I didn't realize they stopped making episodes two years ago.
So sorry to hear that. I knew them both a bit back in the day, FOAF mostly; I'd be at places they were and vice versa, often bluegrass concerts.
They've been playing reruns for a while, although I think that some of the ads/underwriting spots were new.
That kind of humor I eat up with a spoon -- that's my father and my sister and I, going back and forth with ever-stupider jokes until none of us can actually talk. What a shame, and I feel so sorry for his brother, who I'm sure is going to miss him terribly.
Aw, that's sad. I didn't know he had Alzheimer's.
They were my graduation speakers. Does this mean I'm old? I guess graduation speakers sometime speak when they're already pretty old and likely to die so maybe not.
I went to an event last week (local food charity fundraiser) where both of them usually show up, and it was notable that Tom wasn't there. Sad that it was this bad.
It's funny: I know what the OP means by calling that sort of humor dumb (because it is), but I associate it with smart people. I've never known anyone who I thought of as stupid become helpless with laughter over idiotic jokes in that Car Talk kind of way.
Well, I've always felt like the smartest people aren't actually the smartest people...
As it happens, I just read a thing at Slate about how the "dickless" joke in Ghostbusters works linguistically, and the key is that it's intentionally answering a question that is technically ambiguous ("Is this true?") with the wrong information. And ISTM that this is typical of a lot of "dumb" jokes. They're funny because it flips expectations (like most jokes), but they're "dumb" because obviously Dr. Peter Venkman understood the Mayor's question. The key is that, for the most part, only "smart" people can make/appreciate this kind of joke, because it relies on quickness (the ambiguity is only present for a moment) and exploiting ambiguous language.
It's not that only smart people appreciate this kind of humor (the old joke about the dog who says Ruth was the best ballplayer is hardly PhD fare), but that it's especially appealing to smart people of a certain mindset.
Probably not explaining it well, because I've never given it much thought before, but I think I'm on to something.
BTW, I hope it's clear that I'm not trying to say that the kind of dumb jokes we're talking about are all exactly like "dickless", just that it's a pretty good model of a certain kind of dumb joke, and why someone would call it "dumb".
That said, I've never been entirely clear what sort of joke people who complain about dumb jokes like this have in mind as being more edifying. Quips like Wilde? Surely not shaggy dog stories or anything scatalogical.
One of my very favorite kind of jokes is where you faux-innocently accuse the other person of meaning something heinous.
and the key is that it's intentionally answering a question that is technically ambiguous ("Is this true?") with the wrong information
Airplane! was the best ever at that.
11 doesn't seem to be describing Car Talk humor very well, though.
That said, I've never been entirely clear what sort of joke people who complain about dumb jokes like this have in mind as being more edifying.
I think the idea is that sensible people would just answer the question straight -- that you're being dumb by purposefully obstructing communication.
14: Airplane! never reached the heights of Police Squad. ("Cigarette?" "Yes, I know.")
13: Buck was kind of nervous on one of our early dates, and I spent about an hour repeatedly accusing him of unnecessarily dragging the conversation back to bestiality. Why he continued to go out with me, I'll never understand.
I'd tell more dumb jokes but I don't know how to speak.
you faux-innocently accuse the other person of meaning something heinous.
This is never funny. Have you considered a reeducation camp?
You mean like one of those places they send kids to learn math all summer?
Sounds like a lot of concentration.
19: I'm terribly hilarious in person.
I spent about an hour repeatedly accusing him of unnecessarily dragging the conversation back to bestiality. Why he continued to go out with me, I'll never understand.
This is obviously the behavior of a woman one wants to continue going out with.
Sounds like a lot of concentration.
I first read this as "Sounds like a lot of contraception," which made sense to me, kind of.
Sounds like a lot of contraception
Great band name!
17: That sounds like a particularly sophisticated form of "negging". The PUA approves.
||
How completely amazing is this?! Most unlikely super group, but brilliant.
Cohen! Bleeding Gums Murphy! Was (not Was).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUsg3WXJ2Cc&t=33m40s
>
I was really sad to hear about the death of Tom Magliozzi as well. Didn't realize the show had been in repeats for the last two years -- all those entreaties to call in, or visit the website. I thought that was all still live.
I can't help but wonder what various public radio stations are going to do now: run the continuing repeats? But that's so morbid.
He was one of the good ones.
29: Night Music seems to have been a regularly amazing show.
