You’re Itching For One
An open thread, that is, in which to share links and then bicker about them. I’ll set the ball rolling with this item here, by Tim Worstall, on the thrill and intrigue of wombat faeces.
If you should fail in the task of entertaining each other, the reheated series and greatest hits are there to be poked at.
Also, via Chris Snowdon, some vintage courtroom news:
And no, that isn’t the strangest bit.
BBC ‘News’…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-39896838/a-cheaper-tastier-way-to-eat-lunch-at-work
Amazingly, you can actually *make* sandwiches.
You should be proud. Evidently, you are the only one (with an assist from Worstell, obvs) who could entice me to read an entire article about wombat crap. Well done.
Amazingly, you can actually *make* sandwiches.
Wow. Before watching the thing, I assumed that there must be more to it, some subtlety or previously unguessed-at informational content. But no. It actually is “Grown man realises he can make sandwiches.”
Behold your license fee at work.
Letters are scary. Capital ones doubly so. Especially if you’re a journalism student…
https://www.theweek.co.uk/97895/uni-staff-told-capital-letters-could-frighten-anxious-students
https://metro.co.uk/2018/11/19/lecturers-banned-from-using-capital-letters-to-avoid-upsetting-students-8154365/
Leeds University responds:
https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/education/leeds-trinity-university-responds-to-ban-on-capital-letters-1-9453332
But no. It actually is “Grown man realises he can make sandwiches.”
No, no, that is far too pedestrian, it is a “lunch hack”, because anyone can just “make” lunch.
No, no, that is far too pedestrian, it is a “lunch hack”…
Wait until he discovers that one can make salads for healthy options. His mind will be blown. In part 3, he discovers that heretofore unused room in his home called “the kitchen.”
No, no, that is far too pedestrian, it is a “lunch hack”, because anyone can just “make” lunch.
We await the thrilling realisation that water comes from taps.
Oops!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6409331/Forklift-driver-causes-entire-warehouse-fall-like-dominoes-nudges-shelving-unit.html
Oops!
And so the Ark of the Covenant was lost once again.
Xas7wcrg9e: This isn’t Leeds University (an excellent institution founded in the 1870s), but Leeds Trinity, formerly a couple of teacher training colleges given university status six years ago. It’s currently ranked 108th out of 131 British universities; one can get a place in most of the courses with an average of three Grade Cs at A level(for US readers, that would be a GPA of about 3 or slightly below). It’s also, according to that fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia, the university at which “students…held the longest running sit-in in the country as a protest against the national increase in tuition fees.”
They specialise in courses such as Applied Social Science; Exercise, Health and Nutrition; Digital Media (Gaming); and Education Studies. No STEM subjects at all.
On the other hand, it does have the second highest student satisfaction rate in Yorkshire, which is presumably because the lecturers are careful not to damage their (not terribly bright) students’ self-esteem by telling them what to do or not to do.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2018/11/19/chipotle-may-rehire-a-manager-who-asked-african-american-men-to-prepay-for-burritos/
An incident in St Paul Minnesota where a Mexican fast food manager asks some Somali youths to pay in advance because they skipped out without paying the last time is surely an example of 21st century vibrant diversity. But the Washington Post is determined to pretend it’s a lunch counter in Alabama in 1930.
capital letters
They’re not even chagrined when called out on this nonsense! “We follow national best practice teaching guidelines and the memo cited in the press is guidance from a course leader to academic staff, sharing best practice from the latest teaching research to inform their teaching.”
I sincerely hope that somebody is following up with these geniuses to learn more about this “latest teaching research” which is informing the new policy.
To bring it all together: I’m now imagining Leeds Trinity offering a course in sandwich-making. On the one hand, it’s a useful skill that’s easy enough to acquire, even considering the quality of students and teachers there. On the other hand, one knows damned well that they wouldn’t make it through the first session without the usual suspects hijacking the class and turning it into a demonstration against the patriarchy of sandwiches and its manifestation by means of popular sandwich ingredients embodying the violence of toxic masculinity. On the gripping hand, the students will get full course credit either way.
We await the thrilling realisation that water comes from taps.
Indeed, then he can “hack” a disposable water bottle by filling it from same and break the stranglehold Big Water has on the bottled water market.
some vintage courtroom news
‘At the time, prison staff were complying with her requests that she should be known as “Mighty Almighty”, or “Obi Wan Kenobi”…’
Governor Squid: What an excellent idea! Leeds Trinity’s course in sandwich-making would sit beautifully alongside their Exercise, Health and Nutrition degree course (see above), not to mention Working with Children, Young People and Families, and Strength and Conditioning.
Mind you, the BBC journalist at the centre of this fascinating story was, according to his Facebook page, educated at Cambridge, so he already has a BA. Not to worry: Leeds Trinity runs a post-graduate course in Health and Wellbeing, so he can go for his PhD in Sandwich Making. Solved!
David: Many thanks for the cocktail. What must I do to earn a pickled egg?
Who’s a good boy ?
