Activity from Ghidorah
Displaying post 1 to 50 of 111
Looking for a game to teach about inflation to 10th graders
I'm teaching a unit on inflation to my high school students, and I'd like to find (ideally) or make (less ideal) a game based on teaching the basics of inflation.
Examining What "Never Again" Means Through the Lens of Magneto
Writing for Defector, Asher Elbein talks about the evolution of the character of Magneto, who is (yet again) back from the dead and the shift of meaning in "Never Again," from inclusive aspiration to its violent modern application.
Graphic Novels for Teens?
It looks like I'm in the position where I can get my school's library to order a whole bunch of graphic novels for teens and near-native language learners. I have a smattering of ideas (Sandman, Nimona, Persepolis, Lumberjanes), and we have Maus, but not much else. I'd like to get a solid assortment of graphic novels for various reading levels and interests, fiction and non-fiction.
It's almost like someone should write a book about it
Paramount announced that, after the Justice Department successfully sued to block Penguin from purchasing Simon and Schuster late last year, that the have sold the publisher instead to KKR for $1.6 billion. Clearly everything is fine, and there is nothing to worry about...
Spinal stenosis, back surgery options, least shitty choice?
YANMD. I have spinal stenosis, and I had an appointment with a surgeon today that I had hope would go a lot better than it did. I'm looking at three choices: do nothing and live with the pain, have a laminectomy that might only provide temporary relief, or a spinal fusion that will probably lead to other fusions as I get older. Looking for people with any experience and/or advice? So much more below the fold.
"my own personal comment: lmao, it's fucking dogshit"
On July 1st, G/O Media (previously, previously, previously, previously, previously) announced they would be publishing articles created by AI. Today, under the byline Gizmodo Bot, the first AI article, an error riddled chronological listing of Star Wars stories was published. The James Whitbrook, deputy editor of Gizmodo and io9 responded, releasing a statement. (sorry, Twitter link)
Note, the article in question has not been linked. There's no need for it to get any more clicks.
Wanting more than "a bit of rainbow window dressing"
There’s an idealized version of a Pride Night in my head: one night a year where a ballpark truly becomes a place where straightness is the exception and not the norm. - No Straights at Pride Night Lauren Theisen, writing about Pride Night at baseball games, the nice things that we're painfully aware we can't have, for Defector.
iPad .cbr reader for comics?
I'm looking for a new .cbr reader for iPad. Willing to pay a little bit to avoid ads in-app, but would love something free that works well, as Comic Zeal seems to be dead/off the App Store.
Country Song ID: Burning houses, but not Cam?
I'm looking for a song I used to hear at work, and I know it involves a female singer, and there's definitely something about burning houses, but I'm almost certain it's not Burning House by Cam, though it might be contemporary?
Help us donate our mother's things, Chicago area
Our mother passed away this morning, and had asked us to donate her things wherever possible. We are in the far northern suburbs of Chicago, and looking for organizations to contact.
The Money is in All the Wrong Places
What this means is that the door a writer could step through to make a career 50 or even 20 years ago, the one opening onto a life where someone who works hard and does well could buy a house on the strength of that work alone, has been slammed shut. Defector's Kelsey McKinney writing about the uproar directed at Sydney Sweeney's interview with the Hollywood Reporter on how difficult it is to make a living as an actor (or musician, or model) without wealth, connections, or both. (DefectorFilter)
I have always arrived late to everything I love.
“So much of the art we love is really just about our loyalty to and softness toward our own memories; so often loving an album or a book or a song is really just a way to love an obsolete version of ourselves.” - Helena Fitzgerald on August and Everything After, without really discussing the album itself at all, pointing out that it might just be a perfect album.
He responded, “Your cost of compliance is not my problem.”
But Benford says the first complaint that put the couple on the city’s radar came from a white neighbor in 2003. “That lady would ask me to come help her move things, or fix something,” Benford says. “She’d ask for rides to and from the bus stop. Come to find out she was reporting us to the city the entire time.” Radley Balko for Nashville Scene with an extensive investigation into the explosion of Metro Code violation reports largely targeting Black and low-income home owners in the city.
Classroom Reading Tracking/Book Sharing Software
I'm doing a lot of extensive reading this year, and asking my students (near-native English speaking Japanese 7-10th graders with overseas or international school experience) to read several books this year. I would like to have some way to a) track books students are reading, and b) have a community page of some sort where students can share the books they've read, and their responses to them.
Longshot Google Docs Autocorrect Question
I'm teaching in Japan, and my school is using Google for everything, Classroom, Forms, Sheets. My students submit writing assignments on Docs. It looks like they don't have access to spellcheck. Is this a language setting issue?
He asked how it felt to get hit by lightning.
Does my son know you?- Jonathan Tjarks from The Ringer, not talking about sports, but about his cancer diagnosis, and his wrestling both with his own imminent mortality, and his efforts to build a childhood full of family for his son.
