"My name's Duncan. I was just a lonely 13-year-old with a rapid aging disease until I met..." Cakey! The Cake from Outer Space! [ episode 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 ; each episode 4-5 minutes. Borderline NSFW. Must like talking cake. ]
posted by not_on_display on Aug 24, 2009 - 17 comments

This Must Be The Place. For fans of The Talking Heads and American Psycho. NSFW.
posted by miss lynnster on Jul 24, 2009 - 37 comments

Rich Jones has been told that he talks in his sleep quite a bit. The next logical step, of course, was to record his sleep talk and post it on the web.
posted by damn dirty ape on Feb 2, 2009 - 36 comments

The Waseda Talker has been turning heads (har har) lately. It's a mechanical simulation of the human vocal tract, from the motion of its synthetic lips down to the hypnotic undulation of its rubbery vocal folds (compare the genuine article here). Think this is new? Well, these days we do most of this stuff electronically — but talking simulacra have a long and weird history, starting back when electronic synthesizers were just a pipe dream. Here's a talking pair of bellows from 1791, and a head you can play like a trumpet as recently as 1937. The granddaddy of 'em all are the Kratzenstein resonators (not Frankenstein, Kratzenstein!) from 1779. Make your own with pipe insulation and a duck call.
posted by nebulawindphone on Nov 28, 2008 - 12 comments

Talking dogs. I love you pug. Smart pooch. [all videos]
posted by nickyskye on Jan 21, 2007 - 32 comments

Trashtalking - German Style. Forget talking dolls, Berlin's speechifying its trash cans to thank pedestrians after they dump their litter. But is it appropriate to have immaterial things tell you how to use them? [More Inside]
posted by gregb1007 on Nov 23, 2003 - 15 comments

Come to the Quiet Party. No loud music, no yelling, no cell phones and one designated area where there is no talking AT ALL!!
posted by hammurderer on Apr 24, 2003 - 17 comments

Spanish dogs say "guau guau". Did you ever read comics or something in a language other than your cradle tongue and notice that onomatopoetic words, particularly for animal sounds, are different in different languages? This webpage has animal sounds from loads of languages, organized by language and animal. Indonesian dogs say "gonggong".
posted by jeb on Apr 30, 2002 - 46 comments

Motorists who park in disabled spaces are to be shamed into moving by a talking meter
it's a good idea, but sad that able-bodied people still park in handicapped spaces.

perhaps it would work better if the meter announced, "if you aren't disabled when you park here, you will be when you leave."
posted by bwg on Apr 27, 2001 - 10 comments