"?
posted to MetaFilter by gottabefunky at 10:48 AM on July 7, 2015

I have friends who work in coffee shops or manage them. These sorts of exchanges happen on a sad predictable basis. A friend of mine tweeted a photo of a couple who was having the exact same date as the exchange linked, but he was a musician instead of a writer.

As a freelancer who's often working in coffee shops and bars I could easily have written an entire book of bad date conversations, had I only thought to record them. But it was all worth it... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:44 AM on July 7, 2015

As I read this, I alternated between howls of laughter and cringing because it brought back too many memories of dates like this.

I remember one guy, who was possibly the biggest, most pretentious ass I ever met, who seemed unable to talk about himself without making negative sweeping generalizations about the rest of the world and then claiming he was the one shining exception. Fortunately time has been kind and erased the specifics from my mind, but I do remember he... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by orange swan at 10:42 AM on July 7, 2015

There was one brief livetweet series where the eavesdropper thought they were listening to a beautiful couple who were made for each other forever and it turned out they were brother and sister, and the author's horror at their own mistake was beautiful to behold.
posted to MetaFilter by poffin boffin at 10:41 AM on July 7, 2015

The person who comes off the worst here is Anne Thériault.

My buddy who is an online reputation manager says I can judge reputations better than even he can and you are quite incorrect.
posted to MetaFilter by griphus at 10:39 AM on July 7, 2015

Her tweet from today:
Responses to my bad date live-tweet
Men: you're so mean and I bet you made this up anyway
Women: I have been on this exact date
posted to MetaFilter by desjardins at 10:37 AM on July 7, 2015

This was, without exaggeration, one of the funniest bits of skit writing I've ever read. I don;t care if it's real, I imagined the entire thing taking place with KiTH actors (Dave Foley as the gal on the date of course, Bruce McCulloch as the pretentious wanker OF COURSE)
posted to MetaFilter by The Whelk at 10:35 AM on July 7, 2015

Found him!
posted to MetaFilter by Space Coyote at 10:30 AM on July 7, 2015

The thing that changed most about the Simpsons is its comic timing. The show always mugs for the camera now, as if it has an implicit silent laugh track.

Jokes used to be rapid fire, and after one landed there'd be a quick cutaway to a new scene. Now you get Bart rolling his eyes or Marge making her grumble noise in response. And they lampshade this all the time. Celebrity cameos used to be almost entirely unacknowledged... remember when Michael Jackson did a voice... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by painquale at 3:09 PM on July 7, 2015

"It reminds me of that old chestnut "Nobody drives in New York City anymore. Too much traffic.""

Yogi wept.
posted to MetaFilter by klangklangston at 1:18 PM on July 7, 2015

"I was one of those "The Simpsons stopped being funny around Season 10" people and then my son started watching it and I started watching with him and I was surprised at how often I laugh, and laugh big, at the new episodes. Sure, it doesn't have that feeling of "Oh my god nothing like this has ever been on TV before" thing going on like it used to, but some of the jokes still land. So, feel free to not watch The Simpsons and instead play with those Legos you... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by klangklangston at 12:52 PM on July 7, 2015

I was one of those "The Simpsons stopped being funny around Season 10" people and then my son started watching it and I started watching with him and I was surprised at how often I laugh, and laugh big, at the new episodes. Sure, it doesn't have that feeling of "Oh my god nothing like this has ever been on TV before" thing going on like it used to, but some of the jokes still land. So, feel free to not watch The Simpsons and instead play with those Legos you had that were... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by bondcliff at 12:33 PM on July 7, 2015

Holy shit, he's *literally* phoning it in!
posted to MetaFilter by el io at 12:31 PM on July 7, 2015

I heard Shearer talk about this on Marc Maron's podcast a couple of months ago and have to say that he sounded kind of like a jerk. I don't doubt that he's "worth the money" from the point of view of the massive profits of the show over time - but he just sounded like an entitled guy who doesn't appreciate that he gets paid zillions of dollars to do something that frankly seems like light work.

Harry Shearer is in a strange position,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by kafziel at 12:31 PM on July 7, 2015

I remember in third grade my family had just moved out of the city into a suburban neighborhood, and I went over to a neighbor kid's house for the first time. I wanted to play hide and seek but he kept raving about this new TV character named Bart Simpson.

I'm now 36.

WTF.
posted to MetaFilter by selfnoise at 12:23 PM on July 7, 2015

the whole Homer separating from Marge storyline

My prediction is that this is something that occurs 4-6 minutes into one episode and is promptly undone and forgotten about around sixteen minutes later in the same episode, never to be mentioned again. I think you'd have to be a fantastically gullible person to suppose otherwise.
posted to MetaFilter by DirtyOldTown at 12:10 PM on July 7, 2015

There's a math equation in my head that I keep meaning to chart out for Simpsons skeptics, a sort of diagram in which I demonstrate that given how much better the Simpsons was in its prime that pretty much everything else on television, even the steep decline in its quality does not preclude it from being better than most things on tv today.

