54: The Ballad of Hardcore Taters

August 31, 2010 3:27 PM

Episode 54 of the MetaFilter podcast was recorded on August 25th and runs a bit over an hour long. We had some audio issues this time around and I ended up using a mixed skype recording instead of our each individual parts. New this time about is the awkward insertion of music breaks.

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Art show and Lake Washington meetup photos and Oregon's whole state feed.

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I need to be costumed.

MeFi Projects

Singing While Driving

Game Design Essentials: 20 non-computer games

I'm voting Tea Party parody shirts (sparked from this Ask MeFi question)

Put This On episode 3

No Baggage Challenge (everything he packed in his pants)

Marriage D.C. (based on this previous question)

cortex's echo nest remix project

MeFi Music

This is not a morning coffee note (rcade deephouse mix) by eyeballkid

Landfall by ianK

In the Orchard by peterkins

Listen to your heart (Roxette cover) by dacre

Music Talk: What sorts of music mementos and talismans do you have in your music-making space?

(jessamyn's letter from DFW)

MetaFilter Posts

The Best Magazine Articles Ever (you might need: instapaper)

Epic Coaster

Ray Bradbury NSFW-ish song

Inside knowledge on mine rescue operations from someone in the field from the Chilean Miners trapped thread.

The Steven Slater thread spawned lyrics and turned into a song (on CNN) and there are many other songs about it.

Justin Bieber slooooooowed dooooooown (creator's twitter page, Music Talk thread about slowing down music)

Robert Downey Jr. Pin-up photoshoppery

Journey through the Canyons (HD movie flying through some rugged landscapes)

Mila's Daydreams (octopus eating baby, bookworm)

Ask MeFi

I found a list in my house and I have no idea what it is, tell me what it is.

How do I become one of those people that makes everyone they talk to feel great?

TV Shows I can learn something from (Connections show)

Help my sons learn to play the drums

What do you suggest to a novice manager?

Name some books that will make me rethink everything

Everyday styles for long hair? (sock bun)

posted by mathowie to MeFi Podcast at 3:27 PM (36 comments total)

FINALLY YAY
posted by shakespeherian at 4:21 PM on August 31, 2010

Metafilter: A persistent tone of dislike
posted by mintcake! at 4:34 PM on August 31, 2010

Great podcast. Thanks for the shoutout.
posted by ColdChef at 5:34 PM on August 31, 2010

Any Megafiller shout out on this one?
posted by qvantamon at 5:41 PM on August 31, 2010

Hooray!

And yes, GTA=Greater Toronto Area. And mathowie's pronunciation of Toronto seems to be the prevailing one now. I haven't heard anyone say it like "Torono", "Trono", or "Trona" for a long time.
posted by FishBike at 6:02 PM on August 31, 2010

Really? Damn. I was taught [sort of indoctrinated really] that that was how you said it if you knew what you were talking about. Nuts!
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:03 PM on August 31, 2010

That was just an Albertan fucking with your head.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:08 PM on August 31, 2010

I don't know why, but maybe 10 or even 20 years ago or so, it seems like people started pronouncing all the letters again. I don't think I'm imagining it, because when I watch old documentaries and news footage, the pronunciation with various letters elided is definitely common.

No doubt a bunch of other GTA MeFites will be along to explain how wrong I am about all this.
posted by FishBike at 6:09 PM on August 31, 2010

"Oh yeah? Well what's so greater about it?"
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:18 PM on August 31, 2010

You should mention the NY Korean food meetups just so that we can hear you pronounce kkokkodalk.
posted by Splunge at 6:21 PM on August 31, 2010 [1 favorite]

Mee fite! Yes!
posted by Splunge at 6:23 PM on August 31, 2010

No doubt a bunch of other GTA MeFites will be along to explain how wrong I am about all this.

"Toronto" is perfectly pronounced when you can't tell if the speaker pronounced the second "t" or not. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. Then you have it.

T-DOT REPRESENT.

yes, I actually call it "the t dot". And "t" "o".
posted by GuyZero at 6:27 PM on August 31, 2010

You are somewhat wrong about all this, FishBike, but then, so is jessamyn. (Have I made everyone unhappy now?)

The first O and final T in Toronto are voiced softly, but not skipped completely. Non-GTAers usually say something like loud and long and squared off like "toe-RON-toe", while the local non-newscaster pronunciation is closer to "t[schwa]-RAWN-[very soft t][schwa]" or "tuh-RAWN-[t]uh". Or try this mp3 if you don't believe me. No one says Tronno or Toronno, because even that is too hard-edged and assertive.

I think it's the same phenomenon that makes Americans think that we pronounce "about" as "aboot", while we think Americans pronounce "about" as "abaaoooowwt", and the Scots call down a curse on both our hooses. But maybe that's just my Canadian raising talking.

And could somebody please get in touch with taters about her costuming needs? We heard at the Saturday meetup that she hadn't heard from anyone about the job listing. Only 60 costuming days left to Halloween, folks!
posted by maudlin at 6:27 PM on August 31, 2010

See? Even that foreign guy from California agrees with me.
posted by maudlin at 6:28 PM on August 31, 2010

"Toronto" is perfectly pronounced when you can't tell if the speaker pronounced the second "t" or not. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't.

