May 1, 2022

Today, I have 10 selections from TikTok — all chosen to delight and amuse. Tell me what you like best.

1. Samoyed in a backpack.

2. A very old Scottish lady tells a joke.

3. Italian husband has a strong opinion about ordering a cappuccino after lunch. 

4. Nudging into other people's neighborhood Facebook group.

5. Finally, enough time has passed that young people can genuinely love a 1970s kitchen.

6. The "Dad Awards" nominees for "Worst Case of Mistaken Identity."

7. Elon Musk is not into extending the human life span.

8. Beer!!!

9. How far would you go to restore an old doorbell

10. It is impossible to know how deeply geese love the sound of a harmonica.

78 comments:

Narr said...

I'm going to be offline for a few days. I'll make my selection when I get back.

Please don't solve all the world's problems without me.

Old and slow said...

WHAT a doorbell! Sadly, I think Elon is probably right. As usual... Doesn't mean I won't keep trying and hoping.

TheDopeFromHope said...

Can we get subtitles for the Scottish gal?

john said...

The doorbell, then the beer, then the geese. No other contenders.

Art in LA said...

That doorbell! Reminds me of that British show The Repair Shop. I'd love to have access to a shop like that.

Amexpat said...

1970s kitchen because I'm increasingly becoming a grumpy old man with less and less interest in new things and current events. I'd go back to the 70s in a heartbeat if possible. If only to hear great music for the first time again.

hawkeyedjb said...

I used to have that kitchen. Right down to the instant coffee maker.

RoseAnne said...

The geese and the doorbell. Slight nod to the geese because it reminds me of how my cat would react to something similar. Dads was third.

Ann Althouse said...

My favorite is the Italian husband!

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Cappuccino = Cappucci-NO!

Rory said...

Mistaken identity dad: I once had my dog out for a walk, saw another dog approaching and watched it closely for any signs of aggression. Noted that the dog looked a lot like my niece's dog. Let the dogs sniff and talked to the owner for about 30 seconds before I realized it was my niece. No possible mitigation - I had seen her recently and I knew that she walked her dog in that area.

hugh42 said...

Italian husband, geese and harmonica, rebuild doorbell.

Barbara said...

Doorbell! Geese! Italian husband!

gilbar said...

i'm Not Sure, How you could call that "restoring" an old doorbell
this Ship of Theseus has sailed on into... BRAND NEW DOORBELL

Marc in Eugene said...

The geese (although the fact that it was only two geese diminished my amusement).

Meade said...

“My favorite is the Italian husband!“

Oh really. My favorite wife is my American wife.
But seriously—the geese.

Christy said...

Love, love, love the doorbell. At the Zombie apocalypse, I want to be in the compound with that guy.

The geese and the harmonica also fascinated.

Quaestor said...

No. 2

A very old joke well told. However, it is embarrassing to hear that one told by your grandmother. If I had been on the other side of that smartphone that fine lady would have been amused to watch my face go from pastel pink (Hex #FFD1DC) to fuchsia (Hex #C154C1).

Jamie said...

Love, love, love the doorbell. At the Zombie apocalypse, I want to be in the compound with that guy.

Agreed - since the people who invented it all are not available!

The Vault Dweller said...

I liked the backpack doggo the best. My second was the doorbell restoration. And my third favorite was the 70s kitchen but only because of the 70s style Crockpot. I had a negative reaction to the electric coil stove burners.

I will note that I have heard a similar rant about no Cappuccino after breakfast before, so I do believe that it is an established rule of social etiquette in Italy. That being said the first time I had Cappuccino I was a tween eating at an Italian restaurant for dinner with my family. My entire family ordered Cappuccino after dinner. I can't believe how gauche we were.

robother said...

The Italian husband. "There are rules." Somehow he keeps it from escalating, and she laughs off his insults. Make lovers, not quarrels.

Now, let me get back to the doorbell restoration. That shit is purely addicting.

Nancy said...

The Scottish joke is a well-known ballad:

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/irish-rovers-drunk-scotsman-lyrics.html

I liked the geese. But this clip and most of them went on too long for me.

Quaestor said...

No 10

Objectively, yes, it is impossible. The epistemological problem extends to the birds as well. However, much of modern ornithology consists of research into avian minds, which have been revealed to be perhaps more interesting and subtle than even those of the hominoid apes. Geese appear to be quite emotionally forthright, and these two are enthralled. The moral, when planning a trip to one of those islands formerly owned by the InGen Corporation, be sure to pack a harmonica.

tim maguire said...

