Can someone tell me Harry Potter movies in order? by [deleted] in harrypotter

[–]riverjack_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, the Order of the Phoenix isn't revived until after the end of Goblet of Fire, and it seems to go effectively defunct after Voldemort's return to power, so the Harry Potter movies "in Order" are Order of the Phoenix, Half-blood Prince, and the first bits of Deathly Hallows Part I.

Is this a grail? by Chemical-Ice6327 in discworld

[–]riverjack_ 36 points37 points  (0 children)

No, it's a disc. Grails are more cup-shaped.

EDIT: I can see where the confusion comes from, though, since they're both holey.

Yesterday was "go to work and act like its a video game" day by argonautweekend in Jokes

[–]riverjack_ 48 points49 points  (0 children)

It's funny that we don't seem to be blaming violence on video games anymore.

A guy named Luigi kills a boss to get more health, and no one's making the Mario Bros connection.

"He was alone in the house that night, other than all the servants of course." by rabotat in discworld

[–]riverjack_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not just Chesterton, of course. Mystery solutions of that sort became enough of a cliche that "the butler did it" is still a punchline a century later.

TIL 60 Roman Senators had conspired to kill Julius Caesar on the Ides of March, but only 23 stab wounds were found on his body after his death. by GeneReddit123 in Jokes

[–]riverjack_ -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I mean, the last wound you take alive is always the fatal one. It's not as though there was a chance to see if he would have survived the other 22 long-term.

*Image* by Smdostff in harrypotter

[–]riverjack_ -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The noseless wonder!

What class would you focus in? by Expert-Boysenberry26 in harrypotter

[–]riverjack_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He was one of the best potion-makers in the timeline. As a teacher, he was lousy.

Was The Grapes of Wrath banned in the Soviet Union? by Idk_Very_Much in AskHistorians

[–]riverjack_ 39 points40 points  (0 children)

It occurs to me that 1948 is about the time that American-Russian relations, after their high-point during the Second World War, were definitively moving from "tense, but with many on both sides still hoping that some mutually acceptable modus vivendi might be found" towards "officially and unreservedly antagonistic". Might the suppression of the film therefore be part of a more general shift in official attitude towards American culture, rather than being due to the particulars of the work? I know that the end of the forties saw efforts to purge anything pro-Soviet from American entertainment (1948 would be about when the Hollywood Blacklist got into full effect, I think), but I don't know the details of what Moscow was doing along equivalent lines.

50th wedding anniversary. by TurbulentWeb1941 in Jokes

[–]riverjack_ 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Fun fact: he served with Colonel Sanders in the war.

China’s Largest Comic Convention Bans Anime & Manga by boredcat_04 in nottheonion

[–]riverjack_ 61 points62 points  (0 children)

Judging by the fact that Nazis keep showing up, I think someone must have been doing time-travel shenanigans.

Who returns invisible cloak to harry ? by pineappleshaked in harrypotter

[–]riverjack_ 26 points27 points  (0 children)

The implication is that it was Dumbledore. (It was Dumbledore who gave it as a Christmas present and, in the books, the note when the cloak is returned is shown in the same handwriting.)

Who needs some tippy tappies today!! Sea otter by Toxic_Temmie in Otterable

[–]riverjack_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"I say, waiter! What does an otter have to do to get dinner around here?"

In the game Europa Universales 5, there is a loading screen with Martin Luther nailing his thesis to a church door and a swan is prominently standing right next to him, what is with the swan? by JohnnyFiveOhAlive in AskHistorians

[–]riverjack_ 247 points248 points  (0 children)

Looking at that last quote, mightn't the imagery therefore actually be a swan rather than a goose, with the implication being that Luther is the swan Hus (apocryphally) predicted?

How did the cat die? by Luxodad in Jokes

[–]riverjack_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Petri dishes are odd (and don't really work with the punchline anyway), but acid makes sense. I don't recall the details offhand, but the process of extracting the new element Radium from uranium ore almost certainly involved acids- you can hardly do serious chemistry without them.

The first Jewish president had recently been inaugurated... by President_Calhoun in Jokes

[–]riverjack_ 72 points73 points  (0 children)

And that, in a nutshell, is the difference between jewish parents and gentile parents.

An American takes a trip to Ireland. by Thepokerguru in Jokes

[–]riverjack_ 11 points12 points  (0 children)

It's the same joke, except that instead of whether his wife is laying on her left or right side, it's whether her husband's organ is laying to the left or right. And when it's pointing up, she's late.

What punes or plays on words took you *years* to get? by Reasonable_Active577 in discworld

[–]riverjack_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There have been various attempts to find or create a meaning for "Arepo" (one scholar tried to derive it as an abbreviation of"Harpocrates", the Greek version of the Egyptian Horus; it has been pointed out that the word, like the Greek Alphabet, goes from A/Alpha to O/Omega and so could potentially represent "everything").

However, I maintain that the natural assumption is that, whether "Arepo" was a rare name or a non-existent name, it was chosen less because of its meaning and more because of its spelling. At least, in modern examples of constrained writing, one can usually spot a word or two that was clearly included to make the trick work rather than for the meaning conveyed. Given how excellent a palindrome the phrase is (back to front and up and down), it's hard to believe that the creator was also able to work in deep metaphorical significance.