MetaFilter

Alt-f Big Bottom - All is right with the world.

Making sure you saw this - Spinal Tap played at that "Live 8" global concert event in 2008, and when they did "Big Bottom", they brought out every one of the bass players from every other band that was there yt to join in. It was awesome.
posted by EmpressCallipygos

Eponysterical!
posted to MetaFilter by Abehammerb Lincoln at 12:06 PM on March 3, 2023

No Flight of the Conchords or Tenacious D but I guess they fall into that "not quite fictional" category with the Monkees, since they have toured and the band members use their real names.
posted to MetaFilter by mellow seas at 12:05 PM on March 3, 2023

Aw, I think 1998's Still Crazy deserved to make the list with at least one of its songs
posted to MetaFilter by biogeo at 11:42 AM on March 3, 2023

Why would anyone give their children ancestry kits? Like having wasted your money is the absolute best possible outcome there
posted to MetaFilter by doiheartwentyone at 12:56 AM on March 4, 2023

Some malls even inspire a loving and nostalgic tribute song (including a comment about the food choices there). I present to you the Kingsgate Mall song, in Vancouver BC.
posted to MetaFilter by seawallrunner at 10:00 PM on March 1, 2023

OK I just about gave up when I realized that Shaw's request to send someone to look out the rear window was an actual command and not an ironic statement about the situation.

I liked that. In too many Trek episodes and movies, when the sensors don't work, people just kind of sit and squint at the screen on the bridge. Get some people looking out of windows and calling it out!

The nebula-thingy they're in makes the sensors not... [more]
posted to FanFare by Fleebnork at 5:50 AM on March 3, 2023

I am 100% sure that the "real thing" taken from Daystrom is either Lore or Moriarty, and that Picard will engage whichever one it isn't to defeat the one it is. It's just a question of which is which. At the moment, I am leaning toward Lore as the "real thing" and Moriarty as the ally, since Moriarty is "the only thing that can outwit Data". Where this leaves Vadic and the Changelings is TBD.

I thought there was one too many... [more]
posted to FanFare by briank at 6:06 AM on March 3, 2023

I was expecting "we got it from the EXIF data in the image" or some other tech wizardry other than "I found it on Google Maps" (which, I guess, is sort of tech wizardry, but not in the same way).
posted to MetaFilter by briank at 5:31 AM on March 3, 2023

I'm cranky, but my problem with this is I have zero desire to read any more AI chatbot crap than I'm already exposed to.

You and me both. Anyone who doesn't feel similarly about chatGPT is more than welcome to try out the rest of the entire Internet, where people still seem to very much enjoy seeing what it has to say about things. Worth checking in with the steering committee as per usual but I suspect this may actually be a thing folks can mostly agree on.
posted to MetaTalk by jessamyn at 7:54 PM on March 2, 2023

So I was an exchange student to (then West) Germany in the late 80s, and we took a class trip to Berlin for a week. We did this trip by bus, and the drive through East Germany to Berlin was peculiar indeed. The road had fences and walls and guard towers all along it. At Checkpoint Alpha, they came on the bus to check things and they took my USA Today newspaper I had with me. They gave me a receipt and said I could get it back on my back through the checkpoint. It was at Checkpoint Charlie where... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by hippybear at 8:23 AM on March 1, 2023

@ricochet biscuit I regret to inform you of the existence of the 1976 TV movie Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby and the 2014 limited series remake. I haven't seen the latter, but it's probably safe to say it's not quite at the same level as the original feature.

Also worth noting that the Amityville franchise proper is "only" 10 movies. Because it's the name of a town, the word "Amityville" can't be blocked... [more]
posted to FanFare by tomorrowromance at 8:19 AM on March 2, 2023

I hope Grogu peaces out of Jedi Training to continue adventuring with The Mandalorian.

I mean, you wouldn't even need that much beskar for his armor.
posted to FanFare by pykrete jungle at 10:46 PM on December 18, 2020

Greef: She went and joined a spin off tv show, Rangers of the New Republic, which was canceled before it even got off the ground because the star turned out to be an anti-semitic anti-vaxxer.

