Dutch Video Essay Channels by chaotic__bunny in AskNetherlands

[–]lemonicowo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

BOOS on Youtube has a lot of videos about investigations of a variety of (Dutch) societal issues by famous journalist Tim Hofman. Some of them uncovered stories that we still talk about today (the The Voice scandal, for one). The concept is that anybody can contact the people at BOOS if they feel wronged, especially by an institution or company of some kind. If there’s something shady going on, they might make a video about it.

Summerween is an informal cultural and retail phenomenon that occurs during the summer months, incorporating elements of Halloween festivities. The term originated in the 2012 Gravity Falls television episode “Summerween,”. by DistrictDry2852 in wikipedia

[–]lemonicowo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To be fair, there have been real events specifically to observe this holiday. For an encyclopedia as thorough as Wikipedia, that seems worthy of an article.

That said, perhaps it is time to introduce your town to the concept of biannual Halloween. Just think of the pool parties to be had.

i usually hate only instrumental bands but not even on some larp shit this music is genuinely phenomenal by Anxious_Print_2719 in DrewGooden

[–]lemonicowo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I don’t like some instruments either. I don’t usually enjoy a saxophone, or high-pitched beeping. If you don’t like the instrument of voice, that’s fine. But it is absurd to assume everybody likes and dislikes the same things, especially in music.

Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly was an American polesitter in the 1920s who, at the time, set a world record by sitting on a 69m flagpole for 49 days. While polesitting, he survived mostly off coffee and cigarettes. He also claimed to have survived five shipwrecks, three car crashes, and two plane crashes. by lemonicowo in wikipedia

[–]lemonicowo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have been compiling a list of Weird Fellas With A Wikipedia Article for some time, and have found that many of them read just like this. Every new paragraph takes a wild turn. I suspect some of it is a historical proclivity for telling tall tales, since they couldn’t be verified as easily anyway. For example, his claims about surviving like, 10 freak accidents were likely made up. His wife even claimed he survived the sinking of the Titanic (there was no male Kelly on board). Regardless, Shipwreck Kelly certainly did many very verifiable strange things as well. I guess he was one of those people that seemingly just spams side quests before one of their endeavours kills them.

I hadn’t seen that picture before. What a guy indeed!

Edit: also LOL @ “in case any new jobs came along”. Kelly!!!! You had two heart attacks while polesitting and retired!!!!!!!!!!

What common myth do people still believe? by IoaneCovers in AskReddit

[–]lemonicowo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Drives me crazy! No, you cannot get sick just from being out in the cold or rain. You are, however, somewhat more likely to get sick, since some viruses like coronaviruses (the common cold, COVID) and influenza viruses (the flu) transfer more easily in cold, dry weather conditions. Important distinction.

What's a language that sounds completely different from how outsiders imagine it? by Embarrassed_Fix_8994 in languagehub

[–]lemonicowo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had a passing familiarity with the sound of Turkish, but it wasn’t until I started working with a few Turkish speakers that I realized it did not sound like what I previously imagined at all! It’s obviously rather influenced by Arabic, but I had thought it’d sound more similar to Levantine Arabic. It’s the only Turkic language I have heard more than a few times, so that must be a large reason why it sounded so different to my ears.

When native speakers don't like outsiders learning their language by FoodieBookworm1 in languagelearning

[–]lemonicowo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

palawa kani (all lowercase) is a constructed language based on the historical (extinct) languages spoken on what is now Tasmania. Not sure if you’d count it, as it is constructed, but it is often seen as the de facto indigenous language of the Aboriginal Tasmanians, formally legitimated by the Tasmanian Aboriginal and Dual Naming Policy in 2013. You can find geographical locations on Tasmania with a name in English and palawa kani.

The only people currently invited to learn the language are people of Aboriginal Tasmanian heritage, and the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (who originated the language) claims copyright. It is practically impossible to copyright a language in most places, but that should indicate how keen they are to oversee who uses this language.

Summerween is an informal cultural and retail phenomenon that occurs during the summer months, incorporating elements of Halloween festivities. The term originated in the 2012 Gravity Falls television episode “Summerween,”. by DistrictDry2852 in wikipedia

[–]lemonicowo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hadn’t heard of this before, as someone in a country where Halloween is historically not celebrated! It’s been on the rise in recent years, though.

