When is a lie a lie? That may seem like a simple question on the surface, but there are many factors to consider. When you say something complimentary to avoid insulting someone with your honest opinion, we call it a "white lie," but it's still a falsehood. You could say the same thing about embellishing a story for drama, or about passing along a lie that we don't know is false. How about when you word something in an ambiguous way that gives you plausible deniability? Should we define a lie by the literal words, the intent, or the perception of the listener? Linguist Dr. Erica Brozovsky explains how complicated lying is, from animals that use camouflage to criminal perjury. It's no wonder lie detectors don't work.
Thursday, March 05, 2026
What is a Lie?
More Differences Between New Zealand and Australia
In a followup to his previous video on the differences between Australia and New Zealand, Jordan Watson (also known as the How-to Dad) draws more contrasts between the two. He lives in New Zealand, which he paints as a more peaceful and sensible place. This video delves deeper into the language differences of two English-speaking nations, although he does wander into the wildlife, sports, and geography a bit. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Wednesday, March 04, 2026
Unfortunate Headline
These kids probably don't even know how we used to use the word "husky." (via Bad Newspaper)
A Modern Day Fhqwhgads
Musician and Homestar Runner collaborator Rich Trott gives us a nonsensical mashup of "Tom Sawyer" by Rush and the 2003 animated song "Everybody To The Limit" by Strongbad. If you are wondering what Fhqwhgads means, it's an internet user name Trott came up with, presumably by mashing the keyboard with his fists.
Peter Tork Mouthing Everyone Else's Lines
When a ventriloquist provides a voice for his dummy, the illusion works because you are focused on the dummy delivering the lines and you're not looking at the ventriloquist. In the age of video, you can go back and focus on the ventriloquist and see his/her lips moving. That's the way you should watch this compilation- focus on Peter Tork's lips, not who is actually speaking.
Tork had a habit of mouthing lines that weren't his while shooting the sitcom The Monkees. According to comments at Metafilter, this is very common among beginning actors, because it helps with timing and catching your cue. The real trick is to learn how to keep up with memorized dialogue without moving your lips. As it is, we rarely see it because we focus on the actual speaker.
OR... was Tork actually delivering all the lines in the show, while everyone else just moved their lips? We may never know.
Miss Cellania's Links
Women Experience Longer Lasting Pain Than Men and Scientists Think They Finally Know the Reason Why.
5 Weird Star Trek Merchandise Items.
Does Your Country Need Regime Change? A Quiz. (Thanks, Tim!)
The First Time I Met A White Person.
Every Time a U.S. Presidential Candidate Won the Popular Vote but Lost the Election.
The airline seat called the "Cheek Splitter 9000." (via Neatorama)
Draw a horse and watch it run with the other horses. (via Everlasting Blort)
March could be the best month for the northern lights for nearly a decade — if the sun stays active. (via kottke)
Monty Python Communist Quiz
Famous communist leaders from around the world are assembled for a television show. They assume it will be a political discussion, but this is Monty Python, so that's what what happens. This is from their Hollywood Bowl show.
Tuesday, March 03, 2026
Mango Pineapple Banana Watermelon
Nguyen Thi Mai, also known as Aunty Mai, sang to draw attention to the fruit she sells on a beach in Nha Trang, Vietnam. Local__Lou posted the video at Instagram, where it went viral. The Kiffness found it and added instruments to create this song that will make you hungry for some fresh, sweet, juicy fruit.
Questions 67 & 68
Chicago, performing in Paris in 1969. "Questions 67 & 68" was the first single from their first album, Chicago Transit Authority, which was the band's name until they became well-known and they had to shorten it because the actual Chicago Transit Authority threatened litigation. The song was only a minor hit in 1969, but when it was re-released in 1971, it did much better.
Update: Chicago also released a version of the song in Japanese in 1971. Hear it performed in 1995 at Laughing Squid.
Murder Over Pancreatic Research
Ancient anatomists knew about the pancreas. Still, they didn't know what the organ was for- maybe it was just padding between other organs. German anatomist Johann Wirsung made a discovery about the inner workings of the pancreas, and he was shot and killed for his efforts!
But that was not the last of the violence involving research on the pancreas. As medical science advanced, we learned that the pancreas secreted digestive fluids that contained insulin, necessary for regulating carbohydrates in the body. Could we make insulin ourselves to help people with diabetes? Yes, but it would take a team of great minds to accomplish that, and those minds did not get along. Over hundreds of years, scientists studying the pancreas fought over who would get credit for medical breakthrough, leaving the pancreas with a soap opera of human egos surrounding it.
I Went Golfing with Alice Cooper
In the 1970s, Alice Cooper burst onto the scene with his shock rock about not liking school and not being a nice guy. He wore creepy makeup, brought snakes onstage, and worst of all, he had a woman's name! It was cool to like Cooper because it was subversive, but the songs were good, too. Some years later, it became clear that he was a serious musician who had a great hook for the time, and was a regular guy underneath the makeup. When he made enough money to move to a ritzy neighborhood, he became great friends and played golf with neighbors like Groucho Marx and Glen Campbell.
Mike Erskine-Kellie relates a golf outing in this animation from the view of a cranky old man who still sees Cooper as the demon singer that first grabbed the spotlight. Contains some NSFW language. (via Nag on the Lake)
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