I remember The Scottsman song from the 80's.

Marc in Eugene said...

The guy who trolls other people's Facebook groups is a dick. And not funny.

I did amuse myself briefly by imagining the perfervid outrage if I notified my NextDoor group that I had indeed shot that skunk (or opossum-- they are apparently a 'protected species' in Oregon-- or, God forbid, a cat): the thread would go on for pages, much of the commentary in BOLD CAPS. Of course I'd also have the animal control people at my door, probably two or three truckloads of them.

The Vault Dweller said...

Blogger tim maguire said...
The guy who trolls other people's Facebook groups is a dick. And not funny.


I did laugh at the line, "The flies have taken over. This is my final post."

JMS said...

I liked everything from #3 on down. Thanks for making me laugh.

madAsHell said...

In my mother's former house, there was a pair of tubular bells, chimes. When the doorbell was pressed, a solenoid would drive the clapper into the chime. Mom always saw the chimes as a selling feature for the house.

The windings on the solenoid were failing, and it was on my to-do list to fix.

What I found was that you can't just buy a new solenoid on Amazon. I was not interested in re-winding the solenoid. My daughter has since moved into the house, and removed the chimes.

tim maguire said...

I'm not amused by the neighborhood Facebook troll because those groups are practical. They exist to pass information, solve problems, help people navigate their neighborhood. This guy reminds me of performance artists who think they have a right to disrupt and undermine anything because that's their art.

Ampersand said...

Best doorbell video ever. Whoever did that is a skilled videographer and a wonderful craftsman. I got a small fraction of that pleasure from restoring my 100 year old front door.
Every time I walk in, I get a small sense of accomplishment from the solidity, and the gleaming functional hardware.

Lonestar Stacy said...

My family is Italian ( really Sicilian) and the first rule you need to know is there is a difference to the Sicilians. The RULES are important. The pineapple on the pizza may be worse. The worst is cutting your pasta with knife and fork. You could ask my German/ English/ Irish husband. First family dinner he does just that and realizes EVERYONE is staring at him. He looks up, puzzled. My mama offered: “ That’s what we do for the babies”. He does get a knife by his plate to this day though.

Krumhorn said...

The Scottish lady telling the joke was priceless...and she delivered it perfectly.

Loved the doorbell. I've watched a number of his restorations. I am amazed at his skill and extraordinary workshop. Here's the whole video. I'll bet that all of his chisels are scary sharp.

- Krumhorn

Quaestor said...

No. 9

How far would I go? I'm known to become obsessively absorbed by any project I find interesting, but this far? I don't know...

This chap went so far as to fabricate a rivet, four leather washers, an electrically insolated copper bracket, zinc-plated, and engraved DRGM, which stands for Deutsches Reichs Gebrauchs-Muster, and perhaps other things I missed. (That frenetic editing style can be deceptive.) That's pushing things to very near the edge, but taking the steps he employed to restore that screw-eye -- he straightened it, repaired the thread pitch, and filled in the cracks with solder. That was madness, particularly in light of the obnoxious sound of the restored doorbell. All that effort and the reward is a slightly louder buzz... In the words of our beloved Resident, come on, man, we'd expect a tone like Bow Bells.

I captured the video so I could open it in Final Cut Pro and step through it frame by frame. The paper used to insulate the coils of the electromagnets appears to have been cut from a German-language electrical engineering trade journal. On one strip there's a reference to Bremerlicht-Bodenlampen, a company founded by Hugo Bremer, the very model of an eccentric inventor. (In later life he always wore two different styles of shoe, one on each foot.) The other references the De Forest Wireless Telegraph Syndicate, Ltd., the British subsidiary of the American De Forest Wireless Telegraph Company founded by Lee De Forest. If you're interested in cinema or recorded music, he's worth looking up.

Flat Tire said...

Love the doorbell. Dad Awards made me laugh. One of the few times I took my kids thru a fast food drive in I recited their order into the irrigation control box. Will never live it down.

JPS said...

My Italian wife has delivered herself of strong opinions on cappuccino after lunch and other American corruptions of Italian food and drink. So I showed her the Italian husband, and got merely a flat "Well, yes" by way of response.