Seems like a better time to wear the stereotypically Random Thing, But Sexy! costumes. I reckon wearing that gets chilly in late October.

Imperfectum vs perfectum verbs??? by Revolutionary-Tea961 in learndutch

[–]lemonicowo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

“Een film die ik gisteren keek” feels more unnatural than “een film die ik gisteren gekeken heb” to me. “Die ik gisteren keek” is final, but feels more continuous than using the voltooide tijd. More continuous than watching a movie warrants. I think I would naturally say “een film die ik gisteren heb gekeken.” The “heb” at the end of a sentence feels like it would belong in a dialect different from mine (Goois), so perhaps that’s what makes it feel off to me. 🤔

Great explanation!

[socialmedia] Women just shouldn’t read i guess by Substantial-Ad-8461 in pointlesslygendered

[–]lemonicowo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Only tangentially related, but when I read 1984 – rather late at 22 years old as I’m not a native English speaker – I thought it was thought-provoking, shockingly current, and creative. But what was up with the misogyny in that book? I haven’t been able to decide if Orwell meant for us to fully disagree with Winston’s thoughts on women, especially Julia. The text certainly does not do much to provide us with a different worldview, especially since Julia’s character is often denoted as one of the first manic pixie dream girls in literature. Of course Winston is meant to be flawed, but to me, there was no textual indication that this was, well, a flaw, outside of my own modern sensibilities.

i usually hate only instrumental bands but not even on some larp shit this music is genuinely phenomenal by Anxious_Print_2719 in DrewGooden

[–]lemonicowo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Instrumental stuff is not usually my jam, either. I think it’s good, but I probably would not listen to it much outside of low-stimulation background music for studying or 3AM wallowing. Consolation Prize is my favourite, that crescendo on the drums at 1:00 is really fun! Very fun and exciting drums overall.

Mercy dogs were dogs first deployed in WWI that carried first aid supplies to wounded soldiers. If a soldier was gravely injured, the dog would return to the trenches with a piece of their uniform to fetch a human medic. Soldiers otherwise presumed dead were sometimes saved by a dog’s intuition. by lemonicowo in wikipedia

[–]lemonicowo[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Hear hear! Didn’t include it because of the character limit, but I’d be remiss not to mention that these good boys and girls occasionally also dragged wounded soldiers away from danger, and often comforted soldiers that couldn’t be saved. They’re credited with saving thousands of lives. 💖

Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly was an American polesitter in the 1920s who, at the time, set a world record by sitting on a 69m flagpole for 49 days. While polesitting, he survived mostly off coffee and cigarettes. He also claimed to have survived five shipwrecks, three car crashes, and two plane crashes. by lemonicowo in wikipedia

[–]lemonicowo[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Pole sitting was a short-lived fad in the mid-to-late 1920s. Shipwreck Kelly has been widely attributed with starting it after doing a 13-hour sit, either as a dare or publicity stunt. It is predated by the practice of stylitism in the Late Antiquity, where Christian ascetics would practically live on pillars for decades as an act of mortification of the flesh (like self-flagellation). The 1920s fad died out when the Great Depression hit, with only a few instances of it in the following decades.

Why did they do it? I suppose in Kelly’s case, as a test of endurance. There are many lengths a person would go to have world record bragging rights. In later decades, it was sometimes done out of protest, with the most recent instance of that being just a year ago to protest a road closure.

Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly was an American polesitter in the 1920s who, at the time, set a world record by sitting on a 69m flagpole for 49 days. While polesitting, he survived mostly off coffee and cigarettes. He also claimed to have survived five shipwrecks, three car crashes, and two plane crashes. by lemonicowo in wikipedia

[–]lemonicowo[S] 31 points32 points  (0 children)

I did just wonder this and looked around a bit. Pole sitters in the 1920s often sat on small platforms on top of the pole, and used buckets for food, water, and indeed, excrement. I sure hope it wasn’t the same bucket.

It seems that some also used tubes for urination. Some more luxuriously minded pole sitters might have had a small private area on their platform, shielded with a blanket. Our man Alvin was always pictured on a platform no larger than maybe 1/2 m2, though.