So how was your day at work, darling? (h/t, Damian) || Upgrade. || Her dessert is much fancier than yours. || Nun armed with chainsaw does her bit to help. || Trek nerdology. || A taste of New York. || BBC Pidgin. || Pro tip. || Perverse objects. || Genes and Marmite. || Robotic gams. || Aliens the size of guinea pigs. || A pile of Python. || She chose poorly. || Cat vacuuming. Do try it at home and let us know how it goes. || “Yes, but technically, I’m inside it.” || Street art. || They do this better than you do. || “A person can control it like a car.” || Zero to four hundred, and back, in forty-two seconds. || 30 days at sea. || Drawing on water. || This. || That. || A bit of the other. (h/t, Obnoxio) || Cassini’s farewell photos. || And finally, the man who survived not one but two atomic bombings.
BBC Pidgin.
Pidgin To Da Max
Posted by: Hal | September 15, 2017 at 00:09
Perverse objects.
Between one item and another, I'm reminded that one can indeed get one's own klein bottle, in any number of sizes and shapes.
Posted by: Hal | September 15, 2017 at 00:16
She chose poorly.
Oh, right, as of 16:22, and a mile and a half or so south or so of Ben Shapiro, et al, I can report that the hearing of the helicopters has started . . .
Posted by: Hal | September 15, 2017 at 00:23
That.
Um. Oops.
Posted by: Hal | September 15, 2017 at 00:34
And finally, the man who survived not one but two atomic bombings.
I'm pretty sure Mr Yamaguchi was interviewed by John Toland for his book The Rising Sun, because the video's details of Mr Yamaguchi's experience are strikingly similar to what was described by Toland, including his colleagues' disbelief that "a single bomb could destroy a whole city".
Posted by: Spiny Norman | September 15, 2017 at 02:19
A pile of Python.
Umm, would people think I'm a bit mad if I admit that I have the entire series, all of their films, and a couple of documentaries on VHS, DVD and digital media on my computer?
>_>
Posted by: Spiny Norman | September 15, 2017 at 02:23
andas well as[headdesk]
Posted by: Spiny Norman | September 15, 2017 at 02:26
A bit of compare and contrast. Click both links to capture the essence of the Yes campaign of same sex marriage in Australia. First link the reaction to the no advertisement.
https://www.popsugar.com.au/celebrity/Twitter-Reactions-Marriage-Equality-Ads-44020661
Now for the yes campaign.
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/gay-marriage/this-powerful-yes-ad-upstaged-the-bachelor-finale/news-story/7b9763ca533113ee919c66717ef68a81
How dare they upstage the beautiful, entirely scripted finale of The Bachelor? Oh and by the way, I was being sarcastic.
Posted by: Black Ball | September 15, 2017 at 02:30
Umm, would people think I'm a bit mad . . .
Um^2, the name keeps getting signed as Spiny Norman, where the current moment in time regarding handling data proverbially notes homeless holding more communications, computing power, and storage capability in one hand than the Apollo program, and you state you've made use of a rather prosaic digital storage item to store a relatively minor amount of data.
Ehn, especially with the former bit of those three factors, one might be a bit surprised if you hadn't?
Posted by: Hal | September 15, 2017 at 04:56
Aliens the size of guinea pigs.
"There were doubts about their originating in outer space when two Ever-Ready batteries were found inside"
Posted by: [+] | September 15, 2017 at 06:55
This.
Very good. :-)
Posted by: [+] | September 15, 2017 at 07:13
Today’s word is “autoethnography.”
Also, standards.
Posted by: David | September 15, 2017 at 07:14
Today’s word is “autoethnography.”
The Twitter replies are hilarious. =^D
Posted by: Spiny Norman | September 15, 2017 at 07:33
I should probably stop now. It's very late here, and I have work to finish.
If I'm not mistaken, that's Ralph the Wonder Llama.Posted by: Spiny Norman | September 15, 2017 at 07:42
Apparently, at Berkeley, there was some concern that Ben Shapiro’s words would endanger people and shatter windows.
Here’s video of Shapiro’s talk and subsequent Q&A.
Meanwhile, outside the venue, leftist students denounce discussion as “violence,” and cry “NO!”