Love those old clips of the David Sanborn show. Pere Ubu, in their pop phase (which lasted one album), with Debbie Harry and... David Sanborn.
re: 31
Yeah, I've seen a few clips in the past , including one which [looking back] was from that particular episode. Rollins and Sanborn together, with Rollins in fire-breathing mode. But the combination of various members of Was (Not Was), Cohen, and Rollins, is inspired.
|| Feels a bit weird dropping this in here but as a former Dodge Dart owner Tom Magliozzi wouldn't mind:
So that Skype interview I had about 3 weeks ago for the position overseas that would have me using my Arabic again and dealing with some really cool cultural heritage materials and that I thought I'd screwed up because their connection was bad and that I've been absolutely agonizing over for the last 3 weeks?
I GOT THE JOB!!!
And thanks go to the Unfoggedtariat in general and a few in particular (you know who you are) for your encouragement, support and helpful input during this agonizing time. They've still to make a final offer so I'm sure I'll be asking for some advice as to how to handle it. But holy shit that was close.
(Now the Dems will really have to get crushed today to make it a bad one for me).
WOOHOO!!!
|>
Let me be the first to suggest Fresh Salt offer my congratulations. I sincerely hope it isn't one of those things where they steal your kidney and leave you in a hotel bathtub, like most overseas jobs.
34: YAY!!! I was hoping that's how it would work out and I'm glad! I also may need some good news this election day, so that counts.
And scrawl "Welcome to world of Ebola" in feces on the bathroom mirror.
Yay!!! Best wishes for your new job in Mosul. I hear it's a lot quieter now.
You weren't the one that appeared as a kitten in the skype interview, were you? Because then I'd be even more impressed that you got the job.
Thanks all.
Still processing it all. This was a close one. Whew. And now among other things I have to get my latest graduate degree certified by the State department. Anyone here ever done that?
39 Very sadly not much in the way of cultural heritage materials left in Mosul.
So sad about Tom M. Car Talk delights me, and I've actually learned some useful things from it.
Congratulations to Barry!
Congrats. NMM to Barry's joblessness.
Congrats, Barry. I hope the offer is generous and the job is a dream.
Congrats to Barry.
This is a nice tribute to Tom Magliozzi
Also, I may be finally getting over the cold that's been slowing me down for the last two weeks (normally when I get a cold it lasts 2-5 days, but this one was both more severe and lasted longer than anything I've had for several years).
Thanks everyone.
I could use some negotiating advice:
They want to know my current base salary and other benefits along with a recent pay slip. Here's the thing, not only am I currently unemployed but I have a really weird work history due to past living overseas, grad school then getting ill and a very acrimonious divorce which made matters much worse, basically a lot of bad luck and bad life shit. So I don't have anything to show them, basically, other than the part time student jobs I've held while going back to school for my MLS. So this will be my first full-time real position. The people at the institution who interviewed me know this and warned me this may well impact the size of the offer from HR. There's some distance between HR and the institution. Any suggestions on how should I word my reply email? How do I tell them this is my first such full time position.
And please pardon me if I drop this into another thread tomorrow in case few see this as they're giving me only two days to reply with all my info (including two days to get my MLS State Dept and their embassy certified which is basically impossible but whatever).
Congratulations, Barry! Standard advice is not to give out salary history, what you got paid in the past is neither here nor there. Let them figure out what you're worth to them, not what they can get away with. Maybe not always possible but really are they going to withdraw an offer because you won't reveal salary history?
I never know what to do for this sort of thing -- can you try something like "As [important person who made the decision to hire me] is aware, as a recent MLS graduate, I have no recent pay stubs from a full time position comparable to the one at issue. It is my understanding that a typical market rate salary for such positions is [research based highball estimate]."
But anyone else who disagrees should pipe up, I'm the one who's been doing extra supervisory work for no extra money for two and a half years now.
52: If it's a state agency, they might require it. Is it unionized?
It's an overseas cultural heritage institution. Most definitely not unionized.
I like the language of 53, LB, especially the first half. Not sure about providing even a highball estimate.
God, I don't want to mess this up.
I'll hire you for a minute for $1 then you can say your most recent annual rate was six figures.
How about something like:
"I am looking for fair compensation, considering my education, background and potential."
added to the first half of what LB wrote above.
I don't like 'fair' -- not sure I can quantify it, but it looks both confrontational (by saying 'fair', you're implying that they might be unfair), and weak (if you had negotiating leverage, you wouldn't be talking about fairness). Maybe 'market-rate' or something similar?
And I really shouldn't be taking the advice-giving lead here, again, I'm the one who hasn't successfully gotten a raise related to the promotion I got two years ago. Someone who's negotiated something successfully, pipe up?