But hey if you're looking for a marshall Seth Bullock Raylan Givens Cobb Vanth is back from the dead and looking for a job.
posted to FanFare by nathan_teske at 4:44 PM on March 1, 2023

I was there from '86 to '89, and the crux of many of these things is that the allies didn't recognize the existence of East Germany as a separate country. It was still the Soviet occupied zone from World War II. And West Berlin was, technically, also still occupied territory. Command of West Berlin rotated between the U.S., England and France, and they had a separate entity called the Kommandatura to coordinate. They still had wartime occupation powers, but didn't exercise them (to my knowledge).... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by 1369ic at 9:12 AM on March 1, 2023

Point of curiosity, though: there's still one title remaining from the Ancien Régime in Canada – the Baron de Longueuil. Longueuil is a suburb of Montreal, and Wikipedia says the current holder of the title is a Scottish doctor (and second cousin to King Charles III).

There are also two extant British titles with connections to Montreal: the Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, and the Baron Shaughnessy.

The first Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by zadcat at 8:01 AM on March 1, 2023

My mall was the mall they used for Stranger Things and let me tell you when I saw the promotional still of the food court, shot from where Software, Etc. was before they moved to the ground floor, and showing the view across the way where the B. Dalton was and the entrance I always used it definitely made me Feel Some Kind Of Way™. That mall was supposed to be the economic engine of the county, and now it stands empty in a sea of office and light industrial also standing empty.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ob1quixote at 7:55 AM on March 1, 2023

The description of the Anchorage Mall design may need a picture or two to convey how amazing a glass dome food court at the top of an urban mall is.
posted to MetaFilter by zenon at 7:31 AM on March 1, 2023

I took some German language classes a few years back, and our instructor (who was German) spent a good bit of time describing the back-and-forth hassle of crossing the border to see relatives. One time while crossing, the East German border guy found a foreign coin in the car's ashtray and asked him about it. Our teacher was in a foul mood over something and (unwisely) responded with a smart-assed comment. Whereupon the border officers waved the car over into a siding, pulled out a set of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jquinby at 5:50 AM on March 1, 2023

I liked most the bit at the end about not agreeing to anything if you had a conversation with a Soviet or East German on the way.

Are we talking about enemy agents or trickster fairies here?
posted to MetaFilter by Servo5678 at 4:14 AM on March 1, 2023

An interesting thread to follow through history. I would add Diogenes.

In more immediate terms, it's always a bit disconcerting to have commonplace witticisms, a bit of wordplay or sliver of insight offered in response to some quote or morsel of news, engaged with at such immense levels. To make a pun and then have a vagary of algorithm elevate it to such heights of visibility is unfair to the pun. It was never meant to live longer than the groans that follow it.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BlackLeotardFront at 4:28 PM on February 28, 2023

And I'll always have a small amount of fondness for Jesse Ventura for this:

"In response to the 2000 resolution by Virginia, Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura stated "Why? I mean, we won" and that "We took it, that makes it our heritage""
posted to MetaFilter by tavella at 9:02 AM on February 28, 2023

Smalls has been dead for 108 years and 5 days and he’s still turning over Confederate ships to the Union Navy. Fuck yeah.
posted to MetaFilter by Etrigan at 6:52 AM on February 28, 2023

fully authorized and unyeeted

Yes, but is it bona fide? I only comment in bona fide threads that have prospects.

I'll tell you what it is! It's the poster familias!
posted to MetaFilter by Reverend John at 3:19 PM on February 27, 2023

Still looking for a job myself, in Calgary, from Toronto. Not having much luck even finding suitable listings, much less landing an interview, and thinking I might have to broaden my search to non-library gigs. Boy oh boy what a discouraging slog this process is.
posted to MetaFilter by The Card Cheat at 6:58 AM on February 27, 2023

“If this legislature collectively decides that legislating hate against children is our priority, then I am going to make it painful; painful for everyone,” Cavanaugh, one of just 17 Democrats in Nebraska’s unicameral legislature, said Thursday at the state capitol in Lincoln. “Because if you want to inflict pain upon our children, I am going to inflict pain upon this body.”

