Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with What

Can anyone identify these songs by their melodies?

cdenman — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:34:39 -0800

Can anyone identify one of these songs I have stuck in my head? (Links below) - Please help! Song 1

Song 2

Song 3

(1) is a demo song that came with my Yamaha P200 keyboard - it's quite plausible that it was composed for the keyboard, but if it is a 'real' song I'd love to know.

(2) and (3) are melodies that have got absolutely stuck in my head and I would love to know what they are if anyone can tell me! I suspect (2) to be a very old song and (3) to be a very recent one, but anything's possible.

Movie in which thieves sync their heist with songs?

oxit — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:13:06 -0800

What's that movie in which two male thieves synchronise the timing of their heist by whistling jazz songs? I've seen it probably in the eighties, the jazz songs most probably where swing standards and the whistling might have been singing or even humming. Still I think the respectives parts of the movie where accompanied with the real music, played by a band.

Unfortunately search engines and movie database's similarity features didn't help. Thanks for letting me tap your memorisation.

What command and conquer style computer game should i play?

freddymetz — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 02:50:49 -0800

What command and conquer style computer game should i play? I enjoyed c+c generals but im looking for a new strategy type game to try. The new c+c 3 is a bit too laggy on my laptop though.

What similar games could you recommend? Ive heard of games like age of empires but i havent tried them.
Older games are okay too, as my pc, (which runs vista and windows 7 okayish) isnt very powerful graphicwise.

I invite you to name this painting

Beautiful Screaming Lady — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:05:11 -0800

Name this painting! Here's a link to one of the best portraits ever. But who is it? Who painted it? When?

Or En Aye Ay? What does this song mean?

crazyray — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:40:01 -0800

You may very well recognize this song. It is from this movie. What does it mean? Does the first stanza and/or chorus spell something? Please help! One website lists the lyrics as this:

Oh Ry In Eye Ay - Oh Ry In Eye Ay
Oh Ry In Ah Key Ooh Lay
Ka Lay Ooh Lau Ee - Oh Ry In Eye Ay
Sal You Te Lee Ay Vee Show

Midnight sunshine silent thunder
Sky as black as day
Only a dream away

Chorus

Waking while you're still deep sleeping
Finding you're not here
Watching a dream appear

Tumbling through a thousand centuries
You don't know where you'll land
It's so dark in mythology
Treasures of history to be found
Near the legends of time
All the handiworks remain there
Only a dream away

Chorus

Greedy feeling wheeling dealing
Losing what you won
See the dream come undone

Stumble you may with the elementary
Lucky you got so far
All you owe is apologies
Measure the mystery and astound
Without taking up time
So the handiworks remain there
Only a dream away

Chorus

In out, hot cold, up down, young old
What a lot to do
Sharing a dream with you

Chorus

What are these weird things?

Beautiful Screaming Lady — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:52:31 -0800

Weird stuff I found in Canada: what kind of mushrooms are these? What kind of sea creatures are these? Mushrooms are large (I'd say around 6 inches or so in diameter, on average), browny black and abundant. Time: October. Location: woodland in the Rockies. You can't see this from the photo, but instead of gills, they have dark tan spines. They're weird and big and meaty and spiny.

The sea creatures are from Vancouver Island, and are likely just bejewelled elephant's feet stuck on the end of carrots. But in the event they're not - the ends are hard and mother-of-pearly, and end in a dark red ridge. Are they anemones? What kind?

business twin monitor - what to buy?

sydney54 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:34:17 -0800

Staff member wants a new business PC with twin screens. Just tell me what to buy. They sell stuff but they think they are a FX trader. If it keeps them happy, why not? What business PC do I need to buy? What do i need to look at at the back? two VGAs, two DVIs. We dont have an IT dept (well you are kind of the IT dept and better than one i could hope for). I can install a card but dont want to. Just tell me what to ask or idealy what to buy.

I don't mind lumps in my mashed potatoes, but none in my bed please.

Advocate, I — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:27:07 -0800

How can I get the lumps out of my goose down mattress pad? I've had a goose down mattress pad on my bed for a while, and it has provided me with tons of comfy night's sleep. Today, while changing sheets, I decided to shake out the pad to get rid of some dust, in doing so I shifted the down in the pad and now the pad is lumpy. Does anyone know how to get rid of the lumps and redistribute the down in the pad to make it even and comfy again? Did I just ruin my pad!? Help!

