Jeopardy! contestants come up with some funny lines when they have no clue for the answer, but even funnier are the sincere attempts that go off the rails. Some are even Freudian, like when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar guessed movie ratings. This compilation is pretty amusing, but I was frustrated by the clips where we never found out the correct answer. I still think Ken Jennings should have gotten credit for his garden implement.
Friday, December 19, 2025
Funniest Wrong Jeopardy! Responses
Superhero Gifts
The formula works this way:
1. Christmas song becomes popular.
2. Christmas song gets played a t lot. An awful lot.
3. People hate Christmas song.
Now, Batman and Superman are often portrayed as best friends, or at least cordial. They both live in the DC universe, both have alter egos, both were orphaned at a tender age, and both fight crime. But they also have fundamental differences in style and attitude, and it's sometimes implied that Batman is envious of Superman's super powers. Considering all this, what will these two superheroes get each other for Christmas to continue this love-hate relationship? This year, Batman is inspired by the downside of Superman's powers, specifically, his ability to hear everything going on. Superman may have more natural abilities, but you have to remember that Batman has more amazing gadgets. This super Christmas story is from How It Should Have Ended.
Miss Cellania's Links
The 2025 Hater’s Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog. (via Metafilter)
Get a closeup look at the new plaques installed in the presidential hall of fame walk in the White House. Click to enlarge.
Andrew Jackson’s White House once hosted a cheese feeding frenzy. The seventh president’s farewell party featured 1,400 pounds of cheddar. (via Damn Interesting)
"A Trumpian Christmas." The latest from Tom the Dancing Bug.
15 Times It's a Wonderful Life Was Chaos Behind the Scenes. The movie's a classic, but it took years of unseen toil, frustration, and not a little ca-la-la-lamity to get there
The Body in the Mine Shaft and a Strange Miscarriage of Justice. When there's a murder trial and you're the victim, maybe you should say something.
It’s called FASHION - look it up! (via Everlasting Blort)
New York’s Grand Central Terminal Helped Provide the Blueprint for American Cities. A train wreck that caused the death of more than a dozen commuters near the turn of the 20th century was the impetus behind a monumental project that changed the urban landscape
That time journalist Dorothy Fuldheim faced off with Richard Pryor on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
How to bury your father. How do you lovingly care for an aging parent who treated you badly? (via Metafilter)
A Bad Lip reading of The Empire Strikes Back
Who knew that Luke Skywalker liked to sing while he piloted his X-wing into battle? Bad Lip Reading took the back-and-forth between fighters and made it into a song called "Hostiles on the Hill." While earlier bad lip readings put nonsense into the actors' lines, the more recent videos have incorporated complete sentences that hang together loosely, and even tunes. Even if you aren't impressed with the song, you have to admire the deft editing that makes it seem like those exact words are coming from the mouth movements seen in a decades-old movie. And even if you aren't impressed with any of that, this is an excuse to watch Luke and company defeat the AT-AT walkers in the Battle of Hoth again.
How Do You Survive the Winter?
I hate to admit it, but the squirrel's strategy is pretty close to mine. Considering all the sugar and fat laden treats that are common this time of year, I suspect that's a humanity thing. This comic is from Sarah Andersen.
Thursday, December 18, 2025
Assault with a Welding Torch
This is a case from 1977 that no one besides the victim seemed to take seriously. If it weren't for her injuries, he never would have gotten seven days in jail. She sued him later, but we don't know what happened with that. Read more at Weird Universe.
Christmas in Appalachia
Charles Kuralt narrated this documentary film from 1964, as President Johnson's War on Poverty was starting to launch. Some of this is very familiar to me, although my parents escaped through the power of education. They didn't flee Appalachia altogether, just the tiny hill towns that relied on the coal industry. Things are a little better up in the hills now, but not so much because of jobs and revitalization as because of birth control. Young people still flee if they can.
Magi
Fun fact: we don't know how many wise men came from the east. The idea that there were three is from the three different gifts mentioned. I don't know when the popular notion of them being kings came about, but that might have something to do with the value of the gifts. Another popular assumption is that these gifts funded the holy family's evacuation to Egypt, which makes sense. (Thanks, WTM!)
Monsters You Can't See
If you recall the original Predator movie from 1987, the alien was ugly, but we didn't know that for most of the movie. It used a cloaking device that rendered itself invisible. All we could see were some strange digital glitches over the background that instilled plenty of dread. That's the same type of fear engendered by the hidebehind, a monster you never saw because it would hide behind a tree... until it was too late for you to escape. The legend of the hidebehind grew among American lumberjacks to explain why some loggers never came back to camp. The only defense against a hidebehind was a drink or two of alcohol, although it stands to reason that drinking alcohol was more likely the cause of the hidebehind.
However, the hidebehind is far from the only monster you can't see. I know, you don't see any of them, but that's beside the point. Still, some monsters defy description even in the legends because they are invisible, hiding, or will kill you if you look at them. Dr. Emily Zarka of Monstrum explains why monsters you don't see are even more terrifying than the ones you see.
Lost in Time
I've noticed that some younger folks who only know digital clocks tend to think of hours as 100 minutes. I bet they don't understand 90 degree angles, either. (via Bored Panda)
Unloved
When a young man receives a Christmas gift that he doesn't like, it's time for a story. And it's a beautifully animated story about a wolf -the very first wolf- who finds he has no friends. Like the description says, "It's not easy to make friends when you eat them." Can this poor wolf change his life in such a way as to make the other animals tolerate him, or at least stop fleeing in fear? He gets some helpful advice from a hedgehog and other animals along the way.
"Unloved" is an ad for the French grocery store chain Intermarché from the studio Romance Agency. You won't mind that, because the actual advertising is only a few seconds at the end. You won't mind it being in French, either, because there are subtitles for the scant dialogue. However, the focus is still food, and that comes across as very French as well. (via Metafilter)
The Latke Recipe
Hanukkah is here, time to cook! Or at least get your recipe for latkes. The Maccabeats sing the recipe for you, set to the tune of “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon. The lyrics are at the YouTube page. This is from their album A Maccabeats Hanukkah. (via Viral Viral Videos)
Due to popular demand, they had to make another video that actually shows us how the latkes are made.
Okay, I've made latkes, and there's a really crucial step not shown in this video. Take the shredded potatoes, before adding anything else, wrap them in a clean cloth and wring all the water you can out of them. This will keep them from falling apart in the frying pan.
Chag Sameach!
More Grammar Horror From Christmas Ghosts
— Roger The Shrubber (@rogrtheshrubber.shrubberies.org) December 12, 2025 at 7:04 PMIn case the ghost of Christmas past participle wasn't enough. (via Everlasting Blort)
Wednesday, December 17, 2025
Golden Retriever Agility
We rate Dogs found an older video of Mack the golden retriever, learning how to do the weave poles in an agility course. He approaches his task in the most golden retriever way possible, which many of his fans admire greatly. Right off the bat, Mack gets an A for enthusiasm. He eventually learns what he's supposed to do. (via Boing Boing)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)