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I have to run out for a couple hours to take care of some very important business (OK, my wife and I are bringing Charlotte to have a family portrait taken.) I haven’t gotten a chance to put together any good questions for today’s Friday Happy Hour, so I’m begging you guys for help. Leave your suggestions for questions in the comments and I’ll use five of them later this afternoon when I return. If I choose your question, we’ll send you a free back issue of mental_floss magazine, which was mentioned on The Today Show this morning (and therefore special).
If you’re new and don’t know what kinds of questions we’re looking for, here are a couple examples from past Happy Hours:
“What’s the creepiest thing you’ve found while snooping on someone?”
“What’s the crappiest car you’ve ever owned? Was it a clunker from the start, or did you simply drive it into the ground?”
“What’s the most intriguing VHS tape you still own?”
“What’s the most embarrassing poster to ever adorn your bedroom wall?”
Back in a bit!
[See all previous Friday Happy Hour transcripts.]
Comments (25)
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“What does your tattoo mean?” I got my first tattoo (a key on my wrist) last Friday, and I’m already making nonsense up when people ask me what the significance is.
“What, in retrospect, is the most dangerous thing that ever nearly happened to you?” for example Debbie Harry nearly accepted a lift home in Ted Bundy’s car. shiver.
“What is your least favourite piece of management speak?” Mine is herding cats, because I had a terrible head of department who said it all the damn time and it was never an appropriate analogy.
posted by Jen - The Alien Spouse on 5-29-2009 at 12:18 pm
What tape (you know, cassette tape, from prehistoric times) do you still own and you still rock out to?
posted by Laura on 5-29-2009 at 12:21 pm
“What is a story you’ve heard that was so weird it had to be fake, but turned out to be true?”
posted by Sarah on 5-29-2009 at 12:23 pm
Ohh I like “What, in retrospect, is the most dangerous thing that ever nearly happened to you?” good question!
I was once almost hit by lighting. it was after a summer thunderstorm that my dad and I had been watching from the porch. we went out to pick up branches from the yard and as I was walking down the driveway my dad said something to me, I stopped and answered him. when I turned back around lighting struck the driveway not 10 feet in front of me, the place I would have been standing if I hadn’t stopped to answer dad’s question. I felt a lot of heat, like when you open an oven and I could see the bolt for a week when I closed my eyes.
posted by Emily on 5-29-2009 at 12:27 pm
What is your favorite international soda and why? Or any soda that is not conventionally available in US grocery stores but usually in specialty ethnic ones.
posted by Pink Coat on 5-29-2009 at 12:41 pm
What’s your worst/funniest family portrait experience?
We had a bad storm here this afternoon- mostly wind where I am… So What’s your closest shave in a storm; the worst you’ve ever experienced?
posted by ann on 5-29-2009 at 12:49 pm
What is the movie you can quote, line-by-line?
My boyfriend cannot watch Top Gun while I’m in the room. He quotes it line for line and it drives me crazy. Although I can’t Happy Gilmore without doing that either :)
posted by Colene on 5-29-2009 at 12:50 pm
What is the most interesting interaction you have ever had with a homeless person?
posted by Witty Nickname on 5-29-2009 at 12:53 pm
What is one “weird/strange” food that you always wished you’d have the guts to try? (ie maggot cheese, Menudo, Rocky Mountain oysters)
What is one thing from 6th grade that you wish you still owned today?
What is the silliest thing you’ve ever done on a date?
posted by Lore on 5-29-2009 at 12:54 pm
I love the dangerous thing! I’ve taken lots of stupid risks. :-)
1. What TV show, or TV show episode, creeps you out the most or gave you nightmares?
2. Or, What movie lingers in your creeped out zone?
3. How old were you when you first found out what sex really was? What crazy ideas did you have before that?
(I though sperm swam across the sheets!)
4. Have you ever written a fan letter and to whom? did you get a response?
5. Have you ever gotten away with a crime, big or small?
posted by Marion on 5-29-2009 at 12:54 pm
What is the strangest phrase you have had stuck in your head? (that you may or may not remember the origin.)
For me it was “Atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed.” which I would say aloud or to myself for many years whenever I started my car. It took over 15 years to remember that this was Robin’s line when starting the Batmobile in the campy Batman series from the 60’s. (I had last seen an episode when I was ten.)
