MetaFilter

No Skinny Puppy, but NIN is a good proxy. And that lands.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 5:34 PM on May 11, 2024

Thank you for posting this. Until today I had -- no kidding -- a lurking dread that maybe there was some sort of above-my-head genius financial figuring going on. I'm not a math guy or a money guy so despite all the evidence, books, and journalism exposing this as the world's greatest Ponzi scheme I still thought maybe I'm missing something.

But I'd never really been directly exposed to crypto people other than seeing headlines, oblique shared posts… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 6:14 AM on May 11, 2024

But the depth and intensity of Canadians’ frustration cannot be chalked up to misunderstanding the division of powers or to misdirected anger.

Uh... yes, it bloody well can? We have a full and well-funded right-wing media apparatus dedicated to doing exactly that, especially ginning up and turbocharging the "misdirected anger" part.

I'm more left than the Liberals and they do stuff I don't… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 7:36 AM on April 10, 2024

So, this person is the Canadian Ron Desantis?

Yes, but also a coward. Ron Desantis will at least flat out say what he thinks. PP scurries around telling his supporters one thing and publicly saying other things.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 7:38 AM on April 10, 2024

Civil...

(shades on)

...disobeedience.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 2:19 AM on April 5, 2024

I've recently become the ED of the Chess Institute of Canada, and it's been tremendously exciting to see this shaping up (although it's only been a few weeks for me, so effectively too late to get meaningfully involved).

Lots of our instructors are volunteers for the event, and it's amazing for them to see this level of play coming to Toronto. I've joined the organization based more on my strengths with community organizations and management -- I'm not a chess whiz… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 2:57 PM on April 3, 2024

There have been two times in my life when I have read somebody's writing and it's converted me from being "on their side" in terms of thinking they were beleaguered or facing outsized criticism for their actions, to thinking they were entirely in the wrong and thinking far less of them than if they'd never written anything at all: M Doughty's Book of Drugs and Ed Piskor's suicide note.

Don't read it, folks. I regret doing it. It did not… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 5:40 AM on April 2, 2024

Hat tip to the podcast Free With Ads for pointing this out to me! It's also a great podcast.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 5:15 AM on March 27, 2024

So I've been leaning into this since I posted it, joining Lil Jon every morning for 10 minutes. Not all topics relate to me, but I'm working through them regardless as I think there's some value even in the ones that don't resonate absolutely.

I've bounced off mediation at least a dozen times in my life, including self-directed attempts, silent, guided, music mediation, etc. So far this is sticking!

My hope is the novelty of it will keep me… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 5:21 AM on April 2, 2024

I’m fascinated that Michael Madsen is not credited on IMDB for this.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 3:28 PM on March 29, 2024

This is amazing!

The Internet being the Internet, has anyone built a reliable index for all similar museum-makes-things-public-domain initiatives? I know I've seen several (I've posted one or two!) and it'd be great to have a place to hop around all of them.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 4:01 AM on March 10, 2024

Years ago I picked up a copy of Mr. B Gone in a little free library. The book starts with the narrator running through a litany of "if you X, don't read this book!" that was so try-hard and Hot Topic in its 'edginess' that after three or four of them I said "okay, I'm not reading this book, then" and tossed it back in the next little library I found.

The Scarlet Gospels is bottom-five… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 9:19 AM on March 9, 2024

Dawncaster is my jam. I love a solid deckbuilder. One price up front, 100% playable (it gets more fun after you get a run or two under your belt and start unlocking stuff). No ads.

Every expansion is its own up-front cost, not necessary to play the game, but adds a lot of lore, cards and (IMO) value. The devs roll out new expansions on the reg, the Discord and Reddit communities are generally friendly and helpful. Easily the iOS game I play the most, and I'm still… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 5:17 PM on February 5, 2024

I'm about to career pivot from a decade in higher ed marketing and communications into being the ED of a small non-profit, but I'm hoping to carve out enough time/energy to actually write a comprehensive "how-to" manual on higher ed marcomms, which doesn't seem to ever have been done -- there are a few books out there, but they seem to be more esoteric "hey higher ed executives, this is what 'branding' means" kinds of books.

I've written about it in… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 2:28 AM on February 5, 2024

I think I do, but I also find spending 18 minutes watching something that probably boils down to 3-4 key points isn't something I enjoy. Could somebody who enjoys watching videos TLDR the criticism? Is is just "BetterHelp connects people who need qualified help to underqualified low-rent therapists, takes a huge cut, and everybody loses"?
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 2:25 AM on February 5, 2024

It's probably not this, but back before comics broke my fingers and crushed my spirit under its relentless grinding millstone, I was working on a project for Ape Entertainment (RIP) with the premise that it was based on an obscure comic from post-WWII, and was starting to get into light skullduggery to see if I could create a "real" history about it by generating Wikipedia articles, and such.

