22: Librarians, librarians, everywhere

February 1, 2008 12:43 PM

Show #22 of the podcast features updates from the last few weeks of MetaFilter. It was recorded on January 30, 2008 and runs 53 minutes long.

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Helpful Links

Podcast Feed
MeFi Podcast on iTunes
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MeFi Music

Lady Bad Luck by MNDZ

As kids by ORthey

Enough #2 by robotot


MeFi Jobs

Babysitter job in Seattle

Election '08 Online Editor

Special Projects Librarian


MetaTalk

Best Mockup for a feature request ever in this thread

SF meetup photos: 1, 2, 3 (last photo used this technique which prompted "Awesome. One step closer to 100% edible Muppets.")


MetaFilter

Lost Camera gets found thread

Alcatraz backroom tour in photos

Barefoot for a cause

Donnie Osmond workin' it

Responses from the subjects of a MeFi post: Jill Sobule, Photo essay photographer (Parallel Worlds), Performance enhancing drugs writer

FAIL meme blog

BMW Crash thread

White Whine blog


Ask MeFi

How do you learn to live with rich, privileged friends

Related: How did you get rich?

How much does Steve Guttenberg make these days off his work?

The incompatible food triad puzzle thread which links to this page

PISS LASER how to beat THIS URINAL CAKE

Great movies a person should see

Best global warming real estate?

Can I get an engagement ring made out of moon rocks?

How to do a Wookie roar? (from 2005, thanks to recent favorites and recent delicious activity)

posted by mathowie to MeFi Podcast at 12:43 PM (57 comments total)

Hooray for more regular podcasts!
posted by danb at 1:32 PM on February 1, 2008

Best global morning real estate?

Typo, but I kinda like it. It's all optimistic. When the sea level rises, a new day will dawn for the plankton.
posted by Tehanu at 1:37 PM on February 1, 2008

Kansas is in the Midwest. Why does the wind blow so much there? Because Nebraska sucks.
posted by dw at 1:42 PM on February 1, 2008

We have Labour Day in Canada. We spell it more laboriously, though.
posted by Sys Rq at 1:50 PM on February 1, 2008

Matt should have also read the third best answer on that wookiee thread.
posted by aubilenon at 2:05 PM on February 1, 2008

I love "What, what are you even talking about...what?" at about 28 minutes.
posted by danb at 2:08 PM on February 1, 2008

For more about the Alcatraz occupation, see Alcatraz is Not an Island (clip).
posted by Sys Rq at 2:13 PM on February 1, 2008

More about Crissy Field.

(And it never occurred to me before this most recent SF meetup that my nick could be pronounced. Apparently, it's pronounced like Eartha (like Kitt!). In my universe, it's spelled out, if you will: are-tee-aitch-ay. Now I know!)
posted by rtha at 2:18 PM on February 1, 2008

Mods love urinal questions.
posted by Wolfdog at 2:22 PM on February 1, 2008

rtha: Not like RZA with a lisp?
posted by Sys Rq at 2:24 PM on February 1, 2008

Wow, stuff I missed. Cool!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 2:25 PM on February 1, 2008

Ambiguous username pronunciation clan ain't nothin' to fuck with, Sys Rq.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:34 PM on February 1, 2008

Sys Rq: Nope. Each letter pronounced separately. You?

Had to come back in and say: mathowie, get thee to a video store or whatever and see Blazing Saddles. You owe it to your kid to show her the magic of the fart scene!

(I've never seen Titantic or ET, either, so I'm with you on those. Or Forrest Gump.)
posted by rtha at 2:34 PM on February 1, 2008

Mods love urinal questions.

I am really enjoying the "what's taking you so long in there" question from today actually.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:35 PM on February 1, 2008

Everyone. Seriously. See E.T. already. But ONLY if you can procure the pre-walkie-talkied version; the CGI pretty successfully sucks all the charm out of it.

Titanic, meh.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:45 PM on February 1, 2008

Sys Rq's username is pronounced "Seriously, why is that even on keyboard anymore?"

Although some folks pronounce it "Hey, it's handy for invoking emergency kernal messages during a system failure. Yeah, I know we could use a different key if it weren't around, but it's not like we're not using it right now, so, hey. Besides, having a use for a weird key that nobody else knows what to do with feels kind of neat and tingly. Also, don't get me started about Scroll Lock."
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:48 PM on February 1, 2008

the pre-walkie-talkied version

What, what are you even talking about...what?