I wish I could find the little table I came across on Facebook, of phrases with translations for Americans ordering pizza in Italy. The punch line was,

"Could I have pineapple on that?" ––> "Scusami, c'è una chiesa qui vicino? Ho bisogno di confessare i miei peccati" [Excuse me, is there a church near here? I need to confess my sins.]

Bender said...

That Italian husband has a UK accent.

Pam thinks she being amusing, but he's just boring.

An orange refrigerator isn't 70s. Now if it was avocado green. And sunflower motif doesn't necessarily make something 70s either.

Bender said...

How far would you go to restore an old doorbell?

Not far enough to watch a tiktok about it.

Meanwhile, I'm watching Pati Jinich's cooking show now with her outrageous Mexican accent.

Krumhorn said...

Here, he makes the wooden box for the bell using milling tools to do woodworking. And he makes his own mirror-imaged eye hooks filing the metal down by hand.

Super work!

- Krumhorn

Ann Althouse said...

When Meade saw the doorbell video, he said he liked it better before. Question whether it was better in its original condition and got “over-restored.”

It was a fascinating, meditative performance however.

Acme of Evolution said...

I know the Italian husband in real life. Despite the accent in English, he is indeed Italian, and a great guy.

Bender said...

The worst is cutting your pasta with knife and fork.

If they break the dry spaghetti in half or thirds before tossing in the pot, then cutting it on the plate isn't necessary.

I'm tired of twirling the long spaghetti on a spoon and twirling and twirling and twirling because they all stick together to become one 30-foot long strand.

Will Cate said...

I know it's not a contest, but the 1970s Kitchen is my favorite.

Bender said...

Better to cut the spaghetti with a knife than have to cut the strand with your teeth in your mouth as the rest of it dangles down to the plate.

rcocean said...

Loved the Geese. Man, what a goose has to go through to get some food!

Didn't like the beer commericial. Hate that "wow, lets look back and mock those old commericials/TV shows/whatever. They are so different from the current year".

That 70s kitchen will give me nightmares.

Old and slow said...

The Scottish woman sounded American to me.

Temujin said...

A great selection all around!

I love videos of guys doing serious restoration, so the Doorbell wins, but...
The Scottish woman telling a joke, and the geese loving the harmonica sounds coming in tied for second.

F said...

Loved the geese. They even hock, softly, in time with his song. The Italian man explaining why NO capiciono in the afternoon could be refined into a comedy sketch but as is, it’s too long.

wildswan said...

Dad Identity, Doorbell, Harmonica and Geese.

Bender,
I put oil in the pasta water which makes the tangles slip pasta each other.

tim in vermont said...

My saying when the '80s arrived was "the seventies never happened," but the predicable revival seems at hand.

farmgirl said...

I found the doorbell restoration riveting. Watched til the end and just loved it. Exclaimed out loud when the bell itself was spun shiny again!
Not so much, Mr Suave &Cultivated. I’ll drink milk any damned time I please and have cheerios for breakfast, lunch and dinner just to see a displeasures, judgemental gleam in his very haughty (beautiful)eyes.

YOLO…

Enjoy the peace and the quiet, Narr:0)

Blackbeard said...

The doorbell one was mesmerizing.

John henry said...

I particularly liked the doorbell. I like watching thing be restored.

I particularly liked them putting the note under the windings. Kind of cool to think of someone finding that 150 years from now. Unlikely, alas, but cool.

John LGKTQ Henry

John henry said...

Iand here I thought I was weird for liking the doorbell. I seem to be in good company and a lot of it.

For those who like watching things being repaired and refurbished in a machine shop, the Abom79 channel has a lot of mesmerizing videos

Here's one chosen at random https://youtu.be/s6NG3Cyho8Y

John LGKTQ Henry

Birdwatcher said...

#10. How deeply two geese love the sound of a man playing a harmonica.

Ralph L said...

If they break the dry spaghetti in half or thirds before tossing in the pot

I break it in half and still cut it afterwards. Oddly, it doesn't seem to cook right if I break it in thirds or fourths.

Note, he said no pineapple on tomato pizza, so I guess it isn't totally forbidden.

I had my dad's Samoyed her last year. There really isn't much dog under all that hair. They love to walk and run; this one must have lost his legs or something to put up with being carried.

farmgirl said...

