Friday Ephemera

Classy lady of note. || In coffee-related news. || Thriller, deconstructed. || This is not drawing. || A robot that draws on walls. || Because you’ve always wanted one. || The cost of lowered standards. || The British at play. Yes, we all do it. || Footpath of note. || A famous fibreglass foetus. || Monolith action figure. “Zero points of articulation.” || It’s a suitcase and a mini-kitchen. || It’s a pocket knife, a bottle opener, and a pivoted USB stick. || New York, seen from above, in very high definition. || Snake attack. (h/t, Julia) || Ten hours of ocean creatures. || Camel versus cactus. || Excuse of note. || This. (h/t, Dicentra) || The Einstein Theory of Relativity, 1923. || Please stop noticing reality. || Meet the robots of Ocado. (h/t, drb) || And finally, a size-conscious twister overcompensates.

Comments

[Captain Nemo]

British manners:

https://twitter.com/jonnohopkins/status/1002083779639472130

Eating contest of note:

https://twitter.com/WWarped/status/1001935478554230784

[Alex]

"New York, seen from above..."

No, it's not New York. It's one single borough (out of 5) of New York, and only parts of that one borough at that. Would kind of be nice if these "artsy" types, as well as journalists, etc., would realize that lower and central Manhattan are not the totality of New York City.

[Hal]

A robot that draws on walls.

With its in-built engines, Scribit can be installed in less than 5 minutes: . . .

. . . as opposed to the standard toddler who first has to figure out walking . . .

[Pogonip]

You forgot the cluck-me shoes. 👠🐔

[Pogonip]

Here they are.

https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2018/05/this-ones-for-phlegmmy.html?m=1

[PiperPaul]

This is drawing..

[Lawrencine Collins]

... the school’s College of Education website likewise suggests that students create a “safe space” for illegals and “deal directly with any derogatory language or behaviors from peers that are rooted in condescending attitudes towards immigrants and use these as teachable moments.”

H/T Roissy.

[WTP]

Speaking of robots, would you let one draw your blood?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=po5_axG7HF4

[Sam Duncan]

“Thriller, deconstructed.”

Well, there went 45 minutes. Sometimes I mess around with sequencers and softsynths a bit myself. Then I watch videos like that and wonder why I even bother.

“The cost of lowered standards.”

It amazes me that this isn't obvious to people. Back in the '50s, when my father was a legal apprentice - because that used to be a thing - one of the partners in the firm didn't even have a degree. It was unusual even then, but go back another generation and it was the norm.

So how exactly can we pretend that the vast eye-wateringly expensive higher education bubble of recent decades has opened the professions up to those of limited means?

“This.”

Cycling does have quite an arrogant-twat-who-thinks-his-wheeled-method-of-transportation-isn't-a-bloody-vehicle problem, though.

[Pogonip]

The guy assaulted her HAMSTER? Eeewwww.

[Simen Thoresen]

There is a claim that the world is not wizard-jizz moved by magic;
https://youtu.be/qE0UimODxNg

-S

[Ten]

This is not drawing.

Despite it being populated with adults, neither is it adult.

Footpath of note.

Whenever possible use paths with 700 ft sheer drops in the rain. In close proximity to strangers. Wearing backpacks. And film it.

[Ten]

It’s a suitcase and a mini-kitchen.

According to the site, we learn that it's also A Very Cleverly Designed Suitcase That Quickly Transforms Into a Fully Functioning Mini Kitchen in much the same way that this blog is A Very Cleverly Premised Commentariat That Articulately Exposes the Odder of Progressive Society's Cultural Fallacies Using Too Many Click-Baity Adjectives but somehow manages to avoid all that preciousness, going instead with Dave.

[R. Sherman]

Back in the '50s, when my father was a legal apprentice - because that used to be a thing - one of the partners in the firm didn't even have a degree.

Quite so. The founding partner of my firm did not have a degree of any kind. Rather, he "read the law" under the tutelage of a sole practitioner for a number of years until that attorney certified that he was fit to sit for the bar exam. Thereafter, he had a rather stellar career as an attorney, state senator and finally, a judge on one of the federal circuit court of appeals (appointed by President Eisenhower).