Name That Movie

whimsicalnymph — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:20:33 -0800

[Oldmoviefilter]: What is this movie? When I was a girl, I saw a movie that (at the time) I found hilarious. I believe the movie was made in the 1950s, maybe 1940s, in color. A woman has relationship problems because every man she falls in love with becomes wildly successful, then dies a tragic death (or leaves her?)?

Then afterward, the men she tells her woes to invariably fall in love with her, and the pattern repeats. She begins to gain more and more riches as a well-to-do widow (one of her husbands was Gene Kelly, as a beatnik entertainer), but all she wants is the simple life.

Finally she marries a farmer, is happy and pleased...then her farmer husband discovers oil.

What is the name of this movie?

Erectile dysfuntion at 18?

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 14:50:58 -0800

Erectile dysfunction at 18? I can't believe I'm having to ask this. I am 18 and have been in a relationship with a girl for about two months. Sexually, things were great until about a week ago. We would have sex frequently and just thinking about us in a sexual situation could get me hard.

The past three times we hung out I have not been able to keep an erection consistently. It is either not there, only a little hard, or only lasts a couple minutes regardless of what she is doing to me. I have had performance anxiety issues, where for example grabbing a condom might make it go soft, but this is the first time I just couldn't get an erection period.

So, this sounds scary enough right? Now when I try masturbating it takes longer than normal to get hard (not rock hard) and if i stop for a small amount of time it will go away.

Here are potential causes I can think of:
* A week ago we were getting freaky in a car (real mature I know) and things finished a lot quicker than I wanted. I felt embarrassed about it. A few minutes later we're still in the car naked and the cops roll up and give us a talking to. We've fooled around in the car a little bit since then, and the sight of a person will make me lose it.

* Fatigue. I go to a tough school and was running on low sleep the first time I had trouble getting hard. Since then I have tried to get significantly more sleep. This hasn't helped since I'm still posting this.

* Psychological issues. I have found myself thinking "Is it going to get hard?" which in turn makes it not work. But not working well while masturbating?

* Physical problem. I'm hoping this is not the answer. I am a lazy American when it comes to exercise. I am slender though (6'0, 145 lb) and don't have any health conditions that I'm aware of. I was so frustrated with my situation that I went for a run earlier and plan to get into an exercise routine. Could it be low testosterone? I just don't see how a physical problem could suddenly present itself like this. I don't have insurance either. Oh joy.

Any help is appreciated.

I'm using my AskMe question allowance to track down a Language Log post! what.

dorothy humbird — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:28:24 -0800

I am having a devil of a time locating a Language Log post that is almost impossible to search for. It's on the declarative "what," and all the keywords I thought I was remembering aren't turning up the right result. The post was on, as I said, the declarative use of "what" as a sort of pause, or cease-fire, in conversation. Whichever Language Log writer posted the entry mentioned a program on NPR he was listening to, which I believe referenced the mortgage crisis, and short selling vs. naked short selling, at which point, he stated that his only response was:

what

It's driving me nuts that I can't locate this post, so I hope one of you dutiful mefites out there has bookmarked this particular post for your own nefarious purposes.

Thanks!

Name this children's book and TV series from the 80's

ticktockdoc — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:18:49 -0800

Name this children's book and TV series from the 80's...? It's Lord of the Flies meets Follyfoot. Kinda. Plot: Three (?) children [definitely two boys, maybe a girl too...] are living in their grandfather's/stepfather's/some dude's(?) massive house and estate/lands. For some reason(?) they decide to run away, but instead of actually going anywhere, they instead hide out in the land/forrest of the estate. They manage to hide out there for YEARS, within sight of the massive house all the while. They evade many search parties [something about a hollow tree...?] and it becomes rather Lord of the Flies, with them making clothes out of animals and eventually their escapade ending with one of the boys [dark-haired one] returning home to the big house [can't recall if he rats out the other two]. Maybe the dark-haired kid got sick, so that's why he had to go back...?

This was a book , but was also a TV series shown in the UK in the late 80's with similar production values as 'Famous Five' and 'Follyfoot'. I remember it being full of awesome. The closest I can come to remembering the actual title is: 'The Boys of Brendan Green'. But fruitless Googling and Amazon-ing(?) prove useless.

