Friday Ephemera

Deploy. || Disgorge. (h/t, Matthew) || Luna Lee does Game of Thrones. || Neural network attempts to finish the Game of Thrones saga for George R. R. Martin. It’s a mixed bag. || Giant gummy squid kit. || Gyroscopic balancing buses. (h/t, Things) || ‘X-ray’ maps of New York subway stations. || “The wall stabilised East Germany’s economy, by preventing its workforce from leaving.” || The decline and fall of the Walnut Whip. || Title sequence of note. || Signage of note. (h/t, dicentra) || Today’s word is prang. || Their flower parade is better than yours. || Mixing mercury and aluminium. || Harsh. || This. || How Siri’s voice has changed. || Colouring and activity books for David Lynch’s Dune. || Furnishings of note. (h/t, Julia) || And finally, a secret VIP rave hidden inside a toilet.

Comments

[Pogonip]

Do pussy hat wearers sit on those sofas?

[Hal]

Neural network attempts to finish the Game of Thrones saga for George R. R. Martin. It’s a mixed bag.

Well, while waiting for things to stabilize, quite highly recommended.

[Hal]

Today’s word is prang.

Today's phrase is;
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Today's reroute.

[PiperPaul]

Did someone have to explain the sofa thing to David?

[Hal]

Colouring and activity books for David Lynch’s Dune.

As even the article comments, . . . audiences had to read glossaries before the first screenings.

And that was even before the DVD got dumped on the market and as I recall, was shipped with prolly that same glossary . . .

[Hal]

And finally, a secret VIP rave hidden inside a toilet.

. . . I was thinking it was a bar in London, but apparently it was Moscow when David asked a bit back Can you spot the speakeasy?

[pst314]

"The wall stabilised East Germany’s economy, by preventing its workforce from leaving."

College know-it-all commies assured me that the wall stabilised West Germany's economy by preventing it from being overwhelmed by refugees. Yeah, right, the West Germany that successfully absorbed millions of Germans expelled from other parts of Europe, and that imported numerous non-German guest workers from Southern Europe and Turkey, could not have made good use of a few million already-German workers from the East.

[R. Sherman]

"Ferrero Rocher for the aspirational working class".

I'd never hear of a Walnut Whip before today.

[Pogonip]

Sounds kinky.

[Spiny Norman]

Today’s word is prang.

Sign in to confirm your age This video may be inappropriate for some users.

Oh, but that's an oldie. WWII RAF fighter pilot slang for cracking up one's aircraft, typically on landing:

"Oh, bloody hell! Sgt Pilot Smith has pranged his kite."

[Sam Duncan]

“Gyroscopic balancing buses.”

Um. Yeeeaaah...

(The fire engine wouldn't actually be a bad idea, mind you. If it works.)

“The decline and fall of the Walnut Whip.”

That's rather sad. On the other hand, I think in all my 46-and-a-bit years I've only ever eaten one, so I can't really say I miss them.

“And finally, a secret VIP rave hidden inside a toilet.”

Apparently shot in Kinemacolor, for some reason.

[Spiny Norman]

Yeah, right, the West Germany that successfully absorbed millions of Germans expelled from other parts of Europe, and that imported numerous non-German guest workers from Southern Europe and Turkey, could not have made good use of a few million already-German workers from the East.

But that's different, because shut up!

/college know-it-all commies

[David]

I’d never heard of a Walnut Whip before today.

I vaguely recall that as a child they had a certain upmarket cachet. They definitely fell into the “special treat at Christmas” category. Which made the actual experience of eating one quite disappointing.

Did someone have to explain the sofa thing to David?

Heh. I read, thank you very much.

[Daniel Ream]

Found at the other end of the rabbit hole.

https://twitter.com/bechillcomedian/status/888448344896544768

[JuliaM]

Wait, you can make gummy things? At home? I thought that took alchemy, or something dangerous...

[David]

Found at the other end of the rabbit hole.

[ Sounds of chortling. ]

[Pogonip]

David reads, AND he subscribes to "Silly Hat Quarterly." So he knew all about it.