[*Contemplates 10,000 word rant on the superfluity of most of modern legal education, which rant is based on practicing for thirty years. Thinks better of it, elects to have a final brandy and goes to bed.*]

[David]

British manners

Heh. Catching us on a good day.

Eating contest of note

Chap made a valiant effort, but the winner was, I think, inevitable.

[David]

Cycling does have quite an arrogant-twat-who-thinks-his-wheeled-method-of-transportation-isn’t-a-bloody-vehicle problem, though.

Well, yes, the vices of cyclists, as a group, are legion. To that, I can testify*. But unlike London’s woker-than-thou “cycling chief,” I doubt that skin colour is one of them.

*Cycling two, three, even four-abreast on country roads, making overtaking either dangerous or impossible, and clearly enjoying this fact and therefore doing it for as long as it can be done, often several minutes, while presumably feeling superior. For instance.

[David]

There is a claim that the world is not wizard-jizz moved by magic;

Poetry.

[R. Sherman]

English Decorum.

[David]

English Decorum.

The mug-of-tea-hurled-at-face was quite special.

Oh dear Lord, there’s more.

[Nikw211]

The cost of lowered standards.

From Greg Ashman, an Australian education blogger:

We have all heard the arguments: Formal written examinations only measure performance on one day, not what students can do over a sustained period. They have a narrow academic focus that does not take into account ‘non-cognitive skills’ such as social skills and creativity [ ... ] So we need to replace formal examinations with something else that better reflects all of our students' abilities.

This is a flawed argument [ ... ]

Once we begin to take account of ‘non-cognitive’ skills, we introduce bias based on class, ethnicity and gender, because these skills overlap so much with bourgeois manners. In an exam, nobody can tell that you have a Birmingham accent or that your upbringing means that you are a little rough around the edges. Unfortunately, we have now introduced these factors as legitimate reasons to discriminate against you. It’s tough luck if your quirkiness means that you don’t gel with your team-mates in a collaborative task because it will be used to judge your collaborativity or some such made-up nonsense.

The Australian National University (ANU) has had the idea of judging students on their, ‘contribution to family, school and community.’ This is the kind of extracurricular requirement favoured by American universities ... Does this sound reasonable? If so, have a think about who is in the best position to game such a requirement. Is it the public-transport-using child of a single working mother from Western Sydney or the car-owning child of sharp-elbowed parents from an affluent suburb with plenty of connections at the local church and no need of a part-time job?

The rest is here.

[WTP]

English decorum

So some Spice Girls went on to marry David Beckham, for others like Baby life took a different turn. Sad.

[Jen]

English Decorum.

Chav scum, same the world over.

[WTP]

So can someone translate what was going on there? The only words I could make out were fook, dog, lad, and fooking.

[dcardno]

Was that a tattoo of a pistol in a garter? I mean, WTF? Who would thnk that was a good idea? Okay - aside from Baby Spice here?

[David]

The only words I could make out were fook, dog, lad, and fooking.

I was distracted by the inept scuffling, and the seemingly indestructible tea mug, and the chunky lady losing her false teeth while shouting. From what I could make out, it involved a suspicion that one of the, um, ladies was fooking, or wanting to fook, the other lady’s blurk. Though given other videos in the series, I suspect the particulars are largely immaterial.

[Captain Nemo]

The winner was, I think, inevitable.

Indeed. The cute little dog was always going to win that one. Although that was some inspired ladle wielding by the gentleman.

[David]

some inspired ladle wielding

A situation like that, though, you really need a level-10 force field.

[SumDumGuy]

Please stop noticing reality.

They aren't entirely wrong. We should instead refer to them as accused illegal immigrants, until we are sure.

[Joan]

The British at play.

It's even better set to music. https://youtu.be/gNj67kwWBoQ

[Governor Squid]

Designer Marc Sadler has created a really clever suitcase...

It's really just a Boy Scout patrol box with a few embellishments. Troop 42 (Cedar Rapids) built something similar a few years back. Telling that none of the swooning art critics recognize such a thing.

Q: How do the robots work?
A: They move along a grid system.

Gee, thanks for that helpful hint, Doctor Obvious.