But it turns out that it is actually possible to have a non-leftwing speaker debate ideas at Berkeley, and answer audience questions - and all it took was dozens of campus security guards, metal detectors, concrete crash barriers, hundreds of armed police officers, and a security bill for $600,000.
It’s the birthplace of free speech, you know.
Posted by: David | September 15, 2017 at 07:45
Certainly before you're bitten by a moose...
Posted by: Tom | September 15, 2017 at 09:07
Dramatic cats.
Posted by: Alice | September 15, 2017 at 09:23
But it turns out that it is actually possible to have a non-leftwing speaker debate ideas at Berkeley, and answer audience questions . . . It’s the birthplace of free speech, you know.
A bit of Googlemancy states that Zellerbach Hall can hold 2,689. The Chron and others report there were several hundred protesters . . . only several hundred protesters . . . .
Sooo, very simply, there could have been the full number of attendees that tickets were issued for, and there could have been the full compliment of outnumbered protesters---aka, certainly do wave signs to state point of view, while free speech remains in progress on the stage and in the audience---and all of 'em could have been in Zellerbach all at the same time, all attending the one event . . .
So much for "community" opposition to free speech . . .
- and all it took was dozens of campus security guards, metal detectors, concrete crash barriers, hundreds of armed police officers, and a security bill for $600,000.
A first rule of being a lifeguard tends to be to avoid getting one's self killed while trying to keep someone else from drowning . . . and rather a parallel for cops would be a note of Hi there, we're here to be the reaction to criminals, so that the normal people can just go their own way . . . . and Oh.
We see.
Fine.
Yes, the AntiFirstAmendment rioters have indeed demonstrated their demand for destruction and disruption, therefore we are indeed now going to set up camp and see who comes to play.
On my part, I stopped hearing helicopters ages ago.
Posted by: Hal | September 15, 2017 at 09:25
From the SFGATE article, a money quote:
Heavens. Anyone might think that civil disagreement is a good way for people to learn. Even at a modern university.
Posted by: David | September 15, 2017 at 09:36
Pro tip.
*changes ringtone*
Posted by: Sam | September 15, 2017 at 12:50
""Speech is violent, we will not be silent!" Students protesting #BenAtBerkeley."
So by not being silent themselves and instead chanting like a demented frog chorus are they being violent ?
Meanwhile, speaking of the Clown Quarter, Harvard proves they can be embarrassed and rescinds Bradly Manning's "fellowship".
Posted by: Farnsworth M Muldoon | September 15, 2017 at 13:00
"There were doubts about their originating..."
That reminded me of Smithsonian Barbie.
Posted by: PiperPaul | September 15, 2017 at 13:14
Pro tip.
*checks hit of garden fence*
Posted by: Joan | September 15, 2017 at 13:17
*height*
Posted by: Joan | September 15, 2017 at 13:18
Harvard proves they can be embarrassed and rescinds Bradly Manning's "fellowship".
OK, so maybe God doesn't want me to become an alcoholic after all. Sure wish He would make up His mind about these things.
Posted by: WTP | September 15, 2017 at 13:25
Something which may be of interest. Rather effectively sets a Grievance Zeppelin on fire.
Posted by: Sporkatus | September 15, 2017 at 14:14
@Spork,
Saw that yesterday. Really outstanding stuff. Query the odds of the author being able to address the snowflakes at Berkeley?
I showed the article to my wife--an immigrant with a Ph.D. in English language and who taught ESL to immigrants at a local community college for several years. Her experience with her students was the same. A wide variety of cultures and languages represented, but each wanted to a) be a part of the America they'd dreamed about and b) wanted to succeed and contribute to our society. Further, they bonded as a group primarily over disgust at the way "natural" Americans didn't realize how good they had it compared to their countries of origin.
Worth remembering when we're tempted to succumb to all the SJW B.S. which floods the news.
Posted by: R. Sherman | September 15, 2017 at 14:40
Perverse objects.
I instantly thought of Norman's 'Design of Everyday Things' (which I can recommend)
Posted by: Ben | September 15, 2017 at 14:51
Rather effectively sets a Grievance Zeppelin on fire.
