'It's probably easy today to dismiss
Negativland's activities as trifle, banal or plain stupid. They probably wouldn't be too uncomfortable with that, as they rarely claimed to go beyond the softest platitudes of the entertainment biz.
No Other Possibility (1989, 58 mins,
.avi d/l link), their first video work, showcases the band at a career threshold, before their
U2ploitation move and just after their
Christianity hoax. It typically explores the debris of American pop culture, dealing with automobile fetishism, televised preaching, halloween traditions, Marlboro masculinity, soft drinks and MTV.'
[more inside]
posted by item
on Nov 30, 2012 -
31 comments
I'm so sorry, Metafilter, really I am. I don't know what's come over me, but I am posting one of the dopiest, most embarrassing celebrity novelty tunes ever recorded. It's by the fellow who played Batman in the 60s TV series, Adam West, in a breathtakingly stupid recording of an utterly ridiculous song called
Miranda. I pray that you'll forgive me for my indiscretion, and I promise I will post some inspiring and worthwhile music next time around.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Aug 30, 2011 -
41 comments
James Lovelock, 90, says
we're too stupid to prevent climate change. "I don't think we're yet evolved to the point where we're clever enough to handle a complex a situation as climate change." One of the main obstructions to meaningful action is "modern democracy", he added in
an extended interview. "I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while." He thinks only a catastrophic event would now persuade humanity to take the threat of climate change seriously enough, such as the collapse of a giant glacier in Antarctica.
posted by stbalbach
on Mar 30, 2010 -
78 comments
Fun lovin' prankster and b3ta user
godspants edited the
wikipedia page on Cypriot soccer team AC Omonia to include the "facts" that the fans are referred to as "the zany ones", wear hats made of shoes and sing a song about a little potato.
Yesterday there was a match between Omonia and British club Manchester City. British Tabloid the Daily Mirror used the wikipedia "facts" in their
build-up article. Daily Mirror obviously doesn't realise their journalist has been guilty of incredibly lazy research, despite the
prankster emailing them, and the Mirror refers to the "Zany ones" in their post-match article the
next day.
posted by hnnrs
on Sep 19, 2008 -
43 comments
StupidFilter is a work in progress which aims to
recognize online stupidity programmatically.
Keep in mind we grade stupidity on a scale of 1 to 5. Someone might get a 1 or 2 for a comment that used no punctuation, whereas a comment consisting of nothing but text message abbreviations with a dash of LOLLLLL thrown in for good measure would probably rate a solid 4 or 5. There is a certain amount of subjectivity, and our software is aware of that; scoring will be normalized to eliminate excessively generous or harsh estimations of stupidity. Read some examples of "the tyranny of idiocy" in their collection of
Random Stupidity .
posted by amyms
on Oct 18, 2007 -
69 comments
A Mall Divided (youtube) - a musical tale of commerce, employment and electrical distribution for our times.
posted by Artw
on Dec 18, 2006 -
9 comments
According to this site - More than 700 Trillion BEEDIES or BIRI are smoked annually
- Indians smoke more than one trillion bidis every year.
- An experienced worker can roll 2,000 a day.
Step inside and learn more about these unrealistic stats!
posted by joelf
on Nov 24, 2006 -
63 comments
Are Satanic messages hidden in Catholic art? According to the new documentary
Rape of the Soul [embedded Quicktime], the answer is, "so completely yes that you could shit." Featuring such experts as
Wilson Bryan Key and
Judith Reisman, this movie will literally, physically blow your brain apart by cutting little holes in classic art that might conceivably look like three sixes if you arrange them properly, or maybe finding a small patch of red and black that could look like a lumpy Devil head if you're looking for one and squinting. [
via]
posted by Sticherbeast
on Mar 28, 2006 -
64 comments
Marvel to finance up to ten new films — Marvel Entertainment has received a line of credit to produce new superhero films. The characters in the arrangement are
Captain America,
The Avengers,
Nick Fury,
Black Panther,
Ant-Man,
Cloak &
Dagger,
Dr. Strange,
Hawkeye,
Power Pack, and
Shang-Chi. "These movies are tentpoles for either summer or the holidays," said Marvel chairman and CEO,
Avi Arad. Right. Because who wouldn't want to see a film about Hawkeye? Or Ant-Man? I can't wait! (Related:
how to make a superhero movie that doesn't suck. My first thought? Have a superhero that doesn't suck.)
posted by jdroth
on Sep 7, 2005 -
138 comments
Frick'n Lasers! When an UT Austin student finds a stash of graded freshman physics
homework, he decides to pitch in and add his own comments to those of the TA. Our children is might not be learning, but at least they're getting to play with lasers!
posted by robocop is bleeding
on Feb 9, 2005 -
79 comments
Meet Vernon Blake. Vernon Blake was a Systems Admin for the Alabama Department of Transportation, and it was 'well known' in his office that a certain supervisor spent far more time playing solitare on his computer than he did doing anything else. Inspired by a campaign to
stop waste in Alabama government, Vernon installed a screen capture utility which took
717 screenshots (.pdf) over 7 months, documenting a clear pattern of non-work related use of the computer. The results? The supervisor was given a
written repremand. Vernon Blake was
fired.
posted by anastasiav
on Jul 31, 2004 -
38 comments
