MeFi Favorites by silby

Ask MeFi: How can I prove to my parents that I'm "mature" enough?

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:29:32 -0800

I'm 16 years old. I have (though somewhat borderline) Asperger's and I'm highly intellectually (verbal, not quite visual-spatial) gifted. I don't do well in school, you could say I'm an "underachiever". I graduate high school this year. I will most likely not get into either of my top universities in the city (I'm Canadian, btw). I don't mind taking next year (from graduation until I'm 17.5) to "mature a bit" but eventually I want to go to school overseas. I need to prove to my parents I can live alone... without actually living alone.

MeFi: What does a man with pie want? More pie.

CheeseDigestsAll — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:34:00 -0800

Imagine an alternate world, where the idea for "The Matrix" had been pitched to Charlie Chaplin. Behold.

Ask MeFi: I love you, fresh egg

chalbe — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:34:01 -0800

What cooking secrets take your food to the almost-pro level?

MeFi: Deionized Essence of Dan Brown

Secret Life of Gravy — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:19:34 -0800

"Five months ago, the kaleidoscope of power had been shaken, and Aringarosa was still reeling from the blow." Dan Brown's 20 Worst Sentences

MeFi: Corporate Brand Identity Avoidance Consultant

netbros — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:18:50 -0800

Aunt Feminina Boots's Char-Broiled Book Club — Feminina Boots has been experiencing a lot of difficulty lately trying to find a book club where she can say things that aren’t just going to upset people.

MeFi: Whats it like to be a cow?

vacapinta — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:31:08 -0800

An Armadillo running and sniffing
The Mole-Cam
Cow Staring at Cow.
These and many more at the Museum of Animal Perspectives, a site run and curated by Sam Easterson.

MeFi: Old Time Radio Revival Round-up

filthy light thief — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:47:59 -0800

Old-time radio (often abbreviated as "OTR," also known as the Golden Age of Radio) refers to a period of radio programming in the United States lasting from the proliferation of radio broadcasting in the early 1920s until television's replacement of radio as the dominant home entertainment medium in the 1950s, with some programs continuing into the early 1960s. The origin of radio dramas in the United States is hard to pin down, but there is evidence of a remote broadcast of a play in 1914 at Normal College (now California State University at San José), and the first serial radio drama was an adaptation of a play by Eugene Walter, entitled "The Wolf," which aired in September 1922. Given the age of the programs and the fact that home reel-to-reel recording started in the 1950s (followed by Philips "compact cassettes" in 1963), it might be surprising that quite a few of these old shows have survived. Thanks in part to original radio station-sourced recordings made on aluminum discs, acetates, and glass recordings and other unnamed sources, many radio dramas and newscasts from decades past are available online, and more are being digitized and restored to this day.

MeFi: "A mental and visual release for New Yorkers, who may find it exhausting to live in the most identifiable city in the world."

ocherdraco — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:49:06 -0800

The Last Parcels of Nowhere Remaining in Manhattan. Photographs.

MeFi: This game is made by a man who hates videogames

filthy light thief — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:34:33 -0800

Takeshi no Chōsenjō: it came before the endurance test that is Desert Bus, and served as an inspiration for Janey Thompson's Marathon. In English it is known as Takeshi's Challenge. Released in December 1986 for the Famicom system, the game mechanisms include use of the Famicom microphone to sing karaoke for an hour. And that's after you drink to the point of blacking out, divorce your wife, quit your job, and learn to hang glide AND learn the Hintoba language, amongst other things. All of this takes place in lands populated with nothing but people that want to beat you to death. Of course, you can skip that all and complete the game in a mere 4 minutes by simply walking off the edge of existence, and magically ending at the final treasure room.

MeFi: Get the (wedding) party started.

Hartster — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 06:38:05 -0800

This is how to start a wedding. Totally and utterly SYTLy, but still the best thing I've seen this week.

MeFi: WHILE YOU WERE READING THIS ... I FARTED

Optimus Chyme — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:30:02 -0800

If you're tired of boring twee t-shirts with birds and swirly stuff and junk on them, maybe it's time you started running with the Big Dogs. From "Fart Now Loading" to "Talk Slower - I don't speak STUPID", Big Dogs brand graphic tees are a great way to communicate your hip, in-your-face, modern attitude.

MeFi: Some comics about mental illness by Darryl Cunningham.

MegoSteve — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:39:38 -0800

Some comics about mental illness by Darryl Cunningham. (via)

MeFi: The benches have been warned

kosem — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:59:48 -0800

At least one of these things is true, and possibly both: (a) This was the most tense game of baseball ever played; or (b) relations between Jews and the Klan have deteriorated dramatically since 1926. Bill Francis, a research librarian at the Baseball Hall of Fame, unearths a tantalizing newspaper clipping.

MeFi: Waka-waka-waka

JHarris — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:15:34 -0800

The Pac-Man Dossier is an extremely detailed description of the game logic of arcade Pac-Man. It explains why, once in a while, monsters will harmlessly pass through Pac-Man. It explains why they won't go up through the tunnels above the monster box. It explains why occasionally, after losing a life, monsters will refuse to leave the box. It explains when and why Blinky becomes Cruise Elroy, and why sometimes Pinky gets confused and loses track of Pac-Man. It even explains, as far as the player can continue to play, what to do on the kill screen. It is awesome. Previously....

MeFi: Dancing in the streets for Obama

twoleftfeet — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:51:58 -0800

People took to the streets to celebrate Obama's victory in New York, Seattle, Austin, San Francisco, Boulder, New Brunswick, Oakland, Philadelphia, Gainesville, Los Angeles, Boston, Portland, Atlanta, Cambridge, Madison, Richmond, Baltimore, Santa Cruz, and Washinton, D.C.