I mean, I get it: nowhere near as good. I don't think anyone would argue that point with a straight face. But still: a moderately... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by DirtyOldTown at 12:08 PM on July 7, 2015

Hello, everyone that doesn't like The Simpsons anymore. We know.
posted to MetaFilter by adept256 at 12:06 PM on July 7, 2015

That's a relief: I can continue not watching Simpsons as I have been for the last 17 years.
posted to MetaFilter by entropicamericana at 12:02 PM on July 7, 2015

i remember early 90s conversations with suburban montreal south asian families (my extended family) about "chinese" buying up b.c.

1) i didnt expect india to show as #2 in those charts

2) vancouver is a terribly impossible city to live in, and im in brooklyn ffs. i tried to move in 2008 (thanks asus/atos) but failed...ridiculously expensive, car needed for a commute and constant traffic, and few jobs that paid.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by brainimplant at 6:03 PM on July 7, 2015

At least to me, "why is so much of Vancouver's land reserved for detached housing?" is a much more interesting question than "why are detached houses expensive in a very nice city?".

About 2/3 of Vancouver's land is zoned for detached houses (and a lot of the rest is zoned for uses other than multifamily housing). Reducing demand from wealthy immigrants might bring prices down somewhat, but the underlying problem is that it's straight-up illegal to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ripley_ at 5:53 PM on July 7, 2015

Every time I read something like this, I become happier that I didn't have kids.
posted to MetaFilter by Halloween Jack at 7:27 AM on July 8, 2015

. . . and that movies like Blade Runner are so far off the mark they'll become fantasy about alternate worlds rather than vice versa.

Via @BrentToderian:

Blade Runner was set in 2019, 4 years from now. This isn't an outtake from the movie — it's the real Beijing.
posted to MetaFilter by ryanshepard at 7:19 AM on July 8, 2015

t feels like we're often in a mode of attacking each other these days because deep down we know we can't attack the real problems

Or, phrased differently, we're encouraged to attack each other so that we don't attack the real problems.
posted to MetaFilter by aramaic at 7:03 AM on July 8, 2015

Whelp from now on I'm calling basically all Fortune 500 companies "climate profiteers."
posted to MetaFilter by Eyebrows McGee at 6:56 AM on July 8, 2015

Jeffrey Kiehl was a senior scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research when he became so concerned about the way the brain resists climate science, he took a break and got a psychology degree. Ten years of research later, he's concluded that consumption and growth have become so central to our sense of personal identity and the fear of economic loss creates such numbing anxiety, we literally cannot imagine making the necessary changes.
posted to MetaFilter by j03 at 6:19 AM on July 8, 2015

is this somehing I would have to grasp the concept of money to know about
posted to MetaFilter by DoctorFedora at 6:31 AM on July 8, 2015

Oh my god, do you old people have no self-awareness or what
posted to MetaFilter by blue t-shirt at 6:10 AM on July 8, 2015

There are worse people in the world that could be making that money, like bankers or (shudder) derivatives traders.
posted to MetaFilter by blue_beetle at 5:45 AM on July 8, 2015

I have to get this book.

But as a parent of small kids the idea of drinking to blackout is just...incomprehensible.

It was incomprehensible for me with my three small kids too but there I was. There were times when I didn't have a blackout maybe 2 days a week.

Even drinking itself: you're always so damn tired, even though a drink or two is a nice relaxer, the overall... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Clinging to the Wreckage at 12:23 PM on July 8, 2015

MartinWisse: "See this article brought all my inner prejudices to the fore: typical yank, can't hold her liquor, never learned to drink properly, too stupid to manage getting drunk without blacking out. "

And this is one of the lines dudes use when pushing drinks on American women (at home and abroad) -- if you were a little more worldly, more cosmopolitan, less small-town American, you'd be better at drinking! Awww, it's so cute that you're... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Eyebrows McGee at 11:01 AM on July 8, 2015

I don't understand this comment. Is it some sort of moral failing to get knocked-down drunk from three beers instead of six? Is there some sort of training she failed to undertake so she could handle six beers? Or is this more of a "Haha, I was born bigger and stronger than you, wimp," sort of taunt?

All of the above, I think. Comments like this have driven me to binge drink on more occasions than I could possibly count, for reasons... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by divined by radio at 10:08 AM on July 8, 2015

For a lot of women, we aren't taught to about how to not get drunk without hitting that point.