Help me find this fictional evil organization logo!

stenseng — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:45:49 -0800

Help me find this logo... Earth, or a stylized globe, clutched in a fist... think SPECTRE, SMERSH, or KAOS, but it's not any of those... Where have I seen this? Subgenius art? Anyone?

career guidance much?

project 2501 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:27:45 -0800

I have been working steadily and consistently for the last three years but not at jobs that show growth or project development (which everyone seems to want to know about). How do I find a new (better) job now? After graduating college and earning an elementary school teacher's certification I immediately moved out of state and was not eligible for a full teaching license in my new state. I worked as a substitute teacher for 3 years while my wife finished her doctorate. I was also employed as a Customer Service rep for a national co-operative (part time).
Now I'm moving back to my home state but am having serious reservations about entering full time teaching after becoming disillusioned about our education system.

Question:
1.What do I do with my life?
2.How to show on my resume that I am intelligent/ valuable given my limited (professional full-time) working experience especially at 28 years old.

A bit about me...
internet/information junkie
good people person
very tech oriented (my main hobbies including building computers and tweaking software, but I have no certifications or way to show my skills on paper)
experience working with children
emotionally stable /reliable
eager to learn and perform
available for long hours of hard work

We will be moving to the West Hollywood area from the upper mid-west.
Thanks for all of your help!

p.s. I did see these posts here and here but feel this is a bit different.

What should I do after college?

rybreadmed — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:05:07 -0800

What do I do with my life after college? I want to do something I don't hate, and might even like. I want YOUR suggestions and ideas. I'm in my late 20s and am a bit less than a year away from receiving a BS in mechanical engineering from a not-very-prestigious state university in Los Angeles County. I already possess a BA in creative writing and an MBA in finance. I went back to school for the BSME a couple of years ago. My grades are quite good (mostly A's, with a couple of B's every so often--nothing below a B). Next quarter, I'll be attending a very prestigious engineering school (also in the LA area) for a class on an exchange program (I'll get credit at my own institution for work done at the prestigious engineering school). I've also been working at an engineering firm doing actual engineering work.

So I ask you: What do I do next? I enjoy finance and engineering (and creative writing, but that won't put food on the table). I've thought about going to school to study quantitative finance, but more school? Another masters? Do I want to be in school forever? Do I get an engineering job? The idea of JUST doing engineering work kind of bores me.

Do I try to find a consulting job? Consulting sounds exciting, but do they hire engineers fresh out of school? And my undergraduate institution for my BSME isn't prestigious. From what I hear, McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group hire from schools everyone's heard of (such as the prestigious school I'll be attending next quarter).

Also, it has been said that my participation in this exchange program would help my chances of getting into their graduate school. From this particular institution, I wouldn't mind another year or so of school for a Master's, but there's no guarantee of getting in (or even succeeding in their exchange program).

I ask you (yes--YOU!) for your ideas. I want to hear things I haven't thought of. I want to make a pretty good amount of money. A lot of money would be great. I don't want to work 80 or 90 hours per week unless there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Also, I want to see my girlfriend for more than an hour a week. No, I don't want to join the Peace Corps. No, I don't want to move to Qatar to take part in their huge economic boom. No, I don't want to join the military (as suggested by the idiot career adviser at my school's career center).

What happens in Vegas Stays in Mexico?

MrTangent — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 09:19:12 -0800

What happens in Vegas, Stays In Mexico?? Does anyone else remember the "What happens in *, stays in *" being used by Mexico (or some city therein) way before Las Vegas started advertising "What happens in (Las) Vegas, Stays in (Las) Vegas"?

I distinctly remember a Mexican town or Mexico itself advertising this very slogan years before the stupid Las Vegas ones. It's funny how quickly a slogan can be erased from the collective memory and reapplied to another thing. I suppose lots of money and advertising does that.

But am I remembering this wrong?

It's getting a little chilly up here...

mariokrat — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 22:50:06 -0800

What are my rights as a freelance writer? If I'm writing about employees competing on a company-sponsored team, do I have to clear everything I write with their PR people?? I was invited by a friend to join a sports team his company was sponsoring to compete in an upcoming festival. Aspiring writer that I am, I pitched an idea to the local free paper, and to the other team members to see if they'd let me talk to them and write an article about the team and the event. The response from both was positive, and things went well. About a half week after I sent the e-mail out to the team describing what I wanted to do, the de facto leader of the team got a bit nervous...