"We are deeply and profoundly sorry": The Baltimore Sun Apologizes
Instead of using its platforms, which at times included both a morning and evening newspaper, to question and strike down racism, The Baltimore Sun frequently employed prejudice as a tool of the times. It fed the fear and anxiety of white readers with stereotypes and caricatures that reinforced their erroneous beliefs about Black Americans.
The Editorial Board of the Baltimore Sun has published a lengthy apology for a long history of not only racial bias, but of publishing articles that further supported or enabled systemic racism.
Chicago Public Media (WBEZ) to buy Chicago Sun-Times
Back to Normal Doesn't Work Because Normal Wasn't Working
It all feels like some terribly boring nightmare, this gentle constant frustration in the space where hope used to be.
Back to Normal Isn't Enough, from Kelsey McKinney, writing for Defector.
Looking for alternative approaches to Facebook Groups
I've been running a Facebook Group for organizing monthly meet ups where people purchase things I make. I'm looking for non-Facebook options for hosting a group that can receive regular updates and essentially replace the utility of the Groups function on Facebook.
Cookbooks for hot sauces?
My pepper crop is coming in, and I've definitely planted too much. I've never made hot sauce, but I figure this is a good time to try it out, but I don't even know where to start.
Everything here happened following the rules of the game
Wellington-based graphic designer Tim Denee (previously) posted his play-through of Thousand Year Old Vampire (previously)
10 Year Anniversary of Tohoku Earthquake
Ten years and a couple hours ago, the Tohoku earthquake happened, setting off the tsunami and nuclear power disaster in Fukushima. It was my last day at a high school in suburban Chiba, outside of Tokyo, and, pre-smart phone, I had no way of getting in touch with Mrs. Ghidorah, or knowing much of what was happening. The thread on the blue was an immense help at the time.
No one is ugly. No one is really fat. Everyone is beautiful.
I defy you to find a mainstream film with a moment as horny and gay as the Sexy Saxophone Solo from The Lost Boys.
Everyone is Beautiful and No One is Horny, a pretty great look at how movies have moved from depicting idealized, yet reasonably attainable lives and their attendant messiness into what happens when you accidentally change the channel to informercials for the wealthy, glistening and perfect, but nothing lived in or liveable.
Hear me out: The Lion, the Wick, and the Wardrobe
“The thing that makes Wick so beautiful is that what he gets Pulled Back Into is not the standard revenge fantasy. Instead being Pulled Back In means literally entering another world, hidden within pockets of our own. Because in addition to being a great action movie, John Wick is a portal fantasy.”
New iPad, what do I do with it?
I recently bought an 11 inch iPad Pro, and aside from realizing that maybe I don't need something this powerful, I realize that I'm stuck with it, and wondering what's out there that I should be using it for, or what apps are the super awesome must have apps.
Japan Zoom Sunday, 12/27 8ish?
I keep meaning to propose another one of these, and it’d be a nice to hang out and chat and what have you again, possibly with a side of Among Us if anyone is up for it.
Not Really At the Palace Hotel, Tokyo Zoom
Sorry, I really, really meant to put one of these up much earlier, but, uh, something came up this week. Any chance anyone would be up for a zoom (like old times!) get together tonight, 11/7, about 8ish Tokyo time?
Our focus today cannot be on basketball
In response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake, and the Kenosha Police Department giving armed white supremacists free rein in the city, the Milwaukee Bucks as a team refused to take the floor for game 5 of their first round playoff series against the Orlando Magic. The Magic, left the floor, too, refusing to accept a win by forfeit. The NBA quickly announced all three games scheduled would be postponed.
Shared Book Review Site for Classroom Use
I'm looking for a website or app that allows students to post short summaries of books. The hope is that the students in the class will use the summaries to find new books to read over the course of the year, and possibly beyond.
Is it supposed to be this salty?
I came across the cheese sauce recipe from Modernist Cuisine that uses sodium citrate to make a creamy sauce. The texture was great, but it was pretty salty. Is there something I can do to fix this?
The next couple days could change the course of journalism in America
Nieman Journalism Lab reports on two key dates: June 30th, when Tribune Publishing's two largest shareholders (Alden Global Capital, with 33 percent and Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, with 25 percent) will reach the end of their agreement not to buy or sell shares in the company, and July 1st, when final bids are due for the 30 local newspapers owned by McClatchy, which filed for bankruptcy in February.
Japan MeFi #???
Sorry, I said I’d set one up, but then it slipped my addled mind. Sunday’s at 8, right?
I’ve enjoyed these, and I’d hate for them to go away. On the other hand, if weekly is too much, that’s understandable.
Drawing tablet for a newb?
I've been back at drawing and sketching a bit for the past couple of years, and I'm wondering if I should be looking at a drawing tablet for what I want to be doing, but I've got no idea where to start.