I guess I can go look it up....
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:50 PM on February 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

Spielberg went and got all Han Doesn't Shoot First on ET, replacing M16s with walkie-talkies in the rerelease. God forbid the scary government intervention in these kids' life was, you know, scary.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:55 PM on February 1, 2008

jessamyn: What, what are you even talking about...what?

It's in the same arena as "Han shot first". Officious characters in E.T. originally carried firearms. They've been digitally replaced with walkie-talkies.

I want a handicap on cortex, please.
posted by carsonb at 2:59 PM on February 1, 2008

I mean, there aren't any lady wookies anyhow, are there? —Jessamyn

Chewie's wife, Malla, from The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) would take issue with that.
posted by mumkin at 3:04 PM on February 1, 2008

I'd always assumed that Wookiees were just Ewoks with a genetic abnormality on the Y chromosome.
posted by Sys Rq at 3:15 PM on February 1, 2008

For God's sake, cortex. Put down that damn donut. It's clear you've had enough sugar.
posted by Dave Faris at 3:23 PM on February 1, 2008

Wow. Cool. The first MeFi podcast I listen to and a post I made is mentioned. I even recycled! BTW, Jessamyn, he collected the 110,000 by tip-off of the game he was barefoot for. They are continuing to collect for the season.

And a shoutout for SpoFi! The amount of shouting by homers over at SpoFi has been kept in check with the introduction of a test to join.
posted by geekyguy at 3:39 PM on February 1, 2008

The white whine commentary sounds vaguely racist. I don't see how owning a private plane is a "white whine" more than it's just a "rich whine".
posted by null terminated at 5:03 PM on February 1, 2008

a test to join.

What's that supposed to be a test of, other than ability to use google and / or wikipedia?
posted by dersins at 5:06 PM on February 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

Not only is my job posting adorable, but so are my kids! Anyone? Anyone? Please?
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:28 PM on February 1, 2008

The white whine commentary sounds vaguely racist.

Yeah, a lot of people flagged it as such too. I don't really get it, I read the site and laughed at how I can hear myself saying half the things posted there.

I don't see how owning a private plane is a "white whine" more than it's just a "rich whine".

True, but if you look at the posts on the site, a lot of them can be classified as "petty gripes of the privileged class" and a friend's family member complaining about having to find a car when they land their jet always cracked me up and reminded me of the most pathetic complaint I'd ever heard.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 6:49 PM on February 1, 2008

Oh man! I want to listen now. But if I do, what will I listen to when I go running tomorrow? A new podcast always makes me a lot happier about going running.

/restrains self, dwells in suspense.
posted by Miko at 7:20 PM on February 1, 2008

Scroll Lock is for making Excel go all wonky.
posted by Tuwa at 7:22 PM on February 1, 2008

btw, I wrote a how-to on how we record these things. It's not very difficult and doesn't use much hardware or software.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:23 PM on February 1, 2008

Matt - For the next podcast, I'll volunteer to do a Wookiee roar for you.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 9:35 PM on February 1, 2008

mathowie, get thee to a video store or whatever and see Blazing Saddles. You owe it to your kid to show her the magic of the fart scene!

Titanic, meh.

Both seconded. As for ET, you should see it with your kid because she'll love it, but I'm not sure you'll be as thrilled with it. It's kind of saccharine.

Also, I've been biting my tongue for months and I can't hold back any longer: YOU GUYS REALLY REALLY NEED TO FIND OTHER WAYS TO SAY "AWESOME."

*pant pant pant*

Whew, I feel better now.
posted by languagehat at 7:51 AM on February 2, 2008

YOU GUYS REALLY REALLY NEED TO FIND OTHER WAYS TO SAY "AWESOME."

You're the language guy, do you have suggestions?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:55 AM on February 2, 2008

I think he should pre-record a series of superlatives that you can just drop in over the word "awesome" when Matt does the final edit.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:07 AM on February 2, 2008

You could say ontzagwekkend.
posted by jouke at 8:46 AM on February 2, 2008

I just say "superlative" in place of whatever superlative it feels like I'm using too much. I find it appropriately MeTa.
posted by carsonb at 9:46 AM on February 2, 2008

"Is that a durian? I had one of those in Dubai..."