Good point. Anyone got a bat signal for ydnew? I like her advice a lot. Who else?
Thank you, but so much pressure! (And in a year, when I'm job hunting again, I will ask literally identical questions and you'll be the expert!) Since it's overseas, will pay scale be US comparable, or local standard? Have your student jobs been in the right field, or have they been whatever-pays-the-bills jobs? Are similar positions' salaries public record? (I'm thinking of US public employees here.)
Basically, I think those questions would determine the best thing to do, but in short, I suspect that without prior history, you can expect to receive industry standard, but not more, since they wouldn't be able to justify it to whoever is in charge of HR. More generous places will include your grad school years as experience in the field so you're in a higher pay band. If the part time work was at all relevant and decently paid, perhaps you could treat it as a prorated full-time wage.
I think LB's approach of simply saying you've changed fields and have no comparable experience is best. Also, depending on the organization, the pay band and their discretion about what to pay you may be more constrained than than being able to negotiate things like paid time off.
One more thing to consider is that while it's true that your starting pay will affect future raises, once you have requisite experience, you can apply for other jobs. Many employers have the ability to match (or try to match) outside offers to retain employees. It's not an unwavering fate, so don't stress too much about it. If you do this around the time when you'd move from more junior to more senior (2-5 years?), you'll be able to negotiate from a much stronger position. (Or you'll want to move on for unrelated reasons.)
It's an oil rich country in the Gulf region. My jobs and internships have been exactly in the right field.
I'm mostly hunting for wording to reply to their email, that was one of several requests, like available start date, etc, but the only one I'm hung up on:
"Current base salary and other benefits (please provide most recent pay slip)"
So far I'm going with what LB suggested:
"As the X search committee is aware, as a recent MLS graduate, I have no recent pay stubs from a full time position comparable to the one at issue."
But wondering if I should add the bit above or leave it at that.
62 is good to keep in mind. I'm leaning to keeping LB's without adding the bit about gimme moar.
Sound like it would be local scale, which means that throwing in a number is probably not useful. You can see what they offer and ask if there's wiggle room if you don't like it.
I think the next sentence you want is something like, "However, I do have X years of relevant experience in [prior jobs, internships] for which I would be happy to provide records." Maybe someone with more expertise can correct me, but that's what I've seen for people at entry level with relevant unpaid/intern/part-time experience.
Congrats again, so glad you found a position you're happy with.
And thanks again. I sent the email and we'll see what they say. They have a reputation for bringing in a lot of outside talent and for paying very well.
What a day.
Nice one Barry! Managing to not mention the Six-Day War in the interview clearly paid off...
Does this mean we will need to have an alias for your new country, cf. Narnia, Knifecrime Island etc?
It was a bad connection and only an hour long. There was no time!
Thanks.
69 I've given that a little thought but nothing comes to mind. I'll have to geek out on some Tolkienia or something.
Or Tolkiena? Tolkienna? what's the right form of that?
It's an oil rich country in the Gulf region.
"Petrolia."
Is it somewhere that Garfield frequently attempts to mail Nermal?
Congratulations, Barry!
To the OP: did anyone else hear "complications related to Alzheimers" a mere two years after leaving his job and think of active euthanasia?
75.2: No, but I assume that he was diagnosed a couple years before he stepped down. If I were to guess, I'd guess a sequence like fall (from bad vision/balance) to broken hip to pneunomia with palliative care only. Average diagnosis-to-death is 8-12 years, but there is a big spread. (Obvious I spend a lot of time thinking about outcomes, huh?)
Quote your target salary in barrels of oil.
75: I've heard that earlier-onset Alzheimer's progresses more quickly. I was still astonished at how quickly he declined from doing a half-way decent job on the radio.
As an aside, I always thought that Tom looked like how Ray woudl sound and vice-versa.
78 Bitcoin.
80. Well, more like it's adjacent to Mordor.
76: is it scheduled to host a major sporting event?
(I'll stop guessing after this, but I had a friend who really enjoyed teaching in the sporting event country for a few years.)
76: is it scheduled to host a major sporting event?
(I'll stop guessing after this, but I had a friend who really enjoyed teaching in the sporting event country for a few years.)
Celebrities always die in threes and in the past week we had two guys named Tom from Boston. All I'm saying is maybe Brady should sit out his next game or something.
Congratulations, Barry! I'm glad to see your search finally worked out. I have no useful advice on salary. I was just lucky no one asked me to enumerate my low pay history when I got my first "professional" job.