Good morning Persephoneers! (Or good afternoon or good night depending on your time zone.) We have a day chock full of goodness, just for you. For now, please enjoy the early open thread after the answers to last night’s trivia and a little goodie from me to you.
1. Who are the little blue men who shout “Crivens,” and what does it mean?
They are the infamous Nac Mac Feegle. “Crivens” is their general exclamation, which can mean anything from, “Hey look at that,” to “Ooh, you’re gonna get such a kickin’!”
2. What book asks the question “What can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the reaper man?”
This is one of Death’s lines from Reaper Man. I could be wrong, but I believe this is the first time I got chills reading a Pratchett book.
3. What is the final stage of development – Snowglobe –> shopping trolley –> _____ ?
Also from Reaper Man, the shopping mall is the final stage of the city parasite invading Ankh-Morpork
4. Who is Binky?
Death’s horse. He tried fiery steeds, but they got so embarrassed when they set their stalls alight.
5. What does it say on Rincewind’s hat?
“Who needs to put ‘Wizzard’ on their hat?”
6. “Sometimes it’s better to light a _________ than curse the darkness.”
Flamethrower
7. What do Cohen and the Silver Horde do at the end of The Last Hero?
After stealing the Valkyries’ horses, they make a quick visit to Fingers Mazda , leaving him with a very sharp sword**, before riding off to carouse amongst the stars.
8. According to Lord Vetinari, what is the greatest freedom of all?
The freedom to take the consequences. This is from the angel speech at the beginning of “Going Postal:” “I believe in freedom, Mr. Lipwig. Not many people do, although they will, of course, protest otherwise. And no practical definition of freedom would be complete without the freedom to take the consequences. Indeed, it is the freedom upon which all the others are based.”
9. In Thief of Time, what weapon does Susan find to be most effective against the auditors?
Chocolate. And No Clever Name is correct, nougats don’t work well at all.
10. Who is the Postmaster General of Ankh-Morpork?
I just put this question in because I wanted to say Moist Von Lipwig (pronounced ‘Lipvig’).
Bonus – What does “Ook” mean?
Well, duh.
**Fingers Mazda, like his Realworld counterpart Prometheus, stole fire from the gods for humanity and was punished by being chained to a rock where an eagle pecked out his liver every morning for eternity. The Silver Horde thought this was a bit unfair.
What do squirrels have to do with Discworld? Not a thing. I just felt like looking at pictures of squirrels this morning.
56 replies on “Morning Open Thread, Now With Trivia Answers!”
Hey everyone, I’ve finally set up the writing group! We went with the name Calliope & Co., which came in a close second after “don’t ask me, I suck at thinking up titles!” If you are a freelancer, journalist, blogger, poet, novelist, academic or any kind of writer, published or aspiring, please come over and join us!
Ugh, I hate assholes.
paperispatient worked really hard on that article. Don’t disparage assholes just because they aren’t your thing. :P
Hey, I love PiP’s article on asses and assholes. The physical, literal meaning of the word is fine by me, even welcomed. I mean the people who act like giant, flaming assholes.
:)
I totally don’t want to be all negative nancy but has anyone seen this?
http://www.mofopolitics.com/2011/02/15/cbs-reporterhot-chick-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-in-egypt/
The author makes a rape joke (“Cuz I sooo totally called this.” referencing another post where he called her slutty), then there’s this, which I’ve seen on tumblr:
http://approvalpolls.com/2011/02/16/poll-is-lara-logan-to-blame-for-her-sexual-assault/
How can we live in a culture where it’s okay to say things like this? It makes me sad.
Hi! I’m new to Persephone and wanted to say hello. So … hello! Are there any Things I should know (that aren’t in the guidelines section)?
I think all you need to know is that we’re happy to have you here. Welcome!
Aaaaand a friend just posted a super-sensitive issue on one of my FB posts. Post Deleted. She so just crossed a line.
Awesome. Cause today has already been SO.FUN.
I’m going to hang out here and only here for the rest of the day – you all are nice. I need nice right now.
I’m sorry you are having such a lousy day. I send you internet chocolate and glitter for moral support.
Thank you! :) Internet glitter is my favorite kind.
Unlike real glitter, internet glitter stays put instead of spreading to places where glitter was unintended.
Hi, what’s everybody up to?
I’m writing like there’s no tomorrow, because my advisor will commit murder if I don’t send her a decent draft tonight. I wonder if it’s allowed for advisors to break up with their PhD students… I wonder if she’s wondering the exact same thing right now…
Please ignore this comment, testing pretty-link-making with Invisible cat.
As an archaeologist, all I can say is that squirrels are dirty creatures that destroy sites to make their homes. Horrible things
Aww, I never looked at them that way before. They’re like environmental anarchists!
Nothing is funner than try to pull ceramics out of squirrel holes. Devil creatures
My first morning thread!!!! I’m sitting at work in a conference room “on call” in case these idiots decide to do construction in the rain.
Le sigh.
A -distant- relative is bothering my family again. Thankfully my mum defended me last night but I find it alternating hilarious and pissed that someone who has spent less than an hour with my husband DARES to tell my mum “what to be concerned about” with us.