[David]

audiences had to read glossaries before the first screenings.

Because when you venture across town to the cinema, with the family in tow, in the hope of having fun, what you really want is homework. But then as a teenager I never managed to get even halfway through the book. It struck me as massively padded and of gratuitous length. (See also, George R. R. Martin.)

[[+]]

And finally, a secret VIP rave hidden inside a toilet.

It's not much of a rave.

[Sergeant Fluffylumps]

I'm sure I'd get into some sort of bother if I tried this..

https://twitter.com/SteveBlogs1/status/903297705975402498

[David]

It’s not much of a rave.

No, it’s all rather genteel, as raving goes, or went. (Do people still rave?) It needs a lot more debauchery and dilated pupils. It’s not really a rave unless you’re inhaling the perspiration of at least 500 strangers.

[Hal]

Found at the other end of the rabbit hole.

Oh, My, that is well done!

Just let me staple the vicar!

---Reminds me of an occasion of a theatre show warmup song that we of the cast would do, where I realize that something's gotten mangled since then, but that's not what the memory has . . .

Sur le pont D'Avignon,
Hare Krishna,
Hare Krishna,
Sur le pont D'Avignon,
Hare Krishna,
Tout l'arond.

[Spruance]

Gyroscopic balancing buses

Nice idea, but what happens when the earth does not stop to rotate? I remember reading a SciFi novel long time ago, in which all people owned little gyroscopic stabilized monowheel cars, and the first thing was always to right them up before entering them.
Everybody who ever experimented with a gyroscope knows what this is all about!

[Tom]

"The wall stabilised East Germany’s economy, by preventing its workforce from leaving."

Some political humourist with a conservativish viewpoint whose name I can't recall said, the only thing you need to know about communism is that it made Germans unproductive.

[TDK]

"The wall stabilised East Germany’s economy, by preventing its workforce from leaving."

I thought it interesting that the earlier blockade necessitating the Berlin Airlift did not get a mention.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

A rather unique first world problem.

[David]

Also, this.

[Joan]

Mobile robot fridge.

https://twitter.com/MartynLandi/status/903594437451886592

(I don't know why.)

[David]

Mobile robot fridge. (I don’t know why.)

Heh. I assume the idea is to buy one in order to show it off to friends, possibly while drunk, or to any neighbours you don’t like. (“Oh, don’t you have one of these?”)

I wonder how it’ll cope with deep shag.

[Jen]

deep shag

Band name?

[jabrwok]

Goth Ravers, re-tuned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ToZBopL1q0

And an ad for Millenials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ToZBopL1q0

H/T: Bookworm Room

[Tom]

deep shag

Band name?

Austin Powers technique.

Oh, Baby!

I'll get me coat...

[David]

Abi Wilkinson, a Guardian contributor, airs her brains on Twitter.

You may remember Ms Wilkinson from this.

[Darleen]

They chose poorly.

[David]

They chose poorly.

A feel-good story.

I was a little distracted by the (unrelated) mugshot slideshow in the middle of the article. Facial tattoos seem to be a common giveaway. I can’t help thinking Possible Boyfriend #1 has made quite a few really bad decisions before being photographed by the police.

[Spiny Norman]

...made quite a few really bad decisions before being photographed by the police.

What the hell is all that on his face supposed to be? A pirate treasure map?

[Wh00ps]

Abi Wilkinson, a Guardian contributor, airs her brains on Twitter.

Funny, but at least 75% of the time when I click on links from here, either twitter is taking "too long to load" or the page does not exist, or I am "not authorized to view these tweets."

[Daniel Ream]

It struck me as massively padded and of gratuitous length.

I'll concede your point on Martin, but disagree on Dune. I think it's a classic and one of the best novels ever, let alone best SF novels.

Unlike a lot of SF novels, it's not space opera or pulp adventure; it's sweeping sociohistorical narrative in the vein of Clavell or Michener. Informationally it's very dense.

If that's not to your taste, of course, then it matters not one whit to the price of tea in China. But I think "padded and of gratuitous length" is unfair.

