Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with frog

There's a frog on my bow.

mendel — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:29:04 -0800

Why is the wooden block at the end of a violin bow called a "frog"?

Waking up with a frog and a hoarse

ajp — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:51:40 -0800

I've noticed my voice is hoarse in the mornings after an evening spent in any noisy environment. After an hour or two of speaking with a louder-than-normal voice, I'm croaky the next day. I've also noticed that my voice is "breathy" when I'm singing, particular in higher registers. It loses power and control, and the only way I can hit higher notes is to "power" through them, which feels damaging, and limits my control. While I like the quality of a breathy voice, I'm concerned that I'm slowly losing range, power, and control.

I'm not overly worried that I have anything like vocal chord nodules, although I may go for a check-up. I may explore the Alexander Technique, since it was invented by a public speaker for just this sort of problem.

Ideally I'd see a speech therapist and a singing coach, but time and cash are against me. For now.

So does anyone out there have any suggestions? I'd prefer tested, practical tips from singers or vocal therapists on how to train my voice, if at all possible. I'd like to make myself heard in a noisy pub at the weekends without waking up with a frog in my throat; and I'd want some basic exercises for improving control and vocal range while singing. My singing style is pretty middle-of-the-road -- pop, folk, rock, nothing too extreme. And I record, but don't perform publicly, at the moment.

I shall be following the advice in these previous threads, but any specific advice would be gratefully received:

http://ask.metafilter.com/68129/How-can-I-sound-like-Wilson-Pickett

http://ask.metafilter.com/36589/Blargle-graaaah-ruggl-RAKZCH-BLAHHHH

http://ask.metafilter.com/14967/Voice-Care

Thanks, Hive Mind.

Ribbit

Skyanth — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:06:20 -0800

Which song is this? A very very 80s hit song with a frog in the music video. Google gives me crazy frog! :(

Can anyone help me find a long lost news article on bullfrogs?

pwb503 — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:23:48 -0800

Did the State of Oregon, the Federal Government, or any local agencies ever stock bullfrogs in ponds and lakes around Oregon? I swear I read a news article online in the last year that said such a thing happened (by ODFW? until the 1990's)?, but I cannot for the life of me find any reference to it or to get to the bottom of bullfrog stocking question. My first thought was that I read it at http://gazettetimes.com/, but maybe it was at http://registerguard.com/ or http://www.oregonlive.com/. I swear I've looked and looked and looked, but also swear I read it online... It's driving me nuts.

Amphibian Identification Query

ktoad — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:38:19 -0800

Can anyone identify this little tan frog I found at my grandparents' house in New Hampshire? It was approximately 1"-2" long. Many thanks!

An embarassment of oysters

TungstenChef — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:02:19 -0800

I seriously overbought on oysters and clams and need to figure out what to do with them (other than raw). I'm making dinner for 2 tonight and picked up a dozen oysters at the local Chinese grocery. Problem is they're huge, about 1/2 lb each and bigger than my (large) hand. I made it worse by having them throw in 10 cherrystone clams because they looked good. My original plan was adapting this Oysters Casino recipe to the grill but that will just be too much rich food for us.

I love raw shellfish, but I won't suck it down after paying $.69 for it. They move a lot of seafood and the shellfish itself smells fresh, but that's a little too much of a gamble for me. I'd love some ideas about what to do with both the oysters and clams keeping in mind the following:

1. The shellfish should be cooked, but I'm not the type to want to overcook it into oblivion.
2. It's 105F here, I love chowder dearly but it's just not that time of year.
3. I need something that will heat the house minimally, or can be done on a grill or outdoor burner.

Special bonus: They had frog legs right next to the shellfish and I thought, "I've never eaten an amphibian before." What can I do with 2 pairs of meaty ones?

Help me find the exact "eat a bullfrog" quote?

internet!Hannah — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 12:28:23 -0800

What is the original origin and exact wording of the quote that goes to the effect: "If you have to eat a bullfrog, don't look at it for too long. If you have to eat two bullfrogs, eat the biggest/ugliest one first"? I've heard variants on this quote attributed to Mark Twain, but the original source escapes me. Googling mostly turns up business management pages. I would like the original quote for a door plaque of mine. Could anyone point me in the right direction?

Help me find my favourite computer game from 10+ years ago.

mumble — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:38:32 -0800

Help me find my favourite computer game from 10+ years ago. It featured a pixel frog and pixel flies and it was not Frogger. When I was considerably younger I used to be somewhat afraid of computers and only used my Dad's PC for playing this game that consisted of a black background, a vague frog-like shape (I think it was merely a white circle or two and a couple of 1pt lines for limbs) and one-pixel flies that the frog had to "catch" by jumping up. As you went on to the next level, obstacles were added and you had to be on the look-out for storks (bigger circles, longer lines). And that's pretty much all I remember. Also I think it was called "Frog", not surprisingly.

At some point my Dad acquired a new computer with more RAM (32MB (!) if I remember correctly) and the frog suddenly got uncontrollably fast and would jump itself to death against random obstacles. It was all very traumatic.

I'd really like to know if anyone knows what game I'm talking about or if somehow it only came with our PC. I tried googling, but of course only found variations of Frogger. Anyone?

SSSSSSSSSnakes!

youngergirl44 — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:58:45 -0800

I'd like to be a snake handler, but live in Chicago and have no professional snake experience. Where could I get some snake related experience? So I don't know if snake handler would be the best description for what I want to do. I think that working with snakes, frogs, turtles, toads, etc. would be wonderful, whether it's breeding, catching, tracking or caring for them.

I don't have any professional animal experience or degrees, so I'd be looking for something entry level. But what is entry level for something like this?

I don't know of any snake farms or large breeders in Chicago - that seems more like a southwestern thing to me. Googling snakes or reptiles didn't bring up much and the local herpetological website hasn't been touched in years. Any ideas?

Frog march?

notsnot — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 15:11:11 -0800

A while back, there was a video circulating with thousands of Kermit-like critters... ...running around, causing havoc, and abusing a vaguely Jim Henson-ish characiture. It was set to this whirling, eastern-euro-folksong sounding music. Where can I get a copy of that video, and what is that song!?!