Oh, and the 70s house. And here I was, thinking it was a French/Canadian thing- all those bright colors and paneling lol. There’s a poster of the Sunshine Family on the fridge in there, I think. I played w/them for hours on end!! Sent it to my sister and she had wallpaper and curtains at one time or another identical to those in that house!

Dave64 said...

Number 2 hands down!

Norpois said...

The cappuccino. But it was NOT a "meltdown." It was a tolerant, detailed, well-reason explanation, complete with self-deprecating
smiles. Anyone who thinks that was an Italian male "meltdown" is probably the sort of person who would order a cappuccino after lunch.

tcrosse said...

The Scotswoman had an Irish accent until she delivered the punchline.

tim in vermont said...

I spent an hour fixing the ignition key assembly in my tractor and I could have used that guy’s help, but it ran for the ten minutes i needed it and died where it was out of the way until my new one comes. I was proud of it until I saw that guy’s work, but I probably could not have afforded him.

MOfarmer said...

I would watch the doorbell restoration in real time. Up to 48 hours if I could pause it and take bathroom breaks.

farmgirl said...

No- the Italian(w/a British accent?) was very measured and painstakingly thorough in his put down of the barbaric tsblemate. I half hope it was staged. It was informative.

Merny11 said...

Okay the neighborhood guy and the Dad kissing the clown both had me laughing out loud

Mary said...

I love the restoration of the old door bell! I didn’t think it would take that much work to do but wow! That was awesome. And the video was done really well. My Fave!

Old and slow said...

"Blogger tcrosse said...
The Scotswoman had an Irish accent until she delivered the punchline."

That is because she is neither Irish nor Scottish. She is clearly American.

In hindsight, after watching them all again, my order of preference is Doorbell - Cappuccino - Dads.

Dads would be a distant 3rd... .

Whiskeybum said...

Several commenters have linked to versions of the song 'The Scotsman' by various artists, however, this song was written and originally sung by American folk singer/songwriter Mike Cross in the 70's. I used to love his music and go to see him sing in Chapel Hill, NC when I was a grad student there.

loudogblog said...

Blogger Art in LA said...
"That doorbell! Reminds me of that British show The Repair Shop. I'd love to have access to a shop like that."

I love that show. As a repair person myself, I love repair shows.

catter said...

The Italian husband.
The fathers of two of my oldest friends, one Sicilian, the other Milanese, both had that same relaxed, patient, utterly confident way of explaining the details of civilized life and fine craftmanship.
Without his standards, we're easy prey for the Pam Palmers.

Curious George said...

My house is the original house in the oldest Milwaukee suburb and has that doorbell type still working. Of course no one rings the bell anymore except for a very occasional delivery person to alert his job is done. They more often just update their app that alerts you via the internet. Pushing the button is really not needed and when it happens I'm like "what the hell is that!"

Susan in Seattle said...

The doorbell and the Italian man - he spoke with such ardor about coffee drinks. I was tickled by the handbag the Scottish woman had.

mezzrow said...

Ahhh, Mr. My Mechanics - "I make a new one!"

There is OCD, and then there is Swiss OCD with a machine shop in your garage. He has his own YouTube site of course and is a fave of mine.

tim maguire said...

Thanks to everyone who voted for the old doorbell .That's not the kind of video I would normally watch, but after reading the comments, I checked it out. That guy has an amazing toolset and he knows how to use it. But he ground off so much material that it's remarkable it fit back together when he was done.

Sydney said...

Figures. I just spent a lot of money getting rid of my 1970s kitchen.

Narayanan said...

I used to love his music and go to see him sing ...
=========
You made me do a mental orbit to settle the grammar :
I am still wobbling

Sydney said...

Elon Musk is right about aging. That’s why they say science advances one funeral at a time.

catter said...

At what point does it become "Theseus' doorbell?"

My work sometimes requires making rusty old things work, so I'm a bit jaded. The restorer has better equipment than the original manufacturer did. Fun to watch, but I couldn't help noticing that it sounded the same pre- and post-restoration.

Tofu King said...

The doorbell restoration is from "my mechanics". Search on YouTube where he has lots of fascinating restorations. Mesmerizing at times.

Tofu King said...

The doorbell restoration is from "my mechanics". Search on YouTube where he has lots of fascinating restorations. Mesmerizing at times.