Enabling Notifications for Online Meetups Pony
Activity has pretty much stopped on IRL for obvious reasons, but weirdly, the Tokyo Mefite community has never met nearly as much! We're heading into our 9th straight week of meetups (on Zoom) which is a full on record for us, but leads me to this humble pony request: if the poster of the IRL meetup chooses "online" as the type of meetup, no notification memails get sent, and the meetup doesn't show in the sidebar on MetaTalk. Can we change that?
Windows 10 Japanese OS to English language?
How effective is the language change setting on Windows 10? I would like to have an English OS, but the computers I'm looking at are offered only with Japanese Windows 10.
Sending my relief check to family, difficulty level: Overseas resident
It turns out my relief check from the U.S. government has arrived. I live in Japan, and I would rather send it to family back home, as they need it more than I do. Can anyone help me figure this out? Tons of weird complicating details inside.
Tokyo/Japan Zoomeetup #5*
Excitement! Adventure! Zoom! Witty Banter!* Mefites beamed directly to your home! Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! (Monster truck voice intensifies)
*wittiness of banter not guaranteed, offer void in Taito-ku, Saitama, and some parts of Aichi, consult your doctor if banter causes itchiness or swelling
Japan Online Meetup NUMBER THREE!!!
Hey all. I don't know if you noticed this, but we're in uncharted territory here. If you look at the sidebar, it has a list of "most active cities" for meetups, and we're essentially in second place (a couple cities have had four, sure), and if we have another meetup this Sunday, boom, we'll be one of the most active cities/amorphous regional groupings in all of Metafilterland! Can't you just feel those competitive juices flowing, urging you on to meet once again on Sunday night at 8 for some light chat, witty observations, and hilarious jokes?
Edit: changed time to 8, longer explanation in the comments
WWE Essential, Employees Contractors Not So Much
Reports surfaced this week of WWE being labelled an "essential business" by the state of Florida, allowing them to continue airing live wrestling shows in an empty studio. When asked about the decision, Governor DeSantis delivered a word salad for the ages, citing Disney gardening staff, content, Nascar, Woods and Mickelson doing "the golf," and Tom Brady being in Tampa Bay before ending his press conference. Then, a couple days later after getting the go ahead to continue, billion dollar company WWE began releasing wrestlers, as well as furloughing and laying off producers, and other employees. Many people have been wondering what the hell is going on.
ソーシャルディスタンシングしましょう？
Hey all. So, is anyone else hungering enough for social interaction that a Brady Bunch-esque layout of little video windows of friends seems like a really good idea? Any MIJ (Mefites in Japan)* up for a meetup over Zoom?**
Bah Gahd, That's Ring of Honor's Music!
Ring of Honor Wrestling has cancelled all live events through May 31st. To fill that finisher-kickout-finisher-kickout loop shaped hole in your heart, the company has made several classic matches free on YouTube, featuring current and former stars like CM Punk, Daniel Bryan (nee Bryan Danielson), Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens (nee Steen), and even close friend of Sami Zayn, noted orphange operator, El Generico. Check below the fold for SO MUCH WRESTLING!
For all your quarantine binge watching needs
You've finished rewatching The Wire, you can't bring yourself to really give Game of Thrones another go, and you're still at home, trying to wait for a return to normalcy while trying to remember how to make pasta from scratch in order to pass the time. What to do next? Why not watch the entire run of Kitchen Nightmares? FilmRise, the distribution company that controls the rights to the series have uploaded it, in it's entirety, to YouTube.
Relax, Greg, it’s just a joke.
Jokes I’ve told that my male colleagues didn’t like slMcSweeney’s
Brexit just keeps getting better
UK to close door to non-English speakers and unskilled workers, headline from the Guardian. According to the article, the plan would be for a points based system for work visas, with the ability to speak English worth 10 points out of the required 70.
Fluffy, airy, spreadable pork liver mousse?
I’m making a bunch of fancy stuff for New Years, and I’d really like to make a really nice, smooth pork liver mousse. I’ve had what I’d like to make at French restaurants in the past, where there’s essentially a spoonful of mousse dolloped onto a plate, so it’s fluffy enough to be gently scooped out with a spoon. Any ideas how I get there, and avoid dense, coarse liver spread?
Line cooks of the world, unite!
Over at Eater, Jaya Saxena writes about the growing push for unionizing kitchen workers. It’s not only about the stagnant low wages, it’s about creating a safer work environment, where the dangers are taken seriously.
The gap keeps growing
A report from CBS on a study from the Brookings Institution reveals that “ 44% of U.S. workers are employed in low-wage jobs that pay median annual wages of $18,000.”
Not like this
This is Just to Say
I have used
the poem
that we have all
abused so badly
and many
of the versions
that MeFites created
Forgive me
it was for a class
on text and audience
and the students seemed to like it