Share some things that make you smile!

[happyninja42]

I'm not even a Jeopardy fan, and this still makes me smile.

LeVar Burton lands guest host gig on 'Jeopardy!' after more than 246,000 fans sign online petition | CNN

LeVar Burton, of "Reading Rainbow" fame, is taking on a new role this spring.

www.cnn.com

I think it's along the same lines as when the internet made Mr. Burton cry by flooding his gofundme Reading Rainbow reboot project in like 1 hour. It's just nice seeing people so blatantly express affection for someone, for being a nice person who tries to promote learning.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I'm not even a Jeopardy fan, and this still makes me smile.

LeVar Burton lands guest host gig on 'Jeopardy!' after more than 246,000 fans sign online petition | CNN

LeVar Burton, of "Reading Rainbow" fame, is taking on a new role this spring.

www.cnn.com

I think it's along the same lines as when the internet made Mr. Burton cry by flooding his gofundme Reading Rainbow reboot project in like 1 hour. It's just nice seeing people so blatantly express affection for someone, for being a nice person who tries to promote learning.

Same here. Between Reading Rainbow and Star Trek: The Next Generation, Mr. Burton was a huge and fond part of my childhood, up there with Mr. Rogers and Bob Ross.

 

[happyninja42]

Same here. Between Reading Rainbow and Star Trek: The Next Generation, Mr. Burton was a huge and fond part of my childhood, up there with Mr. Rogers and Bob Ross.

I remember him from Reading Rainbow, but I don't really recall that show as being a big part of my childhood. I learned to read really early, so early I honestly don't have a memory of doing it. Not trying to say I'm some savant or anything, it's just that my memory of events as a child is VERY foggy, and only pops up in my head around 6 years old. By then I was reading above my age bracket. So, the show, I mean I might've watched it as a teeny kid? My memory of it was mostly just that show that was talking about books I was already reading beyond. When STNG came on, that was my primary appreciation of Mr. Burton. I actually really liked that they showed him as being an expert in STEM, but also being very optimisitc, upbeat, and sociable. Sure he had like, relationship problems, as evidenced by those episodes about him and the hologram lover of the engineering woman. But, he wasn't a Barkley. He was outgoing, had friends, could easily chit chat with people, and he was also a scientific expert. It was nice to see such a break from the standard "anti-social nerd genius" trope.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I remember him from Reading Rainbow, but I don't really recall that show as being a big part of my childhood. I learned to read really early, so early I honestly don't have a memory of doing it. Not trying to say I'm some savant or anything, it's just that my memory of events as a child is VERY foggy, and only pops up in my head around 6 years old. By then I was reading above my age bracket. So, the show, I mean I might've watched it as a teeny kid? My memory of it was mostly just that show that was talking about books I was already reading beyond. When STNG came on, that was my primary appreciation of Mr. Burton. I actually really liked that they showed him as being an expert in STEM, but also being very optimisitc, upbeat, and sociable. Sure he had like, relationship problems, as evidenced by those episodes about him and the hologram lover of the engineering woman. But, he wasn't a Barkley. He was outgoing, had friends, could easily chit chat with people, and he was also a scientific expert. It was nice to see such a break from the standard "anti-social nerd genius" trope.

Yeah, I was an early and avid reader myself, but PBS programming was still a staple, mostly for the simple kindness of it all. I never used RR as a tool for learning so much as I enjoyed it as affirmation that reading was a viable gateway to experiences outside of the playground. Then when I got old enough to appreciate Star Trek, he was my favorite character (Geordi) because I knew him from RR and because, like me, he was black, intelligent and personable, and he was best friends with Data and treated him like everyone else, just a good fucking dude. I dressed up as Geordi for Halloween one year, and I sent Burton my visor via mail. I doubt he ever got it, but it was important to me to know he inspired me, so I think my parents went with it for the grins; they probably pitched it in the trash!

 

[happyninja42]

Yeah, I was an early and avid reader myself, but PBS programming was still a staple, mostly for the simple kindness of it all. I never used RR as a tool for learning so much as I enjoyed it as affirmation that reading was a viable gateway to experiences outside of the playground. Then when I got old enough to appreciate Star Trek, he was my favorite character (Geordi) because I knew him from RR and because, like me, he was black, intelligent and personable, and he was best friends with Data and treated him like everyone else, just a good fucking dude. I dressed up as Geordi for Halloween one year, and I sent Burton my visor via mail. I doubt he ever got it, but it was important to me to know he inspired me, so I think my parents went with it for the grins; they probably pitched it in the trash!

For me, my favorite from TNG was Wesley. He was basically a ME insert. About the same age, name is insanely similar to my own, same basic body type/hair/overall demeanor. Being really into science. So it was really cool seeing, the closest copy to me, in a scifi show that I had ever seen at that point. I also liked Geordi because he was one of the adults that was actually cool with Wesley, and didn't just act like they were always annoyed having him around.