...

“You cannot stop me,” Cavanaugh said Thursday. “I will not be... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by brook horse at 7:22 PM on February 25, 2023

This was really satisfying to watch.

Especially when it's competently done. We got a minor dump of snow in Toronto this week, proper winter but nothing crazy, and three days later walking around downtown is still difficult. It's more of a Chant sacré situation, you might say.
posted to MetaFilter by mandolin conspiracy at 8:20 AM on February 25, 2023

Here is the Wikipedia page for Ernie Chambers.
posted to MetaFilter by aniola at 3:48 PM on February 25, 2023

I lived in Ottawa for three years in the early 2000s and it was the coldest I have ever been. Back then February was brutal. Nose hairs and eyelashes would freeze getting off the morning bus before I had managed the 400 foot walk to my building. Waiting for the bus in Kanata was probably among the worst experiences in my life particularly on the day the buses didn't run on my route because they couldn't start the engines. I once tried cycling in January and learned hard deep winter cycling... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by srboisvert at 3:44 PM on February 24, 2023

Geoblocked for Canada. Bummer! I'd have liked to have watched this as I'm a fan of both Leslie Jones and TDS.
posted to MetaFilter by Zedcaster at 4:28 PM on February 24, 2023

In 1990 I took a job serving Beavertails on the canal. They had four shacks, each named after a Beatle, I got Ringo, and that's just about the highlight of my one day career. It was so cold, I worked cash but was also supposed to squeeze the lemon half on kilaloe sunrise beavertails. I guess health and safety rules were different back then. It didn't take long for my wet hands to freeze into a bent shape that still allowed me to pull change from the drawer but barely get bills out. The glass... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by furtive at 1:34 PM on February 24, 2023

uBlock Origin to keep YouTube from becoming unusable (which of course is why the next versions of Chrome will not allow it to be installed)

JDownloader to download any videos you want off of YouTube (or hundreds of other sites)

Handbrake in case you need to turn it into a different format to play on your other devices.

...and you're set.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The Pluto Gangsta at 10:42 AM on February 24, 2023

Perhaps "MeFi's Disowned", then?
posted to MetaFilter by Imperfect at 8:43 PM on February 23, 2023

Still not convinced this show is going to be great, but it at least seems more fun than the first two seasons. Unsure whether to align myself more with the jokes about “makes sense that the Star Trek show starring Patrick Stewart finally gets consistently watchable in season 3” or “time to give this struggling Star Trek show a shot in the arm by adding Worf”
posted to FanFare by DoctorFedora at 2:45 PM on February 23, 2023

Nigel Tufnel: The sustain, listen to it.

Marty DiBergi: I don't hear anything.

Nigel Tufnel: Well, you would though, if it wasn't smothered in titebond in a kiddie pool.
posted to MetaFilter by mandolin conspiracy at 11:31 AM on February 23, 2023

he said in a flat tone of voice

A shellac finish on your throat might brighten up your voice a bit.
posted to MetaFilter by Greg_Ace at 11:03 AM on February 23, 2023

A cellist friend, who also taught cello, had an adult student who couldn’t afford a cello. He scrounged up a cello finger board, a tail piece, and a bridge, attached them at all the right distances to a 2 x 4, put a contact mic on the bridge, got a small amp, and came to his lessons. And yes, it sounded just like a cello. My friend tried it, and she said it was really playable. My guess is, it’s the strings….
posted to MetaFilter by njohnson23 at 9:24 AM on February 23, 2023

I think this is a bad idea. Will just lead to more back-and-forth drama. I do think Mods should post that comments were removed at the time that they are removed.
posted to MetaTalk by SoberHighland at 1:33 PM on February 22, 2023

The National Gallery of Canada located in Ottawa is impressive.