No, not you, Spot, you racist bastard !
some vintage courtroom news…
‘At the time, prison staff were complying with her requests that she should be known as “Mighty Almighty”, or “Obi Wan Kenobi”…’
That …human male… wasn’t even trying to look female! He even got them to call him Obi Wan Kenobi?? Ye flipping gods what is this world coming to?
How far does this nonsense have to go before someone says “Enough?” I guess pretty far if the threat of losing one’s job is very real when someone can throw the Transphobe accusation at you.
What must I do to earn a pickled egg?
Alas, we’re out of eggs. There was a heated exchange between our Movnrovian supplier and a health and safety inspector, whose whereabouts, coincidentally, are now unknown following a mysterious electrical fire.
Can I tempt you with some hump fat?
It’s good for the… skin.
Curious…has anyone really tried the hump fat? AFAF of course…
as anyone really tried the hump fat?
Seize the day.
“It’s good for the… skin.”
Not so much for the camel. No wonder they’re wild. I’d be livid.
“No, not you, Spot, you racist bastard !”
M8 yer dugs a Nazi, indeed.
“I wouldn’t say Mr Almighty was predictable. That wouldn’t be the word. Mr Almighty was very persistent in carrying out his behaviours. Whereas other prisoners would not have attempted it [tearing the ‘tear-proof’ clothing], he would.”
Oh, boy (or, er… whatever). You see Life in the courts.
“Scott is one of only some 100 offenders in Scotland subject to an Order for Lifelong Restriction”
“Only”.
Seize the day
Yes. I’ll tell my friend.
re the forklift accident, looks like bad engineering/design/construction more than a forklift operator’s mistake. From what little I can find it’a apparently from 2016 or so. Some comments I’ve seen say it was at an Amazon warehouse, possibly in Canada, though I see other non-US countries mentioned as well. What’s interesting is that a Google Advanced Search for Amazon warehouse forklift accident on the WaPo site only returns five items. Items which only seem to refer to Amazon in the South American river sense, not the company. Yet do a general google search for Amazon warehouse forklift accident and you will see a number of stories of deaths and such. I also see a good number of (possibly) former Amazon workers commenting that such problems are not uncommon. What’s also interesting is how the WaPo is all over that manager who refused to serve black people for no apparent reason. Democracy dies in darkness. Or so I’ve heard. Say, doesn’t the guy who owns Amazon also own the WaPo? Hmm…
Not so much for the camel.
Yes, but a daily application takes years off a gentleman’s scrotum. Or indeed a lady’s.
A pattern is emerging here:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6405081/Transgender-murderer-serving-life-sentence-granted-gender-reassignment-surgery-NHS.html
Camel hump fat user comment (C.F. – Verified buyer):
Use it in the morning coffee in place of ghee butter.
You put ghee butter in your coffee???
Coming to a $tarbuck$ opening in your village soon…
Yes, but a daily application takes years off a gentleman’s scrotum.
Quite.
I think I recall an anecdote mentioned by Lyn MacDonald’s book Somme in which a British colonel was leading his regiment down a road singing the song, “Do Your Balls Hang Low.” Unfortunately, Lord Kitchener–pronounced with a reverential “Harumph” following his name– happened along behind the column and was not amused. As result, he communicated with Allenby in Palestine for advice, and from then on, scrotum health was of paramount concern in the British Army.
Feminism.
Fascinating. Hump Fat apparently contains Conjugated Linoleic Acid, so it’s quite a grammatical product.
Please, sir, may I have another cocktail for remembering to close the italic tag?
[ A Campari and Night Nurse slides along bar. ]
I would have thought a Camel-Hump-on-the-Beach was more appropriate.
That “story” about the oppressed female being asked why she needs two laptops is just one big humble brag.
…just one big humble brag.
If it happened at all. Owning multiple electronic devices is not particularly unusual. Further, if the conversation took place in a security line, who spends his time examining other people’s stuff instead of making sure one’ on pile is organized for easy retrieval once one gets through? Finally, who (other than busy-body Leftists) spends his time making snarky remarks to random people he meets? At worst, it was someone trying to make benign conversation while standing in line for a security check and not a metaphor for universal toxic masculinity.
Where can I get a bag of Wombat poo? I have to take a stool sample to the lab next week.
The lady in question’s LinkedIn page.
For someone who graduated this spring and has literally never had a real job (“Insight Data Science” is a post-grad training program to help people with theoretical degrees learn how to perform real-world jobs) she seems awfully snippy.
Oh, and her “artificial intelligence work” is a “tunable movie recommender”.
What was it David called these people? “Chippy mediocrities”?
I think the strangest bit was that the Sun, of all newspapers, kept referring to him as She and Her.
This is a question apropos of nothing usually seen here, but one for y’all over in the UK –
Here in the US&A, largely owing to the lack of originality of the writers and the fact that they think the only cities in the US are LA or NYC (honorable mention, Chicago), most cop shows take place in those cities. Of course they are crime ridden, so that helps, but I digress – “Des Moines Vice”, just doesn’t have a lot of pizzazz.