Ohhhh, humans. I do my best to put up with the crappy ones.
At least the Tacos were kickass.
This sounds like a fun story! Hopefully they’re going away soon?
Luckily we don’t see them at all so I am just letting it go and trying to laugh it off.
Hey everyone! I have a rental question. I’m not sure if the laws differ that all over, but if it helps, I live in Manitoba. I rent a room in a 3 bedroom house, and one of our rooms will be empty come March. My other roommate found someone to take the room (is it really our responsibility to find a new tenent? Shouldn’t the landlord have done that?)
Anyway, even though this person applied at the end of last month, we just got word today that his background check sucks. The landlords said that he can still move in, but we are responsible for his portion if he bounces a check. Is that allowed?
Finally, if WE decide (not the landlords) to not allow him to move in, we will be required to cover the rent for the 3rd room for next month. Is that legal? It seems fishy.
We will be contacting the tenent association if need be, but for the time being I’m just checking to see if this is the norm, of if it really is sketchy. Thanks!!
I don’t know about Manitoba, but in Toronto, ON, everything the landlord is telling you would be correct if you and your roommates signed the lease for the entire house together. If one of you chooses to move out before the lease is up, it is up to the remaining tenants to deal with finding a new roommate, and paying the rent. But it really depends on the terms of your lease. Find out if you have a local tenant board. I bet Winnipeg would have one, and they should be able to help.
Thanks, I’ll look into the terms of the lease!
Oooo, the Valkyrie question got me all excited! Wagner’s Ring cycle is coming to San Francisco Opera this summer!
I can’t look at squirrels without thinking, “Gorram squirrels! You destroyed my backyard veggie garden!”
What are people’s thought RE: Lasik?
I’ve been waffling back and forth for a few months and can’t decide what I think. For reference, I’ve been wearing glasses for 27 years. Here’s my pros and cons so far:
Cons:
Price
The Lasik was advertised as $400 per eye. Went in for free consultation and got the bait-n-switch “Oh, your eyes are special, so it will be $1,500 per eye.” Everyone I know who has had Lasik has the same story, so it made me pretty angry.
Loss of Close-up vision
I have freakishly good close-up vision and I use it a lot — this was my major stumbling block after the consultation actually.
Cutting into healthy eyes
Yes, I have very poor vision (-5.0 and -5.5 for contacts if I am remembering correctly) but my eyes are healthy. The thought of messing with them really bothers me.
Pros:
“Reset button”
At 40, my eyes are only going to get worse. Even with Lasik, I would probably need glasses in another 5ish years. BUT they would be much, much weaker/thinner.
Sunglasses!
This one is really quite trivial, but it would be nice to be able to wear sunglasses on a whim.
Freedom from glasses and contacts
Again, trivial I know. After 27 years it would be amazing to wake up in the morning and just be able to see, or fall asleep without my glasses digging uncomfortably into my nose.
Hmm… now that I type them out, I think the cons are still winning. But I still wouldn’t mind knowing what someone else thought.
Hi! I’m an ABO certified optician, fwiw.
Eventually your close up vision will go to shit. It’s called presbyopia and everyone will get it eventually, usually it starts around 40. Do you know what’s so “special” about your eyes that they’re going to charge you another $1100/eye for?
Also, I’ve talked to a handful of people that had their night vision go to shit after lasik so if you have amazing night vision that’s something else to think about.
Howdy! I had Lasik about a year ago.
For me, it cost $1750 per eye. Generally, the procedure that’s available at $400 per eye is also the one that takes 2 weeks of healing time, and does only work for very few people. I had the all-laser kind that has a 24-hour healing period, which I, personally, had to get because it has the lowest risk of complications and I was a high-risk for complications (since I have autoimmune disease).
Personally, it was worth it for me. Long-term negative side effects that I’ve had are my night vision has decreased somewhat and I’m more light sensitive. So I have to wear sunglasses outside – big deal, I can buy any pair of sunglasses I want and not worry if they fit over my glasses! (Since I was fairly light sensitive before the surgery, this was actually a very big motivator. Before it, I had to wear special over-the-glasses sunglasses, which kind of sucked.)
I’m 24 and had serious vision problems. I was wearing progressive lenses because bifocals didn’t offer enough different ranges for me to be able to see everything. Now, I’m golden. The eyedoctor told me I might need reading glasses after for seeing the computer, but I don’t (I do own two really snazzy pairs, though, in case I do start needing them.)
Trying this again (fucked it up downthread). Did any of you stumble on some good clearance Valentine’s candy yesterday? My major find was these: http://www.amazon.com/Non-Alcoholic-Liqueur-Flavored-Chocolates-Individually/dp/B004CRAU4S/ref=pd_sbs_gro_3 And they are delicious.
I didn’t get to go buy any, but I will this weekend for sure. I did get tacos though, so that was a win.
Tacos are always a win. I did not get tacos this past weekend, despite my intense craving for them.
Dude, roommate and I went to Walmart to scavenge, and do you know they had not one bit of decent candy left? I was so disappointed.