You’d think that Ta-Nehisi Coates might reflect on the extent to which his own name-to-drop status – despite being a racist mediocrity - undermines his claims of ongoing, eternal victimhood.
Posted by: David | September 15, 2017 at 14:52
Tennessee Jackets' success, such as it is, is rooted in the Representative Authenticity Principle. To gain the greatest credibility and the most attributed earnestness from guilt-laden white liberals and bureaucratic nonentities, one must not only scream the loudest but adopt the largest number of pretenses. If the competition brings out a robe, you must wear the robe, a daishiki, and surround yourself with earnest "African-speaking" children. Greatest "authenticity" achieved, selection as *true* representative achieved and your own scam funded, in total isolation from any real "help to the community" or genuine representation. Real progress stymied for lack of pretense.
Described in detail in Tom Wolfe's Mau-Mauing the Flak-Catchers, which read today is both hilarious and horrifying.
Posted by: Sporkatus | September 15, 2017 at 15:13
Apparently, at Berkeley...
In a strange twist of reality (generally being stranger than fiction as it is) David Lynch's version of Frank Herbert's Dune was prophetic.
Ben Shapiro's name is a killing word; institutes of higher education have discovered ways to turn students' brains into Weirding Modules.
Posted by: Squires | September 15, 2017 at 15:18
Ben Shapiro’s name is a killing word;
And difficult to spell, apparently.
institutes of higher education have discovered ways to turn students’ brains into Weirding Modules.
Which might explain why Mr Shapiro is being denounced as a “suspected white supremacist” and a “Nazi sympathiser.” And also the screeching.
As we’ve seen more times than I can count, the vehemence of campus protestors is often matched by their ignorance of what non-leftist positions actually are. Which is hardly surprising, given how rarely they hear them on campus, except as caricature. If the leftists being paid to educate you opt instead to reinforce the conceit that anyone who disagrees with you, and with them, is by definition a bad person, and therefore must be silenced, idiocy will follow. But flattery sells.
Not entirely unrelated.
Posted by: David | September 15, 2017 at 15:37
"Rather effectively sets a Grievance Zeppelin on fire"
A flaming Nazi gasbag, to recycle an old liberal insult in a way likely to offend liberals.
Posted by: pst314 | September 15, 2017 at 16:05
Posted by: Sporkatus | September 15, 2017 at 16:31
Not entirely unrelated.
Metaphor alert!
Posted by: John D | September 15, 2017 at 17:05
Metaphor alert!
The rubbish bin was oppressing him. It’s so unfair.
Posted by: David | September 15, 2017 at 17:08
"an old liberal insult"
I was using "liberal" in its American sense--rather different from what it means in the UK.
Posted by: pst314 | September 15, 2017 at 17:26
Rather unrelated to the current conversation, but related to recent posts:
Seen at AoSHQ yesterday:
This morning, co-blogger "OregonMuse" noted this, which would be a good template.Posted by: Spiny Norman | September 15, 2017 at 17:44
how about a mash-up of "Trans-health Manifesto or Uni-bomber Manifesto"
Remember the "Al Gore or the Unibomber" quizzes?
Posted by: pst314 | September 15, 2017 at 18:06
“BBC Pidgin”
Okay, I know it's a Proper Language Now and all that, but I defy any English speaker to supress a chuckle at
Following the Father Ted school of international diplomacy, apparently.
“Something which may be of interest.”
Damn, that's good.
Posted by: Sam Duncan | September 15, 2017 at 18:18
Remember the "Al Gore or the Unibomber" quizzes?
Coincidentally, courtesy of Ace today, Al Gore or The Unibomber.
Posted by: Farnsworth M. Muldoon | September 15, 2017 at 18:25
[ Slides unheard-of free drink to Mr Norman as consolation for his link being overlooked. ]
Posted by: David | September 15, 2017 at 18:38
Not once, but twice, in subtly different ways!
Posted by: Sporkatus | September 15, 2017 at 19:06
Not once, but twice
Drunks and heathens, the lot of ‘em.
Posted by: David | September 15, 2017 at 19:08
Drunks and heathens, the lot of ‘em.
The apples fall not far from the tree.