Nope, they look rambutans.

Durians look like S&M rugby balls. I haven't had the guts to try one yet (aside from some 'durian flavoured' candies, which weren't too bad. Tasted a bit like Werther's Originals). This sums them up nicely, apparently.

If you ever see them, you should try longans and cherimoyas. Longans have that rambutan / lychee texture, but I find they have more taste... a bit cantaloupe-y, sort of. Cherimoyas are icecream grown on trees, I swear. Cut one up, throw it in the freezer, then go nuts with a spoon. *Homer drool*

I'm really jonesing for good fruit right now.
posted by CKmtl at 2:12 PM on February 2, 2008

You're the language guy, do you have suggestions?

Aces, admirable, adroit, consummate, dynamite, exceptional, fantastic, fine, first-rate, hellacious, marvelous, masterly, nifty, perfect, proficient, skillful, superb, terrific, tremendous, wonderful, or of course ontzagwekkend.
posted by languagehat at 2:40 PM on February 2, 2008 [1 favorite]

Nope, they look rambutans.

Ah right, I had one of them in Dubai and someone there told me it was a durian.

languagehat, where I'm from hellacious means bad. The dictionary has a curious split definition.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:47 PM on February 2, 2008

Brilliaaaaant! Ace! Smart! Outstanding! Mint! I say, top-hole, what? 太牛！ Wizard! Spiffing! Absolutely splendid, Tarquin. Fab! Canny!
posted by Abiezer at 3:20 PM on February 2, 2008

Wicked neato peachy keen.
posted by rtha at 5:18 PM on February 2, 2008

I love contranyms. Especially on pancakes.
posted by Tuwa at 5:56 PM on February 2, 2008

太好了！
tai hao le!
Too good!
posted by geekyguy at 6:20 PM on February 2, 2008

It's a mark of my oldness that when I hear people say "wizard" I am agog at its foolishness.
posted by Miko at 7:49 PM on February 2, 2008

How old are you Abiezer? 80?
posted by jouke at 10:59 PM on February 2, 2008

I travel through time via the magic of the written word, jouke.
A couple of them are recent coinages, but "Wizard prang" was already stock-in-trade comic wartime RAF pilot speak by the time I heard it, I do confess.
posted by Abiezer at 11:07 PM on February 2, 2008

Top-hole and spiffing made me imagine you wearing a moustache and gripping a pipe between your teeth.
posted by jouke at 2:07 AM on February 3, 2008

Though it may historical origins, 'wizard' definitely wasn't stock in trade when I grew up, and would have sounded either archaically dorky or just dorky. Thus, I feel old when I hear people much younger than me say it unblushingly.
posted by Miko at 6:38 AM on February 3, 2008

It doesn't look like "wizard prang" was a superlative, but shorthand for a shiny person having a colossal fuckup.

Looks like a smashing good tale.
posted by Miko at 6:44 AM on February 3, 2008

Oh you're right as to the whole phrase there, Miko, but "wizard" was the superlative - "awesome wipe-out" type of thing, I believe.
posted by Abiezer at 6:49 AM on February 3, 2008

Gotcha.
posted by Miko at 7:25 AM on February 3, 2008

If I overused "first-rate" instead of "awesome" do you think anyone would hold it against me?
posted by danb at 7:58 AM on February 3, 2008

I am really enjoying the "what's taking you so long in there" question from today actually.
"chatty 'poll the audience' questions without a problem to be solved."
posted by Wolfdog at 8:11 AM on February 3, 2008

mathowie: "...Illi-NOYZ..."

Illinoyz? Illinoyz!? Someone's been listening to too much Sufjan Stevens. While I find your pronunciation of my state hellacious, this podcast was quite hellacious.*

*Alternately, "While I'd like to cleave your skull for mispronouncing Illinois, this wonderful podcast cleaves my broken heart," or, "This podcast was positively decadent, minus, of course, your decadent pronunciation."
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 7:25 AM on February 4, 2008 [1 favorite]

There are dishwashers making $10.00?!?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:11 PM on February 4, 2008

Also, Seinfeld does plenty. Just last month, he donated an airstrip to an inner city neighborhood.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:12 PM on February 4, 2008 [1 favorite]

Never saw ET or Titanic either, intentionally.
posted by edgeways at 10:57 AM on February 19, 2008