Failed/aspiring novelist, looking to… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 8:59 AM on January 31, 2024

My dream the night before last was a sci-fi Terminator thing, but the friendly "fleshy Terminator" was played by Sam Elliott, and at one point he got all his flesh blown off by an evil Terminator, but survived, and for the rest of the dream my friendly Terminator companion was a full-on metal Terminator that talked like Sam Elliott, and that was probably the best dream I've ever had and will have.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 3:19 AM on January 29, 2024

it's better and more effective when someone makes the (painful) effort to actually do a little digging and *show* the actual Nazism (and anti-vaccine rubbish, etc.)

Yeah -- I know "Substack has a Nazi problem" isn't new news here, but I appreciated a lot of the work done to actually show the receipts; possibly helpful to others who are dealing with Substackers on the edge but who are choosing willful ignorance.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 7:24 AM on January 18, 2024

And let's not forget that Tony Isabella had a canonical Jesus Christ for Ghost Rider to be friends and crime-fighting companions with, until Marvel EiC Jim Shooter got cold feet and made "A Friend" an illusion created by Mephisto.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 6:34 AM on January 14, 2024

Cords connect stereo equipment in Fritz's home.

This might be my new high-water mark for sweaty image/caption combos.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 10:47 AM on January 13, 2024

Not to detract from the article, but to save others a few minutes trying to figure out what "Front Range" means -- the article doesn't explain it, and I thought it was a technological thing, like "back-end" for web sites -- it's the Colorado/Wyoming section of the Rockies, for those not familiar with the region.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 2:30 AM on January 8, 2024

Pink Floyd is one of my favourite bands, and it never occurred to me that the title of their first album come from anything except the acid-washed meanderings of Syd Barrett's mind. I can completely see how the two things fit together, though.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 3:07 AM on January 1, 2024

uh Birdman
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 3:03 AM on December 24, 2023

who are these people that confidently make bad assertions

I feel like the proclaiming that one is MAGA and "confidently make bad assertions" does have an extraordinary Venn diagram overlap, so this very specific mystery isn't a difficult one to solve, but I take your general point about the sector.

Does writing for YA require people to approach everything with the chutzpah and inherent thirst for drama that seems to hit an all-time peak between the ages of 13 and 17?
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 6:31 AM on December 24, 2023

I mean... prisons have kitchens, don't they? Where prisoner employees serve food to people who are often considered very difficult to work with? Wouldn't prison with a side of KP be a more apt punishment that also delivers the desired effect?
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 3:01 AM on December 7, 2023

Not to interrupt this surprisingly fighty thread about the creators' claim that chip trucks are an Ontario thing, but when I created it there was a paste error and I inadvertently dropped "and Joel Kimmel" after the name Chantal Bennett above. Not that they'll see this, but apologies if so.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 8:30 AM on December 3, 2023

I want to do more Bandcamping, but at least here in Canada it's hard when I look at apples-to-apples pricing to buy albums digitally.

I've looked at several albums recently; including Blanck Mass' World Eater, which is $9 USD or $12.50 CAD at current exchange rates. On iTunes, in Canada, it's $9 CAD. Aesop Rock's Integrated Tech Solutions is $10 USD / $14 CAD, but $11 CAD on iTunes. Mountain Goats' Jenny from Thebes, $8 USD / $11 CAD vs. $10 CAD on iTunes.… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 4:57 AM on November 22, 2023

Thanks for sharing that Umbrella Man link, Kattullus, it's a great mini-doc and I loved watching it.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 4:34 AM on November 22, 2023

I can't be the first person who thought immediately of Garth Merenghi's Darkplace, which was a show so radical, so dangerous, so risky, so god-damned crazy that it was immediately shelved, never to see the light of day, until the courageous author brought it to light decades later.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 7:32 AM on October 29, 2023

I came to the Mountain Goats via that Weeds episode! I'd borrowed the DVDs from a friend or the library and literally paused the show, went back and forth until I had enough lyrics to search for, then bought the album and then more and more albums.

It's hard to keep up with Darnielle! I want to give every MG album a deep listen but his pace is such that I find it hard to really feel like I'm really catching every album.… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 5:06 PM on October 27, 2023

The first concert I ever went to, I was about 17 (small town kid, not a lot of money to get to the Big City) and I went to see Skinny Puppy on their Too Dark Park tour, and honestly it ruined concerts for me pretty much forever. Skinny Puppy at the peak of their powers put on a show and a half -- costumes, makeup, video walls, effects, all designed for maximum shock, gore, and disturbance. A seething mosh pit. Apocalyptic, ear-splitting sound.… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 12:49 PM on October 24, 2023

I work at an engineering faculty and am trying to rapidly convince the Engineering Chemistry folks to do something with "Seemingly ENCH," wish me luck
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 8:15 AM on October 13, 2023

I sent around a bunch of emails last year trying to get friends to help me start a podcast called The Night Where I Am -- the premise is that people turn on the Voice Memo or other similar recording function on their phones and put them outside / on a windowsill / etc. from about 1:45 - 3:15 am, and I edit that down to an hour. No voice, no intro, no nothing, all the info is in the description. It's just one-hour field recordings from all over the planet from various people's houses in the… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 12:00 PM on October 5, 2023

I unreservedly love Gavin Bryars.