Designed by architect Moshe Safdie and opened in 1988, it has an excellent collection from the Group of Seven to modern art - - our family visited 15 years ago, and the kids still talk about Shapeshifter and Vienna, two full size whale skeletons made of discarded white plastic lawn chairs; and Trans-Am Apocaypse No.2, an actual vintage Trans-Am with the entire Book of Revelations... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by fairmettle at 8:55 PM on February 22, 2023

Obviously next week's news: Fossils of 600-Pound giant sea gulls found in New Zealand
posted to MetaFilter by piyushnz at 11:16 PM on February 20, 2023

(I still always think of those envelopes readers would send them, where the Post Office had to solve a puzzle to get it to the right address)

I suspect that after a point they just forwarded all the cryptically addressed envelopes to them.
posted to MetaFilter by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:12 AM on February 19, 2023

He thanked me for proving his point, as 41% is almost all of 43.5%.

This brings back all those repressed high school memories of tutoring classmates who wanted to get into trade colleges and needed to pass grade 11 math.
posted to MetaFilter by bonehead at 5:45 AM on February 17, 2023

It's the Solvay Hut, hanov3r, an emergency shelter.
posted to MetaFilter by tomsk at 10:29 AM on February 18, 2023

Tory was the last person I thought would be derailed by a sex scandal (and depressingly it's kind of quaint to see a politician proactively resign due to an affair) but he was arguably just as bad for the city as Rob Ford was, just less personally chaotic.

There is no "arguably" about this: John Tory was absolutely a worse Mayor than Rob Ford was. Ford was an embarrassment and a fool and a thug, but his personal... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mightygodking at 10:33 AM on February 16, 2023

absolutely, please, do not proceed if you are not 100% on board.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by supermedusa at 12:14 PM on February 17, 2023

Another example of this kind of thing is the coinage of the Parthian Empire. The Parthians conquered the territory ruled by the Greek-speaking Seleucids, who had issued silver coins stamped with Greek names and titles. The early Parthian coinage is also stamped with Greek text, but over the centuries of Parthian rule, the text, presumably copied from one issue of coinage to the next by craftsmen who could no longer read Greek, gradually blurs into unreadable vaguely Grecian letterforms.
posted to MetaFilter by cyanistes at 8:22 AM on February 15, 2023

Yeah, but do you wanna see something really scary?
posted to FanFare by Servo5678 at 11:09 AM on February 14, 2023

As this story has been developing I feel like I'm missing something very basic. Countries spy on each other, don't they? Like all the time? Isn't that just a thing that countries do? There's movies about it and everything! I get that each country has its counterintelligence people who are supposed to keep the other country's spies out, so I understand Americans being like internally annoyed that their country didn't catch this particular inflatable spy earlier, but the OUTRAGE about the very... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by saturday_morning at 6:59 AM on February 14, 2023

I thought for a moment you were talking about Heathcliff and Cathy the comics characters. But then sanity intruded.
posted to MetaFilter by GenjiandProust at 5:04 PM on February 13, 2023

Something I feel like this piece didn't really touch on, but that I've seen people talk about and find compelling, is that one of the things you get in some superhero movies/story arcs (e.g. X-Men and Black Panther) is "villians" who are actually pretty right about a lot of stuff but use tactics that the viewer/reader is supposed to abhor (not necessarily incorrectly), and then the "heroes" are like "this isn't the way to do it!... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by an octopus IRL at 11:11 AM on February 13, 2023

The Newsroom comes to mind (the 1990s Canadian one, not the HBO show).

The lead George Findlay is a consummate asshole.

a venal, petty man who cares only about his sex life, his lunch orders and his personal image within the network's bureaucracy. Although exceptionally intelligent, he is highly self-absorbed and utterly unconcerned about anything besides himself.

Yet for some reason, he's hard not... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by philip-random at 1:53 PM on February 13, 2023