For my dad, it was the phrase, “Press the Meeko.” Or so he thought it was spelled. It took about 15 years to realize that he was referring to “Press the M.E.C.O.” (Main Engine Cut-Off) from rocket and shuttle launches.
Lots of strange things stick in our heads.
Alternate question, “What common phrase have you found yourself to be using incorrectly or misquoting.”
posted by Craig on 5-29-2009 at 12:58 pm
In highschool, did you have the different cliques? (preps, jocks, nerds, hicks, etc)
Which clique were you a part of? I moved to a new highschool my sophmore year, so I wasn’t really part of any clique, but I did analyze how each intermingled and swapped members.
Were there any really unique cliques in your school?
posted by Mendy Ray on 5-29-2009 at 1:01 pm
Yesterday, my friend ordered a salad at Subway’s and told the woman to “be creative” and choose the ingredients for him. As a result, he got a pickle and jalepeno salad with Caesar dressing. Have you ever ordered anything and told the person to be creative? If so, how did that turn out for you?
posted by mor on 5-29-2009 at 1:36 pm
What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep, and why?
If you were commissioned to create a tourist trap featuring “The World’s Largest (fill in the blank)” what item would you choose?
What food do you wish there was a competitive eating contest for becuase you’re sure you could win?
(For me it would be clams or my grandma’s rhubarb pie–not at the same time.)
What would you wear (or not wear) in public if it were socially acceptable?
(Craig, I like your last question. I was thinking of posting that too until I saw you’d thought of it first! I read “for all intensive purposes” on a blog the other day and cringed! “Beckon call” instead of “beck and call” is another I’ve seen too often.)
posted by Lindseydl on 5-29-2009 at 1:49 pm
1. If you had to pick a psuedonym for yourself, what would it be and why?
2. Last night was the big Scripps spelling bee. How far have you gotten in a spelling bee and what word or words got you out? Was there ever a mistake that resulted in your spelling fate?
(For example, my roommate got out on the word ember because the man reading the words had a thick Massachusetts accent and pronounced it “umbah.” I missed out on States in 6th grade for nectarine despite spelling it correctly)
3. What ability or profession do you wish you had but just never had the skills (or guts) to do?
4. If you could live anywhere in the world, realities (job, language, etc) and relationships aside, where would it be and why?
posted by Biolobri on 5-29-2009 at 2:10 pm
What is the strangest thing you ever found on the internet while looking for something else? And what were you orignally looking for?
posted by Sue on 5-29-2009 at 2:25 pm
1- Which of the various professions that you imagined for yourself growing up do you with you followed through on?
2- Have you ever taken a completely spur of the moment road trip, and if so where to?
3- Describe a time when you convinced others to do your work for you. What was the work and how did you pull it off?
posted by EMStoveken on 5-29-2009 at 2:26 pm
What is the strangest thing you’ve ever overheard while at work?
posted by Anne on 5-29-2009 at 2:30 pm
What are you reading right now?
When is the last time somebody gave you a high-five, and what was it for?
posted by Jenn on 5-29-2009 at 2:59 pm
We’ve entered a time where online dating is fairly common and pretty well accepted as a norm – hence, match.com, chemistry.com, eharmony, etc., etc. ad nauseum. What horror stories or success have you experienced?
recaptcha: ninjas uptick
posted by nikki on 5-29-2009 at 3:23 pm
Are pole barns really made out of poles?
posted by Ronnie on 5-29-2009 at 4:11 pm
“What’s the most awkward ‘You too’ response you’ve ever given someone?”. For example, the time I replied “You too” after a homeless man wishe me well saying “Drive home safely.”
posted by Matt on 5-29-2009 at 4:19 pm
What is the strangest thing you’ve ever found in your food?
posted by Shannon on 5-29-2009 at 5:01 pm
What’s the most lost you’ve ever been?
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 5-29-2009 at 9:45 pm
I probably missed the deadline but maybe for next week…
“What is the strangest idea you’ve had that sounded awesome in your head but totally bombed as soon as you told someone else?”
posted by Sarah in CA on 5-30-2009 at 12:45 am