I must have missed school on the day men were being taught this lesson.
posted to MetaFilter by five fresh fish at 9:36 AM on July 8, 2015

I feel obliged to comment: don't really see blackouts as being a big deal.
posted to MetaFilter by booooooze at 9:35 AM on July 8, 2015

It's not a point of pride to drink to the point of blackout; it's knowing how to get drunk without hitting that point. And not drinking so fucking much if you can't.

Alcoholics just aren't that good at not drinking so fucking much.
posted to MetaFilter by seventyfour at 8:44 AM on July 8, 2015

I would like any men posting in this thread to please remember that the relationship between women and alcohol is a lot more fraught than that of men and alcohol. So yes, you're right, drinking to the blackout is not normal. But this:

It's not a point of pride to drink to the point of blackout; it's knowing how to get drunk without hitting that point. And not drinking so fucking much if you can't.

For a lot of women, we... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Kitteh at 8:37 AM on July 8, 2015

That this is a well-known and dramatic side effect of alcohol usage, yet alcohol remains legal, amazes me.

I am able to drink alcohol and I do not black out. I can and do stop after a few drinks. I would be very unhappy if alcohol were made illegal.

I would posit that blacking out while drinking is not normal.
posted to MetaFilter by Nevin at 8:25 AM on July 8, 2015

About a decade ago, I attended a Christmas party that one of my co-workers was throwing. I'd taken a cab over, because I knew that I was going to be drinking, and I drank like a particularly irresponsible fish. At the end of the night, my friend/co-worker Sandy (not her real name) offered me a ride home.

I'd seen Sandy drinking throughout the evening, but I was feeling pretty sober at that point, and she seemed sharper than I was and said that she was sober, so I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Parasite Unseen at 8:23 AM on July 8, 2015

For me, the problem always was that I could have a couple of drinks and leave at that often, but I couldn't predict when my brain would go into FUCK IT LET US KEEP DRINKING mode. So it becomes a really awful crapshoot.
posted to MetaFilter by Kitteh at 8:16 AM on July 8, 2015

I generally blackout more than my husband (because Fuck You is why) but when he does OH BOY DOES HE!

One time we were getting into bed after a night out and we got into some stupid minor argument because I kept reminding him of something and he kept forgetting that I'd reminded him (because he was blacking out). Eventually I got super frustrated and was like "I ALREADY TOLD YOU THIS SIX TIMES!" and he had NO IDEA why I was so angry because he kept blacking out.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:06 AM on July 8, 2015

I would love to have a Tiny House.

In the backyard of my 3-bedroom Big House.
posted to MetaFilter by Lyn Never at 9:21 AM on July 8, 2015

Most of the tiny houses that I've seen seem to be one large plots of land which means that they don't really solve any housing scarcity issues.

yes but if you die in one you can forgo a coffin and just bury the house
posted to MetaFilter by indubitable at 8:53 AM on July 8, 2015

Of course it's not, just like the lives of people who have the McMansions featured in swanky design magazines aren't all peaches and cream either.

Or like the lives of the millions of us who live in the original tiny houses, apartments.

I was initially interested in tiny houses, but increasingly they just seem to represent a sad, impractical (for most, anyway) end run at the receding American Dream of each family owning a freestanding home.
posted to MetaFilter by ryanshepard at 8:48 AM on July 8, 2015

Awh man this hits me right in the middle - both enjoying the snark while also having respect for people that make odd and cool things.

Do you have a tiny river that runs behind your tiny house? I bet you do. I bet your whole Goddamn property is whimsical.

Heh - manic pixie dream houses
posted to MetaFilter by litleozy at 8:44 AM on July 8, 2015

Somewhere a PoMo cultural studies PHD candidate is writing a paper on the connections between absurdly tiny homes and patriarchal body shame.
posted to MetaFilter by idiopath at 8:43 AM on July 8, 2015

Dwell Article Pitch: "Six floating staircases made of reclaimed and lacquered skateboards that will totally not kill you if you misstep upon them."
posted to MetaFilter by boo_radley at 8:43 AM on July 8, 2015

I actually do commend people who can live this life, but I am curious if it’s all peaches and cream like the swanky design magazines suggest.

Of course it's not, just like the lives of people who have the McMansions featured in swanky design magazines aren't all peaches and cream either. We are always being sold on the idea that life will be better "if only..." we did something different. It just means different challenges.
posted to MetaFilter by nubs at 8:42 AM on July 8, 2015

This is hilarious but does not diminish my desire to have a tiny home in the least.
posted to MetaFilter by Kitteh at 8:41 AM on July 8, 2015