She (let's call her 'Jodie') prohibited me from naming the company or any of its employees on the team unless I got prior approval from their corporate communications manager on the article I wrote before I sent it to my editor. She said this once in a conversation between me and her, and again in front of the entire team at a post-practice lunch. Needless to say, the rest of the team had cooled to the idea of talking to me after that.

It was a Sunday, and I explained to her that my deadline for the article was Monday morning. My compromise solution was to send the article to both my editor and their communications officer at the same time, and have the communications officer deal with the editor about any problems the company might have. Jodie's repeated that their communications officer had to give approval before anyone else saw the piece, and that if I was unwilling to do that then I had to remove all mention of the company and its employees.

I decided then that I had no choice but to remove them, and spent that night re-writing the article into something I am not at all happy with. I sat there enraged thinking, "What the hell? Why am I having to write this piece in this way? Why should I need to get the company's approval?"

Monday morning, Jodie e-mailed me again and told me that it was 'imperative' that I contact their corporate communications before I sent my article to the editor or for any sort of publication. Their communications manager got back to me separately (my friend in the company had e-mailed them for me), and after explaining that the problem was no longer really a problem and that I had re-written the piece, I asked her to clarify their company's policies about such things. She explained that it was unlikely that they would have asked to screen the article in advance of publication, but that they would have asked about what I was likely to write, and who I had talked to. This answer, while better than the one Jodie had given me, was still a bit too ambiguous for me.

My view on the situation is this: Whatever issues there were with my mentioning the company or employees in the piece, they were between the employees and the company. As a non-employee, I believe I was within my rights to write what I wanted within the bounds that I had laid out in my original e-mail to the entire team. It seems to me that there should have been no reason for me to submit my article for approval prior to its even being seen by an editor at the paper.

But: I have very little idea about what rights I actually have about writing in a public forum about a team sponsored by a private entity. If I am participating on a team that is sponsored by a private entity, am I automatically subject to whatever corporate rules they have about talking to the media, even if I'm not an employee myself? Help! I feel like I've self-censored, and it makes me feel dirty. Did I really? I'm in Canada, and so advice about my Canadian rights would be appreciated.

What is this strange device?

rawredmeat — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 17:49:03 -0800

What is this device? Some sort of sewing gadget? We found it at a dump, and my girlfriend was intrigued, so we bought it (for ten cents), but want to know what it is! It seems to have some sort of fibrous strands on some of the metal loops, but otherwise, we have no idea. Any input would be appreciated!

Who's the best Icarus?

Felicity Rilke — Wed, 02 May 2007 07:53:34 -0800

What are your favourite failed flight inventions? I'm doing research for an article on failed flight inventions, and I'm looking for stories of fantastic failures (specifically from the 19th and 20th centuries, but if it's really great and earlier, I might include mention of it).

Franz Reichelt, The Flying Tailor, was my inspiration, and while I've been reading up on albatross machines and early gliders, I'm most interested in flying apparatus which was meant to be worn (like Reichelt's overcoat).

So what are your favourite failed flying inventions/books about failed flying inventions? Help me include the most obscure, outlandish, and intrepid inventions (and consequently feel sad that they didn't work and I'm stuck with walking).

What is the term for that phenomenon?

lazaruslong — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 11:44:52 -0800

What is it called when a brand name becomes so ubiquitous that it becomes a descriptor for the action or item itself, e.g. Xerox and Kleenex? Is there a word that describes that phenomenon? For example, the term xerox has been used to often to describe photocopying something that it has become a term for photocopying itself. What is this called?

what was this horror movie?

santogold — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 22:20:44 -0800

Please help me remember this movie. I think it was made in the 60's or 70's. The things I remember: It had women that had normal features but later looked really ugly either do to an operation or drugs. There may have been a "mad doctor" involved. It may have been set near "the water". Thanks in advance for helping me remember. I want to watch this movie again no matter how bad it was!

Animal doctor school

josher71 — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 21:24:50 -0800

I am 32 and I recently decided that I would like to become a veterinarian. As I am getting on in the "picking a career" years I have a few questions. I only have a B.A. in Psych to start with. Would it make sense to go to school to become a vet technician or vet technologist first? I'm a little lost on how to get started with the whole thing.

What food is this?

pealco — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 12:13:38 -0800

Help my identify what food this is a picture of. (Picture inside.)