That’s very disappointing! CVS had a whole lot less than they did last year. Maybe people bought a lot more this year, or maybe stores didn’t stock up on it as much?
I am thinking about starting a new tumblr. I closed down my old one, even though it had lots of LB followers, because I got overwhelmed AND people I know for real were reading it, so I felt stifled.
But sometimes I have such GOOD THOUGHTS! And also, I feel like I run a better chance of some LB friends liking certain things I like than some of my less open-minded real life friends. As demonstrated by the fact that I have found fellow Ricky Martin lovers here.
I think if you do not love Ricky Martin, you do not have a soul.
@stephanie (Is that the right way to make sure you get this? I saw @xfafafabulous not work before, so who knows).
ANYWAY
I can’t believe it took me this long but I totally dreamed about meeting RM last night. Except I tried to be all cool and not fangirly which came off as not interested enough and he was a little meh at me. But I met him! He’s gorgeous in my dreams, too!
That sounds like an awesome dream. On my way to work today, I actually heard a Ricky Martin song on the radio. I had such a great day after that. What a gorgeous man!
Random online pet peeve: Abbreviations like DH DS DD… seriously, is it that hard to type out “my husband” (or “hubband” as I like to use) or “my kid” or whatnot? And you know what? Sometimes, my husband isn’t “darling,” so hell no, I’m not going to refer to him as such all the fracking time. It just carries this really smug tone to it, which I’m probably inferring with my own bias, and just irks me every time I see it. And I don’t even frequent places that just it! I just see it in the snippets of things my sister-in-law posts on Facebook parenting groups.Am I alone in this? Anyone else irked by it? I notice that it doesn’t seem to be much of a thing here (and I only noticed a few people doing it on Jez).
Instant karma for being crabby: I just spilled apple juice down my shirt while taking a sip.
I’ll confess I get a little overloaded with acronyms. When I get tired of typing “my husband” I just call him Mister.
And I can’t see myself calling him “darling” unless someone came up with a font that conveys snarkasm.
I think “snarkasm” is my new favorite word. Thank you, @sarab
Darling husband? Uhhuh hahahahah yeah no. I only use that when I’m about to ask him to pick up his ^%@#*^&_!# underwear off the floor for the 100th time.
I prefer to give him his own online moniker, like a lot of people do here and on Jez; i.e. Mr. Blue.
I hope that isn’t obnoxious. DH definitely is.
I really like that, too! I think I used Mr.C once earlier this week and it made me envision my husband as Tom Bosley for a sec, which was hilarious.
I’ll confess the first time I saw that I had no idea what it meant, but when I figured out someone was writing about their husband, my mind immediately went to “damn husband.”
I hate the DH thing almost as much as I hate “hubby.” Ugh. “Hubby” is a terrible, terrible word.
I’ve fallen into the habit of calling the Mister… well, “the Mister.” We don’t really have nicknames for each other and actually call each other “Mister” and “Ma’am” when we’re being cute, anyway, so it works.
I like the trend that it seems like a lot of people have fallen into here and on the other ladyblog of calling them “Mr. [variation of screenname].” I think it’s hilarious, like @mrpaper. Or malishka and her tinymalishka. That sort of thing. It helps me keep things straight, and I kind of feel like I know these side people more than I do when it’s just “my husband” or whatever.
So how did people make out with clearance Valentine’s candy yesterday? My major find was a of Kahlua- and rum-filled chocolates. Delicious!
Dammit, I totally messed that up. That was not supposed to be a reply, and I botched the HTML. Ignore, please.
See, I have cleverly avoided this by exploiting my avatar’s mythology. My (darling) husband is Ricky. My children are Little Ricky and Little Little Ricky. And everyone knows what I mean. The magic of Lucy.
I’ve thought of coming up with “B” names for everybody, but I get distracted thinking about the cartoon “Mighty B” and I forget what I was doing.
Love that!
I haven’t noticed this, but that’s probably because I have most married friends (especially ones that have gotten engaged during the era of FB) hidden. I have a low tolerance for pictures of rings and mentions of dress fittings and the like.
This is made apparent by the fact that I read those as “da husband” instead of darling. Ha. Maybe you should read them like that instead? If these people weren’t hidden, it would probably drive me bonkers as well.
Didn’t realize this wasn’t just FB. I guess I don’t run into it much?
I think it’s “women’s” forums, wedding sites, baby forums, places like that where it’s mostly used. So yeah, I think you’ve kept away from it well.
Maybe wimmins should say “the old man” but I guess that sounds too much like he’s your dad?
like people who have just had babies and act like no one else has ever seen a baby before? Must post more pics of baby!
I love babies, but come on! And I don’t plan to post any pics of my future children online–no idea where those pics end up.
I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen those abbreviations being used… lucky me, apparently.
I also like the Mr.[insert screen name here] usage.
It’s funny, “Hubband” is my go to when speaking, not for typing out. “My husband” is for people who don’t know me (or him) very well. Outside of that I just use his actual name, because — at that stage — the people involved know both of us.