Posted by: Farnsworth M. Muldoon | September 15, 2017 at 20:19
"Okay, I know it's a Proper Language Now and all that, but I defy any English speaker to supress a chuckle..."
From Wikipedia:
"A pidgin, or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups that do not have a language in common..."
Any grammatically simplified language will sound comical to fluent speakers of the languages it is derived from. Political Correctness demands that we not even smile, much less chuckle, but sod em if they can't take a joke.
Posted by: pst314 | September 15, 2017 at 20:35
And here's another free drink, Norman.
Posted by: pst314 | September 15, 2017 at 20:36
Ahem...
Un'A'bomber.
[Looks at barkeep].
Waits...
Posted by: Sonny Wayze | September 15, 2017 at 23:56
Drunks and heathens, the lot of ‘em.
Hey, I scored 50%. I challenge any of you skallywags to top that!
Posted by: WTP | September 16, 2017 at 00:42
https://www.boredpanda.com/cats-with-unusual-fur-markings/
Marble Beauty is a bit scary.
Posted by: Pogonip | September 16, 2017 at 01:13
Marble Beauty is a bit scary.
Feline vitiligo, same as human except most of us aren't fur covered...
Posted by: Farnsworth M. Muldoon | September 16, 2017 at 01:49
Didn't know there was such a thing as feline vitiligo!
I may be a bit scarce for a while because boring old real life has more demands than usual, but I will make sure to drop in every so often and whine about same.
Posted by: Pogonip | September 16, 2017 at 02:22
: HIC :
Why thnaks to ever'one. Much 'preciated.
Are them pickl'd eggs in dat jar some kinda dare?
Posted by: Spiny Norman | September 16, 2017 at 05:31
Well, once you fix the italics, you'll prolly stop seeing everything at an angle.
Lessee.
That should do it.
Posted by: Hal | September 16, 2017 at 05:43
Oh dear, did the background support go wonky?
Posted by: Hal | September 16, 2017 at 05:44
Oh, indeed . . . apparently a pair of iterating italicisers, there.
---All right, Spiny, for your penance, say that five times fast, or figure out the ameliorating alternate . . .
Posted by: Hal | September 16, 2017 at 05:50
Very strange. It looked fine in the preview...
Posted by: Spiny Norman | September 16, 2017 at 06:55
Mr Yamaguchi.
The luckiest or unluckiest man in the world?. One of those half-empty/half-full conundrums.
Posted by: jones | September 16, 2017 at 07:05
[Looks at barkeep].
Waits...
[ Picked egg rolls along bar, accumulating fluff and debris as it approaches… ]
Posted by: David | September 16, 2017 at 08:56
Today’s words are “anti-fascist.” Also, adjunct professor.
See the educator airing his brains here.
Posted by: David | September 16, 2017 at 09:26
"Also, adjunct professor"
I notice the esteemed adjunct complains about living in "this ahistorical world" (0.53s).
I guess he's opposed to removing statues and other artefacts then?
Posted by: jones | September 16, 2017 at 09:39
I guess he’s opposed to removing statues and other artefacts then?
There do seem to be some common, recurring features among such people. The self-flattery and sense of entitlement; the grandiose unrealism; and the emotional instability.
Posted by: David | September 16, 2017 at 09:48
I guess he’s opposed to removing statues and other artefacts then?
And then there’s the striking mental dissonance and double standards. As when professing his entitlement to physically intimidate and assault people with whom he disagrees - to shut them down and silence them, violently - and publicly wishing murder on the “future cops” that he’s employed to teach - and then, when suspended for this, complaining, “So much for free speech, I guess.”
It’s an imperviousness to contradiction more typically found in children.
Posted by: David | September 16, 2017 at 10:08
If anyone wants to poke around in the adjunct professor’s Twitter feed, by all means knock yourselves out.
Oh, and by the way, Dr Isaacson thinks the TV interview linked above “went great.”
Self-knowledge, it ain’t for everyone.
Posted by: David | September 16, 2017 at 10:19
Oh go on then.....I was tempted to poke around adjunct's twitter and noticed this vid of Robert Lee' statue being removed.
https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/908476613808893952
Ahistorical indeed.