 

[gorfias]

 

[Asita]

View attachment 3628

This feels relevant:

 

[BrawlMan]

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[gorfias]

 

[Mister Mumbler]

 

[happyninja42]

 

[gorfias]

 

[BrawlMan]

 

[Asita]

So...this popped into my feed today:


Yes, that's a real place. Yes, he apparently pronounced it correctly. No, I did not believe either to be true until I looked them up. So now I've got this "Oh, man, you're serious" grin going on.

 

[Xprimentyl]

So...this popped into my feed today:


Yes, that's a real place. Yes, he apparently pronounced it correctly. No, I did not believe either to be true until I looked them up. So now I've got this "Oh, man, you're serious" grin going on.

Omg, yes; @Chimpzy offered this a while back too (as well as a story about his Irish ex and her incomprehensible name which I'm sure was a lie,) and my life has been forever worse.

Look at the mofo's face at the end. He just styled that shit, and he knows it.

There's also this classic from the beautiful people of Iceland:


I'm starting to think the longer a culture is isolated to an island, the less sense they feel the need for their language to make sense...

 

[Chimpzy]

Omg, yes; @Chimpzy offered this a while back too (as well as a story about his Irish ex and her incomprehensible name which I'm sure was a lie,) and my life has been forever worse.

Let me make it a tad worse, with Finnish!

Lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas

Or perhaps you like some Maori?

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu

 

[Xprimentyl]

Let me make it a tad worse, with Finnish!

Lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas

Or perhaps you like some Maori?

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu

I refuse to believe any of this is true.

But you know, with all this talk of Icelandic volcanos that require two tongues to pronounce, Welsh towns whose names contain more letters than they contain people and the utter nonsense you're trying to sell my Finnish and Maori, I'm starting to feel a little jealous of those native speakers, especially if they can turn around and speak English as a second language; that shit is a super power.

 

[happyninja42]

Let me make it a tad worse, with Finnish!

Lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas

Or perhaps you like some Maori?

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu

I see words like that, and it makes me wonder if they named it based on what the random village elder said about the location. "Hey grampa, what is that mountain called?" *grampa proceeds to drunkenly ramble about some story with a rabbit, and pixies, and a farmer looking for a goat* *kids look at each other and say* "Ok well, I guess that's all the name" *proceed to document the long name into law*

 

[Xprimentyl]

I see words like that, and it makes me wonder if they named it based on what the random village elder said about the location. "Hey grampa, what is that mountain called?" *grampa proceeds to drunkenly ramble about some story with a rabbit, and pixies, and a farmer looking for a goat* *kids look at each other and say* "Ok well, I guess that's all the name" *proceed to document the long name into law*

My honest question is are languages with absurdity such as these we've discussed grammatically and phonetically consistent enough that you could say these words to a native speaker, and they'd know how to spell them or even recognize them. As in the case of @Chimpzy 's ex: could she walk into a Starbucks and the barista ask for her name, she says "Kwee-vah," and the barista's just like "of course, 'C-A-I-O-M-H-E', duh."

I'm sure they are to an extent; English may not necessarily have anything as disturbing to look at as "Lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas ," but we do have some like words like "comb," "bomb" and "womb" being nearly identical at first glance, but meaning and sounding about as vastly different as anyone might imagine, but native speakers don't typically have any issue differentiating them. I just find it hard to wrap my head around the fact that they deign to use so many alphabetic characters common between Romantic and Germanic languages and be so dissimilar.

Spoken like a true American; I know: "Our way makes sense, and everything else doesn't." But I challenge anyone to scour the map of the USA and find a single city with a name a third as ridiculous as "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch." I mean, we can't even be bothered to refer to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan as anything other than "The U.P."

 

[Xprimentyl]

I think the the term "spicy" has been used far too liberally over the course of the past few years within the food industry. I'm a "hot head" (enjoy very spicy foods,) and it seems every other restaurant or junk food provider has "spicy" menu items that I'd have no qualms giving to a toddler for their lack of actual heat. Not saying you need to try and kill me to have a "spicy chicken sandwich" on the menu, but if I can finish my meal and appreciate it more for its temperature than its innate heat from the peppers/spices you've used, then maybe just call it a "chicken sandwich."

On the flip side, if you're an adult who can't handle the occasional jalapeno pepper, stick to gruel or baby food for your sustenance; some of us want a bit of actual burn for our "spicy" buck.

Kudos to the Thai restaurant down the street that offers heat levels ranging from 1 to 5 with your meal selection. Not satisfied with 5, I asked if they could go higher; they said yes. I opted for 8 the next time, and my teeth split open like over-boiled eggs with every bite; turns out 6 would have been plenty for me by their subjective measuring.