I was working as the entertainment editor for the Ryerson (now TMU) student newspaper, The Eyeopener, when Metallica's Live Shit - Binge and Purge came out, and was covering a signing event at the local HMV. Killing time, I wandered up to the third floor and the classical section, where Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet was on a listening post.

I was… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 1:19 PM on September 22, 2023

Where is the Very Beardy Bryan Cranston footage from? I recognized Nobody, and that movie Aaron Paul did where he's an alcoholic in recovery, and snippets from a few other things, but not Beardy Bryan.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 4:12 PM on August 24, 2023

But then I realized that the joke must be that it sucked. But it actually sucked the first time. Only now the singers are making funny faces so you know they know it sucks. Okay.

I think you can be a bit more generous to the people who are enjoying this (I am) -- people contain multitudes, and it's entirely possible to

(a) know intellectually that something was not great in the first place;

(b)… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 5:07 AM on August 4, 2023

... there's a certain kind of person who is willing to treat their social network like it's Linux, spending hours reading long technical write-ups on how to fine-tune their experiences that have been written by people who don't think that "user experience" is "real" technology, and then there are about fifty other kinds of people who think that the point of being social is to have a comfortable time.

That is… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 3:10 PM on August 2, 2023

I wouldn't call myself an Art of Noise superfan but pretty well-versed in them and their work... but it was via the first linked mix, at the ~45-minute mark, that I learned that they were behind another one of my desert island selections in pop music, Welcome to the Pleasuredome.

Also linked via MeFi a while ago, another DJ Food collabo: a complete reconstruction of the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique from its source samples.

Don't sleep on DJ Food, people!
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 12:59 PM on July 31, 2023

Another recent listener to You're Wrong About -- thanks to an AskMe about intelligent podcasts, actually -- and listened to that episode specifically because I always thought she got a raw deal and we should all collectively apologize and feel bad.

.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 3:00 PM on July 26, 2023

Yahoo boys also have a word for their victims: maga, which means foolish, senseless, or gullible. One of the most popular hip-hop songs about scammers is “Maga Don Pay.” Brian, who as my trip wore on I came no closer to finding, probably used the term to describe my mom.

I'm not the first person to wonder about the etymology of this, apparently. But if the red-hatted shoe fits...
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 8:37 AM on July 24, 2023

Please spare a moment for the modern country stylings of Harlan and Brantley, Memphis Kansas Breeze.

Pickup Truck Birthday Party
Truck School Dance
Human Skin Truck Baby

All parts of the new country canon.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 6:13 PM on July 20, 2023

I came in here to write exactly the first part of Father Dagon's comment, from it being the first soundtrack I ever bought, overpriced import, all the way to having just spotted it in "I'm a Virgo."
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 3:56 PM on July 18, 2023

But Trader Ohhhhhs, surely.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 9:23 AM on July 12, 2023

Really enjoying this -- is this his normal sound or is this adapted to the Tiny Desk confines? Poking around on my own, I like the Tiny Desk sound and mood a lot more than the studio/video versions of Back That Thang Up, Set It Off or Slow Motion.

I'm not a streaming guy, I'm a buy-albums guy, and I'm not sure whether I like Juvenile, or if I just like Tiny Desk Juvenile...
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 3:20 PM on July 3, 2023

If he takes requests, my wife (Kitteh, here) and I have fantasized about a Primus cover of "Get Low" by Flo Rida for years now.

Apple-bottom-jeans-and-the-boots-with-the-furrrrrr...
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 7:25 AM on June 30, 2023

I was coming in to ask why there's a jazzy Spanish-guitar-flavoured take on "Joy to the World" for the trailer music... [Edit window -- it's right there in the YouTube credits, "DJ Williams" is the performer, it is indeed Joy To The World.]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 10:55 AM on June 27, 2023

No longer abusing the edit window: it looks like the trailer music is free to use / CC0.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 10:57 AM on June 27, 2023

This kind of shit got people killed.

Wow. I thought it was kind of somewhere on a spectrum between "Fairytale of New York" using the bundle-of-sticks-word or up to Eminem using anti-gay slurs on "Rap God," but not that.

This pivots me from "these guys are evolving, great" to "if they aren't unpublishing this stuff, pulling it off Spotify and making real efforts to eradicate it, yeah, you're nowhere close to where you need to be."
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 2:53 AM on May 29, 2023

They never released it. It is not available commercially, or through ICP, nor has it ever been.

Pivoting back to Team Violent J, and it feels good to feel good about people, even briefly.

Thanks for the clarification on that.
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 8:47 AM on May 29, 2023

I agree with all of this, but I also have a vague feeling around how making media a lot easier to produce has also thinned the support pools to the point that resource-intensive projects are folding.

Pre-Internet, my support dollars (had I the money back then to patronize anything) would have been reflected in magazine subscriptions, which sometimes didn't pan out (I'm still mad about Might magazine collapsing the very issue after I paid for a… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Shepherd at 9:21 AM on May 23, 2023