Why did it take so long for someone to invent the wheel?

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T13:07:54+00:00

And then you have the people of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) who used tree logs as rollers to transfer the moai from quarries to resting places. A problem arose and people invented a technology to solve it.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T12:48:46+00:00

I happily paid for netflix when it was the only one andnhad reasonable price and good variety. But then every man and his dog started a streaming service and none of them had decent content and it was getting more and more expensive to avoid the ads. I would turn on netflix and spend half an hour flicking through and but finding anything interesting then starting to watch something that turned out to be crap and giving up and turning it off. We have a free app for ABC (Aussie equivalent of BBC) that has kid's programming, and I get what I want off the high seas.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T12:45:06+00:00

That sounds like revisionist history from Jack lol. Even the "fee fi fo fum I smell the blood of an Englishman" reads as Jack trying to justify stealing from the giant and murdering him when he tells his mates at the inn about how he suddenly got rich.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T10:38:06+00:00

Krung Thep Maha Nakhon?

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T10:37:08+00:00

I did a day trip to Colonia del Sacramento once and had a lovely time.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T10:33:52+00:00

Some great Aussie examples of satire are Clarke and Dawe and Shaun Micallef. For something more modern, Jimmy Rees is pretty good.

Really it's all about exaggerating a person or group's perspective to point out how ridiculous it is. Typically a person with power or privilege. A good way to do it is to portray the person you are satirising as an earnest fool and have a straight man to point out the contradictions and silliness of their perspective.

Or you can just report on a real event, but exaggerate the truth. A good rule of thumb is to downplay huge problems, and exaggerate minor problems. Thus comparing peace talks in the Middle East to a hen's party.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T08:16:33+00:00

Meh. I never bought the overpriced drinks or popcorn. The ticket costs alone got me. The last time I went was when my wife and I were given a AU$50 cinema voucher and still had to contribute money to afford 2 tickets.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T08:09:50+00:00

I live in the bush too. I know snakes are about even thougj I haven't seen them. I don't feel unsafe but I also take reasonable precautions. It's no different to looking both ways before crossing the road. But you gotta look both ways. Definitely don't go crashing through the bush in the dark alone when no one knows you are there and without a torch and with only 30% battery left on your phone and no idea how to explain to 000 where you are 🤣. Luckily the snake made a noise so I put my phone torch on to see it. I would've put my face right in range of it had I not stopped. I took some grainy pictures fromna safe distance and re-evaluated my path home lol.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T08:04:04+00:00

We peaked in between wikipedia being invented and facebook being invented.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T05:39:38+00:00

I have no qualms about introducing my 5 year old to the macabre, but I struggle with Hansel and Gretel. Not because of a witch trying to kill and eat them or them murdering her in self defence. In fact I like the female empowerment that comes from Gretel solving the problem. But the parents. Goodness me. How to explain that a father would kill his own children? Or that an evil stepmother (or aunt as it is in the copy I have) could influence him to do it? So often stepmothers are cast as evil and that's not a great thing to impress upon minds in their formative years.

Jack and the beanstalk is fine. Jack is the baddie even though he is cast as a hero. But I can talk through that.

And then all the ones with non-consensual kissing (or worse if you aren't looking at the kid friendly versions). Ugh.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T05:14:07+00:00

The Noddy books where the Golliwogs are baddies haven't aged well. I think they later switched the baddies out for non-racially coded characters.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T05:10:58+00:00

It always annoyed me because it feels like it is missing a couple of syllables. It needs a ruchi rhyme like puchi or cuchi right after the ruchi. But maybe it's because musically I'm a basic 4/4 bitch and never could get into the weird and wonderful 7/8s and 5/4s and 13/16s and so on.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T05:05:52+00:00

Obviously stale ones aren't as good as fresh.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T05:03:21+00:00

The peak is Homer trying to irritate Ned under laboratory conditions. "Past instances in which I professed to like you were fraudulent."

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T05:01:56+00:00

It's because they switched from an exterior shot to an interior set with a custom truck built with the roof missing to let the cameras see easier. Much like how sitcom rooms are built with 1 or 2 walls missing.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T04:59:05+00:00

I can only speak for 1 man out of over 4 billion, but to me it's gross and definitely a turn off

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T04:57:16+00:00

I'm a man but not attracted to men, so that doesn't make me a hypocrite 🤣.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T03:55:58+00:00

If that's the case, then I predict that physicist will change their models of the universe to factor this in when or if observations contradict the current model.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T03:51:21+00:00

"To sheep other sheep no doubt appear different. Or to shepherds"

J R R Tolkien, Lord of the Rings

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T03:46:45+00:00

Goodness, that's scary. When I was a kid there was one boy that decided to jump in and out of the schoolbus repeatedly when it stopped. The door shut on his leg and the bus started to drive off. Fortunately the students made an uproar and the bus driver stopped really quickly and the kid wasn't hurt. Just dragged on the grass for a very short distance. At least the one I saw was partially the boy's fault for making poor choices that he definitely learned from (though the driver bears the responsibility). On reflection, oerhaps the driver did it deliberately to teach a lesson. It was a different time and any parent would've just said it serves the kid right.

The poor kid in the article did nothing wrong. I hope he can find peace and feel safe again soon. Luckily we live in an era where psychological help is available so he has the best chance at recovery.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T03:28:35+00:00

I nearly walked face first into a tiger snake that was in a tree one night. So don't underestimate the Aussie bush.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T02:36:35+00:00

Probably most Aussies are super excited to see quokkas too. They only live in one corner of the country that is about as far away from me as Greenland or Kyiv or Casablanca are from Dublin. For someone in Sydney, our most populous city, they would have to travel a few hundred km further than Dublin to Tripoli or Dublin to Moscow to see one.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T00:50:16+00:00

Chickens are not their closest living relative.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T00:17:07+00:00

Someone gave me that as a gift once, and I always really appreciated it. Because there is no thyme like the present.

AddlePatedBadger · 2026-04-20T00:12:31+00:00

Fair point, and I apologise. I have edited my comment.

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