And either way, they are sorry about it.
posted by qvantamon at 6:34 PM on August 31, 2010

You are somewhat wrong about all this, FishBike [...]

See, I was right, and therefore I'm wrong. It's all done with mirrors. I guess the T-shirt will have to stay hidden a while longer.
posted by FishBike at 6:34 PM on August 31, 2010

By the way, the right way to pronounce Toronto is beeeep-beep-beeeep-beeeep beeeep-beep-beeeep-beeeep beeeep-beeeep-beep-beep, and then start a drum solo.
posted by qvantamon at 6:38 PM on August 31, 2010 [2 favorites]

Tranna.


And THREE PODCASTS IN A ROW!
posted by unSane at 6:40 PM on August 31, 2010

The next podcast should be titled "The one that doesn't mention unSane at all... d'oh!"
posted by FishBike at 6:43 PM on August 31, 2010 [1 favorite]

Kiwanis... rhymes with Alanis.
posted by shakespeherian at 6:58 PM on August 31, 2010

I vote we just start calling it "Tron Two," in honor of the upcoming movie.
posted by koeselitz at 7:41 PM on August 31, 2010

As long as you call it Toronto and not GTA, I'm happy.

Because GTA is "Grand Theft Auto," that's why.
posted by misha at 7:55 PM on August 31, 2010

My maiden initials were DFW, so I was like "wha...?"

Anyhoo, nicely done podcast!
posted by deborah at 8:03 PM on August 31, 2010

Oh, man, Amiga Power! Amiga: The greatest computer nobody used. I got through grad school with an Amiga and a dot matrix printer.
posted by mrmorgan at 9:23 PM on August 31, 2010

See? Even that foreign guy from California agrees with me.

I'm as Toronto as it gets! I have ticket stubs from the UNIVERSITY THEATER on Bloor, man! I call it "the Beach"! I can almost pronounce "Roncesvalles"!!!! And I may or may not be Zanta.

Also:

while we think Americans pronounce "about" as "abaaoooowwt"

I can do a near-perfect imitation of my brother-in-law who hails from a state from which hillbillies also come by replacing every vowel in every word with "a". And, oddly, for "about" this seems to be pretty accurate for most Americans. Nearly all of them say "abat" or "abaht".

Seriously people, there are 5 vowels. And they all sound different. Don't let any go to waste.
posted by GuyZero at 9:36 PM on August 31, 2010

Seriously people, there are 5 vowels. And they all sound different. Don't let any go to waste.

I sometimes tease my wife, who is Scandinavian, that Swedish has only one vowel, which is R.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:12 PM on August 31, 2010 [2 favorites]

I always thought the "about" in Canadian is actually pronounced "a-boat" and not that boot thing everyone down here makes fun of. The one way I can always hear a Canadian though is when they say "sorry". It comes out like sore-ey where Americans say it more like sarr-ey.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:26 PM on August 31, 2010

Woo! Someone mentioned Bainbridge Island! I feel loved
posted by Rinku at 12:32 AM on September 1, 2010

*swoon* - thanks for the mention!

And for the record - Jago is pronounced Jay-go. It was my grandmother's maiden name, and is my middle name.
posted by jontyjago at 6:55 AM on September 1, 2010

Duly noted. That we had the initial conversation about your username two years ago in a crowded room while drunk is what I will fall back on if the question of my inability to remember continues to present itself. But I will try to remember it rhymes with that Juggalo beverage.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:19 AM on September 1, 2010

Dunno about your local Kiwanis, but our local Lions Club helped develop the park around the corner from my house, and my (now-deceased) grandfather's Lions Club chapter in southeastern Arizona used to collect old glasses to give away in places where they couldn't normally get glasses.

I'm thinking that it's time that us younger(-ish) folks get involved with some of the groups that we think of as "old people stuff." I've been loving being on the board of directors of my local friends of the library group. For one thing, as I trundle through my middle 30s, it's nice to still be considered a youngster by the lovely old ladies. And the libraries, parks, whatever do still need people's help!
posted by epersonae at 9:41 AM on September 1, 2010

!
posted by eyeballkid at 9:42 AM on September 1, 2010

Hey, awesome, thanks for the kind words about the No Baggage Challenge. :) The trip is sponsored, but we did all the work independently -- I designed the website and Rolf writes all the content and I'm doing all the video editing and directing and shooting and whatnot. Glad to hear it looks professional. Thanks!

From Cairo,
posted by nitsuj at 2:47 PM on September 1, 2010

Dammit, Matt. Animal isn't dumb! He's just untamed!

/offended
posted by Ufez Jones at 8:12 AM on September 2, 2010

Man, when did I miss all those time-outs?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:16 PM on September 3, 2010

One of my teachers often repeated a bon mot which I've always remembered:

"Pronunciation is the bane of the autodidact."
posted by Miko at 5:23 PM on September 18, 2010 [2 favorites]