Great fisticuffs on all the threads too.
Posted by: jones | September 16, 2017 at 11:05
https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/media-40969682 I would like to hear John Humphrys delivery the 1-minute pidgin news review, or Jim Davidson.
Posted by: I sneeze in threes | September 16, 2017 at 11:05
sneeze,
"I would like to hear John Humphrys delivery the 1-minute pidgin news review, or Jim Davidson."
John Humphrys doing it would be praised as paying homage to the noble savage.
Jim Davidson would be character assassinated as a Nazi, bigot racist.
Have you noticed as well how (former Laureate?) Aung San Suu Kyi is being transformed into a deemed bigot now she is in conflict with the highest ranked victim group?
Posted by: jones | September 16, 2017 at 11:23
The self-flattery and sense of entitlement; the grandiose unrealism; and the emotional instability.
And then there’s the striking mental dissonance and double standards.
My lies are not lies, they are the truth. My truth.
Posted by: Squires | September 16, 2017 at 12:14
Oh, and by the way, Dr Isaacson thinks the TV interview linked above “went great.”
Not everyone is down with the prof. (NSFW for language)
Posted by: Farnsworth M Muldoon | September 16, 2017 at 12:38
Not everyone is down with the prof.
Heh. The, um, elongation does lend itself to his favourite expression.
Which I’d describe as self-satisfied.
Posted by: David | September 16, 2017 at 13:29
Today’s words are “anti-fascist.” Also, adjunct professor.
Meh. Hire a hipster, get a hipster . . .
Posted by: Hal | September 16, 2017 at 14:26
The, um, elongation does lend itself to his favourite expression. Which I’d describe as self-satisfied.
He's literally looking down his nose at us.
Posted by: [+] | September 16, 2017 at 14:44
The, um, elongation...
All this time I had always thought "pencil necked" was just a euphemism. Who knew ?
Today’s words are “anti-fascist.”
Among his more delusional rantings is that anti-communist (because he is an anarcho-communist because of course he is) = fascist. This will,of course, come as a great surprise to all those who fled the USSR, East Germany, Cuba, Pol Pot's Cambodia, North Korea, and communist China.
Oh,, wait, those weren't really real communist-communist. Sorry.
Posted by: Farnsworth M Muldoon | September 16, 2017 at 14:48
See the educator airing his brains here.
The puzzled look on Tucker Carleson's face when he, rhetorically I presume, asks, "Do you teach students?" It's like he just woke from a Rip Van Winkle.
Posted by: WTP | September 16, 2017 at 14:56
He’s literally looking down his nose at us.
And being amused by the thought of future police officers, his own students, being murdered, is “critiquing policing.”
Posted by: David | September 16, 2017 at 15:01
And speaking of adults who probably shouldn’t be left unsupervised near impressionable youngsters.
“I’m defending myself!”
Posted by: David | September 16, 2017 at 15:54
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkB_CFi9row
Obligatory:Posted by: Spiny Norman | September 16, 2017 at 15:55
I wonder if he takes advantage of his physical attribute at Halloween.
Posted by: PiperPaul | September 16, 2017 at 17:20
https://twitter.com/TheSafestSpace/status/908742539246792704
Science!
Posted by: svh | September 16, 2017 at 18:31
Similar to pencil neck, but more human.
https://youtu.be/JjIXwkX1e48
Posted by: John Brady | September 16, 2017 at 21:22
I recommend watching the 30 days at sea at full-screen resolution. It's magnificent.
Posted by: dicentra | September 16, 2017 at 22:04
The Last Southern Gentlemen, and a tune as you have never heard before.
Posted by: Farnsworth M. Muldoon | September 16, 2017 at 22:15
So, that old guy was defending himself, or what? He sounds like his brain got stuck.
Posted by: QuintAmpersandJessel | September 17, 2017 at 02:22
He's literally looking down his nose at us.
Finally an answer to the question, "What if Jafar from Disney's Aladdin had a gay nephew?"
Posted by: bgates | September 18, 2017 at 03:28
. . . and a tune as you have never heard before.
A bit reminiscent of Tommy and the song Pinball Wizard.
Posted by: Hal | September 18, 2017 at 05:00