[Angels Flight]

Footpath of note

"Did they have to appeal quite so strongly to the furry masochist called lemming that lurks within us?"

[David]

Meanwhile, in London.

[Squires]

The founding partner of my firm did not have a degree of any kind.

One of my ancestors was John Ogden:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ogden_(colonist)

He seemed to do alright, despite the unlikelihood that he had much (if any) formal education.

Ditto a great, great grandfather who became wealthy enough to send four daughters to college.

And my maternal grandfather (whose last formal education was likely jump school), who built and renovated various properties on the side while working at a steel mill.

And one his sons, who barely graduated high school but went from repairing lawn mowers and other equipment out of an old barn to now owning laundromats and at least one trailer park, plus a few small apartment buildings and some rental commercial property.

While nowhere near as successful (yet), I managed to become the senior copywriter at a thriving company in a niche industry (that I knew nothing about when I was hired) for the better part of a decade - with almost no formal education past high school. The only reason I’m not doing that anymore is on account of having decided that working behind a desk all day wasn’t good for me, mentally or physically.

[Pogonip]

Is a Birmingham accent good, bad, or indifferent?

[David]

Is a Birmingham accent good, bad, or indifferent?

Good in what way?

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Is a Birmingham accent good, bad, or indifferent?

About the same as a Mobile or Huntsville accent, it is the Auburn and Tuscaloosa accents you have to watch out for.

[Hal]

It amazes me that this isn't obvious to people. Back in the '50s . . .

Either it's not being obvious to those buying into the particular scam . . . or they just don't care because racing to the bottom is accepted as being a part of the the overall situation.

But the situation does get noticed for those not buying in, with realistic alternatives to that race turning up here and there and rather prolly elsewhere . . .

[Hal]

Footpath of note.

Around here, there is the comment of Passing uphill on Old Priest Grade.

[Hal]

A famous fibreglass foetus.

A bit back I had an occasional organizational client with a name of The Children's Museum or Museum of Children or something like that.

So I did ask the obvious question---Are the children in their museum the modern free range variety that have to be regularly fed and watered, or instead, the traditional variety in display cases that only have to be dusted off on occasion?

After a very definite snicker, the staff member announced Oh, I am so telling my coworkers that one!!!

[Hal]

Monolith action figure. “Zero points of articulation.”

See, also,

I was delighted when this turned up at my door! Since rushing out to stroke it I have discovered fire, learned how to eat meat, killed the big cats which used to eat my family and - best of all - I have murdered that bastard from next door who used to pee in my water-hole! And, I now know a catchy tune!

[Hal]

It’s a pocket knife, a bottle opener, and a pivoted USB stick.

Oh, yes. Awhile back I picked up one of their thumb drives with a build in laser pointer.

[Hal]

Camel versus cactus.

One of the situations that inspires the observation of:

. . . . . Oh.

I see you've done this before.

[Tim Newman]

Oh dear Lord, there’s more.

That needs a David Attenborough narration. I did try to tell people that Shameless was near enough a documentary, but they wouldn’t believe me.

[Spiny Norman]

Meanwhile, in London.

Make politicians live on the feral sink estates they created.

Oh, right.

Even tireless champion of the melanin-enriched downtrodden of South Central Los Angeles, 8-term Congresswoman Maxine Waters, doesn't live among the constituents she represents. Maxine Waters lives in tony Hancock Park, at least 6 miles north of her Congressional District.

(Before the resident sophist objects and posts multiple links to media sources "debunking" it: yes, I know the deed to the property is in her husband's name, but don't try to tell me she doesn't live there.)

[Spiny Norman]

Footpath of note.

Angels Flight,

...the furry masochist called lemming that lurks within us?

Maybe I've seen too many "rekt" threads at 4Chan, but while watching the perilous "footpath" video, I kept expecting to see one of the hikers slip and take a whole string of his fellows over the side with him.

(O_O)

[Spiny Norman]

Something along the lines of this:

[Hal]

From what I could make out, it involved a suspicion that one of the, um, ladies was fooking, or wanting to fook, the other lady’s blurk.