Now it may be bias based on what is available over here, but it seems most of the England UK cop shows are set somewhere in Yorkshire, usually North Yorkshire. Is there any particular reason ? I don’t see Leeds or Sheffield being perceived as the only cities in England. Are Yorkshiremen more inherently criminal than the people in Kent ? Do they get a tax break for setting stories there ?
Just curious, from my sample, it makes East St. Louis look like a rest home.
largely owing to the lack of originality of the writers and the fact that they think the only cities in the US are LA or NYC
It’s more that those cities are where the TV/movie industry is, and it’s much cheaper to keep all your critical people working on a production in the same place, and use the outdoor shooting locations that are a mile from the studio instead of spending a bunch of money on post-production to CGI in the skyline and the license plates.
It’s more that those cities are where the TV/movie industry is…
Which is why Breaking Bad was set in Albuquerque. They had grants / subsidies to shoot in New Mexico, and chose Albuquerque, intending that it would stand in for LA. They quickly realized that it was going to be a major pain to either use CGI to erase the Sandia Mountains, or arrange every shot to avoid them catching them in view; they threw in the towel and revised the script to change the setting.
…and it’s much cheaper to keep all your critical people working on a production in the same place…
Nope, Vancouver and Toronto are substitutes for northeast & northwest US cities because it is cheaper to shoot there, Atlanta subs for many cities, because of Georgia tax breaks and no unions (there are something like 20 films in production there now), some New Orleans films are actually shot in Mobile, and so on.
The politicians and Hollywood go through a thing every so often to fool the rubes in Flyoverlandia into thinking they’re gonna become Hollywood East. I’ve seen Central Florida (because Disney and Universal of course) and Pittsburgh and yes Georgia (basically every place I’ve lived or get considerable news from…wife and I were extras in a movie in GA). I pretty much figured damn near every locale in the US and Canada has had their pockets picked by Hollywood under the premise that the studios are looking for a low wage, low cost alternative to CA for the “long term” and thus sucker the stupid voters into thinking their short term subsidy will pay off in the long run. Because nobody questions what makes themselves so special. Schmucks.
… fool the rubes in Flyoverlandia into thinking they’re gonna become Hollywood East…
It is true the Hollywood HQ and post production stuff are not going to leave Malibu for Weeki Wachee Springs, but it is also true that they will maximize their profits by taking advantage of cheaper labor rates and ease of shooting in the civilized states. Anecdotally, I have an acquaintance who is a movie sound guy from LA who spends about half his time on the road, and is happy as a clam when he can set his own stuff up without having to wait for a union electrician to plug in an extension cord, another union guy to hold a mike, another to tape some wires together, and so on, as he has to do in LA.
Regardless, this doesn’t answer my question about Yorkshire…
Are Yorkshiremen more inherently criminal than the people in Kent?
They are more inherently criminal than La Cosa Nostra, and cheap with it.
Nope, Vancouver and Toronto are substitutes for northeast & northwest US cities because it is cheaper to shoot there
Depends on how much travel between the studio in LA and the primary shooting site there is. Either you keep everything close to home and set your piece in LA/NY, or you farm out everything to a Canadian production studio and let it all be done domestically.
Regardless, a quick perusal of cop shows indicates that although LA and NY are certainly well-represented, they’re not as monolithic a setting as all that (things like the interminable Law & Order spinoffs are a special case; that’s leveraging economy of scale)
… they’re not as monolithic a setting as all that…
Given the size of the US&A and the number and variety of the big cities, they certainly are monolithic, especially given how a successful series was shot in as boring a town as Albuquerque.
Regardless, I am more and more disinterested in the lazy and unoriginal LA dreck which is why I find myself puzzling over the fine folks of Yorkshire.
…especially given how a successful series was shot in as boring a town as Albuquerque.
Lo, do we come the bickering which our host desires in these open threads. I must rise to defend Albuquerque, a town with a decent climate, fine Tex-Mex cuisine and multiple metric butt-loads of outdoor stuff to do within a two-hour radius–(a little longer for better skiing). Example here.
There is, or used to be, a big belly dance festival in Albuquerque called Shake and Bake. I always wanted to go but never managed.
For someone who graduated this spring and has literally never had a real job… she seems awfully snippy.
Well, yes. Quite. The impression given isn’t of some fiercely competent woman besieged by the Patriarchy, but of a captious, petty, thin-skinned whiner who hasn’t figured out that you can create multiple user profiles on the same laptop.
Oh, and on LinkedIn, under “experience,” she lists her Instagram account.
on LinkedIn, under “experience,” she lists her Instagram account.
Apparently that’s because part of her personal brand as “AstronomerAmber” is mentoring women and girls in astronomy and astrophysics. I can’t help but feel that if I were a young girl interested in the sciences I’d want a mentor who had actually done something in the field.
I know, I know. I’ll report for regrooving.
if I were a young girl interested in the sciences I’d want a mentor who had actually done something in the field.
We’ve been here before, I think. Specifically, the last paragraph.