Then again my standard for that is Jean M. Auel novels, which take 20 pages to describe the flowers in a field the protagonists are travelling through.

[David]

But I think “padded and of gratuitous length” is unfair.

Well, possibly. That was my impression when reading it as a teenager, so it’s not a hill to die on. But increasingly I’ve come to appreciate economy in fiction, insofar as I bother with it at all any more.

[Pogonip]

I started to read Dune last year. It zipped right along till Paul met a girl, when it came to a screeching halt. Ain't that always the way?

[Dr. Toboggan]

Gyroscopic balancing buses.

Pffft. South Park did that like 15 years ago. (Apologies for terrible clip quality.)

[Quint and Jessel]

Usually don't criticize people's looks, but Lynn Yaeger merits it, because she deliberately looks like a fucking homeless crazy bag lady. Only leftist fashion creeps would tolerate this kind of "edgy" "out of the box" bullshit "fashion statement." It is so hard to get people to take fashion at all seriously, and I sympathize when a publication like Vogue pays this kind of demented twat to write the dumbassery she does. Revolting.

[Quint and Jessel]

Between people like Lynn Yaeger and the insane love fashionistas professed for the hagfish Michelle Obama, and the unreasonable hatred for Mrs. Trump, I have had a rough decade. Every stupid getup Michelle wore was allegedly wonderful, even when one's eyes could see she looked ridiculous. The Empress had bad clothes, and the sycophants drooled all over them.

[Black Ball]

As readers are aware, we Australians are having a dinky di time 'debating' same sex marriage. Piers Akerman pretty much nails it with his article.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/piers-akerman-the-thought-police-work-overtime-on-the-same-sex-marriage-debate/news-story/a6418520e2f90f7c962bb3417956421d

[Black Ball]

Pffft. South Park did that like 15 years ago.

Still snickering for 15 years at this effort.

[Monty James]

"Prang" is a great word. And if you're going to talk about prangs, may I suggest:

11 Foot 8

The compilations are especially good.

[Darleen]

Black Ball

What the heck is wrong with Australia?

[Daniel Ream]

But increasingly I’ve come to appreciate economy in fiction

Then let me suggest anything by Roger Zelazny, especially the Chronicles of Amber and Lord of Light. The man is a master of understatement; he can say more by implication in a sentence than some authors can in a page of text.

What may help you appreciate Dune is that it's an allegory both for the rise of Muhammad in the 7th century and the political situation in the Middle East c. the 1960's, especially with regards to control of the oil supply by OPEC. Prescient, too, as it predicted the embargo some years in advance.

[Black Ball]

Darleen, that link you shared probably sums up Australia nicely. Led by yellow striped clowns, this issue has become the lead story of many a news bulletin, despite the efforts of North Korea's leader to grab slice of the action. The priorities are askew somewhat.

[David]

Thanks, Daniel.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Speaking of choosing poorly, there is never a meteor around when you need one.

[J.M. Heinrichs]

How to clear a room:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSwbxOnMmRA

Cheers

[Hal]

Oh, but that's an oldie. WWII RAF fighter pilot slang for cracking up one's aircraft, typically on landing:

"Oh, bloody hell! Sgt Pilot Smith has pranged his kite."

Currently doing some reading on assorted actors, including Ralph Richardson and Larry Olivier.

At the outbreak of war Richardson joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as a sub-lieutenant pilot. . . . He rose to the rank of lieutenant-commander. His work was mostly routine administration, probably because of "the large number of planes which seemed to fall to pieces under his control", through which he acquired the nickname "Pranger" Richardson.[6] He served at several bases in the south of England, and in April 1941, at the Royal Naval Air Station, Lee-on-Solent, he was able to welcome Olivier, newly commissioned as a temporary sub-lieutenant. Olivier rapidly eclipsed Richardson's record for pranging.[69]

[J.M. Heinrichs]

Hal: working material
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myIB1TrPpTE

Cheers

[Hal]

Hal: working material

Yes, that one is good.

I've been doing a bit of VHS research and recovery recently, and while doing that also ran across Parrot Sketch Not Included, and Life of Python, both of which look very interesting . . .