Hmmm. Given that The rhine in Spine stys minely in the pline, perhaps that would be . . . the other lady’s bloke?

Springboarding off a comment by Daniel Ream a bit back, something a bit relevant which I'm definitely going to dig into when I get a bit more time.

[Hal]

A review of possible dangers of artistic criticism.

[Fred the Fourth]

"Passing uphill on Old Priest Grade"?
Wow. I always just assumed that wasn't even theoretically possible.
Downhill is more terrifying. Brakes Don't Fail Me Now.

[Captain Nemo]

David, thy spam filter is being capricious again. If you could shake my reply from her grasp I'd be grateful. Thank you.

[David]

There’s nothing in the filter. Try again?

[Captain Nemo]

There isn't? Huh. Thanks for looking. Ok, take two:

Meanwhile, in London. "Make politicians live on the feral sink estates they created."

That should also apply to the architects of them too, for that matter.

[David]

That should also apply to the architects of them too, for that matter.

The last item here came to mind.

[Sam Duncan]

“[*Contemplates 10,000 word rant on the superfluity of most of modern legal education, which rant is based on practicing for thirty years. Thinks better of it, elects to have a final brandy and goes to bed.*]”

Heh. Through my teens I was pretty much dead-set on following in my father's footsteps. But the closer I got to actually doing it, the less I liked both what I saw and what I could see it all becoming.

“Maxine Waters lives in tony Hancock Park”

Why did they name it after a Briti... oh. Right. As you were.

By the way, David, the EU wants to ban Friday Ephemera. Enjoy it while you still can, folks.

[Captain Nemo]

I remember that. I commented underneath it at the time:

"It's interesting to note that the most ardent advocates of modern architecture are frequently those who don't have to live with it themselves."

Now, I'm not a huge fan of most modernist/contemporary architecture, but I do find some of it quite attractive. And interestingly I often find that of the (living) modern/contemporary architects whose work I like and find the most pleasant, many tend to live in houses of their own design - Michael Hopkins comes to mind as an example. Not an absolute rule of course, but it's close enough.

[champ]

A situation like that, though, you really need a level-10 force field.

That dog was not to be denied, even jumping on the table to get his prize...

[ftumch]

"Maxine Waters lives in tony Hancock Park"

Does Magna Carta mean nothing to you people? Did she die in vain?

[MC]

Modern architecture gets a lot of stick, but I doubt inner London's estates would be any better if they consisted of 3-bed semis with a nice garden. Management of the estate is crucial; for example London's Barbican estate is a mass of brutalist concrete but is well-managed. It is also full of wealthy professionals. Take the same estate, have it managed on the cheap and fill it with the same demographic* as other London estates and it would soon be one of those feral inner city estates.

*The vast majority of whom are decent people of course, but the minorities of recidivist scum, benefit junkies and non-integrating,non-contributing immigrants soon ruin it for everyone.

[David]

This.

[Jonathan]

Cue, "It wasn't real marxism" in 3, 2, 1.....

https://twitter.com/HansReturns/status/1002443574955446272

via Orwell & Goode

[David]

Cue, “It wasn’t real Marxism” in 3, 2, 1.....

unpredictable opening hours, slow service and 40-minute waits for a sandwich, strained customer patience

At least the waiting customers had plenty of time to admire the murals of noted sociopath and child-murderer Che Guevara.

[Squires]

“If they don't close the doors with customers inside so they cannot escape and starve to death was it really a Marxist restaurant?”

It isn’t real Marxism until everyone who would speak our is dead.

[[+]]

"The problem with DC action scenes"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p-lyt78cyA&feature=youtu.be

[Spiny Norman]

My apologies to everyone for using an obscure Americanism. I see and hear the term "tony" quite often to describe something luxuriously trendy (it's popular with the news media) but did not realize how provincial it actually is.

(o_O)

[Darleen]

Toxic masculinity. And thank God for it.

[sH2]

Vox.

https://twitter.com/voxdotcom/status/1003120339579297792

[Spiny Norman]

sH2,

Vox has become The Onion and we didn't even notice the transition.

A notable new Twitter hashtag: #RippingTheFunOutOfEverythingAlways

[Hal]

Sounds reasonable . . .